closed vs open face at setup

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tball88

New
why is it some players play better with a shut face and some with an open face?

I've always played with a slightly closed face, and the mix of open versus closed face players that I play with is about even. Of the better players I play with it's about 50/50 on open face to shut at setup. played with a guy recently who I thought would have hit the ball left of Nancy Pelosi, with an extremely closed face at setup. Based on D-plane, I didn't think he had a chance, but he shot a solid 78, and only missed one ball left.

I'm guessing that open face players either unbend the right wrist at impact, or roll the left arm hand into impact and closed face players do not.

Just an observation I've made recently. Seems you can play effectively either way, just wondered what components or swing changes you had to make to compensate for a closed versus open face.
 
S

SteveT

Guest
Tball88 said:
why is it some players play better with a shut face and some with an open face?
............
Just an observation I've made recently. Seems you can play effectively either way, just wondered what components or swing changes you had to make to compensate for a closed versus open face.
Click to expand...

Closed face = body release..... open face = hand release.
 
T

Tball88

New
Should mention that I'm speaking in reference to the face at setup, not at the top.

Steve T, I think your comment makes sense regarding body versus hand release, I wonder if Brian and Mike's ideas about the release change any based on the face at setup.
 
T

Tball88

New
I mean, based on what we know about the d-plane now, wouldn't the closed face player actually have to open the face through impact in order to avoid going left, or swing further left than the face?
 
Virtuoso

Virtuoso

New
Tball88 said:
I mean, based on what we know about the d-plane now, wouldn't the closed face player actually have to open the face through impact in order to avoid going left, or swing further left than the face?
Click to expand...

Tball88, there are so many things that can happen in the motion of the swing to nullify the face position at set-up. Someone dead shut at address might be wide open at the top....or even more shut.

The face never opens up through impact, it's always closing....even if you hit it 80 yards right of target. If you could come into impact with a closure rate of less than 1000 deg/sec, you would be a contortionist.
 
T

Tball88

New
in the old TGM terms, can you not vertical hinge or ie: turn the face to the sky? although, even in this kind of shot, the face still has some rate of closure.

So Virtuoso, in your experience, what are players who setup with a shut face, doing to keep from going left? I'm sure it's not the same for all, but what are the general tendencies?
 
Virtuoso

Virtuoso

New
Tball88 said:
in the old TGM terms, can you not vertical hinge or ie: turn the face to the sky? although, even in this kind of shot, the face still has some rate of closure.

So Virtuoso, in your experience, what are players who setup with a shut face, doing to keep from going left? I'm sure it's not the same for all, but what are the general tendencies?
Click to expand...

You can definitely not vertically hinge in an actual golf swing.

I couldn't really catogorize all the different ways you could start closed at address and not end up closed at impact. But, a cool experiment you could do for yourself is this: go to the range, take your set-up, twist the club 45 degrees closed, and then start your swing and try not to hit it left. You can probably do it better than you think. Then note what your individual "feel" is for doing so. Then you would know a heck of a lot more than me about what you would do, and you'd also have some insight as how some others might do it. Overall, you'd probably leave with the impression that address face angle and impact face angle are not as directly linked as you thought.
 
S

SteveT

Guest
Virtuoso said:
You can definitely not vertically hinge in an actual golf swing.

I couldn't really catogorize all the different ways you could start closed at address and not end up closed at impact. But, a cool experiment you could do for yourself is this: go to the range, take your set-up, twist the club 45 degrees closed, and then start your swing and try not to hit it left. You can probably do it better than you think. Then note what your individual "feel" is for doing so. Then you would know a heck of a lot more than me about what you would do, and you'd also have some insight as how some others might do it. Overall, you'd probably leave with the impression that address face angle and impact face angle are not as directly linked as you thought.
Click to expand...

Well tell us what you would do in your golfswing to square the 45º closed clubface at address when going through impact.
 
B

Bigwill

New
I think that another factor to consider is the position of the hands at setup. A closed face at setup in the hands of someone with a weak grip wouldn't be as closed throughout the swing as it would appear to be at address, and vice versa with the open face/strong grip setup. In situations like these, the closed face/body release and open face/hand release may not necessarily apply.
 
lia41985

lia41985

New member
Closed/open to what? You're intended starting line? You're intended target? In relation to your stance line? Details...they matter.
 
S

SteveT

Guest
Virtuoso said:
I wouldn't do anything through impact; I'd just fan it open on the backswing. That seems much easier.
Click to expand...

Assuming you have a somewhat neutral grip with the 45º closed clubface, and then fan it open on the backswing, wouldn't you need an exaggerated 'cupped', or flat wrist facing upwards hand positioning in the downswing to square the face up to the ball at impact? Seems somewhat of a contortion to me.
 
Virtuoso

Virtuoso

New
SteveT said:
Assuming you have a somewhat neutral grip with the 45º closed clubface, and then fan it open on the backswing, wouldn't you need an exaggerated 'cupped', or flat wrist facing upwards hand positioning in the downswing to square the face up to the ball at impact? Seems somewhat of a contortion to me.
Click to expand...

When I told the op to twist the club 45 degrees closed, I meant twist the arms, not strengthen the grip. If you strengthened your grip that much, you would have quite a task ahead of you.....but you would have to look something like Gainey, Trevino, Duval or Azinger at impact to pull it off.
 
D

DCgolf

New
The danger in closing the face at impact is it can start the club back outside the target line. And an open face can start it back too far inside. The top edge tends to direct path, that's why a lot of slicers who close it slice more. The path becomes more outside relative to the face.
 
Erik_K

Erik_K

New
I tried posting a similar topic and no one responded to it.

I think I set up with square or slightly closed clubface at address, but one of things that I find interesting is how similar a slightly open, closed, or square face can look at address. I tried this with a homemade lie tool taped onto my face and maybe the difference between open and closed is more apparent with blades vs cavity backed irons (mine are cavity).

Yet setting the club face just slightly open seems to be required if one wants to hit a push draw (assuming a center hit on the face and that the face is closed relative to the path). I haven't messed with this yet, but it's one of things I want to experiment with in the Spring.
 
B

Bigwill

New
wulsy said:
That's one of those ole sayings in golf, no? I, personally, don't believe it.
Click to expand...

I've actually found it to be true in my case; closed face at address, head tends to move outside, open face opposite is true. And I find it easier to hit a draw with the face open at address. And back when I was a slicer, I had a strong grip with a closed face at address. I always thought it was just me being backward. Guess I wasn't (in this case, anyway).
 
Last edited:
D

DCgolf

New
Im not saying you cant. Just that for 30 years ive seen slicers take it outside the more they close it. i dont go by old sayings just what i see every day!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top