Why Do Golfers Slice the Ball?

Nothing sours a round of golf faster than that dreaded shot: the one that starts left of your target only to curve uncontrollably to the right, landing in the trees, a bunker, or out of bounds. This unwelcome shot is the slice, and it haunts the majority of amateur golfers. This article will break down exactly what causes a slice in simple terms and give you the practical steps and drills you need to finally get rid of it.

What Exactly IS a Slice?

Before we fix it, let's make sure we're talking about the same thing. For a right-handed golfer, a slice is a golf shot where the ball curves dramatically from left to right in the air. For a left-handed golfer, it's the opposite - a severe right-to-left curve.

It’s often confused with a "push," where the ball starts right of the target and flies straight on that line, or a "fade," which is a gentle, controlled left-to-right curve that many professional players use on purpose. The slice is different. It’s uncontrolled, costs you significant distance, and often puts you in a terrible position for your next shot. If this sounds painfully familiar, you're in the right place, and please know you are not alone. This is the most common miss in all of golf.

The Two Critical Factors That Create a Slice

Ball flight might seem complicated, but it all comes down to two things happening at the moment of impact: the direction your clubface is pointing and the path your club is traveling on. Your slice is born from a specific, unfortunate combination of these two elements.

Factor 1: The Open Clubface

At the instant you strike the ball, your clubface is pointing to the right of your target line. This is what we call an “open” clubface. The angle of your clubface at impact is the single biggest influence on the initial starting direction of the golf ball.

When the face is open, it launches the ball to the right of where you want it to go. More importantly, it imparts a specific type of spin on the ball. Imagine striking a tennis ball with a glancing blow, you create spin. It's the same idea in golf. An open clubface strikes the ball with a bit of a glancing motion, which starts the dreaded sidespin.

Factor 2: The Out-to-In Swing Path

The "swing path" is the direction your club head is moving as it approaches and strikes the ball. For slicers, the path is almost always “out-to-in.” This means your club starts its downswing outside of your target line (farther away from your body) and cuts across the ball towards the inside of the target line (closer to your body).

Now, let's combine this with the open clubface. When your club swings across the ball (out-to-in) while the face is pointed right of that path, you create a powerful gyroscopic effect. This combination of a diagonal path and an open face is what creates tremendous left-to-right sidespin (for a righty). The swing path creates the curve, the open face ensures it’s a slice.

To put it simply: Your clubface is aimed right, and your club is swinging left. The ball starts left of where the face is pointing (due to the path) and then curves violently to the right because of the spin. That is the anatomy of every slice.

The Main Culprits: Finding the Root Cause of Your Slice

Okay, so we know an open face and an out-to-in path are the direct causes. But why are you swinging like that? The cause is almost always rooted in one of a few common mistakes in your setup or swing motion. Let's find your culprit.

Cause #1: The "Weak" Grip

Your grip, or "hold," is your only connection to the golf club. It is the absolute steering wheel for the clubface. One of the most common reasons for an open face at impact is a "weak" grip.

Don't think of weak as pressure, think of it as rotation. For a right-handed golfer, a weak grip is when both hands are rotated too far to the left (towards the target). A great checkpoint is to look down at your left hand at address. Can you see two knuckles on an imaginary line up towards your left shoulder? If you only see one or none, your grip is likely too weak. When you hold the club this way, your hands and wrists naturally want to return to a neutral position during the swing, which leaves the clubface wide open at impact.

The Fix: Work on achieving a more "neutral" hold. Let your arms hang naturally at your sides. The position your hands are in is the position they should be on the club. The "V" formed by your thumb and index finger on your left hand should point towards your right shoulder. The right hand "V" should parallel it. It will feel strange at first - that's a sign you're making a real change!

Cause #2: The "Over The Top" Downswing

This is the classic, quintessential move of a golfer who slices. It’s the primary cause of an out-to-in swing path. The "over-the-top" move happens when you start the downswing aggressively with your upper body - your shoulders and arms - instead of your lower body.

From the top of your backswing, your first move is to throw your right shoulder out towards the ball. This pushes the club onto a steep, outside path. Your body's instinct is to find power from the chest and arms, but in golf, this is a death-move. A proper swing sequence starts from the ground up: your hips begin to unwind first, which pulls your torso, arms, and finally the club down on the correct inside path.

Try this: Get to the top of your backswing and just pause. Feel the tension. Now, what's the first thing that wants to move? For most slicers, it’s the right shoulder lunging forward. You have to train a new feeling where the first move is a slight shift of your weight to your front foot as your hips begin to open.

Cause #3: Poor Setup and Alignment

Sometimes, the slice is set in motion before you even start your swing. Many amateur golfers, often without realizing it, align their feet and shoulders way to the left of their intended target.

With your body aimed left, your brain instinctively knows directs your arms to swing across your body to the right in an attempt to get the ball back to the target. This forces an out-to-in path. You've essentially pre-programmed a slice right from your setup and created a situation where its nearly impossible to execute a proper in-to-out swing path.

The Fix: Use an alignment aid. Place one stick on the ground a few feet in front of your toes, aimed parallel left to your target line. Place another stick on your target line, parallel ot the first stick. Your body lines (feet, knees, hips, shoulders) should be square to your body alignment aid, while your clubface aims down the target line one.

Actionable Drills to Straighten Your Ball Flight

Reading about the slice is one thing, fixing it requires reps. Here are two simple but effective drills you can do at the driving range.

Drill 1: The Headcover Path Fix

This drill is designed to cure that out-to-in, over-the-top swing path.

1. Tee up a ball as you normally would.
2. Take an empty headcover (or a rolled-up towel) and place it on the ground about a foot outside the golf ball and about a foot behind it.
3. Your goal is to hit the ball without hitting the headcover.

If you make your typical over-the-top move, you will slam right into the headcover on your downswing. This powerful, immediate feedback forces you to shallow the club and approach the ball from the inside. At first, you may even hit a few shots to the right (a push), which is actually great progress! That means you’ve fixed the path, and now you just need to work on squaring the face.

Drill 2: The Two-Tee Gate for a Square Face

This drill trains you to deliver a square clubface at impact, stopping the open face that causes the slice start.

1. Place a ball a tee.
2. Place a second tee in the ground about an inch outside the of the ball, just passed it, and aligned to the the target line.
3. Place a second tee an inch inside and also just a ahead of the ball, also aligned with the target line. Now you have a “gate” just in front of the ball that your club must pass through.
4. Take slow, three-quarter swings with the goal of hitting the ball and swinging the club head cleanly through the two-tee gate without hitting either one.

If your face is open at impact, the heel of the club will likely hit the inside tee. If it's too closed, the toe will hit the outside tee. This drill gives you precise feedback on your ability to control the clubface through the hitting zone.

Final Thoughts

The slice boils down to physics: an open clubface combining with an out-to-in swing path. The key to fixing it lies in first identifying your specific fault - be it your grip, your setup, or your over-the-top move - and then committing to drills that retrain your muscle memory. Be patient with yourself, you are unwinding a deeply ingrained habit.

Of course, identifying your swing faults on your own can be challenging. We built Caddie AI to be your personal, on-demand golf coach that can help you with this exact problem. Stuck on the range? You can describe your shot or even send a video of your swing, and get an instant analysis of what might be happening, along with personalized drills to work on. It takes the guesswork out of your practice, so you can focus on building a better, straighter swing with confidence.