Instruction
Stopping the slice: Fix the path or the face?
I was reading a debate between two teachers, both of whom use golf radar (Trackman and FlightScope), and they were discussing the “best” way to fix the average golfer’s slice. One was adamant about fixing club path first, while the other focused on fixing the clubface first.
Obviously, both instructors were working toward the same goal, but they were attacking it from two different directions. Personally, I don’t get involved too often within these debates, but this one made me think and I wanted to add my two cents.
During the “video era” of golf instruction (the one in which I learned how to teach golf), instructors became WAY too focused on “position golf.” Most of the time, the “good” positions did help the average player, but sometimes instructors caused their players to lose the individuality of their swings in the process. That caused issues within many golfers’ fundamentals — they were trying to do something that they could not do only because it looked good on on video. From there, the argument was made that instructors made players look stiff and robotic. Worst of all, the teaching style made many golfers way too position conscious, because their instructors didn’t realize that there was more than one way to move the body and club successfully.
Now, rewind to my Twitter debate of one teacher only focusing on the club path, and one focusing on the clubface. Is it not similar to the “video era” discussion above?
The Path-First Teacher
Let’s take this sample slicer from my Trackman and ask ourselves a few questions if you’re a path-first only teacher:
- What if the sample player had a path that was never going to be cured due to 50 years of an over-the-top move?
- Could this player’s path be fixed if he only practiced once a week during his 30-minute lunch?
- Does this player have the motivation to cure this over-the-top path, and is he willing to endure a few rounds of bad shots in order to cure this for good?
- Does fixing his path correlate with the goals HE expressed to you at the beginning of the lesson?
- Is this the path of least resistance for him to follow in order to reach these goals?
The Face-First Teacher
Let’s take this sample slicer from my Trackman and ask ourselves a few questions if you’re a face-first only teacher:
- If this player tends to swing from the inside this much and tends to hit down on the ball, is fixing the face really going to give him the ball control he needs?
- Will changing the face angle at impact help this player to stop hitting too much down on it with the driver?
- If the face begins to move too far left of the path then he will begin to hit bigger hooks. Will this cause him to swing more to the right and hook it even farther left?
- Will fixing the face angle help this player to reach the goals that he established at the start of the instruction?
- Is this the path of least resistance for this player based on his stated goals?
So what’s the correct way to fix these players? IT’S BOTH!
Sometimes, I decide that it’s best to fix the path first, while other times I fix the face first. It all depends on the goals that the student and I determine from our interview process!
If someone wants to break 125 for the first time, why would I even take him to the lesson tee? Instead, we hit the short game area. But a player wants to play in college, then that’s an entirely different lesson.
What about the weekend slicer who has always come majorly over the top and has never seen the ball move left? All he wants to do is hit it left, so why wouldn’t you change his face angle? What about the handsy player who swings too much from the inside — why wouldn’t you fix his swing direction?
It’s amazing how some teachers focus only on “their way” as the only way. They push everyone into the mold that they determine to be best without listening to the person actually taking the lesson in the first place! Isn’t it up to the student as to what they want us to do for them on the lesson tee? After that, it’s a yin and yang between the teacher and student. Remember not everyone can move like a tour player!
As good golf instructors have known all along, there is more than one way to fix a golf swing. Teaching golf is not all about what the numbers on my Trackman say — it’s about what the student wants me to do. Fixing a slice is not all about fixing the face or path first; it’s about fixing the slice in the easiest way possible so the player can return to the course the next time in a better frame of mind and play better than ever before.
That is teaching my friend.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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Pingback: How to Correct a Slice in Golf – Golfer Kingdom
Adam Young
Sep 11, 2013 at 12:47 pm
Great article. There are some important considerations in here for all teachers to take note of. I myself teach with the same philosophy.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat – and as golfers there are many ways to achieve impact physics which are ‘good enough’ to play great golf.
Andrew Cooper
Aug 30, 2013 at 11:58 am
Can’t always be one way or the other. Find the root problem and then get to work on that first. If a golfer has a weak grip and/or rolls the club into an open position during their swing then, if they ever want to hit their target, they’ll have to swing left to compensate for the open face angle. Conversely, if they’ve a fairly neutral grip and club face angle through the swing but have, for instance, open shoulder alignment at address or an over the top move from top of the backswing, then they’ll have to block and hold the face open to compensate for the out to in path-if they squared and released the club face at impact they’d miss their target left every time.
Get the club face square to closed and they’ll lose the need to swing left; get the swing path on line to inside and they’ll lose the need to block and hold the face open.
yo!
Aug 29, 2013 at 6:58 pm
If you don’t fix both, you will never have good, pure contact. But if you want to have a quick but imperfect fix, then fix one and you may avoid the woods on the right side (for a right hander) more often.
yo!
