Eliminate Your Slice with the Motorcycle Drill for Drivers

If your driver slice keeps showing up even when you feel like you are making a good swing, the problem is often simpler than you think: the club face is too open. One of the best ways to fix that is the motorcycle drill. This movement teaches you how to rotate the club face into a stronger, more closed position so it matches the way the driver travels through impact. When you understand why the driver needs this earlier face rotation, you can start turning weak fades into straight shots and draws.

What the Motorcycle Move Actually Does

The motorcycle drill is a feel for closing the club face relative to the shaft. Picture the club held straight up in front of you. If the face is in a neutral position, it appears square to the shaft. If it points more upward or stays too exposed, it is open. If it rotates down or slightly left for a right-handed golfer, it is closed.

The “motorcycle” feel comes from the same motion you would use to rev a motorcycle throttle. In golf terms, that usually means:

• Lead wrist flexion — your lead wrist bows slightly
• Trail wrist extension — your trail wrist bends back a bit more
• Club face rotation — the face closes earlier in the swing

This is not a random hand action. It is a specific way to organize the club so the face is not left hanging open as your body rotates through the shot.

Why the Driver Needs More Face Closure Than an Iron

The driver is not swung like an iron. At impact, your upper body is farther behind the ball, and the club is often traveling on a path that is slightly more into-out. That setup is great for launching the ball high and maximizing distance, but it also changes what the club face needs to do.

With an iron, you can get away with a face that is a little less closed because the strike and swing geometry are different. With the driver, however, that same face often stays too open relative to the path. When that happens, the ball starts right and curves farther right for a right-handed player — the classic slice or weak fade.

That is why the motorcycle move can be such a breakthrough with the driver. It helps you match the face to the path. Instead of leaving the face open while your body works behind the ball, you train the face to rotate closed soon enough to produce a playable flight.

Why This Matters for Ball Flight

Your ball flight is heavily influenced by the relationship between club face and swing path. If the face is open to the path, the ball curves right. If the face is square to the path, the ball flies straighter. If the face is slightly closed to the path, you get a draw.

That is why the motorcycle drill is so powerful. If you truly perform it correctly, you remove the face-open condition that creates a slice. In practical terms, once the face is closing properly, your likely misses change dramatically:

• Straight shots
• Slight draws
• Pull-draws if you overdo it

This is important because many golfers think they are “doing the drill” while the ball still slices. In most cases, they are not actually changing the face enough, or they are applying it too late. A real motorcycle move changes the face-to-path relationship. If the shot still fades, the face is still too open.

Do It Earlier with the Driver

One of the biggest keys with the driver is timing. Many golfers try to close the face on the way down, but that can be difficult when the swing is moving fast and the body is working hard through impact. With the driver especially, a better feel is often to make the motorcycle move at the top of the backswing.

In other words, get to the top, feel the club face rotate into a more closed position there, and then feel like you hold that condition as long as you can in transition and early downswing.

This approach helps for two reasons:

• It gives you more time to organize the club face before the fast part of the swing begins.
• It allows your body to keep doing its job without needing a last-second hand save.

That second point matters a lot with the driver. You want speed to come from good sequencing and strong lower-body motion, not from frantic hand action near impact. If the face is already in a better position from the top, you can turn through the shot more confidently.

How the Body and Club Work Together

The motorcycle drill is about the club face, but it also affects how your body can move. If the face stays open, your brain often senses trouble and forces you to make compensations. You may stall your pivot, throw the club from the top, or cut across the ball to keep it from going too far right.

When the face is closing properly, you are freer to use the swing you actually want with the driver:

• Body open through impact instead of hanging back with the arms
• Lower body leading the downswing
• Proper path from the inside rather than a glancing cut across the ball

So while the drill appears to be about the wrists, it often improves your entire driver motion. A better face condition makes better body motion possible.

A Useful Check: What Misses Should You Expect?

If you are practicing this correctly, your misses should start changing. That is one of the easiest ways to know whether the concept is taking hold.

Here is a simple guide:

• If the ball still slices, the face is still open.
• If the ball flies straight, your face and path are matching up better.
• If the ball draws slightly, you are usually in a very good place.
• If the ball pull-draws, you may be over-closing the face or aiming your path too far left.

This gives you a practical feedback loop. Instead of guessing, you can let ball flight tell you whether the motorcycle move is really happening.

How to Apply This in Practice

To build this into your driver swing, keep the process simple:

1. Make a backswing to the top and pause.
2. Feel the lead wrist flex slightly, as if you are revving a motorcycle.
3. Notice that the club face closes relative to the shaft.
4. From there, make a smooth swing and feel like you keep that face condition as your body unwinds.
5. Watch the ball flight and judge the result by curvature, not just contact.

Start with slow swings, then build toward full speed. The goal is not to flip the hands at impact. The goal is to set the face earlier, especially with the driver, so your body can rotate aggressively without leaving the face open.

If you have been fighting a slice, this concept can change your understanding of the driver completely. The driver needs a face that closes sooner than many golfers realize. Train that with the motorcycle drill, and you give yourself a much better chance to produce the straight, powerful flight you have been looking for.