Hitting a slice off the tee is a very destructive shot. In this article we will review the best drivers for slicers. We’ll also explain the key features you need to look out for when buying an anti-slice driver.

A new driver on its own may not completely cure your slice, but the correct driver sure will keep your shots far straighter and on the fairway. As a golf pro, I have taught many golfers who do not have the right equipment for their golf swing – hopefully this article will help you avoid such mistakes.

If you’d like to know the background detail on what causes a slice, why you should opt for an offset or heel weighted Driver and much more, click this link and jump to the extended FAQ. Below we will jump into a review of the best Drivers for slicers.

Best drivers for a slice in 2020 reviewed

Here, you’ll find in-depth reviews of the most up to date drivers to help with your slice.

We featured a few TaylorMade drivers in this round-up. Why, because they have been they have been on top of the pack for driver innovation over the past 5 years. The TaylorMade SIM Max D is their latest tech for a slicer looking for more control and distance off the tee.

The SIM Max drivers all feature an elongated bar along the sole, which helps push the centre of gravity low down and away from the face, making this driver very forgiving.

This driver also has a new face design which reduces side-spin for off-centre strikes and maximises ball speed. Resulting in long, straight drives even when you don’t hit the centre of the face.

The SIM Max D has two extra features that set it apart from the standard SIM max that help fix a slice. First, the head has been engineered with internal weights placed in the heel. This shifts the centre of mass towards the heel and will help the club face square up as you swing into impact.

Secondly, the club head has a square / open top line. Which means when you aim the club head to your target, the face will be a little closed. This is a small design tweak, but will really help golfers who fight a slice and do not want an offset driver.

Where the SIM Max D gets really fun is in its customisation. With TaylorMade’s loft sleeve technology you can adjust this driver from its standard loft and face angle to be up to 4º more open or closed, and adjust the loft up or down by 2º.

That is quite staggering and offers you a great driver which will help your slice today and can be adjusted over time as you develop as a golfer.

I normally suggest golfers with slice grab a 12º driver and sacrifice a little distance. However, with the SIM Max D’s great adjustability you can grab a 10.5º driver and adjust the loft and face angle to best suit your game.

If you’re out for the best anti slice and you just don’t care about any other factor, then the Cobra F-Max Driver with an offset is a great choice. It isn’t as customisable or as pretty as the TaylorMade SIM Max, but boy is it kitted out to reduce a slice.

As you will see in our extended FAQ, it has every feature needed for a Driver to reduce a slice. The Cobra F-Max Driver comes in offset or non-offset. We highly recommend the offset option if you have a slice. I won’t lie – it is not the prettiest Driver, or the best sounding Driver you will hit, however it is the most effective and best anti-slice Driver out there.

The F-Max also has additional mass in the heel of the Driver head, this will help square the club face as you approach impact.

The lighter shaft and slighter higher torque will reduce your slice, but also allow you to generate a slightly higher club head speed and longer drives off the tee.

The Cobra F-Max Driver comes in 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5-degree options. If you want the best Driver for a slice I would suggest you opt for the 11.5-degree set up. This will only launch the ball 1-degree higher than the 10.5 option, but the additional backspin will minimise the effect of any slice-spin during the golf ball’s flight.

The Ping G410 SFT (straight flight technology) is Ping’s latest tool for golfers who want to fix a slice. The Ping G410 SFT has 50% more heel-side weight than the previous G410 version. This additional weight will really speed up how quickly the face will close into impact creating a draw bias and help you hit straighter drives.

The head also sits 2º closed at setup, although this is hardly noticeable when looking down at the club head thanks to the clever visual design. That 2º of additional angle will be invaluable for reducing your slice. We’re talking 8 – 16 yards less fade depending on your driving distance compared to a square club face at set up.

The Ping G410 SFT allows for further customisation with their hosel sleeve trajectory tuning. With this driver you can adjust the loft ± 1.5º from the standard loft you choose, making this a great option if you’re looking for an anti-slice driver that offers you varying trajectories.

All of this anti-slice tech is wrapped up in a 455cc club head with the thinnest face Ping have produced in a driver. The large head size ensures great forgiveness and the thin face aims to maximise ball speed off the face.

Callaway’s newest anti-slice driver comes in the form of the Mavrik Max. To confuse things Callaway offer the ‘Mavrik’, ‘Mavrik Sub-Zero’ and the ‘Mavrik Max’. All three offer high levels of distance, and great forgiveness for off-centre hits.

