Club face at address

[Patch]

Just throwing this out here. I agree with the club face being slightly open at address. With regards to the in to out swing path, and the club being some what open, square, or closed at the address position, should the golfer also know what their hands are doing in the down swing? I am thinking based on the golfer's grip, that during the down swing the golfer's hands will turn some what, one way or another to get back to what is a natural position of the hands for that particular golfer. If the hands do in fact return to a natural position just prior to impact, should that have an impact on what the club face should be at the address position? I just find it tough to believe that every golfer's hands return to the same natural position at impact.

The was some info years ago where a golfer could take their normal grip, and then hold their club out at arm's length, in a level horizontal position. While doing that, if possible the golfer could align the grooves on the club face with a known, completely straight, up and down object. Something like a fence post, or the corner of a building as an example. Once the club face was adjusted to match, the golfer would lower the club head to the ground to their normal address position. At that point, the club face would look a little closed.

Now if the golfer's grip were to return to their natural position during the down swing, which may, or may not be the same position at address, it is possible the hands would open the club face up from the previous looking closed position, so that they would get a draw flight path?

On another note, should the centrifugal force, and the centripetal point involved in the down swing have anything  to do with the club face at address? It seems to me the centrifugal force would cause the hands to rotate back to their "natural" position which could different from the golfer's "normal" grip at address.

[iacas]

@Patch , you're overthinking things.

There are golfers who sometimes point the grip differently at address than at impact, but one of the main reasons people adopt a certain grip is that, for their swing, it returns the clubface to point the same direction it is at impact.

Key #5 has to do with the grip, the swing, and education (ball flight laws). I prefer my clubface to be pointing slightly to the right, but I tend to return it there pretty well.

P.S. I don't know why a grip would "close" if aligned held in front of you. No real reason for that.

[mvmac]

Just throwing this out here. I agree with the club face being slightly open at address. With regards to the in to out swing path, and the club being some what open, square, or closed at the address position, should the golfer also know what their hands are doing in the down swing? I am thinking based on the golfer's grip, that during the down swing the golfer's hands will turn some what, one way or another to get back to what is a natural position of the hands for that particular golfer. If the hands do in fact return to a natural position just prior to impact, should that have an impact on what the club face should be at the address position? I just find it tough to believe that every golfer's hands return to the same natural position at impact.

Not sure what you mean by "natural" position, most golfer's "natural" position has the club bottoming out before the ball

[sgt1372]

Interesting.

Newbie here, who's still learning.  I have been lining up the club face square w/the target at address BUT, now that I've learned how to NOT slice the ball, almost all of my balls are now going left (instead of right) of target.  So, without otherwise changing my swing, it makes sense to just open the club up a bit to make the ball go straighter.

I'll have to experiment w/this tomorrow when I head to the range again.  Guess this goes to learning how to "shape" the flight of the ball too, which is something else I'll have to learn to do.   Thanks for the info in this thread.

[Patch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patch

Just throwing this out here. I agree with the club face being slightly open at address. With regards to the in to out swing path, and the club being some what open, square, or closed at the address position, should the golfer also know what their hands are doing in the down swing? I am thinking based on the golfer's grip, that during the down swing the golfer's hands will turn some what, one way or another to get back to what is a natural position of the hands for that particular golfer. If the hands do in fact return to a natural position just prior to impact, should that have an impact on what the club face should be at the address position? I just find it tough to believe that every golfer's hands return to the same natural position at impact.

Not sure what you mean by "natural" position, most golfer's "natural" position has the club bottoming out before the ball

By natural I mean the hands wanting to return to their natural position in the down swing.

[jclark]

By natural I mean the hands wanting to return to their natural position in the down swing.

I don't believe your hands return to any position that matches your original position. Your hands at setup will not be the same as at impact. I guess I don't follow what you mean by "natural."

[mvmac]

By natural I mean the hands wanting to return to their natural position in the down swing.

By "natural" do you mean the same position at address? I still don't understand what you mean by natural.

The position the golfer gets into at impact is determined by the stuff that comes before it. Good golfers have certain impact commonalities and poor golfers have different impact commonalities.

[dchoye]

I like open clubface look of my woods at address, but for the irons I like to have a shut face. Dont ask me why.