There are a few big changes you are going to need to make if you are going to eliminate the slice from your game. We aren’t here to say that these changes are going to be easy – most likely, they won’t be. However, if you put in the work on the driving range to make them a reality, you should see your ball flight begin to straighten out.

The following list includes three keys which should help move your swing in the right direction.

• Start the downswing with the lower body. This is essential. When your backswing is complete, the first thing that should move toward the target is the lower body. As the club is arriving at the top, even slightly before it has arrived at the top, you can start to uncoil your hips toward the target. You aren’t going to be sliding to the left – you should just be rotating your hips open while remaining nicely balanced. If you can make this move while allowing your hands – and the club – to stay back, you will really be onto something. This is the move that most amateur golfers fail to master. Not only is this a great way to move away from the slice pattern, but it should also help you to add distance to your shots.
• Use a wide takeaway. For this second point, we are going to backtrack a bit and talk about an earlier phase of the swing. When your swing is just getting started, be sure to keep the club on a wide arc as you use your shoulders to turn back away from the target. All too often, amateur golfers will use their hands to complete the takeaway, which is going to cause the club to come in too close to the body on the way back. With a narrow backswing, you will have little choice but to come ‘over the top’ as you transition into the downswing. This is going to lead to an outside-in swing path, and probably a slice.
• Stay back. As you swing down toward the ball, focus on keeping your head back while your body turns through the shot and the club fires into impact. Think about it this way – on most of your shots, you want your head to be slightly behind the position of the ball when contact is made. If you are allowing your head to drift to the left of the ball, your entire body is sure to be sliding that way as well. When that happens, you will again be prone to swinging across the ball from outside-in. Do your best to keep your head relatively still while the rest of your body rotates through the shot to send the ball on its way.

Nothing included in the list above sounds particularly daunting, but those are actually some significant changes that will need to be made to your technique. Specifically, the act of starting your downswing with your lower body instead of your upper body is going to be quite awkward at first. If you are going to succeed, you’ll need to be willing to deal with some struggles on the range until you start to see things come together.