Squaring the club face

[guitarman]

The article at the following link has some really good tips for squaring the driver club face at impact. I was actually working on some of these principles yesterday at the range, with great success, but didn't read this article today.

http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/squareface.html

One other adjustment that I have made that has made a big difference with my driver is, that at address I have the ball lined up at almost the end of the toe of the club. But when I swing in to the ball and rotate my arms correctly I am coming off with very far (atleast for me) and dead straight drives. I found this at the range yesterday. I was able to hit about 10 drives in a row that were perfect. I started addressing like this as it seemed I was hitting the ball very close to hosel when addressing the ball in the middle of the club face. My only concern is that by addressing the ball close to the toe like that I'm just compensating for a swing flaw. When I address the ball it looks like I may either miss the ball or hit it off the very tip of my driver. But when I come in to impact that ball hits dead on the sweet spot and flies.
Any comments would be appreciated.

[wongmb]

I should try that too. I tend to hit my shot close to the hosel as well.

[guitarman]

I should try that too. I tend to hit my shot close to the hosel as well.

I'm sure that its a compensation for a swing flaw but I'm hitting way more consistent off the driver. That coupled with a proper rotation of the arms and no more slice. My irons as well I have to back off a bit. Not as much but I find if I address just off centre of the iron face closer to the toe I end up with a hit in the centre of the club face.

[pendlebg]

as a general rule, you want the ball at the toe of the club and the end of the clubhead pointing upwards (not flat on the ground). Someone who undertands the physics of the swing can explain better, but during the swing, the flex of the shaft makes the clubhead bend down for optimal contact.

As I understand it, this is how your setup should be and is not correcting a swing flaw.

[hogannut]

I don't conciously think about any particular aspect of the club and/or the clubface. I concentrate on applying correct swing mechanics and if I do that the face squares at impact on its own. I do drills for applying correct mechanics, and the drills I do are based on the video assessment of my swing by my instructor.

[guitarman]

as a general rule, you want the ball at the toe of the club and the end of the clubhead pointing upwards (not flat on the ground). Someone who undertands the physics of the swing can explain better, but during the swing, the flex of the shaft makes the clubhead bend down for optimal contact.

As I understand it, this is how your setup should be and is not correcting a swing flaw.

Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure as I seemed to stumble on the fact that if I addressed the ball near the toe everything seemed to work out so much better.

I don't conciously think about any particular aspect of the club and/or the clubface. I concentrate on applying correct swing mechanics and if I do that the face squares at impact on its own. I do drills for applying correct mechanics, and the drills I do are based on the video assessment of my swing by my instructor.

I agree. But one of my issues seemed to be that through my swing my arms for some reason weren't rotating through. Although this wasn't the only issue with my swing. I've been working almost daily for hours a day breaking everything down. Yesterday I came upon just a couple of minor details that seemed to bring it altogether. I'll be back out on the range in an hour seeing if my success from yesterday continues. I think my body is trying to tell me I need a couple of days rest but my obsessive nature won't let that happen just yet.

[laxgolf]

One thing that helps me work on this is concentrating on keeping my head behind the ball and properly shifting my weight towards the target. If I do this and swing through the ball, I find that my arms rotate naturally and I don't even have to think about it.

One thing to note is that if I get caught on my back foot while the club is at impact, I typically hook the ball. It then becomes a matter of monitoring my tempo and speed.

[dekker]

I hope this will make some sense to you . It's not science but strictly my view.

At address your body assumes a static position,in that your arms and club are basically at rest since no forces are in motion.
However,once you are in motion the centrifugal force exerted through the mass of the extended arms and the length of the club will have to be matched by the stable mass of your body.
Assuming you address your ball in the middle, you will likely meet in that exact position,if the forces are equal.
Should the pull exceed the stable centered mass ,you will chance to meet on the heel.
It seems by addressing the ball off the toe you are presently successfully compensating for that centrifugal force.
When I hear them talking about swinging in balance I think of forces in balance.
Make of it what you will.

[guitarman]

I hope this will make some sense to you . It's not science but strictly my view.