However, the Mavrik Max has additional heel weighting (draw bias) to help rotate the face into impact, and reduce that dreaded slice. It also has a slight tweak to the lie angle, again, helping the face square up and encouraging a draw.

The Mavrik Max comes with interchangeable tungsten weights which allows to adapt the weighting to create a ‘draw bias’ or ‘max draw’. This feature gives you the option to adapt the amount of draw-bias over time, if you are looking to reduce your slice with coaching and want a driver that will develop with you.

In our opinion the Mavrik driver doesn’t quite offer the same anti-slice benefits as the F-Max Offset Driver, however it offers a great option for the golfer with a small, but stubborn slice who wants a great looking, forgiving driver.

If you’re really looking for control, order direct from Callaway with their standard shaft, but select 1/2″ shorter than standard shaft length and a 10.5º or 12º loft. I’ve found the slightly shorter shaft really improves striking consistently in most golfers.

If you want to reduce your slice but you really can’t stand an offset Driver, then we recommend the TaylorMade M6 D. The ‘D’ stands for draw bias and it does live up to its name.

This Driver is ideal if you slice the golf ball. Its key features are – more weight in the heel of the golf club and a shaft flex that encourages forward tip flex at impact. The carbon fibre crown comes at a cost, but this additional expenditure does allow TaylorMade to optimise the club head mass to help reduce a slice.

Many Drivers offer similar technology but the TaylorMade M6 D does a great job on miss-hit shots, due to their twist-face technology. This is particularly useful if you are a slicer who also strikes your Driver out of the heel of the golf club. You will find the twist-face technology, coupled with the additional mass in the heel, leads to longer and straighter drives compared to other Drivers on the market.

Later in this article we cover the benefits of shaft flex for a golfer who slice the ball. The short message is to go for a regular of senior flex shaft unless your Driver club head speed is above 100mph. The extra shaft flex will really help you square the face at impact.

The TaylorMade M6 D is available in 9.5, 10.5 and 12-degrees of loft. Although many slicers want to hit the ball lower, remember the additional loft provides backspin that will reduce the amount a golf ball slices through the air.

I would recommend a 10.5 to 12-degree set-up, depending on your current ball flight and severity of your slice. 12-degrees of loft may lose you 5-7 yards, but wouldn’t you prefer to be 5-7 yards further back, but in the fairway?

Next in our our best drivers for slice review is the Cleveland Golf Launcher Turbo Draw Driver. If you’re a fan of previous Cleveland drivers you will love this club. The clue is in the name – this club will launch your drives high, with less backspin, leading to longer shots.

Cleveland have gone against the mass-market and not wasted a gram of mass on making this driver adjustable. Instead, they’ve created the Cleveland Launcher with the aim of maxing out forgiveness and distance, the Cleveland Golf Launcher Turbo Draw provides all the benefits of the standard model, but with a face that sits 1.5º closed, which will provide a real benefit for golfers with a slice.

This driver doesn’t ooze tech to reduce a slice, but will help if you if have a 5-10 yard slice and want a driver that hits it high and long.

So, I’ve kept the TaylorMade M4 D in here. Why? Well, it isn’t that far behind the M6 D. It doesn’t have the fancy carbon fibre crown, but it still has a large sweet spot and you can grab one for a much lower price than the M6 version.

This Driver is ideal if you slice the golf ball. The specific tech reasons are explained below by Andrew in this great video. But if you haven’t got 10 minutes, its key features are – more weight in the heel of the golf club and a shaft flex that encourages forward tip flex at impact.

Along with it’s draw bias this Driver has twist-face technology, which is a fancy term for saying it’s very good for off-centre strikes.

Many Drivers offer similar technology but the TaylorMade M4 D can really help with miss-hit shots. As I’ve said, the twist-face technology really is particularly useful if you are a slicer who also strikes your Driver out of the heel of the golf club. Again, you’ll find the twist-face technology, coupled with the additional mass in the heel, leads to longer and straighter drives compared to other Drivers on the market.

The TaylorMade M4 D is available in 9.5, 10.5 and 12-degrees of loft. Although many slicers want to hit the ball lower, remember the additional loft provides backspin that will reduce the amount a golf ball slices through the air.

