What Causes a Golf Slice and How to Stop It

💥 Body motion controls path — not swing thoughts.

🔄 More rotation = fade, more sway = draw.

📏 A few degrees of shoulder change can flip your ball flight.

➡️ Shifting two inches toward the target shallows the club naturally.

🧠 Feel lies — measurement shows what’s real.

🦵 Hip sway adds tilt and keeps the club behind you.

⚖️ There are no universal faults, only imbalances.

🎯 Great coaching personalizes motion, not copies tour pros.

0:00 [Music]

0:07 – So, stopping a slice with the driver — here’s a little cheat code I’ve been using with lots of golfers, and Optimot will show this clearly. I’m going to hit two shots: one where I try to slice it, and one more down the right, where a slice wouldn’t normally start.

0:25 – Two very different movements that will look different on OPTIMOTION. The first is a slice, the second a draw attempt — starting in very different directions, shaping differently. I’m using a combination of turn and shift to change club path, not trying to manipulate it directly, but through how I orient my body.

0:47 – Let’s take a look. The “slice” swing had my shoulders 49° closed, compared to 75° closed on the “non-slice” swing — measured when my lead arm was parallel to the ground in the downswing. So, much more rotation in the non-slice swing. Both are technically closed, but one is considerably more closed, which moves the club outward differently.

1:26 – From the front view, you can see how tour players move about two inches toward the target from the top of the backswing to that same point in the downswing. In my slice swing, I stay more anchored instead of shifting forward. That shift helps influence the club path.

2:08 – When I rotate, it pushes the club out — making it come from out to in, creating the slice path. To avoid that, I use sway: staying back keeps the club from getting too far in front. In the draw swing, I emphasize more lateral motion, swaying across, which drops the club naturally. I’m not “fixing” path — it happens from the body motion.

2:58 – For a draw, I delay rotation and emphasize sway. For a slice, I emphasize rotation and remove sway. Many amateurs don’t feel that their club has moved out in front, so they also don’t subconsciously sway. Measuring your actual movement is key to understanding which you’re doing.

3:33 – Hip sway keeps your turns closed longer, which keeps the club behind you and helps you swing more into-out. As the pelvis moves toward the target, it’s easier to tilt your shoulders right — both helping create the path you want. This is where OPTIMOTION is great for showing body mechanics rather than just “swing more into-out.”

4:06 – Here’s the cheat code:

• Want to fade it? Rotate hard and minimize sway.
• Want to draw it? Add sway and delay rotation.

Many students think “sway” is a fault — it’s not, if it produces the right path. It’s all about balance: if you have lots of rotation and little sway, you may need more sway. A good coach tailors this to the player rather than applying one model to everyone. OPTIMOTION and tour data help us see whether you need more or less of something.

5:04 – That’s how we use data and movement patterns to personalize improvement. [Music]