Opening the face at address

[dlanerie]

I'd like to see how you guys open the face at address.

 

Do you grip first then open the face, or do you address the ball first with an open face and then grip?

 

I'm trying to help myself minimize a slightly shut face at impact. Misses tend to be face pulls with a mostly neutral path or even worse a leftward path with a shut face.

[hoselrocker]

I'd like to see how you guys open the face at address.

 

Do you grip first then open the face, or do you address the ball first with an open face and then grip?

 

I'm trying to help myself minimize a slightly shut face at impact. Misses tend to be face pulls with a mostly neutral path or even worse a leftward path with a shut face.

 

Good question. I'm interested in the answer as well...

[cardoustie]

depends on the shot

 

For my standard usual push draw is set it a little open and then grip it. YMMV

 

To hit intentional hard slingers around corners and shots out of trouble ... I will set the face closed and then grip

[Ri_Redneck]

Think about it. Your hands inherently want to do the same thing when you swing your normal swing. So taking your grip and then opening the clubface by rotating your hands really doesn't do anything if your hands do their normal thing during the swing. You have to change the angular relationship between the clubface and your hands. I get the feeling that the OP is asking this question in an attempt to coax a fade (or less of a draw) out of their stock shot. If this is the case, slight adjustments to your grip on the club are what is needed.

 

Now, some will say they manipulate the hands during the swing when they attempt certain shots, and this is true. This is frequently done on recovery shots such as punches, bump & runs, etc, but caution should be used when doing it on normal shots to slightly influence flight. Intentional manipulation during your stock swing will introduce inconsistency into your swing will eventually cause problems.

 

BT

[Santiago Golf]

I dont

[KenRobie]

A good example of where to put the face ope/ closed is take your normal relaxed grip and hold the club in front of you at arms length with a relaxed tension free grip pressure. Note where the face is, now squeeze the life out of the grip and see where the face moves to. That is going to be your normal impact tendency. Just adjust the pre-grip face rotation and swing away.

[Cwebb]

Here's Jack Nicklaus' opinion.....https://www.golfdigest.com/story/jimflick_0707

[hoselrocker]

So during my last two range sessions I've been opening the club face at address by I'm guessing 20 to maybe 30 degrees max. The results have been interesting. For starters I feel more relaxed over the ball and feel the club more in my left hand. I'm still using the Furyk double overlap so maybe that has more to to with being relaxed. With the face open I am hitting the ball more solid than I ever have. It even makes a different sound when I hit it, like it's being well compressed and the ball is going much higher but I'm getting great distance. I even managed a couple draws, but they weren't intentional. I never, and I mean never hit draws. It looks strange I admit but the results are interesting. I've played with guys that have hooded their irons shut at address to avoid a slice even though that didn't work, and I'm not sure why this seems to be working for me.

With this method I've also been able to hit my driver straighter than ever with no hard pulls left or weak slices to the ride. Either dead straight or a baby fade. So basically I take my normal grip which is pretty much neutral with my left hand and a little stronger with my right. I essentially make align my left arm with the shaft which automatically flares the club face open. I take my normal stance and pull the trigger. I'm worried I might be scooping it but like I said, the ball comes off real solid! I just feel like I'm able to get into a better position with the face open.

So go ahead, somebody ruin it for me as to why this is a bad thing! :p

 

edit: Just read Jacks article and that is exactly what my club face looks like. I feel relaxed over the ball but also like I can pound it.

[gators78]

Tony Finau starts with it really open at address, also saw Aaron Wise at the memorial hit a 3 wood from the tee that was a good 20* open. I try to play a draw so I'll err open when I setup, but not as wide as those guys.

[rich_s2]

I manipulate it with the same grip for the most part for fades, draws and different trajectories. My miss is not enough shaft lean and creates a closed face. Wedges I open and grip. If I am slinging a big hook or slice I change face angle and grip.

[DShepley]

> @Cwebb said:

> Here's Jack Nicklaus' opinion.....https://www.golfdigest.com/story/jimflick_0707

 

I've never seen this, but it makes sense. I guess the clarification should be whether the OP is asking how to set the club open relative to the hands, (taking a weaker grip) or open relative to the target with a normal grip, (reading that back, it's about as clear as mud). If I want to open or close the face relative to my hands, (weaker grip), then I set the club on the ground either open or closed and then take my grip. I assume in the Nicklaus article he means that he is taking his normal grip and rather setting the club open to the target because of it's orientation behind the ball, (which I'm absolutely going to try tonight!).

[Ri_Redneck]

Didn't describe my setup in my earlier post, so thought I should now. For years I tried to address the ball with the same face alignment that I wanted at impact. I found that it was very difficult to get back to that exactly. After accepting that I close the face a fraction at impact compared to where it is at address, I now address the ball with the face slightly open (estimate 5*) on straight shots, square on draws and about 10* open for fades. Still try to make the same exact swing every time though.

 

To get this setup, I use something visual to establish the alignment of my stance (anything straight that I can align my toes to), then place the club lightly on the ground holding the lower portion of the grip between my index and thumb of my right hand. I rotate the clubface till I am at my preferred angle and then place my left hand on the grip as I always do. When placing my left hand, I make sure I have proper posture, rear tilt, etc., to insure consistency in my hand placement. I then place my right hand to complete my grip.

 

One odd thing that I noticed in the past is that if I have the grip too much in the fingers of my left hand, the face will close considerably when I tighten my grip. I have found that proper placement angling across the base of my fingers keeps this from happening.

 

BT

[hoselrocker]

That's four range sessions for me now and I have never hit the ball so consistently or solidly. I'm also finding that opening up the face is aligning my shoulders more parallel with my target so I just align my feet with my shoulders even though the club face is pointing to right field. I feel like I don't have to swing as hard as well and the ball is exploding off the face.

Taking it on the course tomorrow and will continue to work with it. As a tweaker I'm good at abandoning this kind of progress when the wheels come off on the course, but I'm going to try and stick with this method. I'm excited for golf again!