I would recommend a 10.5 to 12-degree set-up, depending on your current ball flight and severity of your slice. 12-degrees of loft may lose you 5-7 yards, but I’ll ask again – wouldn’t you prefer to be 5-7 yards further back, but in the fairway?

What is a slice?

In golf coaching terms, a slice is a shot that starts left of your target, curves right through the air and finishes right of your intended target. The image below shows the type of shot we are talking about for left-handed (left image) and right-handed (right image) golfers.

Types of slice golf shots that you may experience. For LH and RH golfers.

Strictly speaking, a slice would be the blue line shown in each image above. However, if you struggle with a slice you may also have shots that start right and slice even further right (the yellow arrows). This is called a push-slice.

What causes a slice?

The cause of a slice is commonly misunderstood by amateur golfers. The reason I started this website was because I came across a magazine article (I shan’t name any names) suggesting a slice is caused by an out-to-in swing path. This isn’t strictly true and it could mean that many golfers do not get rid of their slice. Read the description below to understand the real cause of a slice:

Golf Insider explanation: Many golfers incorrectly assume a slice is caused by an out-to-in swing path. This is not precisely true. The ball curves through the air due to side-spin (or a non-linear torque vector, you can think of this as a combination of side-spin and backspin). This side-spin is imparted on to the golf ball when the ball is struck with a club face that is not square to the swing path. An open club face, relative to the swing path, is the real cause of a slice in golf.

So the real cause of a slice is side-spin. This side-spin is increased as the club face becomes more open to the swing path through impact.

If you have an out-to-in swing path, and your face stays square to your swing path you will hit the ball straight left – no curve.

Check out this post for more details on how to fix a slice.

What part of my golf swing creates a slice?

As we discussed above, your open club face at impact is your main nemesis. That being said, you will most likely also have to refine your swing path at some point. Click on this link to read a case study on how to fix a slice.

A key factor is ensuring you have a proper golf grip. For more specifics on golf swing principles that affect your face angle, check out this linked post.

Why do I slice my Driver but not my irons?

Most amateur golfers are fooled by this illusion, with many players thinking that they make a different golf swing with their Driver compared to their irons.

This is not the case. Your irons have more loft, this means more backspin on your golf shots and a higher launch angle. These two factors mean that any side-spin has less effect on shot shape. If you don’t believe me, just try to hit a 30-yard slice with your Pitching Wedge.

Loft and backspin are two critical factors in reducing a slice. Hopefully we’ve covered this during the review, but if you struggle with slicing your Driver and you have less than 10-degrees of loft, then I suggest you move to a Driver with 10.5 or even 12-degrees of loft. This additional loft will mean that you lose 3-5 yards in distance, but will keep your drives much straighter.

Best Driver for slice technology

Here I’ll give you an overview of the key factors that can help reduce your slice with a Driver. Now you know we are aiming to square up the club face to the swing path, you can hopefully start to see how each piece of Driver tech will help with your performance.

Face angle to reduce slice

The most straight forward approach is to buy a Driver which is slightly toed in (the club face sits 1-2 degrees closed at set-up). This may sound too simple, but this is genuinely the quickest way to reduce a slice. All other factors discussed below attempt to affect face angle during your swing, but buying a Driver which is slightly toed in will be far more effective than any other factor.

The downside…some golfers don’t like the look of these. I agree it is unnatural, but would you prefer a rough looking driver that sends you down the middle. Or a sexy looking driver that sends you into the trees? It is your choice.

Best offset driver for slice

The next most beneficial feature in reducing your slice is a Driver with off-set. As the image below shows, an off-set Driver is one where the club face sits slightly behind the line of the shaft.

This has two effects that help cure a slice. Firstly, it gives the Driver face an extra few milliseconds of time to reach the golf ball relative to the golf shaft. In this time, the club face will continue rotating and will end up slightly less open than it would be with a non-offset Driver.

The second, smaller effect is how this offset affects the shaft flex. Having the Driver head positioned behind the shaft causes the tip to flex forward slightly more into impact. This leads to slightly more dynamic loft on the club face and a little more face rotation. This will further reduce an open club face.

Driver weight distribution to improve slice

Drivers with moveable weights have become fashionable recently. This allows a golfer to slightly adjust where the club’s centre of mass is positioned – more towards the toe or heel of the club.

To help reduce a slice you want to have a Driver with more mass distributed towards the heel of the golf club. You can do this with an adjustable Driver or buy one where this is pre-set. The additional weight in the heel helps the Driver face rotate during the downswing and therefore squares the club face with less effort than a standard Driver.

