Clubface Control

Clubface Control:

The guys and girls we watch on the professional tours around the world have a feel of where the face is at certain points in their swing (if not throughout the whole swing).  Obviously in order to hit the ball straight  you must have the clubface pointing at the target along with a neutral swing path (not necessarily for curving the ball to the target -- see swing plane).  Thus if you were to lack clubface control and have it "closed" or "open" when coming into impact you will consciously or subconsciously make compensations/ faults in your swing to get the ball to the target.  So if you control the clubface well, then you will naturally want to get your swing path headed in a good direction.  Simply all the common compensations/ faults that are seen in amateurs are people reacting to their lack of neutral clubface control (this is because they want to get the ball to the target, not 30 yards left or right).  So if you want to be a consistent ball striker clubface control is a must, especially with the driver, woods, and long irons.      

The red line that points slightly right of vertical is the clubface (about where it should be at this position -- see takeaway).  Ideally you want the clubface to be in a parallel relationship to the left arm (the two red lines drawn).  

Takeaway: Clubface should point slightly towards the ground (right of vertical).  Again in relationship to left forearm

When your left forearm is parallel to the ground: Again the clubface is parallel to left forearm.

Top of the backswing: Again clubface is parallel to the left forearm.

Clubface Control "Faults":

I call these following images "faults" in quotations because in reality there are professional golfers who have been and are successful with closed and open clubfaces throughout the swing.  However, the golfers who have been closer to the neutral clubface positions mentioned above seem to be more consistent to me.  They seem have fewer issues with rust from an offseason, fewer weeks where they miss the cut by a wide margin, and generally have better accuracy because they don't need to compensate from these positions.  Of course all these ideas are open for debate and note that the short game and putting can make up for most of the long game mistakes.  

Successful Golfers With a Prominently Closed Clubface:  Dustin Johnson, Paul Azinger, Zach Johnson, Graeme McDowell

Successful Golfers With a Prominently Open Clubface:  Haven't really heard of anyone...

Successful Golfers With a Prominently Neutral Clubface: Tiger Woods, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen,  Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, the list goes on and on... 

       

Takeaway: On the left is the closed clubface (usually caused by strong grip) and on the right is the open clubface (usually caused by a weak grip) 

When your left forearm is parallel to the ground: On the left is the closed clubface (usually caused by strong grip) and on the right is the open clubface (usually caused by a weak grip).  Notice how a bowed left wrist causes a closed clubface while a cupped left wrist causes an open clubface. 

Top of Backswing: On the left is the closed clubface (usually caused by strong grip) and on the right is the open clubface (usually caused by a weak grip).  Again notice how a bowed left wrist causes a closed clubface while a cupped left wrist causes an open clubface.

Drill 1: Take the club back to takeaway position, turn and face it, and then bring club back down.  The clubface should still be neutral (not twisted in any direction -- see videos).

Drill 2: Practice open and closed positions to see how they affect ball flight.  Once you have found both extremes of ball flight and understand how your clubface positions impact the ball flight (also see trackman section), then work on finding the middle ground and a straighter ball flight .