Finding the slot

Question
How are you doing?
Thanks for your time in reading this.

I have been practicing a lot lately trying to get the fundamentals right. It is a funny thing that for the past 1 month, I have been working on the motions  of the swing, and now finally getting the swing plane right. I have worked quite hard on the posture and alignment lately. Though it is a simple thing, but I just took it for granted, resulting in poor preshot routine that neglects alignement.
However, I can't help notice also that although I am able to get shots to be accurate about 90% of the time, that I do miss shots. It is not about missing 5 yards to the left or right--it is really missing it, going more than 30 yards to any direction. I am very concerned with this, 10% means that I miss about 20 balls on the range (if I am practicing 200 balls only). If this 20 balls were to be missed when I am playing on the course, I can't imagine what kind of score I am going to get. My coach just treat those as outliers and doesn't seem to be too concerned, but I am having sleepless nights just thinking about those terrible shots that I have hit.

My coach have noticed that I tend to miss the left more often and it is due to an incorrect downswing plane. He can see that I am coming down on an outside-in downswing when I miss those shots.

I have heard about getting into the 'slot' on the downswing. What is it really about? Can it help me to solve my problems with misses? Are there any ways to at least visually "aim" the downswing to go into that 'slot'? As I am still working full time, I don't get the chance to practice thousands of balls everyday, is that the reason for my inconsistencies? (Though, in March I would have save enough to be able to play full time for about a year) Do you have any advice for me, so that at least I don't hit these horrible shots even if I miss?

With thanks,
MY Chooi


Answer
Hi MY, and good to hear from you again.  Sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to you, but I was out of the office....winter time, I take some days off now and then!

Remember the ball flight laws:  If the path of the club comes from outside to in, and the clubface is square, the ball will go left of target.  If the face is closed, you will hit a pull hook.  If the face is open, you will hit a pull slice.

With that being said, getting the club on plane on the way down to impact is important!  A great drill is to make little swings with a PW to where the club makes an "L" with your left arm.  Do this while watching yourself in a full length mirror.  This will be a 3/4 length swing.  Get to that position and look at yourself.  You should see that the butt of the club is pointing towards the ball line, and that the shaft angles slightly over your back shoulder.  This is fairly on plane.  From there, feel your lower body begin to rotate.  This will allow your arms to drop or "slot" and deliver the club to a better impact position.

You can stick a tee in the butt end of your club or buy a long, skinny dowel in the end to point towards the ball line.  Hit these little shots and get used to the feeling of the club attacking from a better angle and plane!

Let me know how it goes.  Relay this info to your coach!

Sincerely,

Rick