Q: I\u2019ve always had a slice, so I want to try a slice-fighting driver. Any advice?<\/p>\n
First off, getting help from your equipment is never a \u201clast resort\u201d solution. Two years ago, Nelly Korda [above, from 2023] was using TaylorMade\u2019s Stealth 2 HD model. The HD stands for \u201chigh draw\u201d, meaning it\u2019s draw-biased.<\/p>\n
There are several ways to go about combating a slice, so let\u2019s take it from the top. The most obvious option is a closed face angle, which can straighten ball flight and add some distance, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere the face is pointed at impact relative to the swing path has a huge effect on the initial direction and spin axis tilt of the ball,\u201d says Mike Yagley, former vice-president of innovation and technology for Cobra Golf. \u201cHelping the player point the face in the appropriate direction is critical to fighting a slice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Few major brands offer truly closed faces, but some can be adjusted as such. This can be effective but also visually off-putting. You\u2019ll quickly know where you stand when you set up with a driver that\u2019s jacked 4 or 5 degrees closed.<\/p>\n
Another option is to move weight to the heel. This makes it easier to square the clubface, because the centre of gravity (CG) is closer to the shaft axis. Plus, it imparts a draw-biased spin axis, or what we think of as hook spin, on the ball.<\/p>\n
However, whether you move the weight via a built-in track or screw, only so much can be repositioned, and moving the CG towards the heel can decrease a club\u2019s forgiveness. That might be a fair trade for keeping the ball in play.<\/p>\n
There are two more alternatives. Like closed-face drivers, offset models will help you square the face at impact. However, it\u2019s tough to include loft and lie adjustability with the shaft offset, so if that\u2019s important to you, move on.<\/p>\n
Finally \u2013 and this might be the most overlooked method \u2013 you might be able to add slice relief to your current driver by simply adjusting the lie angle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a more upright lie angle, the face points more left,\u201d Yagley says, \u201cand that\u2019s a built-in left-flight bias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many drivers on the market today allow for adjustability in the lie angle, and it\u2019s a simple fix that only the most persnickety players will notice visually.<\/p>\n
Those are some ideas to chew on. As always, find a qualified clubfitter to guide you through the process.<\/p>\n
Q: I saw Rory McIlroy was trying a shorter driver shaft to add control. If I did that, how much distance would I lose?<\/p>\n
You might not give up anything. In equipment, there are theoretical truths and practical ones. Theoretically, a longer shaft creates a larger swing arc, so more speed could result. Practically, most fitters say, that rarely happens.\u202f<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cWe find very few golfers actually increase their speed with a longer shaft,\u201d says Chris Marchini, director of golf experience for Golf Galaxy. \u201cIf someone has an upright swing, for example, a longer shaft can limit the extension of their arms, forcing them to manipulate the club to get it back to the ball, which actually takes away speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even when speed does increase, if a player is not making centreface contact, the benefits can get lost. This is where smash factor matters. Smash factor is the ratio of ball speed to clubhead speed. It measures the quality of the strike.<\/p>\n
A player with a 1.45 smash factor swinging 100mph generates 2mph less ball speed than a player at 98mph with a 1.5 smash factor. Better contact with less speed can yield more distance.<\/p>\n
Logically, a shorter shaft could mean better strikes for more fairways and more rollout, too. Might be worth a try.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Answers by Golf Digest equipment editors Mike Stachura, E. Michael Johnson and Jonathan Wall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Q: I\u2019ve always had a slice, so I want to try a slice-fighting driver. Any advice? First off,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,170825,755,85,171631],"class_list":{"0":"post-300186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-december-2025","11":"tag-golf","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-your-questions-anwered"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}