The effect of face angle

[RussUK]

A question for the maths buffs and golf instructors. 

I have been fault finding as to why i am pulling my irons left and it seems that there are two issues.

1. My trail hand grip was very strong, works great for my driver but over cooks on the irons.

2. Having paid real attention to my setup i noticed i was lining the toe of the club and the hosel in a line, therefore closeing the face. I have been advised to use the bottom groove to align the face as the leading edge can play tricks on the mind (true or not?)

So, my question is, sat the face is closed to the target by a degree or so and my swing is in to out, how much would this affect the amount the shot went left, how many yards would i miss the target (guesstimate). If i open the face a degree at address and swing as normal would this produce the "proper" draw shape?

Thanks peeps

[boogielicious]

29 minutes ago, RussUK said:

A question for the maths buffs and golf instructors. 

I have been fault finding as to why i am pulling my irons left and it seems that there are two issues.

1. My trail hand grip was very strong, works great for my driver but over cooks on the irons.

2. Having paid real attention to my setup i noticed i was lining the toe of the club and the hosel in a line, therefore closeing the face. I have been advised to use the bottom groove to align the face as the leading edge can play tricks on the mind (true or not?)

So, my question is, sat the face is closed to the target by a degree or so and my swing is in to out, how much would this affect the amount the shot went left, how many yards would i miss the target (guesstimate). If i open the face a degree at address and swing as normal would this produce the "proper" draw shape?

Thanks peeps

Russ,

The thread below talks about ball flight and the effect of the face with respect to target. For me, I have to have the face open to my target line at address otherwise I will hook it. I line up the bottom of the iron face open. I also have to have a weak grip.

The amount of curve really depends on the face angle relationship to path at impact.

 

[RussUK]

33 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

Russ,

The thread below talks about ball flight and the effect of the face with respect to target. For me, I have to have the face open to my target line at address otherwise I will hook it. I line up the bottom of the iron face open. I also have to have a weak grip.

The amount of curve really depends on the face angle relationship to path at impact.

 

Thanks for that. Makes total sense (plus Erik used pictures for the ball flights...full of the man flu so the brain aint working!)

My shot pattern with the irons seems similar to yours, maybe not a severe, but kind a straight draw plus a bit more .

In regards to setting the face open, did you initially have any trouble with wanting to resqaure it with your hands?

[boogielicious]

4 minutes ago, RussUK said:

Thanks for that. Makes total sense (plus Erik used pictures for the ball flights...full of the man flu so the brain aint working!)

My shot pattern with the irons seems similar to yours, maybe not a severe, but kind a straight draw plus a bit more .

In regards to setting the face open, did you initially have any trouble with wanting to resqaure it with your hands?

Yes. It has a tendency to close with the irons, so I have to be conscious of keeping it open. My normal flight is a slight draw. My miss is a big pull draw, but that is when I come over the top. So I tend to aim at the right side of the green.

[billchao]

8 hours ago, RussUK said:

Having paid real attention to my setup i noticed i was lining the toe of the club and the hosel in a line, therefore closeing the face.

Most clubs have offset so yes, lining up the toe and the hosel together will cause the face to be slightly closed (assuming you aim at what you think you're aiming at in the first place @nevets88 ).

8 hours ago, RussUK said:

I have been advised to use the bottom groove to align the face as the leading edge can play tricks on the mind (true or not?)

The leading edge on most modern clubs is slightly rounded so if you are looking for a straight line to aim with, the grooves are definitely the way to go.

 

8 hours ago, RussUK said:

So, my question is, sat the face is closed to the target by a degree or so and my swing is in to out, how much would this affect the amount the shot went left, how many yards would i miss the target (guesstimate). If i open the face a degree at address and swing as normal would this produce the "proper" draw shape?

Too many variables to account for. Theoretically you change your face to path relationship and generate a different ball flight, but that's assuming you don't start aiming differently on the course because the club is pointing in a different direction than you are used to or something.

My personal preference is to aim the face at address at the line I want to start my ball on, not on the actual target itself.