Watching your drive sail helplessly to the right is one of golf’s most deflating feelings. Whether it’s a giant, looping slice or a frustrating push, the result is the same: you’re probably starting the hole from the rough, the trees, or even out of bounds. This article will walk you through the most common reasons your drive goes right and provide you with practical, step-by-step fixes to get your ball flying straight and long down the middle.
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First, Why Is Your Drive Going Right?
Before we can fix the problem, we need to understand it. That frustrating rightward shot usually comes in two forms for a right-handed golfer:
The Slice: This is the most common miss in amateur golf. The ball starts reasonably straight or even slightly left of your target before taking a sharp, banana-like curve to the right. It often flies high and lands with very little roll.
The Push: This shot starts to the right of your target and continues flying on a relatively straight line in that direction. It doesn't have the wicked curve of a slice, but it will still land you well off the fairway.
While an arsenal of swing flaws can contribute, the physics are quite simple. In almost every case, a shot that ends up right of the target is caused by an open clubface at impact. If the face is pointing right when it meets the ball, the ball will go right.
The difference between a slice and a push comes down to your swing path. If you have an "out-to-in" swing path (the club comes from outside the target line and cuts across the ball) combined with an open face, you create the sideways spin that produces a slice. If you have an "in-to-out" swing path with that same open face, you get a push. We're going to tackle all of these elements, starting with the most fundamental connection you have to the club: your hands.
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Your grip is the steering wheel for your entire golf shot. It has an enormous influence on where the clubface is pointing at impact. The most frequent grip error among golfers who slice is a "weak" grip. Don't mistake "weak" for a lack of pressure, it's about the rotational position of your hands on the club. A weak grip is when your hands are rotated too far to the left (for a righty), which makes it very difficult to square the clubface through the swing.
Let's build a straighter, more powerful grip right now.
Step 1: Get Your Lead Hand (Left Hand for Righties) Right
Take your normal stance and let your left arm hang naturally by your side. Notice how your palm isn't facing the target, but is turned slightly inward. We want to replicate this natural position on the club.
Place the club in the fingers of your left hand, primarily from the base of your pinky finger to the middle of your index finger. Holding the club in your palms kills leverage and feel.
Close your hand. As you look down at your hand, you should be able to see at least two, and maybe even three, knuckles of your left hand. If you can only see one knuckle or none, your grip is too weak.
Check the "V" formed by your thumb and index finger. This little checkpoint should be pointing somewhere between your right ear and your right shoulder. If it's pointing at your chin, your grip is likely too weak.
Step 2: Add the Trail Hand (Right Hand for Righties)
Just like with the left hand, let your right arm hang naturally to see its position. Now, bring it to the club.
The primary job of the right hand is to support the club, not to overpower the left. We want it to go on in a similar neutral orientation.
The lifeline in your right palm should fit snugly over your left thumb. Position the middle of your right palm on the side of your thumb, then wrap your fingers around.
The "V" formed by your right thumb and index finger should mirror the left, also pointing up toward your right shoulder.
You can choose an interlocking grip (pinky of right hand linked with index of left), an overlap (pinky of right hand resting on top of the gap between the left index and middle fingers), or a ten-finger grip. None is inherently better than the others, just choose what feels most comfortable and secure for you.
A Quick Warning: If you've been using a weak grip for a long time, this new grip will feel bizarre. It might feel like you're going to hook the ball a mile to the left. Stick with it. This feeling is a good sign that you are making a meaningful change. Hit short shots at the range to get accustomed to it before you start swinging with the driver.
Setting Yourself Up for a Straight Shot
Your address position programs your swing before you even take the club back. Poor setup habits are a major contributor to a rightward miss, often forcing you into subconscious compensations that produce a slice.
Try this drill: Take two alignment sticks (or two golf clubs) to the range. Place one on the ground pointing directly at your target - this is your clubface and ball-to-target line. Place the second stick parallel to the first, just inside the ball, along the line of your toes. Your feet, hips, and shoulders should all be set up parallel to this second stick. This will feel very "closed" or aimed to the right at first, but this is the correct, neutral alignment we need to build from.
