Push Slice in Golf (The Most Common Causes & Effective Fixes)
If you want to know what’s worse than a slice, ask the golfer who hits a push slice. A push slice starts out right and then goes further right; if you want to take a look at the golf course next door, the push slice is the golf shot to use.
A push slice is a mistake that leads to bogeys and double bogeys.
If you have ever hit one, you know it’s time for it to go. I’ll show you why you hit a push slice, what can be done about it, and the easiest ways to fix it.
Push Slice in Golf – Too Long, Didn’t Read
A push slice is a shot that starts right of your target line (for righties) and then proceeds to curve to the right even more. A push slice typically happens because of an issue in ball position, a reverse pivot, poor clubface control, or sliding that occurs in your swing.
To fix the push slice, you will need to improve your pivot and turn, check your setup and alignment, and ultimately learn how to gain control of the clubface through impact.
Contents
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
What Exactly is Push Slice in Golf and Why Does it Happen?
A push slice is a shot that starts right of your target line (for righties) and then proceeds to curve to the right even more.
According to the New Ball Flight Laws, the clubface at impact, in relation to the target line, determines the start direction of the ball. Likewise, the swing path, in relation to the clubface, will determine curvature.
Clubface (In relation to the target line) + Swing Path (In relation to the clubface) = Ball Flight
So, with the new ball flight laws in mind, a push slice happens because:
The clubface is open to the target line and is also open to a straight swing path.
This causes the ball to start right of the target line, in an initial straight direction, and then continue to move right due to the left-to-right spin put on the ball. That spin is caused by a clubface also open to the swing path.
The Most Common Causes of a Push Slice
Some of the most common causes of a push slice include the following:
- The ball position back too far.
- Having a reverse pivot.
- The “Spin Out” where the lower body opens too quickly on the downswing.
- Sliding on the downswing…body moving latterly too much towards the target.
- Poor clubface control at impact.
Below, I will break each of these down for you and, in the proceeding section, give you ways to eliminate these issues.
1. Ball Position Too Far Back
When your ball position is too far back, it is extremely difficult to square the clubface up in time before impact. This will leave the clubface open at the moment of truth.
In the case of a push slice, you may have the club’s path relatively square to your target line but have the face open to it. That causes the push part. The left-to-right spin comes into play with the degree to which your face is open in relation to your path.
2. The Reverse Pivot
Without question, this is one of golf’s most common swing faults. The reverse pivot happens because of poor weight transfer.
As a golfer goes back in their swing, their center mass and pressure shift into their lead side instead of the trail as it should. Because of this, the opposite happens on the downswing.
In layperson’s terms, a golfer is hanging back on their trail side when this happens. This makes it almost impossible to release the club properly through impact. The result is often a push or push slice, depending on how open the clubface is in relation to the path and target line.
3. The “Spin Out” Move
Many golfers have heard of the “Spin Out” move. This is where the lower body opens up far too quickly on the downswing. When the lower body turns aggressively like this, the club often falls behind the body and comes into the ball too much from the inside.
In this situation, the club never catches up and has no chance to release. When this happens, the face stays open, and the ball shoots to the right.
Again, as mentioned previously, the results are often a push or push slice, depending on how open the clubface is in relation to the path and target line.
4. Sliding on the Downswing
The term “sliding,” as it relates to the golf swing, is when the lower body moves too much latterly in the downswing.
Golfers that tend to push the ball or hit a push slice often move too much towards the target with their lower body on the downswing. This happens because of a lack of proper hip rotation.
5. Poor Clubface Control at Impact
When we consider the ball flight laws and the clubface’s role, we can safely say that poor clubface control leads to misdirected shots. Golfers that hit pushes and push slices will have an open clubface.
With our hands being our only connection to the club, their role and the wrist’s role are critical to having good clubface control.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
Fixes – How to Fix Push Slice in Golf
Now that we have defined some of the push slice’s leading causes let’s dive into some ways to avoid hitting it. The following fixes will help you tackle this problem shot.
1. Being Aware of Your Ball Position
Ball position influences the golf swing far more than many may think. If your ball is too far forward or too far back in your setup, it will directly impact how your body sets up to the ball. From there, your body will swing the club based on how it is set up to the ball.
If the ball is too far back, you will see shots that will start to the right of your target line. If the face of the club is square to the path, it will cause a push. If your face is open to the path, it will cause a push slice.
