The slice is the most common miss in amateur golf. It affects an estimated 70% of recreational golfers and is responsible for more lost balls, penalty strokes, and frustration than any other shot pattern. If you’re reading this, you probably slice. Let’s fix that.
What Actually Causes a Slice
A slice happens when the clubface is open relative to the swing path at impact. That’s it. Every other explanation — grip, alignment, weight shift — is just a different way of arriving at that same result.
The ball starts roughly where the face is pointing and curves away from the path. So a slice (starts left of target, curves right for a right-handed golfer) means your face is pointing slightly left but your path is going even more left — creating the open face-to-path relationship that produces clockwise sidespin.
The 3 Most Common Causes
- Weak grip: If the V’s formed by your thumbs and forefingers point at your chin instead of your right shoulder, the face can’t close in time. Fix: rotate both hands clockwise until you see 2-3 knuckles on your left hand.
- Over-the-top swing path: Starting the downswing with your shoulders instead of your hips throws the club outside the target line, creating an out-to-in path. Fix: feel your hands drop straight down from the top before rotating.
- No forearm rotation: If your forearms don’t rotate through impact, the face stays open. Fix: practice the “logo down” drill — feel the logo on your glove pointing at the ground after impact.
Get a Personalized Diagnosis
Your specific slice has a specific cause. Our free Swing Fault Diagnosis Tool asks 4 questions about your ball flight and tells you the most likely cause with drills to fix it. It takes 60 seconds.
You might also want to check if your equipment is contributing: our Shaft Flex Finder can tell you if your shaft is too stiff (a common slice contributor).
When to Get a Lesson
If you’ve been slicing for more than a season, a single lesson with a qualified instructor can often fix it in one session. The slice is a well-understood pattern and most teaching pros can diagnose and correct it quickly. Find an instructor near you — it might be the best $100 you spend on golf.
Wondering if lessons are worth the investment? Our Lesson ROI Calculator does the math with your specific numbers.