Nothing ruins a good walk on the course faster than watching your tee shot start straight and then take a hard right turn into the trees or the next fairway. That dreaded slice doesn't just rob you of distance, it steals your confidence. This guide will walk you through the real reasons you slice your driver and give you simple, actionable steps to finally straighten it out and start hitting powerful, fairway-finding draws.
Before we can fix it, we need to understand exactly what a slice is. At its core, a slice is a ball that curves excessively from left to right for a right-handed golfer (and right to left for a lefty). This pronounced curve isn't random, it's a direct result of physics. It happens when the clubface is open relative to the path your club is swinging on at the moment of impact.
Think about putting spin on a ping-pong ball. If you hit it with the paddle's face angled to the right while your arm moves forward, the ball will spin sideways. The same exact thing happens with a golf ball.
There are two primary villains that work together to create the dreaded slice:
The good news is that both of these issues are entirely fixable. You don't need to be a tour pro to understand how. It starts with checking a few fundamentals that might have slipped without you realizing it.
Your grip is the only connection you have to the golf club. Think of it as the steering wheel of your car. If your hands are positioned incorrectly, you’re telling the clubface A - the steering wheel - exactly where to point at impact. Most chronic slicers have what instructors call a “weak” grip, and it’s one of the easiest and most impactful things to fix.
A "weak" grip doesn't refer to your hand strength. It's about the rotational position of your hands on the club. For a right-handed golfer, a weak grip means your hands are rotated too far to the left (towards the target). From this position, the clubface naturally wants to open up through the swing.
A "stronger" grip, where your hands are turned more to the right (away from the target), will help you naturally square - or even close - the clubface at impact, turning that slice into a straight shot or a draw. Here's a simple checkpoint system:
Heads Up: This new grip will feel extremely strange at first. Your brain has years of muscle memory tied to your old grip. Stick with it. Hit short, easy shots at the range to get comfortable with the feel. The initial awkwardness is a sign you're making a real change.
Quick Tip: At address, just relax your hands by your sides. Notice how your palms naturally face inward, not straight ahead. Your golf grip should feel more like this natural, relaxed hand position.
Years of slicing can mess with your instincts. Unconsciously, many slicers start aiming their body further and further left to compensate for the ball's curve to the right. While this feels like a logical workaround, it actually encourages the very swing flaw that causes the slice in the first place.
When you aim your shoulders and feet to the left, you pre-set an out-to-in swing path. Your brain knows the target is over to the right, so your first move in the downswing is to throw the club "over the top" to get it back on line. This creates a vicious cycle. Let's break it with a pre-shot routine that guarantees better alignment.
Also, don't forget your ball position. With a driver, the ball should be positioned up in your stance, just off the inside of your lead heel. This encourages you to hit the ball on the upswing, promoting better launch and helping reduce slice spin.
This is it. The signature move of almost every slicer. The "over-the-top" swing is when the downswing begins with a violent, outward throw of your hands, arms, and shoulders. Your club travels on a path that is steep and from outside the original swing plane to inside it.
To cure the slice, you must learn to “shallow” the club on the downswing, a fancy term for allowing the club to drop slightly behind you and approach the ball from the inside.
The downswing should start from the ground up, not the top down. Imagine you have a chain connecting your hips to your hands.
This is a feel-based change that requires practice. Here are two fantastic drills to groove that inside path.
Place an empty headcover (or a rolled-up towel) on the ground about a foot outside and a few inches in front of your golf ball. If you come over the top, you will smack the headcover on your downswing. The task is simple: miss the headcover. In order to do so, you have no choice but to drop the club to an inside path and swing out towards the target. It's an instant-feedback tool.
Take your normal backswing. At the very top, pause. Then, without swinging through, make two or three little "pumping" motions where you just feel your arms and the club dropping about a foot down and slightly behind you. After a couple of pumps, go ahead and complete the swing and hit the ball. This teaches your body the sequence of dropping the club into the slot before turning through.
The final piece of the puzzle is learning to "release" the club. Slicers often try to steer the ball with a tense grip, afraid of hitting it left. This tension prevents the clubhead from naturally turning over through impact, leaving the face wide open.
A true release isn't a manipulation, it’s a “letting go” of a tension. When you have a good grip and an inside-out path, you can simply allow momentum to take over. You will feel your right forearm naturally rotate over your left forearm after the ball is gone. This squares the clubface without you having to consciously think about it.
A great swing thought is to feel like you are shaking hands with your target with your right hand after impact. This encourages a full extension and natural rotation of the arms and club.
Slaying your slice isn’t about finding one secret move, it's about correcting a few core fundamentals. By fixing your grip, aligning your body correctly, and developing the feel for an inside-out swing path, you're not just putting a a temporary bandage on the problem - you are building a golf swing that produces straight, powerful shots that you can count on.
We know that it can be a real challenge to diagnose your own swing faults or to know what to do when you find yourself in a tricky spot on the course. We built Caddie AI to be your personal golf expert, so you can stop guessing and start improving. Whether it's analyzing a photo of your strange lie in the rough to recommend a shot, or providing a smart strategy for a tough tee shot, our goal is to give you clear, confident guidance right when you need it. Think of it as having a coach in your pocket, taking the uncertainty out of the game so you can just focus on hitting your best shots.
Thinking about hosting a golf tournament fundraiser is the first swing, executing it successfully is what gets the ball in the hole. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from laying the initial groundwork months in advance to watching your happy golfers tee off. We’ll cover everything from securing sponsors and setting your budget to planning the on-course fun that makes an event unforgettable.
A golf handicap does more than just give you bragging rights (or a reason to demand strokes from your friends) - it’s the game’s great equalizer and the single best way to track your improvement. This guide breaks down what a handicap is, how the supportive math behind a handicap index a is, and exactly how you can get one for yourself. We’ll look at everything from Course Rating to Adjusted Gross Score, helping you feel confident both on the course and in the clubhouse.
The compression of a Pinnacle Rush golf ball is one of its most defining features, engineered specifically to help a huge swath of golfers get more distance and enjoyment from their game. We'll break down exactly what its low compression means, who it's for, and how you can use that knowledge to shoot lower scores.
Figuring out which spikes go into your new (or old) pair of Puma golf shoes can feel like a puzzle, but it’s much simpler than you think. The key isn't the brand of the shoe, but the type of receptacle system they use. This guide will walk you through exactly how to identify your Puma's spike system, choose the perfect replacements for your game, and change them out like a pro.
The Golf Genius app is one of the best tools for managing and participating in competitive golf events, but figuring it out for the first time can feel like reading a new set of greens. This guide cuts through the confusion and shows you exactly how to use the app as a player. We’ll cover everything from logging into your tournament and entering scores to checking the live leaderboard so you can enjoy the competition without any tech headaches.
Walking onto the first tee with sweaty palms, worried you’ll be a good partner to paly wtih...or even asked back again ...We’ve all been there - trust me! The real trick of feeling confortable... is about how you handle you’re ready to plsy. THIS guide explains the simple rules of the rode to show you hnow t play golf while staying calm relaxed and focused... an having much morse fun while you,',re aat it? You'll also play with confidence a dn make fiendsa while you're at i
Just ask a question or share a photo and Caddie gives personalized guidance for every shot - anytime, anywhere.
