Tag: slice

Common Golf Swing Mistakes and How to Fix Them

On February 19, 2025

A great golf swing looks effortless but even experienced players struggle with small golf swing mistakes that throw off their shots. The good news? Most mistakes have simple fixes. With a few adjustments, you can hit the ball cleaner, straighter, and with more confidence.

Below are some of the most common golf swing mistakes and easy ways to correct them.

The Death Grip – Holding the Club Too Tight

The first golf swing mistake is gripping the club too tightly creating tension in your arms and wrists and making it harder to swing freely. Many golfers squeeze the club as if they’re holding on for dear life, thinking it gives them more control. In reality, it does the opposite.

Fix: Hold the club with a firm but relaxed grip. A good test is to grip it as if you’re holding a tube of toothpaste without squeezing any out. A lighter grip helps create a smoother, more natural swing.
Drill to Try: Before taking a shot, shake your hands to release tension. Then, grip the club with enough pressure to maintain control, but not so much that your hands feel stiff.

Poor Posture – Slouching or Standing Too Tall

Another golf swing mistake is forgetting to set your posture for your swing. If you’re hunched over, you’ll restrict your turn. If you stand too tall, you’ll lose balance and power.

Fix: Stand with a slight bend at your hips, keeping your back straight and arms hanging naturally. Think of an athletic stance, like a basketball player getting ready to move.
Drill to Try: Stand in front of a mirror, place a club across your shoulders, and practice tilting forward from your hips without bending your back. This helps you find the right posture for a powerful, balanced swing.

Over-Swinging – Trying to Crush the Ball

It’s tempting to swing as hard as possible, thinking it will send the ball farther. In reality, overswinging usually leads to off-center hits and a loss of control.

Fix: Focus on smooth rhythm instead of power. A controlled, balanced swing produces better contact and more consistent distance.
Drill to Try: Try hitting 10 shots at just 50% of your usual power. You’ll be surprised at how solid your contact feels, and over time, your full-speed swings will feel more controlled.

Slicing – The Ball Curves to the Right (for Right-Handed Golfers)

A slice is one of the most common swing issues. It happens when the clubface is open at impact, causing the ball to spin right. This often comes from a weak grip or an outside-to-inside swing path.

Fix: Strengthen your grip slightly so your lead hand (left hand for right-handed golfers) shows two or three knuckles. Also, work on swinging from inside the target line.
Drill to Try: Set up two tees just outside your ball, creating a “gate”. Practice swinging through the gate without hitting the tees. This encourages an inside-out swing path, helping to reduce your slice.

Hooking – The Ball Curves Too Much to the Left

A hook happens when the clubface is too closed at impact, usually from over-rotating your hands.

Fix: Keep your grip neutral and avoid flipping your wrists too early in the swing. Focus on keeping your hands steady through impact.
Drill to Try: Hold the club with your normal grip, but before swinging, check your knuckles. If you see too many on your lead hand, slightly weaken your grip to help keep the clubface neutral at impact.

Lifting Your Head Too Early

Many golfers peek up too soon to see where the ball is going, causing them to top the shot or miss it completely.

Fix: Keep your eyes on the ball until after contact. Let your shoulder pull your head up naturally instead of forcing it.
Drill to Try: Place a coin under the ball and focus on the coin instead of the ball itself. This keeps your head down longer and prevents early movement.

Losing Balance During the Swing

Another golf swing mistake is swaying too much or falling back after your shot which leads to inconsistent contact.

Fix: Stay centered over the ball and transfer your weight smoothly from your back foot to your front foot. Your finish should feel controlled, not off-balance.
Drill to Try: Practice swinging with your feet close together. This forces you to maintain balance and avoid excessive movement.

Mindset and Practice Habits Matter Too

Even with the best swing mechanics, inconsistency can come from rushing shots, second-guessing your technique, or overthinking. The best golfers stay relaxed and focus on one simple thought before swinging.

Fix: Before each shot, take a deep breath and pick a small target to focus on. A clear mind leads to a smoother swing.

Final Thoughts

Fixing your golf swing doesn’t mean changing everything overnight. Small, steady improvements lead to better consistency and lower scores. Work on one issue at a time, be patient, and soon you’ll start seeing results on the course.

If any of these mistakes sound familiar, pick one to focus on and practice the drills. Golf is all about small adjustments that add up over time. Keep at it, and your swing will feel more natural and reliable in no time.