At address your body assumes a static position,in that your arms and club are basically at rest since no forces are in motion.
However,once you are in motion the centrifugal force exerted through the mass of the extended arms and the length of the club will have to be matched by the stable mass of your body.
Assuming you address your ball in the middle, you will likely meet in that exact position,if the forces are equal.
Should the pull exceed the stable centered mass ,you will chance to meet on the heel.
It seems by addressing the ball off the toe you are presently successfully compensating for that centrifugal force.
When I hear them talking about swinging in balance I think of forces in balance.
Make of it what you will.

glad you added that disclaimer that this isn't science?:confused:

[dekker]

at least we agree on something.:rofl:

[pir2]

One other adjustment that I have made that has made a big difference with my driver is, that at address I have the ball lined up at almost the end of the toe of the club.

http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/a/hitting460cc.htm


Set Up to Hit the Ball on the Center of the Face
Most golfers set their driver on the ground at address. This results in a high percentage of driver shots being hit on the heel-side of the face, especially when we tee the ball higher. Test yourself this way: The next time you are at the range and set up to hit your driver, once in the address position stretch your arms out and move the club up to the ball's height. Notice where the ball is going to contact the face of your driver? On the heel side – or possibly the hosel – of your driver.

This is a very common problem for golfers – and it's an awkward adjustment. The solution is very simple, however. Instead of setting your driver behind the ball such that the center of the face is aligned with the ball, move backwards a couple of inches (towards your back) such that the toe of your driver is aligned with the ball. Now do the test again. Stretch out your arms and pick the club up to the ball's height. Is the ball aligned with the center of the driver face? If so, put the club back down and fire! If not, keep moving back until it is. Don't worry that once you set the driver down it doesn't align with the ball. The ball isn't on the ground - it's three inches above the ground!

[guitarman]

http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/a/hitting460cc.htm

Thanks for that article. It atleast confirms I'm in the right direction. Just got back from the range hitting a jumbo bucket and my ball striking was more consistent than it has ever been. I got see the potential of my custom fit KZGs for the first time. Every flag I aimed at I hit.
As for my driver 8 out 10 hits were straight out and far. I wish I had this straightened out before I played Osprey last week. Now with the weekend almost here I'll be seeing if I can take this to the course. I'm very confident I can.

One thing that helps me work on this is concentrating on keeping my head behind the ball and properly shifting my weight towards the target. If I do this and swing through the ball, I find that my arms rotate naturally and I don't even have to think about it.

One thing to note is that if I get caught on my back foot while the club is at impact, I typically hook the ball. It then becomes a matter of monitoring my tempo and speed.

If I get caught on my back foot at impact I slice and lose alot of distance. That was a major problem for me up until now. I've pretty much got my weight going forward.
Another one of my problems that I solved this week was hitting fat coming in to steep. I've gotten a little more upright hunched over the ball a little more and flattened out the angle of the club. Now my irons come down just nicely on top of the ball and takes a nice divot from 8 to PW. Divots aren't quite as pronounced in the longer irons.

[goshawk]

One thing that helps me work on this is concentrating on keeping my head behind the ball and properly shifting my weight towards the target. If I do this and swing through the ball, I find that my arms rotate naturally and I don't even have to think about it.

One thing to note is that if I get caught on my back foot while the club is at impact, I typically hook the ball. It then becomes a matter of monitoring my tempo and speed.
Very good comment. If your weight is on the back foot at impact, the clubface will have rotated closed just before contact and there's very little that you can do to keep it square.
Squaring the clubface starts at address. One thing I do to check it is this: once I've taken my grip, extend the club in front of you (parallel to the ground). If you've taken the grip properly, the toe should point straight up without having to rotate your arms/wrists. If you make an on-plane swing to impact and have relaxed arms/wrists, the centrifugal force of the swing will bring the clubhead back to square without you even thinking about it. But you have to trust it to do so on it's own.

[rangefreak]

I don't conciously think about any particular aspect of the club and/or the clubface. I concentrate on applying correct swing mechanics and if I do that the face squares at impact on its own. I do drills for applying correct mechanics, and the drills I do are based on the video assessment of my swing by my instructor.

since i've moved from a strong grip to a neutral grip, i find that i have to conciously think about starting to turn my left forearm to the left during the transition into the downswing. if i don't, for some reason, i let the clubface turn wide open. i've been working on left arm only swings to get the feeling of rotating the clubface through impact. this sensation has dramatically improved my shots. i'm getting mostly slight fades/straight and sometimes little draws.

maybe my foreamrs turn the club open because they are so used to being in that position because of the strong grip i used to use??? i don't know. but, i do know that the thought of getting the left forearm turning left to square the clubface is helping me hit straight, solid shots.