How to Stop Hitting a Cut Shot in Golf

That weak, floating golf shot that veers off to the right and lands 20 yards short of your target is one of the most frustrating sights in golf. Known as a cut, it robs you of distance, kills your consistency, and leaves you aiming farther and farther left just to keep the ball in play. But it’s not a life sentence. This guide is your step-by-step plan to understand why you hit a cut and how to fix it for good, turning that power-sapping slice into a powerful, straight shot - or even a baby draw.

What Exactly is a Cut and Why Does It Happen?

Before we fix it, let’s quickly understand what we’re up against. In golf, your club path and clubface at impact determine exactly what the ball does. Think of it simply:

• Clubface at Impact: Mostly determines the ball’s starting direction.
• Club Path: Determines how the ball curves in the air.

An unwanted cut (or its bigger, uglier brother, the slice) is almost always caused by an "out-to-in" swing path. This means the clubhead is moving from outside your target line to inside your target line as it strikes the ball. When you combine this out-to-in path with a clubface that is slightly open to that path, you impart sidespin on the ball, causing it to curve from left-to-right (for a right-handed golfer). It feels like you’re swiping or wiping across the ball instead of compressing it with force.

Our entire mission is to reverse that process. We’re going to work on swinging the club from "in-to-out," which will allow you to deliver the clubhead squarely and with much more power. It might sound complicated, but we'll break it down into simple, actionable steps.

Step 1: Get Your Grip Right (The Steering Wheel)

Your hands are your only connection to the golf club, making your grip the steering wheel of your swing. If it’s not right, you’ll spend the rest of the swing fighting to compensate - and that’s an impossible battle to win long-term. Many golfers who hit a cut have a "weak" grip, which makes it incredibly difficult to square the clubface at impact.

A weak grip doesn’t mean you’re not holding on tight enough. It refers to the position of your hands on the club. Let's build a stronger, more neutral grip from scratch.

Lead Hand Check (Left hand for right-handed golfers):

When you place your left hand on the club, you should be able to look down and see at least two, and maybe two-and-a-half, knuckles of your index and middle finger. If you can only see one knuckle or none at all, your hand is too far underneath the club (weak). Another great checkpoint is the "V" formed by your thumb and index finger. This V should point towards your right shoulder.

• Rotate your left hand slightly to the right (away from the target).
• Aim to see 2 to 2.5 knuckles on your lead hand when you look down.
• Ensure the "V" is pointing at or just inside your right shoulder.

Trail Hand Check (Right hand for right-handed golfers):

Your right hand should fit comfortably on the side of the grip, almost as if you were shaking hands with it. The most common mistake is placing the right hand too much on top of the grip, which tends to force the right shoulder out and encourages an out-to-in path. The "V" formed by your right thumb and index finger should also point generally towards your right shoulder.

This will feel strange at first. Very strange. But stick with it. Hold a club with this new grip for 10 minutes a day while watching TV. The more natural it becomes, the more your club will naturally want to return to a square position at impact.

Step 2: Fix Your Setup and Alignment

Here’s a paradox many golfers find themselves in: they hit a slice, so they aim their body to the left to compensate. But in doing so, they actually worsen the out-to-in swing path that causes the slice in the first place. You are essentially pre-setting the exact motion you need to eliminate.

We need to get you aimed properly. The best way to visualize this is with railroad tracks.

Grab two alignment sticks or two golf clubs.

1. Place one stick on the ground so it points directly at your target. This is your ball-to-target line. Place your ball just inside this stick.
2. Place the second stick parallel to the first, a foot or so closer to you. This is your body line - your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders should all be parallel to this line.

Your clubface will be square to the outer track (the target line), while your body is square to the inner track. This setup makes you feel like you are aiming ever-so-slightly to the right of the target, which is the exact feeling we need to encourage an in-to-out swing path. So many lifelong slicers are amazed when they see their alignment on video for the first time, they are often aimed 20-30 yards left of their target. Fix your alignment, and you give yourself a fighting chance to fix your path.

