Push Slice

A push slice is a golf shot that starts to the right of the target and then curves farther right in the air (for a right-handed golfer). It happens when the swing path points right of the target and the clubface is open to that path at impact.

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What is a push slice?

A push slice is one of the nine standard ball flights in golf, and it sits among the worst of them. The ball leaves the clubface already heading right of the target line, then sidespin bends it farther right as it flies. For a left-handed golfer, the shot mirrors itself: it starts left and curves more left.

The name describes two errors stacked inside one shot. A push is a ball that starts right of the target and then flies dead straight, never bending back toward the fairway. A slice curves hard right. Combine them, and there is no stage of the flight where the ball is moving toward the target.

That is what separates the push slice from an ordinary slice. A standard slice often starts at the target or left of it before curving away, so part of its flight is at least playable. A push slice has no such window. Golfers usually meet the term when a playing partner or a launch monitor labels a drive that finished two fairways right, and knowing what the term means makes it far easier to describe the miss to a coach.

How a push slice happens

Two impact conditions create this ball flight. Both have to be present at once.

The first is the swing path. In a push slice, the clubhead is traveling to the right of the target line at impact, a direction golfers call in-to-out. The second is the clubface, which points even farther right than the path is traveling. In coaching language, the face is open to the path.

Doppler-radar launch monitors such as TrackMan confirmed how these two factors divide the work. According to TrackMan data reported by GolfWRX, the face angle controls roughly 85 percent of the ball’s starting direction with a driver and about 75 percent with irons, while the gap between face and path creates the curve. A face pointed right of an already rightward path starts the ball right and tilts its spin axis, so the ball keeps bending away.

A few habits nudge golfers toward this combination. A weak grip (hands rotated too far toward the target on the handle) makes squaring the face difficult, and a ball positioned too far back in the stance encourages a rightward start. HackMotion, a wrist-sensor company, found after analyzing more than 1,000,000 swings that players who add wrist extension during the backswing struggle to square the clubface by impact, leaving it open.

Push slice vs. slice, push, and block

Most searches for this term come from confusion with its neighbors. The differences matter, because each of these shots has a different cause.

Shot	Start direction (right-hander)	Curve	Impact conditions
Push	Right of target	None; flies straight	Path right of target, face square to the path
Slice	At or left of target	Curves hard right	Face open to the path, usually with an out-to-in path
Push slice	Right of target	Curves farther right	Path right of target, face open to that path
Block	Right of target	Little to none	Another name for a push

Brian Mogg, one of GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers, describes a block as another word for a push: a ball that flies right of the target without any curve. A push slice adds curve on top of that rightward start.

The mirror image of a push slice is the pull hook, a shot that starts left of the target and curves farther left, as Golf Distillery’s ball flight guide illustrates. The two occupy opposite corners of the nine-flight grid.

Common misconceptions

The biggest one concerns the swing path. Because the ordinary slice is associated with an out-to-in, over-the-top swing, many golfers assume a push slice comes from the same move. It comes from the opposite. The ball can only start right of the target when the face (and usually the path) points right, and an over-the-top path points left. Instruction written before launch monitor data taught that the path alone set the start line, which is where much of the confusion took root.

A second misconception is that one fix cures the shot. It takes two. Correcting only the face turns a push slice into a straight push, since the ball still starts right of the target. Correcting only the path leaves a slice, because the open face keeps curving the ball away.

The third misconception is that the shot signals a swing beyond repair. It does not. An in-to-out path is the same path that produces a draw, a shape many golfers spend years chasing. A player who push slices is closer to a push draw than most slicers are, because the path already suits it; only the face angle needs to change.

Related Golf Terms

• Counterbalanced putter — A putter with added grip-end weight to steady the stroke.
• Stock shot — A golfer’s reliable, repeatable go-to shot shape under pressure.
• Power fade — A controlled left-to-right shot hit with full power.
• Single-length irons — An iron set where every club is built to the same length.
• Wedge set — A matched group of wedges covering different lofts and gaps.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a push and a push slice?

A push starts right of the target and flies straight, because the face is square to a rightward path. A push slice starts right and curves farther right, because the face is open to that path.

Is a push slice caused by the clubface or the swing path?

Both. The path travels right of the target, and the face points right of the path. Each error shapes a different part of the flight.

Why do push slices happen more often with a driver?

The driver has the least loft and the longest shaft in the bag, so face and path errors produce more sidespin and more curve than they would with a short iron.

Is a push slice the same as a block?

No. A block (or push) flies straight after starting right of the target. A push slice keeps curving away.

What is the opposite of a push slice?

The pull hook, which starts left of the target and curves farther left for a right-handed golfer.

Sources

• TrackMan. “6 Trackman Numbers All Amateur Golfers Should Know.”
  https://www.trackman.com/blog/golf/6-trackman-numbers-all-amateur-golfers-should-know. Accessed July 2, 2026.
• GolfWRX. “Use the New Ball Flight Laws to Understand Your Tendencies.”
  https://golfwrx.com/251459/use-the-new-ball-flight-laws-to-understand-your-tendencies/. Accessed July 2, 2026.
• HackMotion. “Push Slice in Golf (The Most Common Causes & Effective Fixes).”
  https://hackmotion.com/push-slice-in-golf/. Accessed July 2, 2026.
• GOLF.com. “The Difference Between a Block and a Slice, and How You Can Fix Them.”
  https://golf.com/instruction/difference-block-slice-top-100-roundtable/. Accessed July 2, 2026.
• Golf Distillery. “Golf Ball Flights: Illustrated Definitions & In-Depth Guide.”
  https://www.golfdistillery.com/definitions/ball-flights/. Accessed July 2, 2026.
• Hole19. “Push Slice: Golf Glossary.”
  https://www.hole19golf.com/glossary/push-slice. Accessed July 2, 2026.