BALL FLIGHT / PRACTICE GUIDE
Slice or Push? Record the Ball Flight Before Choosing a Drill
“It went right” is a result. It is not yet a useful description of the shot.
A push and a slice can finish in the same place while asking different questions about the swing. Before choosing a correction, write down where the ball starts, how it curves and where it struck the face.
Start and curve are different observations
For a right-handed player, a push starts right and stays roughly on that line. A slice curves excessively right and can begin left, on line or right. Reverse the directions for a left-handed player. A shot that starts right and bends farther right should be recorded as both.
On a reasonably centered strike, clubface direction strongly influences the start, while the face’s relationship to swing path influences curvature. Off-center contact and wind can complicate the picture. These labels help organize evidence; they are not a complete swing diagnosis.
A ten-shot check
Use one club, a clear target and a ground-level alignment reference outside the swing path. Choose a swing speed you can control. Reset before each shot rather than making rapid adjustments.
| Record | Options | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Left / on line / right | Separates initial direction from final position. |
| Curve | Left / little / right | Shows whether a straight miss is becoming a curved one. |
| Strike | Heel / center / toe / uncertain | Keeps an off-center hit from masquerading as a pure path issue. |
| Outcome | Playable / trouble | Connects range observations to scoring. |
Take a break after five balls, then hit five more with the same setup. If a launch monitor reports start direction, compare that number with your observation. Keep uncertain strikes marked uncertain.
Choose the next step from the pattern
If the ball starts right with little curve, begin by checking aim and clubface alignment. If it curves sharply, use the slice observation drill and the linked coaching lesson. If the strike is scattered, the strike-map exercise may be the more useful first task.
Make one change at a time. Five shots after a grip change, wrist change and path change will not tell you which of them mattered. If the same miss persists, the recorded pattern makes a lesson more productive than a general request to “stop going right.”
Coaching reference: Mark Blackburn’s slice lesson at Titleist explains the relationship between face, path and wrist conditions. Use the demonstration as context rather than assuming its correction matches every right miss.