How to Stop Driving to the Right in Golf

Watching your drive veer off to the right is one of the most disheartening sights in golf, draining both distance and confidence. The good news is that this common miss - the dreaded slice - is entirely fixable. It's not a mystery, but a result of specific physical actions in your swing. This guide will walk you through the most common reasons your drives go right and give you clear, actionable steps and drills to straighten them out for good.

Understanding the Slice: Why Your Ball is Going Right

First, let’s get a basic handle on ball flight. For a right-handed golfer, that ugly banana-shaped curve to the right is caused by one thing: an open clubface at impact in relation to your swing path. Think of it like this: your swing path determines the initial direction the ball starts, but the angle of the clubface at the moment of collision dictates how it curves in the air. When the clubface is 'open' (pointing to the right of your swing's direction), it puts left-to-right (slicing) spin on the ball.

The vast majority of golfers a "slice" this way: They swing the club on an "out-to-in" path (the clubhead moves from outside the target line to inside it through impact), but the face is even more open to that path. This combination is a slice machine.

To fix the slice, we need to address these two core components: getting the clubface square at impact and shallowing out the swing path so it's not coming steeply from the outside. And it all begins before you even start your backswing.

The Fix Starts Before You Swing: Your Grip and Setup

Many golfers think their swing is the problem, but more often than not, the foundation laid at setup has already set them up for failure. A slice can often be traced back to a faulty grip or poor alignment.

Audit Your Grip: The Steering Wheel of Your Swing

Your hands are your only connection to the driver, making the grip the single biggest influence on the clubface. It’s the steering wheel of the golf swing. Most chronic slicers use what’s called a “weak” grip. This doesn't mean you're holding it loosely, it refers to the hand's a position on the club.

For a right-handed golfer, a weak grip typically means the left hand is rotated too far to the left (counter-clockwise), with the thumb running straight down the top of the shaft. This position makes it very difficult for the wrists to rotate naturally through impact, leaving the clubface wide open. It’s like trying to paddle a canoe with a paddle angled the wrong way - you’re just pushing water outwards.

How to Fix It: Get Neutral to Stronger

Let's build a better grip that encourages a square clubface:

• Left Hand (Top Hand): Place your left hand on the club so you can clearly see the knuckles of your index and middle fingers when you look down. The "V" formed by your thumb and index finger should point towards your right shoulder or even your right ear.
• Right Hand (Bottom Hand): The right hand should cover the left thumb. Much like the left hand, the "V" formed by your right thumb and index finger should also point up towards your right shoulder.

Warning! This new grip will feel bizarre at first. It might feel like your hands are twisted too far to the right, and you worry you’ll hook the ball left. Trust the process. This position presets your hands to naturally release the club and square the face through impact instead of having to fight to do it.

Are You Aiming Correctly? Addressing Setup Alignment

Here’s a twist: many golfers who slice actually make the problem worse with their alignment. Subconsciously, they start aiming their body farther and farther left to allow for the rightward curve. The problem is, this open alignment with their shoulders and feet promotes exactly what they’re trying to avoid: an “over the top,” out-to-in swing path.

You want your body - your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders - to be aligned parallel to your intended target line.

Drill: Two-Stick Alignment:

1. Lay an alignment stick (or a golf club) on the ground, pointing directly at your target. This represents your ball-to-target line.
2. Place a second alignment stick a few feet inside the first one, parallel to it. This is your body line. When you take your stance, the tips of your toes should be along this second stick.

This simple visual forces you to separate your target line from your body line, helping you set up square to the target instead of compensating for a slice you haven’t even hit yet.

Taming the Swing Path: The Root of the "Over-the-Top" Move

The "over-the-top" swing is the number one move that produces a slice. It describes the action where the golfer initiates the downswing with their upper body, throwing the club out and away from their body, causing the club to travel on that steep, out-to-in path we talked about earlier. To fix this, we need to focus on swing sequence and path.

The First Move: A One-Piece Takeaway

Often, the problem starts right away. Slicers tend to start the backswing by snatching the club away from the ball using only their hands and wrists. This gets the club moving too far inside and behind them too quickly, setting them up for a compensating over-the-top lunge on the way down.

Instead, your takeaway should feel like your hands, arms, shoulders, and chest all start moving back together in one motion. This creates "width" in your swing, keeping the club in front of your chest for the first few feet, which makes a proper downswing sequence infinitely easier.

Initiating the Downswing Correctly

This is where the magic happens. The transition from the backswing to the downswing iswhere most slices are born. Instead of unwinding immediately with the arms and shoulders from the top, the proper sequence starts from the ground up.

Think about throwing a baseball. You wouldn’t start by flinging your arm first. You’d shift your weight to your front foot, your hips would start to open, and only then would your chest and arm follow with incredible speed. It's the same in golf.

From the top of your backswing, the first move should be a small shift of your weight and pressure toward your front foot. Feel your lead hip begin to turn open toward the target. This small move gives the arms and club the time and space to “drop” onto a shallower, more inside path. You’re letting gravity help while your body leads the way. This prevents the right shoulder and arms from throwing the club “over the top.”

Actionable Drills to Straighten Your Drives

Understanding concepts is helpful, but ingraining the feeling is what changes your swing. Here are three straightforward drills you can perform at the driving range.

1. The Headcover Drill: Avoiding "Over the Top"

This provides instant feedback on your swing path.

• Place your driver's headcover on the ground about a foot or so outside and a few inches in front of your golf ball.
• If you make your typical “over-the-top” slicer’s swing, you will hit the headcover on the way down.
• The goal is to miss the headcover entirely. To do that, your club must approach the ball from a more inside path. Start slowly, making half-swings to get the feeling of the club dropping on that inside track before building up to a full swing.

2. The Gate Drill: Train an Inside Path

This drill helps visualize and feel the desired in-to-out swing path.

• Stick two alignment sticks in the ground (or use two headcovers) to create a "gate" for your club to swing through. Place one stick a couple of feet behind the ball and just inside the target line. Place the second one a couple feet in front of the ball and just outside the target line.
• Your goal is simple: swing the clubhead through the gate. This naturally encourages you to attack the ball from the inside and extend out towards the target.

3. The Split-Hands Drill: Feel the Sequence

This drill exaggerate the feeling proper of body-led sequencing.

• Grip the club with your hands separated by about three or four inches.
• Make slow, half-motion practice swings.
• Because of the split grip, you’ll find it’s nearly impossible to dominate the swing with your arms. It forces your bigger muscles - your torso and hips - to lead the motion. You will get a much better sense of the club "lagging" behind your body during the downswing, a fundamental feeling for power and an on-plane attack.

Final Thoughts

Fixing a slice that has haunted you for years won’t happen with a single tip. It's about systematically checking the fundamental building blocks of your pre-swing foundation and your downswing sequence. By focusing on a more neutral grip, a square setup, and ingraining a downswing that starts from the ground up, you can replace that weak slice with a powerful, straight drive.

Perfecting these changes takes focused practice, and there will be times when you need a quick sanity check to make sure you're still on the right track. That’s exactly why we built Caddie AI. Think of it as your on-demand golf coach. If you're on the range wondering why that slice came back, you can ask for a quick reminder on downswing sequencing or grip fundamentals and get a professional, simple answer in seconds. It a great tool to have in your pocket to reinforce what you're learning, clear up any confusion, and build confidence in your new, improved swing.