Drills??

How do,

Does anyone have any drills to help get the clubface square at impact.

I've been practicing rolling my wrists with and trying to finish with my forearms nearly touching but the open face demon is never too far away!

Particularly a problem from the tee whether its with an iron or driver!

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers

Get a tenis racquet, grip it like a golf club, have the face of the racquet facing your target, as you do your takeaway the face of the racquet should open up once you have finished your takeaway the racquet should be facing 90 degree open to the taget, then take it to the top and swing it down to the impact postion. if it is facing your target then you have released it correctly.

I'll give that a go.

My pro asked if I'd an interest in tennis!!
Think I must be causing him sleepless nights!

Have you had your grip checked out? If you are rolling your wrists correctly and passively the clubface should square itself at impact. If you think you are rolling them correctly and find that and you still hit the ball open try moving your hands to a little stronger position at setup until you find it squares itself naturally.

Check you arent taking the club back too far inside on the takeaway. I found when I was doing that I was exprimenting with grip, wrist roll, ball position etc to stop a slice/pull. Simply setting the club on the right plane with your hands in front of the clubface, allows room for your arms to swing down without you having to think too much about the other stuff

Actually the clubface should not be square at Impact! The clubface is slightly open at Impact to allow for the closing rate of the face at separation point - when the ball leaves the face. The farther back you play the ball the more open it appears. What causes the slice is the fact that face was not square at separation - an "under roll" if you will. By trying to square the face you'll experience clubface pulls and hooks.

Think of it like this - an ordinary door opening and closing. Until the door reaches the inline condition of it's hinge assembly - the door jam - the door is open but closing. Only at it's "low point" does it square up. So if you playing a ball back of the low point - left shoulder for right-handed players - then the face will be open at Impact.

chuck

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

Mr. Evans gets a bit too technical in his explanations. Although he is correct, the term getting square at impact is much more understandable and what most of us translate his explanation to be. Because of the timing, what typically happens is what Chuck has described - slightly open at first touch, square at maximum compression and slightly closed as the ball leaves the face. Remember, the open and closed are probably only measurable by a microscope, so don't worry about it.

Most people problems rest with their hands and how they grip the club. Make sure your grip position is allowing to get square at impact:
http://members.shaw.ca/gord962/drills/clubface.htm

Try GregJWillis's right hand drill to help you with how your wrists work:
http://members.cox.net/gregjwillis/LESSON1.htm

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

The face would only be slightly closed if you want to hook it! Otherwise it should be square when the ball leaves the face. BTW, the ball stays on the face - for good players - up to approximately 3/4 of an inch before it leaves. I appreciate your comment about being too technical but it's as simple as I can say - a door opens and closes. One of the other things that really rings a bell is that "Demanding that golf instruction be kept simple of makes it incomplete and vague". Science, not theory, are the laws that govern everything we do and since the hands are the only thing that are holding onto the club they must be placed properly and trained to control the clubface.

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

I agree with what you are saying, but for the average player, and to the naked eye (without superslow motion video) the clubface should be square before during and after impact. If you were to measure exactly with perfect stop motion technology, there isn't anyone who could perectly reproduce exactly what needs to be done (what you have described) every single time.

But as it is with the golf swing, and I will bring your door analolgy into the description, you will only be square for a very small measurement, depending on the radius from your spine. Therefor, while the ball is on your clubface for up to 3/4 of an inch, the clubface is open (albeit be a unmeasureable amount) at first contact, it is bound to be closed (again, at an unmeasureable amount) as the ball finally leaves the clubface. The only person who would really have an arguement would be Lee Travino.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

Since we're getting all technical, how does club offset effect this? Most of the guys I play golf with seem to have Callaways or Pings with quite a lot of offset, whereas my Hogans have very little.

Offset simply brings the clubface behind the shaft, which means the hands are ahead of the ball. Keeping your hands ahead of the ball ensures the clubhead is still accelerating when striking the ball. The longer the shaft, the more difficult it is to keep the hands in front of the ball, so typically as your clubs get longer, the offset gets bigger.