Golf has many variables that can determine how the ball travels once it has been hit. Some of the variables are:
- Angle of attack
- Path of swing
- Speed of swing
- Quality of strike
- Face Angle at impact
Today I want to talk about the club face. Many people do not think about the club face too much. It is important to make sure that you have a good setup, a well structured backswing, and a well rotated follow through, but it is important to have a square club face at impact.
Here are a couple of statistics to make you understand how important the clubs face impacts your shots:
When using a Driver, the club face angle at impact determines 85% of the ball direction, whereas the path has a 15% impact on the shot.
When using an iron, the club face angle at impact determines 75% of how the ball will react, where the path is a 25% contributing factor.
Many people will ask, “How can a player work on improving their club face angle?”
My simple answer is, work on both your timing and rotation. If you can get your rotation and timing correct, it will help keep your hands passive during impact, which will help keep your club face square.
Many people manipulate the club face because they are trying to manipulate the shot with their hands rather than trust their swing and rhythm. Others have a lack of body rotation on the downswing, which brings their hands into play, which really can be detrimental to the outcome.
The impact bag is a very good training aid to use to work on your club face angle at impact.
When working on your game, try and play a half shot with a 9 iron, 8 iron, and 7 iron. If you can manage to time your body rotation well, you will find that you will hit a nice straight shot with a good impact position. If you use your hands to manipulate the shot, you will find yourself hitting the ball to the right or along the ground.
Work on your rotation and rhythm and you will find yourself hitting the ball straighter because of a squarer club face. Do not forget that hitting down on the ball, taking a divot will also help keep the club face squarer along with giving you a well compressed shot.