Driver loft to reduce a slice

The last factor to consider in the Driver club head is loft. If we return to our earlier section ‘why do I slice my Driver, but not my irons’ we can think of more loft as our friend. More loft equals more backspin, this backspin creates a more stable flight and minimises any negative effects of side-spin.

Some golfers may argue that a 12-degree driver will lose them too much distance. However 2.5 degrees more loft (compared to a 9.5-degree Driver) will only ever result in the golf ball launching 2.5 degrees higher.

The additional backspin does lead to a little more backspin and drag through the air, which will reduce your driving distance but I don’t feel this is a bad trade-off.

Driver shaft flex to reduce a slice

A common misconception of golfers is that a Driver with a flexible shaft causes an open club face and a slice. The opposite is in fact true.

A more flexible shaft results in more lead deflection early in your downswing – this will help close the club face at impact. Click on this link if you want more geeky details, if not you’ll just have to trust me.

Adjusting driver settings to reduce a slice

If you already own an adjustable driver like the Ping G410 you’ll know you can move the weights around to encourage a draw. To reduce your slice move as much of the weight as you can towards the heel of the golf club.

This will move the centre of gravity closer to the hosel and speed up the rate at which the club face closes during your downswing. The result will be a squarer impact, less side spin on the ball and straighter drives.

What is meant by the sweet spot on a driver?

All drivers will have a central point on their face where they will transfer maximum energy to the golf ball – this is known as their ‘sweet spot’. However, the term sweet spot is a bit misleading as it isn’t a zone, but one single point defined by physics.

Modern day drivers aim to minimise twist when hit off centre. Companies often referrer to this tech as these drivers having a larger ‘sweet spot’. They don’t, but they do twist less which is good for distance and accuracy. All clubs featured in this best driver for slice review have high levels of forgiveness – a large sweet spot.

Can I add extra weight extra weight to my driver to reduce a slice?

In theory you could add extra weight to your current driver (near the heel) to help close the club face. However, this additional weight will have a considerable effect on your swing speed and how heavy the driver head feels.

The difference between a very light seniors driver and a tour pro’s driver is around 25 – 30grams. This additional weight is made up in a heavier shaft. Placing just 5 grams of extra weight onto the club head will really impact the swing weight.

Top tip – don’t add extra weight to your driver. Instead, buy one that suits your game.

Can a draw bias driver actually correct my slice?

As discussed above draw-bias drivers are designed to help close the club face at impact. They do this by shifting the centre of gravity, adding offset and changing the face angle. They also design clubs with a large sweet spot

These features will have a more noticeable effect when you hit near or on the sweet spot. However, when you miss the centre of the driver some of these design features will become less effective at reducing your slice.

When hit well draw bias drivers can make anywhere from 5 – 15 yards improvement in your slice compared to a normal driver.

After buying a draw driver should I continue working on my swing?

This is up to you. If you only ever play 1-2 times a month and are happy then it is fine to grab the best driver to fix your slice and swing away. If you want to develop as a golfer I would continue to work on your swing with a golf pro.

The drivers featured at the top of this review, such as the TaylorMade SIM Max D offer great flexibility in terms of how much draw bias or neutral you create. These drivers are more expensive but offer you a great driver that will grow with you as a player.

To begin with set these drivers to your ideal draw bias. Many golfers will be tempted to change these setting frequently, or when they over-draw 2-3 drives during a round.

I would suggest you keep your driver settings consistent for an entire month. If you keep adapting the draw setting you will struggle to learn how the driver reacts. Only change your driver setup when you over-draw 70% or more of your shots.

What is the best anti-slice Driver

The box below should summarise what you are looking for in a Driver if you want to reduce or remove your slice. In summary you are looking for a Driver:

1-2 degrees closed (toed-in)

Offset

Has additional mass in the heel

Has 10.5-degrees of loft or more (up to 14-degrees)

Has a flexible shaft

That being said, I would still advise you to find a great coach and work on your game. However, having the right equipment sure will make your journey far more fun.

Conclusion

That rounds up this short piece on the key factors you should be looking for in a Driver to reduce your slice. Want more reviews – check out or best golf drivers for beginners article. If you would like to receive an article like this one every Monday, come join the Golf Insider Weekly Post.

Happy Golfing – Will @ Golf Insider UK

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