Slice

What are the causes of T shots that go straight with a severe curve to the right on descent?

The slice lesson:

A slice is caused by hitting the ball with an open clubface.

"Open clubface": The face of the club can be in one of three positions at impact: Open, square, or closed. Open faces put fade/slice spin on the ball. Square faces put little sidespin on the ball. Closed faces put draw/hook spin on the ball.

The face of the club is relative to the path that the club is moving on. The path of the club is known as the swing path.

The target line is the line from your ball to your target.

In the ideal golf swing, the swing path travels down the target line at impact, with the face square to the path. Since all parts are moving towards target, we get a straight shot.

What gets confusing when talking about swing path, target line, and face angle is when people start cross-referencing everything. Folks will talk about the face angle relative to the target line, then throw in a swing path reference just for good measure.

But the succinct answer to your question, in full blown golf lingo is:

The face is open in relation to the swing path.

That causes the slice.


(Just a little OT, the initial direction of the ball is heavily influenced by the same said face angle. Swing path does a little, but FA is the main director).

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I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.