Posts Tagged ‘clubface’
A Clubface Primer

A Square Face at the Top
It is important to understand that the angle of the clubface will influence a golfers’ ability to get into a proper impact position. Athletic instinct will always compensate in order to position the face squarely (or as squarely as possible!) at contact. Thus, a square clubface will allow any golfer to naturally assume a world class impact!
There are three good check points that occur prior to impact to observe the position of the clubface. As these check points get closer to impact they tend to have a greater effect not only on the impact position, but also the outcome of the shot. Here they are:
Going up:

An Open Face
- Here the face is looking more towards the sky than is optimal
Ideally the clubface should be vertical to slightly tilted down here with the clubhead covering the hands.

A Closed Face
- In this situation the clubhead has lagged a little behind the hands and arms with a slight “draggy” start to the swing
-The arms are moving in and close to the body as the handle stays inside the clubhead
At the top of the backswing:

An Open Face at the Top
- Also notice the cupping in the back of the left wrist

A Closed Face at the Top
- The left wrist position is quite flat and may even become bowed
Coming down:

Open Face Approaching Impact
- The weight will invariably stay back as the golfer tries to position the body to aid in squaring the face

Closed Face Approaching Impact
-There must be a loss of body angles through the hit in an attempt to deter the face from flipping closed
-Practice hitting high, cut up 8-iron shots that travel 50 yards to overcome this fault
Here are two important tidbits to remember when it comes to your clubface: The grip is the primary determinant of clubface angle and a Swingyde (mention keyword RICE for a discount) is the best teaching aid to improve your clubface.

Swingyde
Additional articles regarding the clubface:
What is a Square Clubface? by Dave Wesley
Secret to Squaring Your Clubface by Kelvin Miyahira
Keep a Square Clubface by Karen Palacios-Jansen
See open, closed, and square club faces by Ty Daniels
Two Shots for Sand Success

Feel the Face this Open for the High Shot
- Using your most lofted club, open the face as much as possible. You should feel as if you could balance a glass of water on the face of the club at address – take note of the picture above.
- The velocity and speed in the swing is what gets the ball high and spinning, so even though this may be a short shot it requires an aggressive approach. Hit it hard!
- Going through impact try to feel the hands scoop under the ball. The club head releases under and thus the club face stays open through the hit. This is an important element to this shot as it allows the golfer to hit hard, yet when releasing the club properly, the ball goes up versus far.
- Practice this shot from good lies off of a slight up slope in the sand. While hitting the shot as hard as you can try to see how high and short you can make the ball travel.

Post Impact
The other shot is a low velocity, low trajectory, low spin shot. It should most often be played with the second most lofted club in the bag. If you have an LW it would be the SW, or if you only have an SW then you should use the PW. In this situation the shot needs to traverse a large portion of either flat or downhill green. There is ample opportunity for the ball to roll like a putt!
Play the shot this way:
- Using a lesser lofted club the stance should be of average width and the ball position is still forward of center.
- The clubface remains open, yet to a lesser degree than the above shot.
- This shot is played almost in slow motion as there should be very little speed in the swing. I often call this the ‘dump and run’ shot, as it should just get out the bunker, land early on the green and roll to the hole as if it were a putt.
- The hands should be light throughout the swing and it is okay to actually roll the face a little through impact. This serves to lower the shot further and causes the ball to release more.
- Do not attempt this shot when your ball is lying on an upslope! An upslope requires a more aggressive swing and that robs the ball of its ability to stay low.
- Practice is vital for this shot as it tends to take a few tries before sensing the correct speed of the swing.
With a few minutes spent experimenting with the above suggestions in the sand you will soon start to lose some of the angst we have all experienced when stepping into a bunker. Give it a try and please feel free to let me know your thoughts.
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