Club Path, Face at Impact vs Swing Plane

[Carolina Golfer 2]

I have a good understanding of club path and club face at impact and the affect on ball flight.  Also a general understanding of swing plane. 

 

So my question for any of the instructors.  Beyond the obvious work on all three.  Which of those will have the biggest influence on the quality of your shot and quality of play. 
 

Is it practical to put them in order of priority to work on? 

[PracticeSwinger]

44 minutes ago, Carolina Golfer 2 said:

I have a good understanding of club path and club face at impact and the affect on ball flight.  Also a general understanding of swing plane. 

 

So my question for any of the instructors.  Beyond the obvious work on all three.  Which of those will have the biggest influence on the quality of your shot and quality of play. 
 

Is it practical to put them in order of priority to work on? 

Face is king; up to 75% of the initial direction. You can play with some degree of in-out or out-in, but if you can’t control the face, good luck. Swing plane or coming in relatively shallow will help in squaring the face at impact. Finally, low point control is as important, can’t get anywhere with fat shots all day long.

[chollier986]

Proper face to path relation  + strike location is the key to quality golf shots.  Proper swing plane is the key to get to the above consistently.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

26 minutes ago, Varry_Hardon said:

Face is king; up to 75% of the initial direction. You can play with some degree of in-out or out-in, but if you can’t control the face, good luck. Swing plane or coming in relatively shallow will help in squaring the face at impact. Finally, low point control is as important, can’t get anywhere with fat shots all day long.

Perfect.  Thanks that’s pretty much what I thought.  I have a fairly large amount of out to in 7 degrees.  But have my face closed  -4 to 5, which I guess is enough to result in a manageable fade 

 

An instructor told me recently (not in a lesson but just chatting) that until I get my swing plane shallower I’ll never hit quality shots.  I tend to be a bit steep.  

[PracticeSwinger]

8 minutes ago, Carolina Golfer 2 said:

Perfect.  Thanks that’s pretty much what I thought.  I have a fairly large amount of out to in 7 degrees.  But have my face closed  -4 to 5, which I guess is enough to result in a manageable fade 

 

An instructor told me recently (not in a lesson but just chatting) that until I get my swing plane shallower I’ll never hit quality shots.  I tend to be a bit steep.  

That’s basically what the vast majority of players go through. Initial stage is just finding how to get the club on the ball, then wanting to hit it hard, coming in steep with an open face, which brings the big out-in open shoulders banana slice that goes right of the planet. Next step is finding ways to shallow it, and without the proper lead side pressure, it becomes a stall, flip save. That you can play, when the timing is right. Just make sure you don’t drop your trail shoulder and/or slide excessively to try and shallow your delivery. Lots of good coaches here that offer their help.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

12 minutes ago, Varry_Hardon said:

That’s basically what the vast majority of players go through. Initial stage is just finding how to get the club on the ball, then wanting to hit it hard, coming in steep with an open face, which brings the big out-in open shoulders banana slice that goes right of the planet. Next step is finding ways to shallow it, and without the proper lead side pressure, it becomes a stall, flip save. That you can play, when the timing is right. Just make sure you don’t drop your trail shoulder and/or slide excessively to try and shallow your delivery. Lots of good coaches here that offer their help.

Thanks.  That all makes sense and tracks exactly with with the instructor I was talking to says. 
 

I’d say 75 to 80 % of the time my flight (driver) is a fade but the 20 to 25 % I miss can be a two way miss. Dead pull left or the big slice you mention.  
 

Irons aren’t as much of a problem. I do realize  it’s not that by swing with irons is magically better.  Just the misses ar less severe.  I suppose due to the club being a bit easier to control the path and face.  

 

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Varry_Hardon said:

Face is king; up to 75% of the initial direction.

 

Often more than that.

 

And, yes, face is king as you said, as even if your path is 7° left or something, if your face is the right amount between the target and the path… you get playable shots.

[LKNgolf]

I echo the sentiment that clubface is king…you see all types of swings on the most elite level but they all find a way get the face where they want it 

[Anthony Stevens]

23 hours ago, chollier986 said:

Proper swing plane is the key to get to the above consistently.

 

I agree with this (and disagree with others on this thread).

 

Without face control/consistency, you'll often hit unplayable shots. BUT, the more important thing to get right is the path or swing plane, which in this context I define as the sum of the overall movements that deliver the clubhead to the ball.

 

Without a "good" path, you can still hit playable shots if your face matches or offsets the "bad" path. I see that as a band-aid and, ultimately, progress will hit a ceiling.

 

But with a "good" path, you can then fine-tune the face via some combination of setup, grip, takeaway, transition.

 

My $0.02.