shut face players

[pecky987]

there are loads of them on tour. david duval was. aaron oberholser, kenny perry, scott verplank, zach johnson, even an older version of bernhard langer. strong grip, closed face and loads of rotation and the head way behind the ball. my query is how do players get like this? many ppl i know end up playin like this, for fear of fading/slicing the ball, and thru trial and error make adujstments to hit the ball straightish. does any1 share this opinion? i have seen an old thread wer BM talked bout the ways to hit the ball straight with a strong grip

 

[Brian Manzella]

Not "shut," just less open.

At the top of an "orthodox" golf swing, the clubface is approximately 90° to the Plane.

Remember, at address, the club is perpendicular to the plane, and we call that "Square."

So the clubFACE had to rotate 90° to get to a Sam Snead look at the top.

A clubface that is more "skyward," let's say AT the sky, would have had to rotate open 45° to get to that skyward location.

BUT IT IS STILL OPEN!!!!

So, all you have to do to hit it straight from the skyward clubface location, is rotate the clubface closed less.

That's it!

 

[dbl]

Of course Brian is right. In my usual swing, I have a hard time closing the clubface all the way if I open it "huge" like 90* on the backswing. So if can only close it 45* on the forward swing, then that's basically all I want to open it on the backswing. It's a pretty simple concept and operation.

 

[Bronco Billy]

Of course Brian is right. In my usual swing, I have a hard time closing the clubface all the way if I open it "huge" like 90* on the backswing. So if can only close it 45* on the forward swing, then that's basically all I want to open it on the backswing. It's a pretty simple concept and operation.

If one takes a Golf Club Back "Naturally" that is with NO Manipulation the ClubFace ends up Open 90 Degrees to the Initial Square Address Position... Correct?
Ok You say that you take the Clubhead back in the BackSwing and Manipulate it in some Fashion so that the ClubFace only remains 45 Degrees open to the Initial square Address Position...
What Manipulation do you Apply to the ClubFace on the BackSwing to end up with the ClubFace 45 degrees open as Oppossed to 90 Degrees Open?

 

[dbl]

Some ccw left arm rotation.

 

[holeout]

What Manipulation do you Apply to the ClubFace on the BackSwing to end up with the ClubFace 45 degrees open as Oppossed to 90 Degrees Open?

I believe it would just be flattening the left wrist, no? The degree to which the clubface would open up less (90 deg. vs. 45 deg.) would depend on the strength of your grip (stronger grip would produce less open).

 

[Bronco Billy]

Some ccw left arm rotation.

TwistAway, CounterRotation, etc. Gotta be a Good Thing.... Anything that Lessens the Burden of the 90 Degree Squareing of the ClubFace on the Downswing has to be a Virtue.... Hell, One of the Main Themes of One of the Holy Trilogy is TwistAway.... I am Eagerly Waiting for the Third Book to be Released - Never Hit it Straight Again....

 

[dbl]

I believe it would just be flattening the left wrist, no? The degree to which the clubface would open up less (90 deg. vs. 45 deg.) would depend on the strength of your grip (stronger grip would produce less open).

Right. You can have a flat left wrist say at the top, having preselected the desired angle of the clubface in relation to the plane according to grip setup.

Now, just to add, this can be like angle hinged swinging...or...if you allow the clubface to close whatever it opened, then it's more like traditional horizontal hinging, just without so much face closing as is traditional.

Also, to note, I do swing from a toe up position from time to time (using a freer release of the sweetspot), but toe up or slightly beyond endangers my efforts in that I tend to then get way inside and the wrists over-turned. Hence I limit getting the face "too open"

 

[Brian Manzella]

MANZELLA GOLF FORUM EDIT

We don't talk about other methods around here any more.

All methods have good points, and all but the really goofy ones have at least a shred of truth to them.

One day, I will do a book/video I always wanted to:

They were all right!.....to a point.

This site is all about the MANZELLA MATRIX. Thanks.

 

[self-mastery]

Would hitters be better served using 'twistaway' than closing the club face at address? I sometimes use a 4 barrel hit stroke that produces an obvious fade with longer clubs. I have started using 'twistaway' with the longer clubs to change the ball flight to straight or a slight draw.

 

[Brian Manzella]

"Hitters" and Twistaway.

Swings that include F.A.T.S.—Force Across The Shaft, will always be better served by clubfaces that don't get too open.