Welcome to GOLF’s Top 100 Teacher roundtable, where some of the best instructors in the business answer the game’s most pressing questions. The goal? To help your game and lower your scores ASAP.
A slice might be the most frustrating miss in golf. Sometimes it seems like no matter what you do, that big, frustrating left-to-right (for righties) ball flight is inevitable, and the harder you try, the worse it gets.
While we all know what a slice is, most amateurs are surprisingly stumped when it comes to knowing what causes this unforgiving shot pattern. So we reached out to a few of the most knowledgeable teachers in the game to find out exactly what causes your slice.
Keep reading to better understand why you’re producing this frustrating miss and figure out how to fix it.
Master the side-to-side move
“Your face is open or late to the ball. Generally, the player’s path isn’t moving down enough. The grip of the club is moving out, or over the top, in transition. Most recreational players rotate too much, too early in their downswing while elite ball strikers move side to side initially in the downswing.” – Jon Tattersall
Shift the lower body, let the head drop
“There is no simple fix as the anatomy of each case is different. However, a good feel for many amateurs off the tee is to shift the lower body in transition and allow the head to drop back. This helps to improve the plane, path and attack angle.” – Jonathan Yarwood
Strengthen your grip, release the club head
“Strengthening the grip and learning to release the club head as soon as possible is an effective and quick slice-fix. Most slices are caused by the player’s path being over the top. This restricts the player from releasing the club. I tell my students to think about hitting it left, which frees their brain up to work on the path of the swing.” – Eric Johnson
Get the toe to lead the heel at impact
“A slice occurs when the clubface is open to the path at impact. So, you need to determine where the clubface is getting open in the swing. In my experience, most players open the clubface in their downswing and a slice is usually a result of the clubhead traveling on an out-to-in path as it approaches the ball. The easiest way to fix a clubface that is opening in the downswing is by attempting to close the clubface prior to impact. An effective swing cue you can use is to imagine that the toe of the club is leading the heel at impact. If that doesn’t work, think about rotating your arms through impact to produce the same result.” – Eric Alpenfels
