At The Top

When at the top of the backswing, the club toe points slightly right and you see the face of the club from the side view, what is this called and how will it affect the outcome of the shot?

This happens when I don't rotate my hands enough on the backswing, but it really does square the clubface much better I find.

Hi Big Sheesh,

When you are at the top of the backswing:

If the toe is pointing straight down to the ground this is square.

If it is starting to turn with the face pointing skyward....this is ok it is slightly closed (great position)

Opposite with the face aiming to the ground this is open.


Hope this helps

Ian.

The top face position should be in conjunction with what you're going to do coming back down to the ball.

For instance, if the clubface is tilted skyward this means that you cannot rotate the clubface coming the ball or you would hit big duck hooks. On the other hand if the toe of the club is hanging downward at the top, then you'd better do a lot of face rotation coming down or you'll hit a banana ball!

Bottom line, the clubface at the top dictates what you need to do in the downstroke to hit whatever curvature and trajectory type shot you want.

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Chuck Evans, G.S.E.D.
www.chuckevansgolf.com

Ian this is what mine looks like. The face is slightly pointing skyward. I find that it's SO MUCH easier to square the clubface on impact this way. It's almost effortless and shots are very consistent.

All I have to do to get to this position is to not rotate my right wrist too much on the backswing. Do you guys do this too?

Chuck, wouldn't it be much easier to have the clubface tilted skyward so you cannot rotate the clubface coming down on the ball? That way you can simplify the swing by ruling out the rotation of the clubface. Square going up and square coming down.

Big Sheesh,

Sounds like you have it sorted, there is not any great rotation of the wrists, just an up and down.

Your club face sound just perfect. (slightly skywards)


Ian.

Ian,

It took me close to 2 years to figure this out. This was the heart of my golf swing troubles. I was doing the backswing all wrong because I was rotating my wrists improperly. Now with this method all my shots draw on demand.

I wish my numerous instructors would have pointed this out to me earlier.

I did exactly the same, played for years without the proper wrist cock...............I think it takes a lot of "trust" in yourself to let the club go on the backswing.

I feel that when you cock your wrists in this way you feel like you have over rotated and lost the clubhead....but when you get used to it as you have discovered it great.

I think you get the same feeling when you rotate the shoulders first.....you also get the feeling of looseing the ball.

I suspect great players have maximum trust that they can return to the ball OK.



Ian.

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Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................