It’s not uncommon for golfers to miss the ball to the right; especially right-handed players. While it’s frustrating and can add scores to your round, the first way to remedy the problem is by identifying the issue you need to fix.
Are you slicing because of an open clubface? Are you hitting the toe or the heel of the club? Do you have bad posture and are reaching for the ball?
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For those who experience this problem, I’ve identified 10 reasons why it may be happening and offer tips to help prevent it from continuing to ruin your rounds.
1. Identify the contact point
To help find the contact point, I have a good test to try.
Place your golf ball on a low tee, putting another tee in the ground on each side of the ball.
Next, go through your swing process and hit the ball. If you miss both tees and hit the face, but the ball curves to the right, this is causing a slice.
If you hit the inside tee that’s closest to you, this means you’re likely hitting the toe of your club.
By identifying the contact point of the ball with the club, you can begin to work on why you keep pushing your shots right.
2. Slice
Assuming you’re a right-handed player, if you’re making contact on the clubface and the ball curves right, you are slicing the ball. If you are slicing the ball, this means your clubface is likely open at impact and looking toward the right.
You want to fix a slice by either improving the face, the path, or, in many cases, both.
3. Slice: Face open – grip
When a player has an open clubface, that usually means that they’re holding the club incorrectly.
While different grips may feel extreme or uncomfortable, be willing to make changes to prevent slicing your shots.
I suggest taking both of your hands and turning them more to the right, so that both thumbs are on the back side of the grip and away from the target. By turning both of your hands counter-clockwise, you will square the clubface, which will get rid of many slices.
4. Slice: Path
Another cause of a slice may be the path of the downswing.
When your swing path cuts across the ball from out to in, this will also cause the ball to slice. This swing path is often the result of a poor grip and an open face, making it a natural reaction to try to swing more to the left. Unfortunately, this often adds to the curve.
I suggest placing an alignment rod on the outside of your golf ball, which will help you avoid making contact on the downswing.
It can also be helpful to keep your lead underarm close to your chest on your backswing, which can help your upper body rotate. This gives the club an opportunity to get depth, so when your arms drop on the downswing, the club path will be more correct from the inside.
5. Toe
If you’re hitting off the toe of your club, it can be frustrating and even a bit embarrassing. Common causes for this is often an incorrect setup or a lack of balance.
6. Toe contact: Posture – spacing
Proper posture has a huge impact on center face contact. Your arms should hang straight up and down; assuming you bend from your hips correctly. If you have an excessive amount of room between your hands and your thighs, and you are too far away and reaching, it can cause poor toe contact.
Check yourself in a mirror to see when you bow and how you allow your arms to hang. What is the distance between your hands and thighs? Make notes for yourself in order to try and repeat this setup with each one of your clubs.
7. Toe contact: Stay in balance
Having good posture is an important part of your balance throughout the golf swing.
For players who lose their balance or fall or step away during the swing, you may miss the ball toward the toe of the club.
To help correct this, get into the habit of holding your finish until your golf ball lands. If you have to step to catch yourself as you complete the swing, this tells you that you need to practice and improve your balance.
I suggest taking practice swings with your feet together, which is a great way to improve balance and ball contact over time.
8. Heel (or a shank)
When the golf ball is hit on the heel of the club, most players feel the miss almost immediately. That’s because a vibration often runs up the shaft to the hands.
Contact in the heel often comes from a poor setup. But it can also occur because the arms are further away from the body on either side of the swing.
9. Heel contact: Setup – crowded
When you have a poor setup, you often make poor contact.
So what does a proper setup look like? Bend forward from the hips so that your arms can hang. This allows you to hit the center of the clubface. If you don’t bend forward properly and stand too upright, it’s really easy to hit the heel of the club.
Get a good feel for the right posture by backing away and bowing your hips, leaving a bit of space between both your hands and thighs. This is a great first step to find the center of the face.
10. Heel contact: Keep your underams close
By keeping your underarms closer to your body, it helps produce a circular motion. This prevents a player from shoving the heel of the club into the ball — which often happens if the arms move incorrectly away from the body.
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