Aug 29, 2013 at 7:01 pm
Actually, if I had to fix one first, I would fix the path first. You would retain power and distance and be able to hit those power fades. Of course, that is based on the assumption that the club face is not overly open.
Dave Tutelman
Aug 28, 2013 at 2:39 pm
The solution depends on the problem. Most slicers I’ve seen have a path problem. If the ball starts at the target and then slices, the face is pretty good already. It’s a face problem only if the ball starts out to the right. (Assuming a right-handed golfer, of course.)
So the question isn’t which do you fix first. It’s which is the actual problem THAT golfer is having — the one that NEEDS fixing. Usually you don’t have to fix both.
Most instructors have a problem with this analysis. But the PGA teaching manual had incorrect “ball flight rules” until less than 20 years ago. Teaching the teachers still hasn’t completely caught up with what we now know about ball flight.
stephenf
Aug 28, 2013 at 12:38 pm
There are _so_ few players below pro or top-level amateur who actually come at the ball from the inside, though. Truth is, if you have that steep-and-outside path, and you add a strong release to it (closing the face through impact), you can’t do anything but hit left-to-left, which will make you aim farther and farther to the right. When I was teaching, I was pretty adamant about going after path first, if you wanted to become any kind of player at all.
However, it’s also true that release and path affect each other. The steeper and more outside you are, the harder it is to release the club well, in nearly 100% of the cases I’ve seen. That’s because of both the physiology of it and the mental cue that tells you you _can’t_ release it or you’ll hit it off the world to the left. So it just gets worse and worse. But, in one of those typical golf paradoxes, you also can improve your path by improving your release, because your body doesn’t sense the need to pull everything left because of a bad release anymore. I had my best success — both with students and in my own competitive play — by working on drills to improve both. Still, I think if I had to start with one or the other, for at least 80-90% of players it would be path, because that tends to unlock the release, or give you at least the _potential_ for a good release.
stephenf
Aug 28, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Incidentally, what the author says about “position” teachers is so, SO true. Go to any high-traffic range these days, especially on a day when high-school or even college players are there, and you’ll see a ton of swings that fit the mold, look pretty, etc., but too many of them result in shots that are relatively lifeless and/or not particularly related to the target, even among fairly advanced (and typically overtaught) players.
Peter
Aug 27, 2013 at 1:22 am
If you fix the face only, having an out-to-in path, the flight path will get straighter, but it is still a fade, even, when it goes straight.
Also my 2-cents is that straight fade is better for most weekenders, since the trajectory will be higher, than when hitting from inside and stops more easily with lesser swingspeeds.
One other thing, is that while the aim for college guy will most likely to be determined enough to do everything necessary and beyond, it may not be that big difference in how the movement of a player looks like, yet the launch variables changes drastically.
I used to move the club with a swing-look-alike, but there were no impact pressure, not with longer irons at least. The movements seemed to somewhat correct, yet the power was produced with wrong muscles and in wrong sequence. Same rythm in the opposite direction did the trick, but it was no easy ride to change that.
S
Aug 27, 2013 at 11:42 am
Learn to write in English first
naflack
Aug 27, 2013 at 1:10 am
i had one and only one experiance with the position based teaching.
the guy, well intentioned as he was, put me into a “must” backswing position which put more strain on my left shoulder than any golf swing had ever done. i knew then and there my days of taking lessons were over, until now with trackman and flight scope. it is encouraging that more and more teachers are encouraging good golfers to swing their way. i just wish it happened 10 years earlier, lol.
Obie
Aug 26, 2013 at 4:56 pm
I guess it’s about finding an instructor who is willing to work with what you have. For myself, I do slice and would love to hit a draw all the time but realistically it’s probably not going to happen. I would really just like to hit it straight most of the time. Thanks for the advice.
Roger
Aug 26, 2013 at 10:09 pm
It’s really hard to hit dead straight balls. Most either draw or fade their shots.
S
Aug 27, 2013 at 11:40 am
Not true at all. It’s easy to hit dead straight balls. If you’ve already given up on doing it, then you’ll never do it, as the saying goes. That’s how golf is too.
stephenf
Aug 28, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Wow. So I guess Hogan, Nicklaus, and Trevino were wrong. Among others, I mean.
qabloona
Aug 28, 2013 at 11:44 am
I purchased a Medicus Vision Track this winter in Florida and would highly recommend it to anyone with a slice problem. I was a consistent slicer and this simple tool allows me to hit it straight and even draw the ball when I want. I am a senior citizen with little athletic ability and I was astounded how my game improved once I started getting on the correct plane. There is hope !