Step 3: Correct Your Swing Path with Drills

This is where we go to battle with the over-the-top motion itself. The main cause of an out-to-in swing move is starting the downswing aggressively with the shoulders and arms, throwing the club out and away from the body. To fix it, you need a different feeling - the feeling of the club dropping down from the inside. Drills that provide instant feedback are the best way to train this new move.

Drill #1: The Headcover Drill

This is the classic, and for good reason - it works.

1. Take your normal setup.
2. Place a headcover (or a rolled-up towel) on the ground about one foot outside of your golf ball and about six inches behind it.
3. Your goal is to hit the golf ball without hitting the headcover.

If you come over the top, you will absolutely hit the headcover on your downswing. To avoid it, your body will automatically start rerouting the club on a more inside path. You’ll be forced to let your arms drop as you start the downswing, swinging back out toward the ball from the inside. Start with half-swings and build up to full motion.

Drill #2: Feel The Path (The Gate Drill)

This helps you visualize the new path even more clearly.

1. Take two headcovers or other soft objects.
2. Place one about a foot behind and inside your ball (this is the back gatepost).
3. Place the other about a foot forward and outside your ball (this is the front gatepost).
4. Your feeling should be that you are swinging the clubhead through the gate C from the inside back post to the outside front post.

Hitting balls through this gate will exaggerate the in-to-out feeling you want to develop. The ball will likely start out to the right at first - that’s okay! You’re just training the path. Once you have the path, squaring the face becomes much simpler.

Step 4: Master Your Downswing Sequence

Why do golfers get stuck coming over the top? Often, it's a sequencing problem. A good golf swing starts from the ground up on the downswing. The slicer's swing often starts from the top down.

Your first move from the top of the backswing should not be with your hands or shoulders. Instead, the first move is a quiet shifting of pressure to your lead foot, followed by the unwinding of your hips. The body is the engine in the golf swing, the arms and hands are just along for the ride.

Imagine you have rotated to the top of your swing. To start down, think about this:

• The very first sensation should be a slight “bump” of your lead hip toward the target.
• Let your lower body begin to unwind and open up.
• This motion allows the arms and club to naturally drop into a powerful "slot" behind you, ready to attack the ball from the inside.

Compare this to the typical "cut" motion, which often starts with the right shoulder spinning out towards the ball. This ground-up sequence is what gives great players their effortless power. They unwind into the ball, they don't chop down at it.

Step 5: Let It Go! Release the Club Freely

The final piece of the puzzle is learning to release the club. Years of hitting a cut can train you to "hold on" through impact, trying to steer the ball and prevent it from going too far right. This tension keeps the clubface open and stalls your body rotation.

A proper release isn’t a forced manipulation of your hands. It's the natural result of a good sequence and a tension-free swing. As your body rotates through the shot and you swing down your new inside path, allow your right arm to straighten and fire down the line, eventually rotating over your left arm after impact. The feeling is one of throwing the clubhead toward the target.

Look at your finish position. A golfer who cuts the ball often ends in a cramped, off-balance position with very little body rotation. Your new goal is to finish in a full, balanced follow-through, with your belt buckle and chest facing the target, and the club resting comfortably behind your neck. A balanced finish is a sure sign of an efficient swing.

Final Thoughts

Fixing a cut shot isn't about one secret move, it's about checking your fundamentals in a logical order. By building a better grip, correcting your alignment,Grooving an inside-out path, and trusting the proper sequence, you’re creating a swing that doesn’t have to rely on timing or compensation to hit a solid shot. Be patient, commit to the drills, and you’ll soon be replacing that dreaded cut with a powerful, penetrating ball flight.

Building these new habits on the range is the first step, but trusting them on the course, especially under pressure, is where the real change happens. That’s why we built Caddie AI. Our goal is to give you that same sense of confidence you'd get from a real coach or caddie, right in your pocket. When you're faced with a tough tee shot that tempts you back into old aiming habits, or you get a weird lie, you can get instant strategic advice on how to approach the situation. This helps take doubt out of the equation, letting you focus on making the committed, in-to-out swing you've been working so hard on.