What Causes Pushed Golf Shots?

Nothing is more maddening than that feeling of a purely struck golf shot, only to look up and see it flying dead straight - 20 yards right of your target. That’s the classic push, a shot that feels solid but delivers a frustrating result that leaves you wondering what went wrong. This guide will walk you through exactly what causes a pushed golf shot and give you a simple, step-by-step process to get your ball flying back on target.

First, Let's Define the "Pushed" Shot

Before we can fix it, we have to know exactly what we're dealing with. A push is a shot that starts right of the target line and continues flying on that same straight line, never curving back toward the flag (for a right-handed golfer). It's important not to confuse it with its ugly cousins:

• A slice starts relatively straight (or even left) and then curves aggressively to the right.
• A push-slice is the worst of both worlds. The ball starts right of the target and then curves even further right.

This article specifically tackles the straight push. The good news is that if you're hitting pushes, you're doing something right - you’re delivering a square clubface to the ball. The problem isn't the face, it’s the direction your club is traveling when it meets the ball.

The True Cause: Swing Path vs. Clubface Angle

At the center of every pushed shot is a simple relationship between your club path and your clubface angle at impact. Think of it like this:

• Club Path: The direction your clubhead is traveling (in-to-out, out-to-in, or neutral) as it strikes the ball.
• Clubface Angle: The direction the clubface is pointing (open, closed, or square) at the moment of impact.

A pushed shot is born from a specific combination: an "in-to-out" swing path combined with a clubface that is square to that path.

Imagine your target line is a set of train tracks leading straight to the flag. With a push, your swing path acts like a separate track that veers off to the right. Your clubface is perfectly lined up with this new track, not the one aimgit at the flag. So, when the club (the train) hits the ball, it sends it straight down the path it's traveling - to the right of your intended target.

So, the question isn’t "How do I stop opening my clubface?" It's "Why is my swing path traveling so far from in-to-out?" Let's look at the most common reasons.

The 4 Common Swing Faults That Cause Pushes

Most pushed shots stem from one of four main issues during your setup or swing. Go through this checklist to diagnose your own swing and find the real culprit.

1. Poor Setup and Alignment

This is probably the most common - and thankfully, the easiest - cause to fix. Oftentimes, a player thinks they are aimed straight, but their body (feet, hips, and shoulders) is actually aligned well to the right of the target. Your brain instinctively understands this, and in an effort to hit the ball toward the target, you swing the club along your body's alignment line.

The result? An in-to-out path relative to the real target line. Your body thinks it's making a straight swing, but because it was aimed right to begin with, the shot pushes.

The Fix: An Alignment Stick Check

This drill is simple but powerful. Don't just trust your eyes, they can deceive you.

1. Place an alignment stick (or a golf club) on the ground, pointing directly at your target.
2. Place a second alignment stick parallel to the first one, just inside where your feet will be.
3. Set up to the ball, making sure your feet, hips, and shoulders are all parallel to the second alignment stick.

Many golfers are shocked to find how far right they were aiming. Consistently practicing with alignment sticks builds a new visual for what "straight" actually looks and feels like.

2. Too Much Lateral Slide in the Hips

A powerful and consistent golf swing is rotational. The body unwinds around a stable spine angle. Many amateur golfers, however, in an effort to create power and shift their weight forward, create a big lateral slide with their hips toward the target instead of rotating them open.

When your hips slide too far forward, your upper body gets left behind. This forces your arms and club to drop "behind" you on the downswing, getting trapped. From this trapped position, the only way to get the club to the ball is to swing aggressively from the inside out to avoid hitting yourself. This shallow, in-to-out path is a primary cause of those frustrating push-blocks.

The Fix: Feel the Rotation

You need to replace the feeling of sliding with the feeling of turning. Try this drill:

1. Take your normal setup.
2. Place a golf bag or a chair just outside your lead hip (your left hip for a righty).
3. Make some practice swings. Your goal is to rotate your hips so that your lead hip turns back and around, away from the object. If you slide laterally, you will bump into it immediately.

This drill helps train your body to turn and clear the hips, giving your arms the space they need to swing down on a more neutral path.

3. Getting "Stuck" in the Downswing

This fault is closely related to the hip slide but focuses on swing sequence. An efficient golf swing has a specific order of operations: the lower body starts the downswing, followed by the torso, then the arms, and finally the club. This is called the kinematic sequence.

Sometimes, golfers try to generate power by firing their hips too early and too aggressively from the top. When the hips spin open rapidly before the arms have had a chance to drop down in front of the body, the arms get "stuck" or trapped behind the right hip. From here, you have no choice but to push the club out to the right to make contact.

The Fix: The Pump Drill

This drill is excellent for synchronizing your arms and body.

1. Take your normal backswing to the top.
2. Start the downswing by just letting your arms drop about halfway down while keeping your back mostly to the target. Do this once or twice, "pumping" the arms up and down.
3. On the third pump, drop the arms and then feel your body rotate through the shot.

This exaggerated feeling of starting the downswing with the arms helps get them into position *before* your hips fire aggressively, preventing them from getting trapped and forcing that in-to-out push.

4.Incorrect Ball Position

Where you place the ball in your stance has a huge impact on club path at impact. Your swing travels on an arc - it approaches the ball from the inside, squares up at the bottom of the arc, and then moves back to the inside.

If your ball position is too far back in your stance (closer to your trail foot), your club will make contact with the ball before it reaches the bottom of its arc. At this early contact point, the club is still naturally traveling on an in-to-out trajectory. Combine that with a square face, and you have a perfect recipe for a push.

The Fix: Ball Position checkpoints

• Short Irons (Wedges, 9-iron, 8-iron): The ball should be in the center of your stance. Imagine a line running from the ball up to the buttons on your shirt.
• Mid Irons (7-iron, 6-iron, 5-iron): The ball should be one or two balls forward of center.
• Fairway Woods & Driver: The ball should be positioned off the inside of your lead heel.

Filming yourself from a "down the line" angle is a great way to check if your ball position has crept too far back without you realizing it.

Final Thoughts

Fixing the push is about understanding its true cause: an in-to-out-swing path with a clubface that is square to that path. By checking your alignment, training your body to rotate instead of slide, improving your sequence, and confirming your ball position, you can correct the path and start seeing your shots fly confidently toward the pin.

We know how tough it can be to diagnose your own swing faults or feel the right movements. Modern tools can give you the feedback you need, showing you what’s really happening instead of what you think is happening. With Caddie AI, you can capture your swing on video and get instant analysis that identifies issues like your swing path or if you're getting stuck. It acts as your personal coach, helping you understand the cause of a miss-hit and providing you with simple, effective drills to work on, on or off the course.