Ball Position and Posture
With an iron, you might place the ball in the middle of your stance, but the driver is different.
Ball Position: The ball should be well forward in your stance. A great checkpoint is to line it up with the heel of your lead foot (your left foot for right-handers). This forward position helps you catch the ball on the upswing for optimal launch and gives your clubface more time to square up.
Posture and Tilt: Stand tall, and then bow forward from your hips, keeping your back relatively straight. Stick your backside out as a counterbalance and let your arms hang naturally downward from your shoulders. At address with a driver, you also want a subtle tilt of your spine away from the target. Feel like your right shoulder is slightly lower than your left. This tilt promotes a proper swing from the inside and a launch angle that goes up, not down.
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Fixing Your Swing Path: How to Stop Coming "Over the Top"
This is it - the main engine of the slice. The "over-the-top" swing is when you initiate the downswing with your arms and shoulders, throwing the club out and away from your body. This puts the club on a path that moves from outside the target line to inside, cutting across the ball and imparting that nasty slice spin. We need to reverse this sequence, teaching the club to approach the ball from the inside.
This provides instant feedback. Tee up your ball as usual. Then, place your driver's headcover on the ground about a foot outside of your golf ball and slightly ahead of it. If you make your old over-the-top swing, you will clobber the headcover on the way down. Your one and only goal is to hit the ball while missing the headcover. In order to do this, you must drop the club to the inside. When you can consistently miss the headcover, you are on your way to an inside swing path.
2. The Feel-Like-You're-Hitting-to-Right-Field Drill
To break a habit, you often need to feel an exaggeration of the opposite movement. Head to the range and feel like you're intentionally trying to swing the clubhead out towards right field (for a baseball fan) or a 1 o'clock direction if the target is 12 o'clock. This will feel dramatic and strange, and you might even hit some big pushes or hooks at first. That's a great sign! It means you've successfully changed your path. From there, you just need to work on learning how to release the clubface to straighten out that initial direction, which brings us to our final step.
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Changing your grip and swing path gets you 90% of the way there, but you still need to deliver a square clubface to the ball. A lot of golfers with an open clubface are trying to "steer" or "guide" the ball with their hands and arms held rigidly through impact. Great drivers don't steer, they release the club.
Releasing is the natural rotation of your forearms and hands through the impact zone. Don't think of it as a violent, forced flip of the hands. Instead, imagine you are skipping a stone or throwing a ball underhand towards the target. Your arm and hand wouldn't stay stiff, they would rotate naturally. It's the same feeling in the golf swing. As you rotate your body through the shot, allow your right arm to straighten and your right hand to rotate over your left through impact. When your hands and arms are relaxed, this happens automatically as a result of a good body turn.
Final Thoughts
Fixing a slice or a push to the right boils down to checking a few fundamental parts of your swing. By developing a neutral grip, setting up correctly, and learning to swing from the inside out while allowing the club to release, you change the very dynamics of your impact. Be patient with these changes, it takes practice to overwrite old habits.
Of course, sometimes feeling the right move in your own swing can be challenging, and personalized feedback makes all the difference. That's why we built Caddie AI. Think of it as your on-demand golf coach, available 24/7 in your pocket. If you're struggling on the range and want a specific drill for your "over-the-top" move, or you're on the course feeling stuck on a tricky shot, you can get instant, expert advice to guide you. It’s designed to take the guesswork out of your game so you can play with more confidence and start hitting those fairways.
Spencer has been playing golf since he was a kid and has spent a lifetime chasing improvement. With over a decade of experience building successful tech products, he combined his love for golf and startups to create Caddie AI - the world's best AI golf app. Giving everyone an expert level coach in your pocket, available 24/7. Caddie's mission is simple: make world-class golf advice accessible to everyone, anytime.
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