About the Author:

Daniel is a passionate golf writer and enthusiast who loves helping players improve their game. He shares practical tips, drills, and expert insights at Matt Guides. When he’s not writing, you’ll find him fine-tuning his swing on the course.

Draws, Slices, Hooks, and Every Other Ball Flight But Straight Explained

By Sully

On September 25, 2017

In Basics, Golf Tips

Any golfer that’s stepped out on the tee before has likely hit a shot that didn’t travel straight. But how do you explain these less than ideal ball flights? After all, if you can’t hit the ball straight (join the club), you might as well sound intelligent talking about your struggles with the game, right? So let’s talk about the difference between a slice, a hook, and all the other ball flights people throw around on the golf course.

The ball flight of a slice for a right-handed golfer.

Slices, Fades, and Pushes

The slice. Arguably the most common mechanical problem in golf, but what exactly is it? And how do all these other words relate to this age-old problem?

Put simply, the slice is a ball trajectory which results in the ball curving towards the direction your body was facing when you addressed the ball (which is right for a right-handed golfer). Similarly, a fade follows the same general path as a slice, however, it’s not as aggressive of a curve. A push, by contrast, doesn’t involve a curved trajectory at all. This trajectory does result in the ball landing in a similar place as a slice or fade but instead of the ball curving to get there, the ball travels straight to the target at an angle.

The ball flight of a hook for a right-handed golfer.

Hooks, Draws, and Pulls

The next set of ball flights mimic the slice, fade, and push but are simply mirrored to the other side. For a right-handed golfer, these three shot trajectories all result in the ball traveling to the left, however, they do so in different ways and to different degrees. Similarly to slice, the hook is a dramatic curve to the left while a draw is a smaller curve with the same general flight path. The pull is closely related to the push and results in a straight ball flight but a landing area that is similar to a hook.

Similarly to the slice, the hook is a dramatic curve to the left. A draw travels in the same direction as a hook but curves significantly less to the side. The pull, which is closely related to the push, results in a straight ball flight at an angle but travels to the same side as the hook and draw.

So there you have it, you’re well versed in all of the different types of ball flights! But how could you possibly remember all of that? Well, luckily for you all of the above ball flights (as well as a couple extra ones) are represented in the graphic below!

The nine different ball flights represented graphically.

Now, while none of this might help us hit shots straighter, being able to explain your ball flight at least lets you communicate your struggles with your playing partners, and that’s a start, right?

Why Do Shots Curve?

By Sully

On July 11, 2017

In Golf Science

We’ve all hit a draw or a slice before in our lives, right? But if I had to guess, you were probably more worried about the result of your shot than taking a second to think about why your ball did what it did during its flight. However, this question of why is exactly the little piece of golfing science that I want to cover today.

So why do my shots curve in the air? Well, the simple answer is, spin.

Unfortunately, that’s sort of where the simplicity of it stops…

What comes after this is a whole slew of physics that explain when, why, and how much the ball curves but, for the sake of this brief article, I’ll do my best to condense it. Basically, the curvature of your shot is due to a physical principle that’s also used in commercial airplanes and baseball called, the Magnus Effect.

Let’s start with an example, the slice. As we mentioned in our article How to Cure Your Slice, fading the ball is a result of a misalignment between your swing path and the club head. This misalignment actually causes the root of our problem by producing side spin on the ball.

This is where the physics comes in. Using exactly the same fundamental principle as a pitcher in baseball does with a curve ball, the spin your club imparts on your ball actually creates a small

Pitchers use the Magnus Effect every game in order to strike out batters with quick diving curveballs.

discrepancy in the air pressure next to the ball. As you might be able to see by looking at the picture to the right, due to the spin on a curveball, the air pressure below the ball in lower than the pressure above the ball. This, in turn, causes the ball to dip and gives baseball pitchers their famous curve ball.

For our slice (assuming you’re right handed), as the ball spins clockwise off the club face a pocket of low pressure is established to the right of the ball which leads to a left to right ball trajectory.

Our troubles don’t stop with slices. The Magnus Effect works on both sides of the ball so it turns out there’s no escaping your hook either.

Not all slices are created equal, however. As you might have guessed, the amount of side spin that your swing imparts on the ball will also affect how far the ball will curve. The more side spin you put on your shot, the greater the change in pressure, the faster and (ultimately further) your ball will curve to the side. Simple as that!

So the next time you’re out on the links and you slash a ball off into the trees you can thank Gustav Magnus and his Magnus Effect for ultimately show us why nobody we know can keep our tee shots in the short grass. Thanks for joining us in class today and we’ll see you all next time!