Why can I not close the club face?

[O.B. Right]

I slice the majority of my shots. My short irons are high and short, my mid irons are high, short and fading right, my long irons are high slices and my driver and 3wood produce banana balls that I reserve for the driving range.

I have tried what seems like everything to get myself to close the club face but it never happens. I recently cleaned my clubs very well and then went to the range and noticed that, although I thought I was making progress on this, the tee-paint streaks on the bottom of my metal 5 wood are at a huge angle - indicating a very open clubface.

I have tried strengthening my grip, intentionally closing the clubface, swinging easier, paying attention to follow through, the glove in the armpit thing, trying some goofy "hand flips" to "hit the little homerun" like AJ Bonard told me to but nothing seems to get me to close the face.

Any swing thoughts or drills that might work for me? I decided I'm going to take a lesson this week - any thoughts on whether I should go to Golf-Tec or the pro at my driving range?

[I <3 Titleist]

Any swing thoughts or drills that might work for me? I decided I'm going to take a lesson this week - any thoughts on whether I should go to Golf-Tec or the pro at my driving range?

You might be surprised that the strength of your grip isn't very strong. A lot of times a strong grip pointing at your shirt logo isn't strong enough. Try making the v of your left hand point to your right shoulder.

And I guess the most important part of fixing the slice...do you swing inside to out? If not, you'll need to start in order to fix it.

[NormH3]

i'd say the driving range. You are already comfortable with going there.

good luck getting it squared away (pun intended)

[chspeed]

You are almost certainly swinging "over-the-top". The most common swing malady, and also the hardest to cure. It's possible that your clubface is square, but your shots still curve to the right (after starting out straight) because you are swinging from the outside in.

Taking a lesson, from a certified PGA instructor, is your best bet.

Good luck!

[bunkerputt]

Start with a square clubface at setup, then get to a square clubface at the top (Club should be rougly a 45* angle, but pointing very slightly to the sky) You have to check this one by camera. If those are correct and you are still hitting with an open clubface, where is your left elbow pointing at impact? If it's pointing at the target, no chance you are going to close the clubface with your hands, as your forearm rotation is the culprit. Try to get your left elbow pointing at your left hip at address, and keep your forearm rotation quiet and natural through the shot.

[O.B. Right]

You might be surprised that the strength of your grip isn't very strong. A lot of times a strong grip pointing at your shirt logo isn't strong enough. Try making the v of your left hand point to your right shoulder.

Re grip strength: I close the club face almost 90 degrees, make a regular grip and roll it back so the club face points to the target again. The V in my left hand is actually pointing beyond my right shoulder. Still - I somehow manage to roll my right arm under the left at impact. I probably do swing outside-in even though I try not to. I have not found a way to get the feeling of swinging inside to out. To me it feels like inside to inside (and does not produce desired result so must be wrong).

[$2 Nassau]

Your grip may be too strong which could cause some unnatural swing issues. Go with a neutral grip.

Get on the range and really exaggerate hitting a draw. Set up with a very closed stance, raise your left shoulder up(kind of "shrug" your left shoulder so it's up near your cheek) this will close it to your target line- you'll feel like you are almost facing backwards. When you swing have your follow through go well to the right of your target. You can then aggressively turn your hands over at impact, and basically just try to hook the ball.

[CLEGOLF]

Return2golf,

I would suggest your next practice session involve slow swings to help obtain the "circular" nature of a golf swing. This will teach you how to bring the club from "inside to out".

At the top of your backswing, start the down swing with a gentle push on your front foot. At the same time, your arms should fall naturally. Do not turn yet and wait for just a split second. Let your hands drop then start your turn.

Try to imagine your arms "rolling" down the front of your chest while you are turning. Keep your upper arms close to your torso. If you don't, you will just be casting your arms at the ball and will most likely come from the outside in.

It will feel weird at first, but that will most likely be a good thing. As you continue to roll your arms down your torso while turning, your right hand should naturally close the club face. Remember, keep rolling your arms thru the entire downswing.

Good Luck!

[bogeyhitter25]

You could also be falling back on the attack from the downswing. That was my problem. Try making contact very tall. That'll allow for some release. Well at least that works for me.

[jfrankl5]

I think the main focus to have is to make sure you're hitting from the inside like a few posts have said. This is one of the most common problems when correcting a slice. If you make sure your plane is correct, then hit the ball at 4 o'clock and see what results happen.

[squaddie]

I've had problems with an open club-face, too. I've traced the problem to two causes:

1) Letting my backswing get too armsy, moving my arms up instead of turning my shoulders. As a result the arms are disconnected and are not in the right position to allow the club to square properly in the downswing;

2) Hinging my wrists too early in the backswing. Sometimes I focus too much on holding the hinged position with the wrists and tense up my hands, wrists and forearms, which causes me to resist the forces that allow the clubface to square during the downswing, as I have pretty strong forearms.

