Why You Keep Slicing the Golf Ball — and 3 Simple Ways to Fix It
If your driver keeps starting left and peeling right—or starts right and goes even farther right—you’re not alone. The slice is one of the most common shots in golf, and fixing it doesn’t require rebuilding your entire swing.
Most slices come down to two things: where the clubface is pointing at impact and the direction the club is traveling relative to that face.
Translation? Your clubface and swing path aren't getting along.
Before you start changing six different things in your swing, let's focus on three simple adjustments that can help you straighten out the ball flight and make the driver a lot more fun to hit.
1. Check the Clubface first
Before changing your swing path, look at the clubface. For most golfers fighting a slice, the face is simply too open relative to the path at impact.
Start with your grip. You don't need to crank your hands halfway around the club, but you should be able to see roughly two knuckles on your lead hand when you look down at address.
Then hit a few shots at about 70% speed. Forget distance. Your only goal is to see whether you can get the ball starting straighter—or even slightly left of your normal starting line.
Stubby's rule: Don't try to fix a slice by swinging harder. The ball has never been intimidated into flying straighter.
2. Give the club somewhere to go
A lot of slices happen when the club travels too far across the ball from outside to inside. Instead of trying to force the club “inside,” give yourself a simple visual.
Pick a spot a few feet in front of the ball and slightly to the right of your target line if you're a right-handed golfer. Make a few easy swings feeling like the clubhead is traveling toward that spot after impact.
You're not trying to shove the ball to the right. You're simply exaggerating a different path so your body can feel something other than the over-the-top move it's used to making.
Stubby's rule: Feel and real are rarely the same thing in golf. If the new swing feels a little weird, congratulations—you may actually be changing something.
3. Stop trying to KILL IT!
When the driver comes out, a lot of golfers immediately try to find another 20 yards. The problem is that more speed doesn't help much if the clubface and path are already working against each other.
Hit five drives at about 70% effort. Focus on balance, center contact and finishing the swing under control. Once the ball flight starts becoming predictable, gradually add speed back in.
If you have access to a launch monitor, pay attention to club path, face angle and strike location before obsessing over ball speed. A faster bad swing is still a bad swing—it just sends the ball farther into somebody else's fairway.
Stubby's rule: Find the golf course first. Find the extra 10 yards later.
TRY THIS: THE 10-BALL SLICE RESET
The next time you're on the range, grab 10 balls and forget about hitting bombs.
Balls 1–3: Hit easy shots at about 60–70% speed. Focus only on starting the ball on your intended line.
Balls 4–6: Make the same controlled swing while feeling the club travel more toward the right side of the range after impact if you're a right-handed golfer. Lefties, reverse it.
Balls 7–9: Gradually add speed while keeping the same balanced finish and predictable ball flight.
Ball 10: Step away, go through your normal pre-shot routine and hit it like you're standing on the first tee.
Don't judge the drill by whether every shot is perfect. Look for a tighter pattern and a more predictable miss. That's progress.
Stubby's rule: The goal isn't to build a driving-range swing. It's to build one you can find when somebody is keeping score.
Better Golf, not perfect golf
You're probably not going to eliminate your slice with ten range balls—and anyone promising that probably has a training aid they'd like to sell you.
But if you understand what creates the shot, make one adjustment at a time and practice with a purpose, you can start turning that giant banana ball into a much more manageable miss.
Remember: better golf isn't about hitting perfect shots. It's about making your bad shots less bad.
Keep working on it. Keep it simple. And when golf inevitably decides to humble you again, we'll be here.
— Stubby
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