Opening/Closing the club face

[Saint_Viper]

What does this achieve? Whenever i try to open the face when chipping onto the green etc, i more often then not mishit the ball and see it scoot of the green.

Sorry for a silly question, but hey we where all new to the game one day ;)

[Rickins]

Not a silly question at all. The immediate result of opening the clubface is to increase the effective loft of the club. The expectation is to see the ball pop up in the air and land softly with little movement once it hits the green. A "flop shot", if you will.

The other "mechanics" at play become a little dicier. Standing square to the target line, you should also expect to see the ball travel to the right of your target (presuming that you're right-handed). Generally, you'll want to open your stance taking a more face-forward stance toward your intended target to counteract this effect. You can also think of it as aligning your body to the left of your intended target.

Now, all of this presupposes that the lie you have will allow you to get under the ball cleanly. If not, the usual result will be to "blade" the ball (hit it with the bottom edge of the clubface) and send it scooting on a low trajectory well past your target. Because of the design of the typical sand wedge, the chances of blading your shot are increased quite a bit because the back of the club will raise the bottom edge of the clubface even more.

Rick

[Saint_Viper]

Ahhhh.

So the name of the shot when opening the face is a flop shot, ive heard that mentioned a few times on various tv programmes.

What i dont understand though is how by opening the face gives the blub more loft.

[iacas]

Ahhhh.

Take your pitching wedge and a square stance. Observe the loft (around 48 degrees). Turn the club so it points to the right but don't change your stance at all (this is "opening" up the wedge). The loft will be 54, 56, or some amount higher than 48 - more open the more to the right it points. At some degree of turning, the clubface can be parallel to the ground (i.e. 90 degrees loft).

Make sure you're just spinning the club in your hands. The shaft should stay in the same position, and so too should your feet and everything else. You simply rotate the club, in your hands, so that the clubface points more right. Tough to explain, easy to see (if you're doing it correctly).