As a drill you could take a sandwedge and try taking half-swings again, focusing on getting the shoulders to turn 45*, so the arms are at the 9 o'clock position. The left arm remains straight (not rigid) and the right arm can fold a little as if for a full swing, though ensure the forearms and elbows are close to each other. Your wrists should hinge up naturally in the backswing around the 45* mark if you are turning the shoulders and the arms are following properly.

In the downswing your wrists may feel like they are hinging even more, and you should power through the ball with the clubface square at impact, if your hands, wrists and arms are not too tense.

This drill is similar to the "9 to 3" drill that I read about from an instructor named Geoff Jones (who goes by SliceFixer on some other golf forums).

[Smiffy]

Have you checked your alignment? My address position was progressively getting more and more closed and I found my irons in particular were going nowhere compared to a few months ago, and my divots were aimed sharp left where I was having to cut across the ball to get back into an impact position (of sorts).
I spent a while on my alignment and things seem to have got back on track for the time being at least.
It could be any number of things as have been mentioned, but check your basics first.
Rob

[O.B. Right]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I took your advice . .thought about it and researched some additional stuff . . .

I went out to the range today determined to hit a hook with my 7iron. The things I specifically changed were my grip, my shoulders and the start of the backswing.

First, as somebody pointed out, my grip was not as strong as I thought. I would turn the club faced closed, make a neutral grip and roll my arms back so the club face was square again. This actually looks like a strong grip but it's more about pre-rolling my arms - which didn't work.

When I make a strong grip by starting with a square club face and gripping to the right, my forearms don't roll under and the club face tends to want to be closed.

The second tip I took from here was to try and swing inside out. I have never been able to get the feel of this but decided that I would try starting my backswing "inside". That was easy enough.

Lastly my shoulders. I randomly heard a tip on the golf swing about turning your shoulders instead of swinging them and realized I don't really turn my shoulders. I focused on the thought of trying to have my back to the target at top of backswing.


After about 3 tries I hit a hook! I have never hooked a golf ball before - not even by accident. After a few more tries I found I could do it consistently and started switching down my clubs. I was able to easily hit hooks with all my clubs except my 5wood (I didn't try driver or 3). I managed to draw a little with the 5 wood but mostly it went straight.

Not only was I hitting hooks and draws but these were some of the longest shots of my life. One of my 3 irons that I tried to hook but went straight was probably my farthest ever shot with that club.

I know this newfound ability to hook at will will disappear next time I'm on the course but I think I'm on my way . .a few hundred more buckets and I just might cure this slice.

[KaiL]

Just imagine that you are holding a knife with the point pointing at the club head and swing trying to stab something (may be someone's bun :) )in front of the ball towards the target.

[bioman]

What kind of grip do you have?

[jambalaya]

Because you are worthless and weak.

Or those things the others are talking about.

[scott71law]

I was slicing drives quite a bit this past spring and I noticed Rocco Mediate in a tournament (forgot which one) and how he has a REALLY closed stance, way more than others. I tried closing my stance a bit like Rocco but not quite as exaggerated, and also turning my hips slightly into my backswing at address (before my actual backswing begins) and went from slicing once every 2-3 drives to slicing one about every 8-10. Made a huge difference, but I'm not sure it isn't just a band aid for now. I am certainly no expert but as someone else mentioned I agree that the address is VERY important, especially for those who slice it.

I have actually even been able to hit controlled draws like this with fairway woods (but not often with my driver, it is a 460cc and seems tough to work the ball with). I have probably knocked 2-3 shots off my rounds since I started doing this. The only drawback I have noticed is that it has become difficult at times for me to aim properly with my closed stance and I end up pulling some irons left, not hooks, just missed left by 10-20 yards. And of course trying to draw everything and when it goes right where I aimed (right) without drawing. Nothing the range wont fix...

Another thing I have tried in the past that seemed to help, at least with the swing motion, was to find a hill and stand at the base and take some swings as if you were hitting a shot that was above your feet on the hill. It seems to promote more of a turn in the swing and may help with the outside-in problem.

No one mentioned this yet, but depending on how serious you are about the game, you could just aim the slice if you are happy playing at the level you are at now. A pal of mine shoots high 80's with a 20-40 yard slice. Whatever you try, good luck and have fun.

Scott

[O.B. Right]

No one mentioned this yet, but depending on how serious you are about the game, you could just aim the slice if you are happy playing at the level you are at now. A pal of mine shoots high 80's with a 20-40 yard slice. Whatever you try, good luck and have fun.

That's what I used to do back in high school. I played a lot from freshman year until junior year but only a few times since then (I am now 35).

These days I am much more disciplined. I am determined to learn to play bogey golf or better. I can't explain it but it's somehow become unacceptable to me to not be able to hit a golf ball properly. Spending a lot of time at the range these days. If I had this much free information available to me when I was in high school I might have learned back then. Or not.