Your golf grip might just be the single biggest reason you slice the ball. It’s the only connection you have to the club, acting as the steering wheel for every shot you hit. This guide will walk you through exactly how your grip contributes to a slice, how to diagnose your own hold, and the step-by-step changes you can make to start hitting straighter, more powerful shots today.
Think of your slice not as a massive swing flaw, but as a simple physics problem. A slice is caused by the clubface being open to your swing path at the moment of impact. An open face puts sidespin on the ball, causing that left-to-right banana ball flight that sends golfers home in a bad mood. While many things in the swing can cause an open face, the culprit is often much simpler: your hands are already positioned on the club in a way that encourages it.
Imagine driving a car. If you set the steering wheel even a few degrees to the right before you start, you'll have to make some awkward correction just to drive straight. It's the same with your golf grip. If your hands are on the club in what we call a “weak” position, you are presetting an open clubface. From there, you have to perform miracles in your downswing to try and square it up. Most of the time, that miracle doesn't happen. By fixing your grip, you're straightening the steering wheel before you ever start the engine.
Let's do a quick check-up. Grab a club, take your normal stance, and look down at your hands. No cheating or adjusting - just your natural hold. We're looking for the classic "weak" grip, the number one cause of a slice for amateur golfers. Be honest with yourself here, what you find might be the breakthrough you've been looking for.
A weak grip has nothing to do with grip pressure. It refers to your hands being rotated too far to the left (for a right-handed golfer) on the handle. Here's what to look for:
If you checked any of these boxes, congratulations! You've just identified the likely source of your slice. This isn't bad news, it's great news. Why? Because the grip is the easiest thing in golf to fix. You don't need phenomenal athletic ability or complex swing thoughts. You just need to know how to put your hands on the club correctly.
We’re going to build your new grip from the ground up. Again, when a golf coach says "stronger grip," we're not talking about squeezing the life out of the club. We are talking purely about hand placement - rotating your hands slightly to the right on the club to encourage a closing, or squaring, of the clubface through impact.
It's going to feel very weird at first. Your brain has years of muscle memory built around your old grip. Stick with it. The weirdness is a sign of change, and in this case, change is exactly what you need.
Your lead hand (left for righties) has the biggest say in clubface control. Getting it right is the foundation of a good grip.
Your trail hand (right for righties) shouldn't be a power source that overpowers the left. Its job is to support the lead hand and guide the club.
How you link your pinky and index fingers is largely down to personal comfort. Too many golfers get hung up on this, but the truth is, any of these are perfectly fine as long as your hands feel connected.
Experiment to see what feels most secure and comfortable for you. The goal is simply to prevent your hands from slipping or acting independently.
You can have a technically perfect grip, but if you're strangling it, you will never get rid of your slice. A "death grip" creates tension up your forearms and into your shoulders, destroying your tempo and preventing your wrists from hinging and releasing the club naturally. This blocks the natural squaring of the clubface you just worked so hard to build into your grip.
Think of it this way: on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is barely holding on and 10 is squeezing as hard as you can, your grip pressure should be a 4 or 5. A great analogy is to hold the club as you would hold a tube of toothpaste. You need enough pressure so the cap doesn't fall off, but not so much that you squeeze toothpaste everywhere. You need control, not tension.
Remember, this new grip will feel alien. Your hands are in a new position, and your brain will tell you it's wrong. You have to override that feeling with repetition.
Practice Drill 1: Living Room Reps
Keep a club handy in your living room. A few times a day, while you're watching TV or on a phone call, just pick it up and form your new grip. Check the knuckles, check the "V"s, and feel the pressure. Do this for a few minutes at a time. This builds muscle memory without the pressure of hitting a golf ball, which is the fastest way to make it permanent.
Practice Drill 2: Start Small at the Range
When you get to the range, don't immediately start trying to hit drivers. Grab a wedge or 9-iron and start with small, waist-high "9-to-3" half-swings. Your only goal is to feel your new grip in action. Because of the stronger position, you should start to see the ball fly straight, or maybe even with a slight right-to-left draw. This positive feedback shows you the new grip is working. Slowly build up to fuller swings as the feeling becomes more normal.
Resist the temptation to revert to your old grip on the course the first time you hit a bad shot. Commit to the change, and you’ll be rewarded with a straighter ball flight for years to come.
Fixing a slice doesn't have to be complicated. By understanding that your hold is the steering wheel, you can address the root cause of an open clubface. Shifting from a weak position to a stronger, more neutral grip empowers you to deliver a square clubface at impact, turning that frustrating slice into a powerful, straight shot.
Mastering your grip is a huge step, but I know it's just one piece of the puzzle you face on the course. Sometimes a slice pops up on one specific tee shot, or you just lose confidence between clubs. This is where on-demand advice can be a game-changer. With Caddie AI, you can get instant feedback and strategy for any challenge you encounter. If a stubborn hole always causes you to slice, you can get a simple plan to play it smarter. It's like having a dedicated coach in your pocket, ready to provide a solid answer so you can stand over every shot with total confidence.
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