Tips · THE SLICE · RIGHT-HANDED · FROM ABOVE

A slice is a clubface pointing right of the path.

Name: Why a golf ball slices: the face, the path and the gap between them | Fact Caddie
Description: Two things set which way a golf ball flies: the club path, where the clubhead is moving at impact, and the face angle, where the face points. The ball starts mostly where the face points and curves away from the path, so a face open to the path curves it right: a slice for a right-handed golfer.

Two things set which way a golf ball flies: the club path, where the clubhead is moving at impact, and the face angle, where the face points. The ball starts mostly where the face points and curves away from the path, so a face open to the path curves it right: a slice for a right-handed golfer.

The one to remember

A slice: the face open to the path.

Facts and sources

Club path is the direction the clubhead is moving at impact; face angle is the direction the face points. Both are measured from the target line (TrackMan).
Face to path is the face angle minus the club path. A positive number means the face is open to the path.
The biggest influence on where the ball starts is the face angle (TrackMan).
With centred contact the ball curves toward the face and away from the path, so a face open to the path curves it right for a right-handed golfer.
TrackMan's scale: on a PGA TOUR drive with a 275-yard carry, 5 degrees of face to path is about 44 yards of curve.

Illustration: an example shot by a right-handed golfer (club path −5.0°, face angle +1.0°); the club, the ball's flight and the hole are drawn to explain, not measured.

Sources

What is Face to Path? · TrackMan (23 September 2024) checked 11 October 2026
What is Face Angle? · TrackMan (23 September 2024) checked 11 October 2026
What is Club Path? · TrackMan checked 11 October 2026

The narration is AI-generated. Sources last checked 11 October 2026.

Script

A slice is a clubface pointing right of the path. Two things decide which way a golf ball flies. The path: the direction the clubhead is moving at impact. And the face: the direction it points. Here, the path runs five degrees left of the target, out to in. The face points one degree right. So the face is six degrees open to the path. The ball starts mostly where the face points, then curves away from the path, to the right. Close the gap, and the curve goes away. Follow Fact Caddie for more.