To work on your ball position, I suggest getting an EyeLine Golf Mirror. Not only is this great to check your ball position, but it also is great for our next area of concern, the Reverse Pivot.
2. Fixing the Reverse Pivot in Your Swing
Fixing the reverse pivot is somewhat easy, with a little effort.
First, you must understand that the golf swing is a rotational movement. As you move into your backswing, you want to rotate your lower body at roughly 45 degrees and your upper body at approximately 90 degrees.
As you do this, you want to maintain your center mass over the ball but shift your pressure into your trail foot. This is a feeling of getting “loaded up” or “coiled up.”
If you are reverse pivoting, and your center mass is moving forward as you move into your backswing, and you are not shifting your pressure into your trail side, you cannot turn properly.
Fixing the reverse pivot is more about making a better backswing, turning, and getting loaded up correctly. If you do that, you have raised the odds of moving into your lead side better on the downswing.
3. Fixing That “Spin Out” Move
I have always tried to have my students fix things by feeling what the opposite of their issues feels like. With that said, a great way to improve the dreaded “spin out” move is not to use your lower body as much.
Instead, after you quiet the lower body, you will want to swing your arms past your chest through impact, then allow your upper body to rotate through. This will help you feel the upper body and arms working more than the lower body…which is the opposite of what you do when you “spin out”.
To gain this feeling, set up in a closed stance. This will make it much harder for your lower body to rotate open. Then, focus on letting your arms extend and release past your chest.
Have a look at this video from Mark Crossfield and follow his great suggestions.
4. Learn to Turning Properly on the Downswing
As I come off the previous tip, where I talked about working on slowing down or limiting your hip rotation on the downswing, the reality is that most golfers do not rotate their hips enough. Even golfers who think they may be “spinning out” may actually not be turning enough.
Where confusion often lies is in the feeling of lateral movement vs. rotational movement of the hips in the downswing.
When I measure my student’s body movements, we often find that the hips need to open more on the downswing and through impact. Interestingly, after we find this out and start to work on their hip rotation, students often slide more in an attempt to rotate more.
The video below from coach Jonathan Yarwood shows how a simple alignment stick can help you stop sliding on the downswing excessively. In turn, it will teach you how to rotate your hips better.
Remember that sliding does not always lead to pushes and push slices, but it can for sure. Some golfers that slide or get stuck because of spinning out will flip their hands through impact and hit pulls and hooks.
5. Fix Your Push Slice with HackMotion
The direction of your golf shot is determined by the position of the clubface at impact. If the clubface is open, the ball goes right; if it’s closed, it goes left.
Remember, according to the New Ball Flight Laws, the clubface at impact, in relation to the target line, determines the start direction of the ball. In addition, the swing path, in relation to the clubface, will determine curvature.
So, with the new ball flight laws in mind, a push slice happens because: The clubface is open to the target line and is also open to a straight swing path.
Wearing the HackMotion wrist sensor can help you collect the data and information needed to fix this.
Setup to Top of Backswing Check
One of the more common mistakes that amateur golfers make is to open their clubface as soon as they take it back from the ball. This is caused by increased extension in the lead wrist.
Too much extension or cupping of your wrist angle at the top of your swing causes the clubface to be open too much.
The problem with this?
The clubface will remain open at impact.
Check to see how much extension you are adding from set up to the top by wearing your HackMotion sensor and tracking your practice sessions.
Transition
After analyzing more than 1,000,000 golf swings, we know that the best players work on squaring the clubface almost immediately after they start their downswing.
The player’s body turns and rotates through towards the target, and then the clubface can fire through at full speed.
If you start improving your pivot and rotation to help improve your push slice, but your clubface is still open, the ball is STILL going to go right.
Use HackMotion to determine where you are leaving that clubface open and extending the lead wrist more than you should be.
Impact
Finally, check on your impact position and ensure that the lead wrist is more flexed than extended. The flexed position allows you to square the clubface, compress the golf ball, and hit a straight shot.
We know that this is the position professional golfers are in when they make contact, and with the HackMotion in your hands, you can get there, too.
Summing Things Up
As Ben Hogan said, “This is a game of misses. The guy who misses the best is going to win.”
Now you have all the information you need to get out there and start working on your push slice. Until you gain control of the clubface, it’s really hard to straighten out a golf shot.
Use HackMotion to make improving your golf game all that much easier.
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