Question About Opening the Face ....

[nokmond]

Hi all, could someone help me with this as i'm having a few shanking problems now and then.

When hitting say a 50yd wedge shot you stand open, alligned to the left and open the face of the wedge yes?

My question is what swing path do you then take?

Straight back and thru or do you swing out to in accross the line of your feet?

[mdvaldosta]

Towards the target. The ball is gonna go (or start out) whichever direction you swing the club.

[Dr. Slice]

i have been having this same problem to, all my shots from that range are right, i just need to work on getting my wrists through

[ks8829]

When I open my face of my 60 degree to play a flop shot, sometimes I will shank my shots to the right also.

What I focus on the following:

1) I make sure that my club is line up at center of the club face or slightly on the outside
2) hands are relaxed but extended to the ground
3) slight forward press
4) I make sure that I take the club back like my regular irons and make sure that I keep the club face open through and after impact.

I take a shag bag about 60 ball and practice 180 shots and you will become comfortable with the shot and eliminate the shank.

[nokmond]

Thanks all. I've hit a few balls today and it was definately better. I had been swinging across the line of my feet which was causing some strange shots/shanks.

I still shanked a couple but i found lining the ball up with the toe of the club helped.

[Leftygolfer]

I believe you should swing along your foot line. With the open face it will go towards the target.

[billm408]

Curious... why open the clubface for a 50 yard shot? What's the proper face angle for 45 yards? Or 53 yards? Unless I'm trying to create a different trajectory, I just square it up and shorten my backswing for 50 yards. Much more repeatable for me. I will align my stance slightly more open, but that's just to pre-clear my hips for the downswing. I'm still taking the club down my target line. BTW... 40-50 yards is my least favorite distance!

[mdvaldosta]

I believe you should swing along your foot line. With the open face it will go towards the target.

It depends on how open your stance is... with the face open to the right you'll aim

slightly left. If you're stance is only slightly open then yea... along your feet... but if it's way open then no. I've seen people with a really open stance. So I guess it depends on what you're defination of open is, and how you're perceiving the shot.

[Leftygolfer]

I am going straight from the short game bible. It is the same with a bunker shot. I would never play a 50 yard shot with a face that is wide open. It is slightly open and my feet are slightly open.

But lets say a flop, my feet are 30 degrees to the right, club face wide open and I am swinging along the feet line. It would be really weird to swing along the target line in that situation. I would play a bunker shot the same way (green side) but put the ball up in the stance so I hit sand first.

[chspeed]

I have always done the same as above posters, hitting "flop shots" like bunker shots - essentially opening the club face, and swinging along my "foot line".

Phil Mickelson just had a golf digest article saying that these types of shots lead to shanks, and that instead, he does it by keeping the clubface open through the shot, not by opening his stance and cutting across the ball.