Push-Slice
Also known as: push slice, right-right miss
A push-slice is the double-right miss. It leaves right of the flag and keeps bending right. As a result, the two errors add together rather than offsetting each other.
Two faults stack. The ball leaves right of the target line. This is because the head is travelling rightward, and then bends further right still. This is because the face is open relative to that travel. Because the start line and the curve point the same way, this is often the widest miss available — worse than either component on its own.
The root cause is almost always the face, not the delivery. Many players who produce it have genuinely fixed an over-the-top pattern by learning to come from the inside, and simply never addressed a chronically open face. The head now arrives from inside the line. This sets the ball off right. But the face is still open to that new route. As a result, the ball bends further right instead of drawing back. This is the classic next problem for anyone emerging from a slice fix.
Diagnosing it requires separating the two rather than reacting to the overall curve. Measuring delivery direction and face angle separately reveals whether the answer is grip — too weak to close anything — release, where the hands stop rotating through impact, or a deliberate hold-off to avoid a hook.
Example
A player who has just fixed an over-the-top pattern starts launching drives 15 yards right and bending them another 20 further right. The delivery improved, the face did not.
Why it matters
This particular miss tells you the delivery fix worked and the face did not follow. Treating it as "still a slice" and swinging further left only makes the delivery more extreme without narrowing the gap. A launch monitor's path and face numbers separate the two. That keeps the remaining face issue visible rather than masked by the curve.
How it shows up on video
From face on, the face sits open through impact, usually with minimal forearm rotation in the release. From down the line, the delivery looks reasonable — the fault is isolated to the face.
Common mistakes
- Assuming any rightward curve means swinging further left — if the delivery is already neutral or better, that just recreates the over-the-top pattern
- Blaming the grip without checking it. A weak lead-hand grip (hand rotated toward the target) is a common structural cause and is often the fastest fix. But golfers frequently look at swing path first.
- Holding the face open through impact out of fear of a hook, which locks the pattern in rather than solving it
In SwingVantage Motion Lab
Motion Lab does not read face angle or club path from video. So it cannot split a push-slice into its face and delivery parts. A launch monitor can. If you import your sessions, SwingVantage shows the device's path and face-to-path numbers and checks them for a slice pattern. On a face-on clip, watch whether your forearms rotate through the release.
Frequently asked questions
Is this worse than an ordinary slice?
Usually yes, in total dispersion. An ordinary slice at least starts near or left of target; this one leaves right and keeps going, so both errors compound.
Why did my slice turn into this after lessons?
It usually means the delivery fix worked. The club no longer arrives from far outside the line — while the face stayed open relative to the new route. The next step is the face, through grip, release or forearm rotation, not more work on the swing direction.
Related terms
- Club PathClub path is the horizontal direction the clubhead is moving through impact, relative to the target line, in degrees. Positive is in-to-out (a draw bias); negative is out-to-in (a fade or slice bias).
- Face AngleFace angle is where the clubface points at impact, relative to the target line, in degrees. It determines roughly 75–85% of the ball's starting direction.
- Face-to-PathFace-to-path is the difference between face angle and club path at impact. It is the single number that determines how much, and which way, the ball curves.
- SliceA slice bleeds away to the right for a right-handed golfer, costing both distance and fairway. It is the most common miss in the game, and it comes from a face pointing right of the head's direction of travel.
- PushA push flies dead straight and finishes right of where you aimed, for a right-hander. Nothing curves — the head was simply traveling rightward through impact with the face pointing the same way.
- Blocked PushA blocked push is a straight shot that starts and stays right of target, with almost no curve. The clubface matches an in-to-out path, but the whole delivery is aimed too far right.
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