How to Cure a Driver Slice in Golf

Nothing sours a round of golf faster than watching your tee shot boomerang deep into the right-side trees. That monstrous driver slice is the most common and confidence-killing shot in amateur golf, but it is absolutely curable. This guide will walk you through understanding why you slice the driver, and then provide a clear, step-by-step process with actionable drills to turn that slice into a powerful draw, or at the very least, a straight ball that finds the fairway.

Understanding The Root Cause of Your Slice

Before we can fix it, we have to understand the problem. A slice is not some random, mysterious curse - it's a simple matter of physics. Your slice is caused by a combination of two main factors: an open clubface in relation to your swing path, and a swing path that moves from out-to-in.

Imagine a tennis player hitting a slice serve. They don't hit the back of the ball squarely, they cut across it. That's exactly what you're doing with your golf ball. The out-to-in (or "over-the-top") swing path, paired with a clubface that's open (pointing to the right of that path at impact), imparts sidespin on the ball. That spin is what makes it curve aggressively to the right for a right-handed golfer.

So, to cure the slice, we need to solve two problems:

• Stop the clubface from being wide open at impact.
• Get the club swinging from the inside, not cutting across from the outside.

The good news? Fixing one of these often helps fix the other. We'll start where all good golf swings begin: your setup.

Part 1: The Pre-Swing Slice Killer Checklist

Many slices are born before you even start the takeaway. If you set up for failure, your body will have no choice but to make compensations during the swing that lead to that over-the-top motion. Go through this checklist every single time you address the ball.

The Grip: Your Steering Wheel

Your grip has the single biggest influence on where the clubface points. A "weak" grip, where your hands are rotated too far to the left (for a righty), makes it almost impossible to square the clubface at impact without some heroic, last-second manipulation. It naturally wants to stay open.

To fix this, we need to adopt a neutral to slightly "stronger" grip. Here’s how:

1. Left Hand (Top Hand): Place your left hand on the club so you can clearly see at least two, maybe even two and a half, knuckles when you look down. The "V" formed by your thumb and index finger should point toward your right shoulder or even just outside of it. This rotates the hand more on top of the club.
2. Right Hand (Bottom Hand): The right hand should cover the left thumb. The "V" formed by your right thumb and index finger should also point toward your right shoulder. It should feel like your right palm is facing the target more, rather than pointing straight up at the sky.

This will feel strange at first. It will probably feel like you're going to hook the ball off the planet. Trust it. A stronger grip makes it much easier and more natural to rotate and release the clubface through impact, closing it down so it's square, not open.

Alignment: Stop Aiming for a Slice

Here’s a counterintuitive reality: most slicers intuitively aim their bodies far to the left of the target. They do this subconsciously to "play for the slice." The problem is, this act encourages the very move you're trying to fix. By aiming your shoulders left, you've made it much more likely that you'll swing the club from "outside" the target line and cut across the ball, making the slice worse.

Instead, get square. Pick a spot a few feet in front of your golf ball that is on the direct line to your actual target. Align the clubface to that intermediate spot first. Then, set your feet, hips, and shoulders so they are all parallel to that target line. Imagine you’re standing on a set of railroad tracks: the ball and clubface are on the outer rail pointing at the target, while your feet are on the inner rail, parallel to it.

Ball Position and Posture: Setting Up for an Up-Swing

With an iron, a downward strike is great. With a driver, we want to hit the ball on a slight up-swing. A proper setup promotes this.

• Ball Position: The ball should be positioned up in your stance, just off the heel of your lead foot (your left foot for a right-handed player). This gives the club time to bottom out and start swinging upwards before it reaches the ball.
• Spine Tilt: At address, feel like you tilt your spine slightly away from the target. Your right shoulder should feel lower than your left. This little tilt presets your body to swing from the inside and helps you hit up on the ball. An easy way to feel this is to set up normally and then slide your right hand down the grip until it touches the clubhead, this will naturally tilt you away from the target.

Part 2: Fixing The Swing Itself (Drills for Success)

Once your setup is solid, you can work on improving the motion. These drills are designed to retrain your swing path from out-to-in to in-to-out, giving you that powerful "inside" attack on the ball.

Drill #1: The Gate Drill

This is a classic for in-graininga new swing path. It gives you instant physical feedback if you make your old slicing motion.

1. Place your ball on its tee as normal.
2. Place a second object, like an empty water bottle or your driver's headcover, about a foot outside and slightly behind your golf ball. This creates an "outside gate."
3. Place another object, like another headcover or a towel, about a foot inside and slightly in front of your golf ball. This is your "inside gate."
4. Y Your goal is to swing the club so it passes inside the first gate (the one behind the ball) and outside the second gate (the one in front of the ball).
5. If you come over the top, you will hit the outside headcover. If you swing correctly from the inside, you'll miss the headcover easily and feel the club travel out towards the target. Start with slow, half swings and gradually build up to full speed.

Drill #2: The Step-Through Drill

This drill is fantastic for feeling the proper weight shift and body rotation that naturally produces an in-to-out path. It's almost impossible to come over the top while doing this.

1. Set up to the ball with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2. Before you start your backswing, bring your trail foot (right foot for a righty) up next to your lead foot so they are almost touching.
3. Start your backswing. As the club moves away from the ball, step back towards your normal position with your trail foot. This move forces you to load into your trail side.
4. As you start the downswing, push off that trail foot and feel yourself step through and forward with that same foot, finishing with it past the ball and walking toward the target.
5. This motion forces your hips to lead and clear, dropping the club "into the slow" and allowing it to swing from the inside out. Once you hit a few successfully this way, try to replicate that feeling of hip-driven rotation in your normal swing.

Drill #3: The Feel of the Release

A slice is also an issue of timing. The clubface isn't rotating closed through impact. To fix this, you need to feel your right forearm roll over your left forearm through the hitting area (for a righty).

1. Take your normal driver setup without a ball.
2. Make very slow, half-swings, from waist-high on the backswing to waist-high on the follow-through.
3. Explicitly focus on what your hands and arms are doing. As you swing past the point where the ball would be, consciously allow your right hand and forearm to rotate over your left. You should see the club's logo, which was facing the sky on the backswing, now facing the ground on the follow-through.
4. Do this 10-15 times in super slow motion. Then hit a few balls at 50% speed trying to replicate that feeling of release. The ball will likely go left at first! That's a great sign. It means you are successfully closing the clubface. You can then blend this feeling back into your full swing.

Final Thoughts

Curing a driver slice boils down to taming your clubface and your swing path. It starts with fixing your setup fundamentals - your grip, alignment, and posture - and then moves to retraining your swing motion with drills that encourage an in-to-out path and a proper release. It takes patience and repetition, but committing to these changes will eliminate that weak shot and add incredible power and consistency to your game.

Remembering and correctly applying all these fixes during a round can be overwhelming. This is where modern tools can be incredibly helpful. If you’re standing over a tee shot and feeling that old slice tendency creep in, our tool, Caddie AI, can give you that simple, confidence-boosting reminder you need. You can describe your situation or even ask "how do I stop slicing my driver right now?" and get immediate, personalized coaching advice to get your mind focused on the right feel for that specific shot, helping you leave the technical thoughts behind and just swing with confidence.