February 19, 2026

How to Fix Your Slice: 5 Causes and AI-Powered Solutions

The slice is the most common miss in golf. An estimated 70% of amateur golfers fight one. The ball starts left of target (for a right-handed player), curves hard right, and lands in trouble. The frustrating part? Most golfers have been slicing for years without understanding exactly why. A slice always comes down to the clubface being open relative to the swing path at impact. But there are five distinct reasons that happens — and each one requires a different fix.

Cause 1: Open Clubface at Impact

What it looks like: The ball starts relatively on-line but curves sharply right. Your divots look normal, but the ball just won't go straight.

What's happening: At impact, the clubface is open 3-8 degrees relative to the swing path. Even 2 degrees of open face can produce a noticeable slice with a driver. Tour players deliver the face within 1 degree of their path on average.

How to fix it: Check your grip first. Rotate both hands slightly clockwise on the grip (stronger position) until you can see 2-3 knuckles on your lead hand at address. This pre-sets the face closer to square without requiring compensation during the swing.

What Yippie shows you: Yippie tracks your wrist angles through all 8 swing phases. If your lead wrist is cupped (extended) at impact rather than flat or bowed, the app flags it and shows you the exact degree of extension causing the open face.

Cause 2: Outside-In Swing Path

What it looks like: The ball starts left of your target and slices right. Your divots point left of the target line. You feel like you're "cutting across" the ball.

What's happening: Your club is approaching the ball from outside the target line and moving inward through impact. This creates left-to-right sidespin. Most outside-in paths measure 4-10 degrees out-to-in — tour players are typically 1-3 degrees in-to-out with a driver.

How to fix it: The root cause is usually starting the downswing with your shoulders instead of your hips. Focus on initiating the downswing with a lateral hip bump toward the target, then rotating. This drops the club to the inside and promotes an in-to-out path.

What Yippie shows you: The app measures your hip-to-shoulder sequence during the transition. If your shoulders fire first, Yippie identifies the sequencing error and provides drills to re-train the correct hip-first downswing pattern.

Cause 3: Weak Grip

What it looks like: You feel like you're gripping the club correctly, but the face consistently returns open no matter what you try during the swing.

What's happening: Your hands are rotated too far counterclockwise on the grip. In a weak grip, you can only see one knuckle on your lead hand at address. This position makes it mechanically difficult to square the face at impact without excessive hand manipulation.

How to fix it: Strengthen your grip by rotating both hands clockwise on the club. Your lead hand "V" (formed by thumb and index finger) should point toward your trail shoulder. This is the single fastest fix for most slicers.

What Yippie shows you: At address, Yippie captures your wrist and forearm angles. If your setup shows the lead wrist in excessive extension (indicating a weak grip position), it alerts you before you even swing.

Cause 4: Poor Alignment

What it looks like: You think you're aimed at the target, but your body is actually aligned 20-30 feet left. You subconsciously swing right to compensate, creating an outside-in path.

What's happening: Your feet, hips, and shoulders are aimed left of the target. Your brain knows the target is right, so it reroutes the swing across the ball. This is one of the most common and most overlooked causes of a slice.

How to fix it: Use alignment sticks at the range. Place one along your toe line and one along the target line. You'll likely be shocked at how far left you've been aiming. Practice hitting shots with both sticks down until parallel alignment feels natural.

What Yippie shows you: The app measures your shoulder and hip angles at address relative to your swing plane. If your shoulders are open 5+ degrees at setup, Yippie flags the alignment issue before it causes a downstream path problem.

Cause 5: Early Extension

What it looks like: You "stand up" through impact. Your hips thrust toward the ball during the downswing, and you lose your spine angle. The result is inconsistent contact — sometimes a slice, sometimes a hook, often thin shots.

What's happening: Your spine angle at address (ideally 30-35 degrees of forward tilt) isn't maintained through impact. Early extension reduces it to 15-20 degrees. This pushes your hands outward, steepens the club, and opens the face.

How to fix it: Strengthen your glutes and practice maintaining posture. A good drill: place a chair or alignment stick behind your hips at address. Your backside should stay in contact with it throughout the swing. If you lose contact during the downswing, you're early extending.

What Yippie shows you: Yippie tracks spine angle at every phase. It compares your address spine angle to your impact spine angle and flags any loss greater than 5 degrees. Tour players maintain their spine angle within 2-3 degrees from address through impact.

Stop Guessing, Start Measuring

Most golfers try to fix their slice with one generic tip from YouTube. But if your slice is caused by early extension and you're only working on your grip, you'll never fix it. The key is identifying which of these five causes is driving your miss — and that requires actual measurement.

Record a few swings, look at the data, and fix the real problem. That one change — going from guessing to measuring — is what separates golfers who improve from golfers who stay stuck.