Slice
The shot starts near your target line, then bends hard right and comes up short of the green.
Why it happens
An iron slice comes from the clubface being open relative to the swing path at impact. With irons specifically, an overly steep, out-to-in path is an especially common contributor, since it adds even more of a left-to-right cutting action on top of the open face.
Possible causes in your swing, and how to fix each one
Tap any cause to see its fix. Work through them one at a time, usually one or two are the real culprit.
01
Grip too weak
If your left hand is rotated too far toward the target on the handle, the clubface naturally wants to stay open through impact, no matter how good the rest of the swing is.
Rotate your left hand so you can see 2–3 knuckles when you look down at address. To groove it, grip the club with just your left hand's index finger and thumb first, feeling it settle into the base of your fingers rather than your palm, then add the rest of your fingers without letting it slide. This is the single highest-leverage fix for a chronic slice.
02
Swinging out-to-in across the ball (over the top)
When the shoulders and arms start the downswing before the lower body, the club gets thrown outside the ideal plane and cuts across the ball from outside the target line to the inside, adding left-to-right sidespin on top of any open face. It's the classic "over the top" move.
Feel like you're shallowing the club: let your hands drop straight down toward your right hip right after the top of the backswing, while your shoulders hold off turning for a beat. That delay gives the lower body time to lead and the club room to fall onto the correct path, instead of your arms throwing it out toward the ball immediately.
03
Ball position too far forward for the club
Playing the ball too far forward for the club, closer to where you'd position it for a driver, means the club is already moving toward the left of target by the time it arrives, which encourages the out-to-in path.
Move the ball back toward the center of your stance as the club gets shorter, only playing it as far forward as your left heel for the driver. Lay a second alignment stick on the ground, perpendicular to your target line, at the correct spot for whichever club you're hitting, and set up to it before every range ball until the position stops feeling unfamiliar.
04
Casting
Releasing the wrist hinge too early in the downswing (before the club reaches the ball) steepens the path and tends to leave the face open.
Practice a pause-at-the-top drill, feeling the wrist angle held a beat longer before swinging down, to build a sense of lag.
05
Aiming the body open to compensate
Golfers who slice often start aiming further toward the left to "allow for" the curve, which paradoxically steepens the path even more and can make the slice worse.
Aim square to your actual target and work on fixing the face/path relationship directly, rather than aiming around the miss.
Recommended video
HOW TO FIX YOUR SLICE WITH YOUR IRONS
Chris Ryan Golf
How do you compare to the pros?
Greens in regulation
A Slice is one of the main reasons an approach shot misses the green instead of hitting it in regulation.
Sources: PGA Tour greens in regulation stats (season average, about 65 to 68%); Break X Golf amateur data aggregate, 15-handicap band (about 26%).
When to stop self-diagnosing
If you've genuinely worked through two or three of these causes over several range sessions and the miss keeps showing up, that's not a failure since it usually means the real cause is something you can't feel or see in your own swing. A single 30-minute lesson with a certified instructor, who can watch you hit balls, will find it faster than any website. Bring this page along and tell them what you've already ruled out; it'll save you both time.