That Slice is Costing You More Than Just Strokes

Yeah, join the club. We've all been there. It's a shot that can ruin a scorecard and, frankly, a perfectly good walk.

The common belief is that a slice is the sign of a beginner, a high-handicapper's miss. But the reality is, it can creep into anyone's game. It's a stubborn, persistent fault that seems to fight every effort to fix it. But why?

The Simple Cause, The Complex "Why"

At its core, a slice is caused by one thing: at the moment of impact, your clubface is open in relation to your swing path. That's it. This glancing blow imparts sidespin, and that's what sends the ball curving wildly offline.

But knowing that doesn't really help, does it? The real question is why is the clubface open to the path? The answer is usually a chain reaction of small, seemingly unrelated things that start long before you even hit the ball. Let's break down the common culprits.

Culprit #1: The Grip

This is probably the biggest one. Most slicers have what's called a "weak" grip. This doesn't mean you're not holding it tight enough; it refers to the position of your hands on the club. In a weak grip, the hands are rotated too far to the left (for a right-hander). The 'V's formed by your thumbs and index fingers might be pointing at your chin or even your left shoulder.

Here's the thing - with a weak grip, the clubface naturally wants to be open at the top of your backswing and through impact. To get it square at the speed of a golf swing requires an incredible amount of hand and forearm manipulation. It's possible, but it's not consistent. More often than not, the face arrives open.

Culprit #2: The "Over the Top" Move

This is the classic slicer's swing. It's a move born from the desire to hit the ball hard from the very top of the backswing. Instead of letting the downswing start from the ground up (hips turning, then torso, then arms), the slicer initiates the downswing with their right shoulder and arms.

This action throws the club "over the top" of the ideal swing plane, causing it to travel from outside the target line to inside it through impact. This out-to-in path is a slice-producing machine. When you swing out-to-in, the only way to not hit a dead pull-hook is to leave the clubface open. Your brain knows this instinctively, so it creates that ugly slice to compensate.

Culprit #3: Your Setup is Fighting Your Swing

Often, golfers who slice try to fix it by aiming left. It makes sense, right? If the ball is going to curve 30 metres right, just aim 30 metres left. The problem is, this actually makes the slice worse.

When you aim your shoulders and body to the left of the target, you are pre-setting an out-to-in swing path. You've basically guaranteed you're going to cut across the ball. Your body has no choice but to follow the line of your shoulders.

Culprit #4: A Lack of Body Rotation

Good golf swings are a rotation of the body. Bad ones are a lot of arms and hands. Many slicers stop turning their body through the ball. Their hips stall, their chest faces the ball at impact, and the arms are left to flail at it.

When the body stops, the club has nowhere to go but steeply down and across the ball (hello, out-to-in path). Without body rotation providing the power and path, the hands try to save the shot, often with a weak, open-faced flick at the ball.

Starting the Fix: It's About the Feeling

Instead of a dozen technical thoughts, let's focus on a few key feelings to get you on the right track. Pick one and work on it.

• Feel a Stronger Grip: Try rotating both hands slightly to the right on the grip. You should be able to look down and see at least two, maybe three, knuckles on your left hand. The 'V's should point more towards your right shoulder. This will feel strange, like you're going to hook it, but it gives the clubface a much better chance of returning to square naturally.
• Feel Your Back to the Target: To fight the "over the top" move, a great swing thought is to feel like your back stays facing the target for as long as possible at the start of the downswing. This encourages your lower body to initiate the swing and allows the club to drop down on plane from the inside, rather than being thrown out and over.
• Feel the "Cover": As you swing through impact, feel like your chest is rotating to face the target and is "covering" the golf ball. This promotes a full body turn and stops the arms from taking over, ensuring you deliver the club with power and from the correct path.
• Practice with alignment rod gate drills: Bad habits in golf become ingrained in your swing. It is going to take some time to unravel them. A great place to start is with alignment rod drills. By giving your brain a problem - get the club through these sticks without hitting them - you will have the fastest, most satisfying "aha!" golf moment of your life.

Drills to Fix Your Slice

Watch as Golf Pro gives a lesson on fixing his slice.

The slice in more detail

What is a slice?

A slice is a shot that starts right of the target and curves further right for a right-handed golfer. It costs distance and control. We see it most with driver and mid-irons when the face is open to the path at impact.

What causes a slice?

The clubface points right of the swing path at impact. Start line follows the face; curve is face minus path. A weak grip, open shoulders at address, an out-to-in downswing, and heel-side strikes all push the pattern toward a slice. In transition the trail shoulder often moves out toward the ball, steepening the shaft and sending the clubhead left across the ball while the face lags open.

How to spot it quickly

Watch the ball flight: start right plus right curve is the signature. Divots with irons tend to point left of target. Face spray or tape often shows heel-biased strikes. On a down-the-line video, the shoulder line sits open to the toe line and the shaft is steeper coming down than it was going back.

Setup fixes that help

Build a neutral address. Set the clubface first at an intermediate spot one to two metres ahead. Then match feet, knees, hips, and shoulders parallel to that line. Move to a neutral or slightly stronger grip so the lead hand shows two to three knuckles and the trail hand supports from underneath. Keep ball position consistent so irons don’t creep too far forward. Stand close enough that the clubhead can return nearer the centre of the face, not the heel.

Swing thoughts to test

Test one feel at a time across a small bucket. First, feel the clubface “close the door” by the lead hip so it returns square without a late flip. Next, feel a “right-field path”: trail elbow points to the right pocket and the club travels slightly from the inside. If you steepen in transition, rehearse “shallow then turn”: soften the trail arm and rotate the hips so the shaft angle down matches the backswing angle at mid-down.

Common traps to avoid

Don’t chase path while leaving the face open; that turns a slice into a block. Don’t jump to an overly strong grip that slams the face shut and forces compensations. Don’t change three things at once. Measure the start line and curve after each tweak and keep what actually improves the flight.

What success looks like

Start line tight to the target with a small, predictable fall to the high side. Strike centred. With driver the launch is stable; with irons the divot points at or just right of target. That’s a playable draw or a straight ball rather than a peel to the right.