Lesson Results

progolf4life · February 15, 2008

I had another lesson with the head pro/boss at my local course today. I told him I wanted to master the basic fundamentals. I had him look at my setup because something hasn't felt 'right' lately. He said that my grip was good and my posture was excellent...which was nice to hear. But then he said I set up with the clubface too open and that my shoulders were slightly open as well. So he put the in what he said was square, which to my eye looked very closed. He said my shots to the right were because I couldn't get the face square in time and that when I hooked the ball it was because the open face cause me to take the club too far on the inside. He had me setup normally and just told me to turned my hands over to the left to square the face since he said my grip was good.

After he told me this I took another large bucket out to the range and started working at it. I saw some good results which is what we all want to see. But this is against almost everything i've ever heard. Jack once said that he has never seen a good play set up with a closed clubface. And right now the clubface 'feels' closed to me since 'apparently' i've been setting up with the face open.

Is this just going to be one of those things that i've got to adjust to? I guess the results speak for themselves though... Since I pratcie so much I just don't want to ingrain any other swing flaw that will hurt my game! :drinks:

larrybud · February 15, 2008

I would buy a piece of carpet that you can stand on and take practice swing, and draw with a sharpie some setup lines. One for hte target line, one for your feet (parallel to the target line, obviously). Then one for ball position and face angle, which is perpendicular to the target line. Just practice setting up with a ball there so you KNOW you're setting up square time and time again.

Did your instructor go over how to make sure your face is square? Typically, you pick a spot out on the ground that you want to aim at. You then aim the face, then you set up perpendicular to the face of the club.

progolf4life · February 15, 2008

I would buy a piece of carpet that you can stand on and take practice swing, and draw with a sharpie some setup lines. One for hte target line, one for your feet (parallel to the target line, obviously). Then one for ball position and face angle, which is perpendicular to the target line. Just practice setting up with a ball there so you KNOW you're setting up square time and time again.

Did your instructor go over how to make sure your face is square? Typically, you pick a spot out on the ground that you want to aim at. You then aim the face, then you set up perpendicular to the face of the club.

That's what I used to do...apparently I was off. Is there something cheap you can buy with the lines already on them for the setup (i'm sure there is I just don't know where to find it at).

atlanta golfer · February 15, 2008

I think that whoever you choose to take lessons from, you've got to know enough about them to trust them. I don't know if the instructor is right or wrong on what he showed you, but if you can't buy into it then I suggest you interview other instructors and find someone you can trust and stick with. You should not have to convince yourself of the merit of what your instructor is showing you. What kind of learning environment is it if you feel you have to check out your teacher to see if what he is saying is true?

Personally, what I like about my current instructor is that when I asked him for reinforcement materials, he gave me some specific books to get if I wanted to, and when I read those books, the material was dead on with what he had showed me. Plus, he had a way of explaining things in a manner that made logical sense to me, so I did not have any reason to doubt.

Depending on your situation, you might require some significant changes. This will not be easy, and will likely be impossible with someone you are not sure about.

againstthegrain · February 16, 2008

But then he said I set up with the clubface too open and that my shoulders were slightly open as well. So he put the in what he said was square, which to my eye looked very closed.

After he told me this I took another large bucket out to the range and started working at it.

I saw some good results which is what we all want to see.

But this is against almost everything i've ever heard. Jack once said that he has never seen a good play set up with a closed clubface. And right now the clubface 'feels' closed to me since 'apparently' i've been setting up with the face open.

Is this just going to be one of those things that i've got to adjust to? I guess the results speak for themselves though... Since I pratcie so much I just don't want to ingrain any other swing flaw that will hurt my game! :drinks:

Any swing change is going to "feel" strange. If he says you setup open take it to the bank. Since I am working on my alignment I can tell you that it's hard to change. I set up w open knees, hips, and shoulders. Over the ball it now seems like I'm looking over my shoulder when looking at the target, when in reality they are still 1-2 degrees open. I am fortunate to be working on this at an indoor range with MATT, which offers great alignment feedback.

Blues Golfer · February 16, 2008

Alignment is especially tricky when it comes to "feel"; just a centimeter at a time can lead a player into a significantly wrong position, and they may never know it because it happened over the course of a week, month, or more. Pro's look at video and mirrors constantly to be sure they are not slipping into some alignment/set-up problem without realizing it.

This particular issue aside, I would trust someone who just looked at my swing over generic advice, even from Jack Niclaus.

In the specific case of this, I believe Niclaus was talking about meeting the ball at the point that the face squared, which was through the ball. In order to be square through impact, it had to be a FEW degrees open at address.

If I read your description right, the pro is not setting you up to closed, he's setting you up to square. If your natural release is to bring the club back to the same position at impact as at address, you don't want it open at address.

Anyway, the final proof is not on the range though, it's on the course. If you are pulling it left of the pin all the time, then yea, you might have overcorrected. But if you are not, and you are making flush contact, then he's probably right.

good luck.

ezra76 · February 16, 2008

I went for my 1st lesson last year after playing for 4years. The 1st thing the instructor did is change my grip slightly and "shut" my clubface. I was perplexed at first, looked so shut to me. After that lesson I hit a stick out on the range twice in row from over 200yards with a 21* hybrid... that was enough proof for me. Apparently what I thought was "square" was open, my irons and wedges got more accurate immediately after that lesson. So if it's working, could be the same thing, simply what you thought was square was actually very open. Working from a clubface that's square at the top and at impact starts to make things much easier. I was able to start moving shots with a swingpath change based solely on stance since it was square, slightly open, cut, slightly shut, draw, clubface always square to target.