The most common reason golfers push the golf ball to the right (for a right-handed player) is an outside-in golf swing path combined with an open clubface at impact. To fix golf push slice effectively, you must focus on changing your swing path to inside-out and ensuring the clubface squares up at the moment you hit the ball.
This guide offers simple, clear steps to help you eliminate pushing the golf ball right. We will look closely at the root causes and give you practical drills to achieve a proper golf swing path and hit straighter shots. If you struggle to stop shanking golf shots or stop pushing irons off the fairway, these methods will help build better golf swing mechanics for straight shots.
Deciphering Why the Push Happens
A push shot sends the ball flying straight or slightly to the right of your target line at impact. It feels like you are throwing the club away from your body. This is a very common problem. It often happens when a golfer tries too hard to keep the club “on plane.”
The Two Main Causes
For a right-handed golfer, the ball moves right for one of two primary reasons, or usually a mix of both:
- Swing Path: The club travels outside the target line on the downswing. This is the outside-in golf swing motion. It pulls the ball right.
- Clubface Angle: The clubface is open (pointing right of the target line) when it strikes the ball. This adds more rightward movement.
When you combine an outside path with an open face, you get a big push or a push slice. If your path is outside-in, but your face is square or slightly closed to that path, you might hit a straight push. If the face is square to the target, but your path is outside-in, it is a straight push. The worst combination is an open face and an outside path—that is the big slice.
Faulty Sequence and Timing
Many golfers develop this fault because of timing issues. They often feel like they are “coming over the top.” This happens when the lower body moves too quickly. It pulls the arms out and away from the body too early. This throws the club on that nasty outside path.
If you want a golf swing flaw fix, you must fix the sequence. The lower body should initiate the downswing smoothly. The arms must drop down naturally, not fling out.
Key Areas to Adjust for a Solid Strike
Fixing this requires looking at three key parts of your swing: the takeaway, the transition, and impact position. Small changes here lead to big results downrange.
1. The Takeaway: Setting the Stage Right
How you start the swing often dictates how it ends. A bad start makes the rest harder.
Avoiding a Flat or Steep Start
- Too Flat: If the clubhead gets too far inside your hands early on, you have to lift it up later. This often leads to an over-the-top move to save the swing.
- Too Steep: If the club goes too far outside your hands, you can easily get stuck behind you. This often leads to flipping the hands to try and catch up, resulting in an open face and a push.
Simple Drill for Takeaway:
Focus on keeping the triangle formed by your arms and chest as one unit for the first few feet. Don’t let the hands take over. Feel like you rotate your body away from the ball, keeping the club tracking smoothly on the intended path.
2. The Transition: The Moment of Truth
The shift from backswing to downswing is crucial. This is where most people mess up their proper golf swing path.
The Arms Must Drop, Not Throw
When you switch directions, your instinct might be to pull hard from the top. This pulls the club outside the hands. This is the classic move that causes the push.
Instead, feel like you pause slightly at the top. Let gravity work. Feel your lower body start to shift toward the target first. This shift allows your arms to drop down inside the target line. This is key to an inside-out golf swing path.
Feeling for the Drop:
Imagine you are throwing a ball underhand under a table as you swing down. Your arms should drop down toward your trail hip area before moving toward the ball. This encourages the club to approach from the inside.
3. Impact Position: Clubface Control
Even with a great path, an open clubface will push the ball. You need to learn how to square the face or even slightly close it relative to your target line.
Rotation is Essential
Many pushers try to hold the clubface steady. They keep their hands still. This often results in the clubface being open when they impact the ball.
Instead, rotate your forearms through impact. Your left wrist (for righties) should feel like it bows slightly as you rotate your body. This action naturally squares or closes the face.
Drill to Feel Face Rotation:
Take half-swings, focusing only on squaring the clubhead. At impact, try to feel your right hand naturally move over your left hand (as if shaking hands with someone on the ground). This encourages the necessary rotation to fix golf push off the tee and with irons.
Specific Drills for Fixing the Push
To correct this persistent fault, practice specific movements that force the club onto the correct track. These drills focus heavily on path correction.
Drill 1: The Gate Drill (Path Focus)
This drill helps you feel the correct inside-out approach.
- Place two headcovers or alignment sticks slightly ahead of the ball on the ground.
- Create a narrow “gate” that the clubhead must pass through. The gate should be aimed slightly to the right of your target (for an inside path).
- If you swing outside-in, you will hit the outside stick. If you swing too far inside, you might hit the inside stick or feel extremely cramped.
- The goal is to swing smoothly through the middle of the gate. This is the best way to stop pushing irons off the fairway by ensuring a neutral to slightly in-to-out path.
Drill 2: Towel Under the Trail Armpit (Connection Drill)
This drill fixes the early throwing motion that causes the outside path.
- Tuck a small towel or glove under your right armpit (for righties). Make sure it stays there throughout the backswing and downswing.
- If you throw your hands away from your body too early, the towel will fall out immediately.
- This forces you to keep your arms connected to your chest rotation. This promotes dropping the club on a shallower angle, which is vital for correcting an outside-in golf swing.
Drill 3: The Ball Tee Drill (Face Awareness)
This drill focuses on impact dynamics, crucial for players who struggle to stop shanking golf shots because of an open face.
- Tee up a ball higher than normal for a driver or a mid-iron.
- Focus on hitting the middle or top half of the ball cleanly.
