Instruction – Clubface Consistency
Students commonly mistake their big misses with their club path or angle of attack. The biggest factor in your misses and where the ball ends up is your clubface. The clubface influences 85 percent of the direction your ball goes. That is HUGE!
Clubface is the easiest thing to change to see improvements in your ball flight. You can change your clubface at setup by opening or closing the clubface, strengthening or weakening your grip, your wrist angle on your takeaway and the top of your backswing as well as your downswing, but I would recommend making the changes prior to hitting the ball in setup. And if that doesn’t work, then move to takeaway and then the backswing. It is much easier to make a change in your clubface angle in these points of your swing, rather than the downswing and impact where you are at the maximum speed in your swing.
The middle club demonstrates a square clubface, while the club on the left demonstrates an open clubface (points to the right of your target for right-handed golfers), and the club on the right demonstrates a closed clubface (points left of your target for right-handed golfers). You can close the clubface by strengthening your grip, moving the grip of your club to the right of your sternum, or by simply turning the clubface to where it points to the left of your target at setup. You can open the clubface by weakening your grip, moving the grip of your club to the left of your sternum, or simply by rotating the clubface to where it points to the right of your target at setup. These are all important reminders if you are hitting the ball left; make one adjustment that opens the clubface and that will help get rid of the left miss. If you are hitting the ball right, make one adjustment that helps close the clubface; that will help get rid of the right miss. Make one adjustment at a time until you find the one that works for you. Remember, golf is an individualized sport, meaning not everyone is the same in the way they set up to the ball, grip the club or swing. Everyone moves differently.
Wrist angles are going to open or close the clubface. Having a more bowed wrist, as in the picture on the left, will close the clubface, and having a more cupped wrist, as in the picture on the right, will open the clubface.
A drill I love to have students do to practice clubface control and awareness is to lay an alignment stick down a few feet in front of the ball on the ground pointing to your target, and from there have students aim at the alignment still but practice making the pre-swing adjustments to make the ball go left or right. That way, when they get on the course and everything is going right, they know what adjustment to make that helps them hit it left and can make that adjustment, and it will help the ball go straight.
Here is an impact drill I love to have students practice getting in the correct impact position to help them have a consistent clubface angle at impact, as well as consistent contact. Grab a resistance band and wrap it around your clubhead. From there, place the other end of the resistance band under your lead armpit (left armpit for right-handed players) and practice making swings hip high back and then moving into impact, keeping the resistance band under your armpit. At impact, you want the lead armpit to squeeze the side of your chest; there should be no space at impact between the lead armpit and the side of your chest. Another key point to pay attention to at impact is the trail elbow should be close to the body.
For more tips and best practices, reach out to Kirsten Pike, PGA, at 972-399-9040.