Face Control Revisited

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Festus

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Face control has become my white whale. Try as I might, I just cannot latch on to a consistent means to decrease my considerable shot dispersion range.

As an example, went to the range yesterday and hit maybe 20 drives. The tee was laid flat pointing EXACTLY at the target ON EVERY ONE and I ranged from push slices 20 yards right to pull hooks 25 yards left. The issue goes all the way down through the wedges which of course have less net variation in ball flight range but still likely have the same face angle error. I do not think I'm flipping it either.

I've tried:
1. Switching to bigger grips (+1/8").
2. Uber strong to uber weak grip.
3. Feather light to pretty strong grip pressure.
4. Twistaway.
5. More in the fingers to more in the palms.

Honestly, nothing really seems to make a difference. Swing weight maybe? Maybe there's something in the combination above that has the best chance for success?

I did a title search on "Clubface Control" and there's 16 previous posts. Jim K.'s is probably the secret with "practice, practice, practice" but can I accelerate the learning curve with additional means? I probably hit 250 balls/week and I ain't gettin' there yet. I'm afraid my poor body is gonna give out before I can hit a straight ball.
 
Richie3Jack

Richie3Jack

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Can't really tell without seeing your swing. Probably your pivot needs a lot of work. Ball position may need to be tidied up a bit and some other things. I know when my ball position gets a bit too forward, I hit this weak squib cut that I really despise.






3JACK
 
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savydan

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Agree w/ Richie. I'll bet there is something quirky, or some type of interference happening through impact that's making clubface control an effect of something else.
 
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birly-shirly

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Festus - do you know what your swingpath is doing on these shots?

I'm hoping, in my own case, that once I've ingrained a more online delivery of the clubhead - that a square clubface at impact will be more intuitive/repeatable.

Currently, my tendency is an in-to-out path and the only way to hit a solid shot to the target is via a draw. When I really work on a more "swing left through the ball" move, I can hit a straight ball at the target or just a tiny cut - but if feels very different to my normal swing. Hopefully, when "very different" begins to feel more normal, it'll also be more consistent and repeatable - but as I can't claim to be there yet, this may be pure conjecture...
 
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Festus

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birly-shirly said:
Festus - do you know what your swingpath is doing on these shots?
Click to expand...

It has to be close to zero since the straight ball is pretty much at the target. Right misses fade and left misses draw.

Something that has always bothered me and may be relevant here is the #3 PP right index finger sensation. Guys talk a lot about that feeling and to be honest, I have almost no pressure sensation anywhere in my right hand on the through swing. I try to swing more than hit. With the pivot going left, I feel pressure my upper left arm/left pec connection and a pull force in my left hand. Right hand just goes along for the ride. Could I be losing some face control this way? If so, how could my right hand better stabilize the face?
 
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birly-shirly

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I don't feel much no. 3 pressure myself, so can't really comment. One thing that I am working on, and an option that you didn't mention having tried, is slow motion swings with a ball.

I'm hitting woods on the range at targets 30 or 40 yards short of normal distance. My reasoning is that you need to be able to feel the different paths and clubface alignments before you can control them - and at full speed I didn't really have a strong sense of what my swing was doing. Slowing it down, whilst still hitting balls, has been helpful to me - and of course my plan is to take a set of feels from the slow swings and gradually try to pick up the pace whilst still being able to discriminate between hook and slice swings.
 
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spktho

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May I suggest being very detailed and consistent in taking your grip--making sure the clubface is the same every time you take a grip, and setup first. Then you can adjust from there.
 
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softconsult

New
Don't discount the stiffer shaft suggestion by Matt.

I have a golf buddy who is 70 years old, but is plenty strong.
He has played with Senior shafts ever since I have known him.
We played in the same foursome last week. On the tee he would
hook one, then slice one, then hook one. I have been telling him
that the shafts were too whippy for his swing. Another member
of the foursome was left handed like my friend. So I asked him
if he would let John hit his Regular flex driver for a couple of holes.

Guess what? Dead straight three drives in a row. You need the correct
flex in order to control the clubface, particularly with the Driver and fairways.

You could also be losing your balance, which can cause erratic results.

Without a video, it's simply a guessing game.
 
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Festus

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Kevin Shields said:
...or your right hand. Thats the one thats directly behind the face.
Click to expand...

This is where I'm a bit perplexed. If I'm swinging and not hitting, how can the trailing hand apply force on the golf club at impact? For that to happen, some point(s) of my right hand would have to be moving faster than the grip at that moment which would then imply more of a hitting action.

In a swinging type action, what's the role of the right hand at impact?
 
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JonWil

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Brian has said do not try and create any forward or upward with the hands in the swing.
This translates for me as: ‘downward force with the left hand’ and ‘pulling back with the right hand’ at impact. The ‘pull-back intention’ serves to stabilize the head, orient the face, align forces for compression, and gives the right hand something to do converse to flipping or over-accelerating. Training it also brings a heightened awareness to path.
 
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