Stop Slicing Your Driver Once and for All

Finally Stop Slicing Your Driver: 3 Simple Tricks to Start Hitting Nice, High Draws Today

Are you still struggling to stop slicing your driver?

Are you one of the countless golfers who can consistently hit a solid, straight shot with your irons, only to slice the ball every time you pick up a driver?

It’s aggravating, but for what it’s worth, it’s not just you. As a golf instructor, I could easily fill my days just helping people fix their slice.

The slice is an extremely common problem for golfers, but not because it’s difficult to fix. It’s common because most golfers are working with bad information. In very recent years, we’ve learned brand new insights about the science of the slice. This new knowledge has revealed that traditional advice for fixing the slice has actually done more to hurt golfers than help them.

Not only that, the rules for helping you hit a nice, high draw on your iron don’t apply when you’re trying to stop slicing your driver.

The bottom line: With the right information, you can finally start hitting nice high draws off the tee. This skill is not at all out of your reach.

I’m about to tell you:

• What’s causing you to slice your driver
• Why you slice your driver but not your irons
• 3 keys to fix your slice once and for all

Plus, I’ll teach you a bonus drill to help you get more distance off the tee, so you can make the most of that nice, high draw.

First, a little clarity.

What Causes You to Slice Your Driver?

For the purposes of fast-tracking you from problem to solution, I’m going to keep my explanation of the slice super simple. If you’re interested in diving deeper into the science of the slice, I encourage you to check out some of our other videos and articles on the subject.

For now, I’ll just say this:

When we talk about the slice, we want to focus on two major factors that have a big influence on your ball flight. Those factors are:

1. Path: The direction in which you swing the club. The path of your club head might be traveling to the right, left, or directly at the target.
2. Face: The orientation of your club face in relation to the target. Again, your club face could be pointed to the right, left, or square to the target.

The combination of these two factors largely determines whether you’re going to slice the ball or hit a draw.

If you’re a right-handed golfer, the formula for a nice, high draw is something like this:

• Path is aimed about 4 degrees to the right of the target.
• Face is either square to the target or 1-3 degrees to the right.

If you’re like a lot of golfers, it’s your swing path that’s tripping you up. Instead of traveling to the right of the target, your path is traveling to the left at impact.

Now, you might be thinking, “But my path has great results with the iron. Why would it be different for my driver?”

Stick with me. I’m about to explain why you haven’t stopped slicing your driver even if you’re hitting great shots with your irons.

Understanding the Slice: Driver vs. Irons

This is where it gets interesting. Even if you already knew about the importance of face orientation and swing path, I’d be willing to bet what comes next is brand new information.

To understand why the exact same swing gets you different results on your driver versus your irons, start with this question:

What is the one thing people tell you to do to get maximum distance off your driver?

If you’ve ever been to a club fitting or a golf lessons, you have almost definitely been told that you want to hit up on the ball. This is the first and greatest key to driving the ball as far as possible. When you hit the ball off the tee on an ascending blow, you increase launch and decrease spin. The result is longer distance.

For your irons, on the other hand, you always want to make contact at a descending angle.

So, let’s say you’ve been following these two tips to the letter. But you use the exact same swing path for both your drivers and irons. You’re going to get different results.

I like to use a hula hoop to help my students visualize this phenomenon. The hula hoop represent the path of your swing. Now, you can’t visualize a hula hoop positioned in a perfect vertical line, perpendicular to the ground, because your golf swing moves around your body. So first, imagine that hula hoop angled to match the vertical path of your swing.

From there, you can visualize the swing path in relation to the target. This is where you can see why you slice your driver but not your iron.

A hula hoop set at a vertical angle leaning towards your body (as your natural swing path would) illustrates a natural arc that changes direction after the low point. Simply put, the descending path of the hula hoop works to the right. But after the hula hoops hits its low point (where it’s in contact with the ground), that ascending path works to the left.

You can avoid slicing with your irons, because your irons make contact on the descent, when your natural swing path is traveling to the right.

Meanwhile, your driver is catching the ball as your swing path ascends again, this time to the left.

To stop slicing your driver, you need to make some adjustments to correct your path.

3 Keys to Stop Slicing Your Driver

Once you understand why you’re still slicing your driver, you realize the problem is actually easy to fix. You just need to make a few small adjustments.

Here are 3 super simple tips for drawing the ball with your driver.

#1: Aim to the Right

I won’t say it’s impossible, but it is extremely difficult to hit a nice, high draw without deliberately aiming to the right of the target.

You don’t have to aim dramatically to the right. We’re not talking 40 yards. Just 10 or 15 yards. Think of that hula hoop and visualize a swing path aimed so your club head is still moving toward the right on the ascent.

#2: Tilt Your Spine

When you take your setup, tilt your spin back and away from the target just slightly. It might help to think of the buttons on your polo or the zipper of your pullover—tilt them back and away. This maneuver accomplishes two things:

First, it helps you hit up on the ball.

Second, that tilt facilitates a natural swing arc that works to the right.

#3: High Handle

Full disclosure: I don’t have scientific evidence to explain why this tip works. However, I do have evidence after more than 25 years of teaching golf that this technique is effective for hitting draws off the tee.

The idea is simple. Your objective is to have your handle high and a little to the right when you finish your swing. When you have this “high handle” goal in mind, your hands naturally work high and to the right. Very frequently, the result is a beautiful, high draw.

Bonus Drill for More Distance with Your Driver

Now that you know how to stop slicing your driver, let’s talk about how you can get even more distance off the tee.

Before I teach you this drill, let’s make sure we’re on the same page about ball position. When you take your driver setup, you want the ball to be forward in your stance. The ideal position is just inside your lead foot.

With this in mind, here’s a drill that will help you learn to transfer more energy into the back of the ball for more speed and distance.

Transfer Drill

1. Tee the ball and take your setup with the ball just inside the lead foot.
2. Reposition your lead foot back against your trail foot. Your feet should be side-by-side behind the ball.
3. Take your golf swing.
4. On the downswing, step forward with the lead foot, returning it to its proper position just in front of the ball.

As you do this drill, you feel how the energy of the swing motion transfers through your body, through the club head, and into the back of the ball. Keep running this drill, and you’ll start gaining more speed in your swing and better distances off the tee.

The Snapshot

This was a lot of information . . . and a lot to try to remember the next time you’re at the driving range or out on the course.

Here’s the 10-second snapshot for a quick refresher when you need it:

The key to hitting a draw off the tee is:

• A swing path traveling about 4 degrees to the right of the target.
• Your club face square or to the right of the target by 1-3 degrees.

You hit the ball on an upward angle with your driver. The swing motion you use for your irons most likely reverses to the left on the ascent. As a result, you have to be more deliberate in creating a rightward angle when using a driver.

You can do this by:

• Aiming your swing path 10-15 yards to the right of the target.
• Tilting your spine back and away from the target.
• Finishing your swing with the handle high and slightly to the right.

For more distance, try the Transfer Drill:

1. Tee the ball and take your setup with the ball just inside the lead foot.
2. Reposition your lead foot back against your trail foot.
3. Take your golf swing.
4. On the downswing, step forward with the lead foot, returning it to its proper position just in front of the ball.

Finally:

Start getting excited. You’re a few steps away from hitting high, long draws with your driver.

Was This Helpful?

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If you want to dig deeper into the science of the slice and learn how to hit a nice, high draw every single time, you can also check out my Tour Draw program.

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