- To hit the top half without topping it, you often need to shallow the club slightly. This encourages a slightly ascending blow (for the driver) or a descending blow that is less “over the top.” It naturally encourages the hands to lead slightly, helping square the face.
Golf Swing Mechanics for Straight Shots: Path vs. Face
In modern instruction, we know that the ball flight is mostly dictated by the relationship between the club path and the clubface at impact.
| Scenario | Club Path | Clubface Angle (Relative to Path) | Resulting Ball Flight | Fix Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Push | Outside-In | Open | Push Right (or Slice) | Path (Get inside) |
| The Pull | Inside-Out | Open | Pull Left (or Hook) | Face (Square the face) |
| The Push Slice | Outside-In | Open | Big Slice Right | Path and Face |
| The Ideal Shot | Slightly Inside-Out | Square | Straight or Slight Draw | Maintenance |
To eliminate pushing the golf ball right, you need to fix the Path first. Once your path moves slightly from outside-in to neutral or slightly in-to-out, you will see instant improvement.
Correcting the Plane
The golf swing plane correction required for a push is often about getting the club to drop underneath the plane line during the transition. Think about tracing the target line with the clubhead on the way down. On an outside path, the club moves well outside this line. On an inside path, it approaches the ball from inside the line.
If you struggle with an outside-in golf swing, try feeling like you are swinging at a target slightly behind the actual golf ball (a target toward your trail foot). This simple visual trick forces the swing path to move inward.
Addressing Specific Clubs
While the fundamental mechanics are the same, applying these fixes differs slightly between woods and irons.
Fix Golf Push Off The Tee (Driver/Woods)
When hitting off the tee, golfers often swing too hard. This creates tension and speeds up the upper body rotation, leading to an out-to-in move.
- Tempo: Slow down your swing significantly. A smooth 75% swing will go further straighter than a fast, erratic 100% swing.
- Ball Position: Ensure the ball is forward enough (off the inside of your lead heel). If the ball is too far back, you are forced to hit it too early, promoting an outside swing.
- Stance: Make sure your stance is aimed slightly left of the actual target. This gives you permission to swing along that slightly inside track without feeling like you are aiming wrong. This helps build golf swing mechanics for straight shots.
Stop Pushing Irons Off The Fairway
Irons require a descending blow, but the sequence must still be right. Pushing irons usually means you are fighting a steep angle of attack combined with an outside path.
- Posture Check: Ensure you aren’t standing too upright. A slight forward bend keeps your arms dropping correctly.
- Focus on Rotation: With irons, feel your chest turning hard toward the target after impact. Do not hold off your body rotation to try and “steer” the ball straight. Good body rotation helps keep the clubface square longer.
The Mental Game: Stopping the Overcorrection
The hardest part of fixing a push is often resisting the urge to overcorrect. When a golfer sees the ball pushing right repeatedly, the brain panics.
The usual overcorrection is trying to aggressively swing from the inside. This often turns into an extreme inside path, leading to a duck hook or a major pull. This swing reversal creates inconsistency.
Trust the Drop
You must trust the feeling of dropping the club into the slot in the transition (Step 2 above). Even if it feels like you are going to hit yourself on the hip, that inside drop is often the correct feeling needed to move from an outside path to an inside path.
When practicing, use slow-motion swings or half swings. Focus 80% of your energy on feeling the correct path movement, not on where the ball goes. Success in path correction comes from feel, not results, at first.
Summary Checklist for a Straight Shot
If you are ready to apply these lessons, run through this quick checklist before every shot:
- Grip Check: Is the grip neutral? (Too strong can cause a hook; too weak can cause a push/slice).
- Takeaway Feel: Did I rotate away, keeping the club connected?
- Transition Feel: Did I feel the arms drop down instead of flying out?
- Impact Feel: Did my body rotate through, allowing the hands to turn the face over naturally?
By focusing diligently on the path—moving from outside-in to inside-out—and managing the clubface angle at impact, you can swiftly eliminate pushing the golf ball right and enjoy far more predictable, straighter ball flights. This commitment to the proper sequence is the ultimate golf swing flaw fix.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Why do I push the ball when I try to stop slicing?
A: This is a classic overcorrection. When you try hard to fix a slice (which is an outside-in path), you often swing too far from the inside. If your clubface is open relative to that extreme inside path, the ball will start left and curve sharply right (a pull-hook) or just push straight out to the right if the face is square to your body line. Focus on a neutral path, not an extreme one.
Q: How long will it take to stop shanking golf shots if they are caused by this issue?
A: Shanking often happens when the heel of the club strikes the ball, usually due to the hands being thrown outside the body or severe mishandling of the transition. Fixing the push/outside-in move often clears up shanks because the club is now approaching the ball more squarely and on a better plane. Results can be seen in a few dedicated practice sessions, but full ingrained muscle memory may take weeks.
Q: Should my path be perfectly straight at impact?
A: No. For right-handed golfers, the ideal path is often slightly inside-out (a few degrees to the right of the target). This promotes a slight draw, which is generally considered the most powerful and controllable shot shape. A perfectly straight path is hard to maintain.
Q: What if I push my driver, but my irons go straight?
A: This means you are likely having issues with aggressive speed generation on the tee box. With the driver, players tend to rush the transition to maximize distance, causing the arms to fly out (the outside-in move). With irons, you are likely hitting shorter shots with more control and better rhythm. Slow down your driver swing and focus on that smooth drop in transition. This is key to learning how to fix golf push off the tee.