Clubface Control
The 2012 newsletter campaign is following a sequence. We started the year off with the five keys that lead to more consistent ball striking, and we will conclude the year with five keys that lead to lower scores. This month we will examine the fourth key for improved ball striking consistency, the ability for the golfer to control the clubface. In review, February highlighted the flat left wrist at impact, March detailed the importance of a golfer's weight being forward at impact, and April was all about the steady head. Again, if you are still working on the flat left wrist, do not move on because, in my opinion, these tips are also sequential in level of importance.
The spin that is imparted onto the golf ball as it separates from the clubface during the impact interval is dramatically influenced by the condition of the clubface. For example, if the clubface is wide open when the ball separates from the clubface, a left to right spin (for a right-handed golfer) will be imparted on the ball. In golf terms, a fade or slice spin is the result. A large percentage of my knowledge of physics and geometry and their application to the golf stroke comes from Homer Kelley's book, The Golfing Machine. For the right handed golfer, Mr. Kelley wrote that the left wrist controls the clubface.
Please examine the pictures and short descriptions that follow to gain a better understanding of how the condition of the left wrist and the resulting clubface position can put a desirable or undesirable spin on the ball.
Picture #1 is for the right-handed golfer who has a tendency for the ball to spin right to left resulting in a hook or over exaggerated draw. In picture #1, notice how the clubface is closed during the take away. This is a key area to watch if you tend to hook the ball!
The solution is that the left forearm needs to rotate, or turn, to square the clubface when initially moving the club away from the ball.
Picture #2 depicts a square clubface in the takeaway which can help eliminate too much right to left spin on the ball.
For the slicer, we are concerned with the follow through instead of the take away. In picture #3, the clubface has remained wide open through the impact interval.
The solution to reducing or avoiding this left to right, or slice, spin for the right-handed golfer is to allow the left forearm to roll and keep the clubface square through impact as seen in picture #4.
In summary, there is a turn of the left forearm in the backswing and a roll of the left forearm in the follow through in order to keep the clubface square.
I hope all of you moms had a great Mother's Day!
Ted Frick
Owner/Director of Instruction
Classic Swing Golf School
2005 Carolinas PGA Section Teacher of the Year
TPI Level 1 Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
G.S.E.D., The Golfing Machine
tfrick@classicswing.com
