Your car started right and stayed right…again. You swore you’d go all the way this time, but the ball knifed into the tree. Why? You left your face open because you don’t trust letting go and your hands know it.
An open tee is one of the most expensive in golf driving errors. It costs you the freeway you lost and the distance you left behind. When you understand why this happens, you’ll start to see cars crossing the freeway instead of going down into debris and trees.
Why an open face is worse than a closed one
When you hit a drive with a closed face, at least you moved the ball. You make contact, generate speed and the ball goes somewhere with energy. You have a distance, even if the direction was off.
Leave your face open and lose everything. The ball flows straight with a weak fade, sacrificing considerable distance. Many golfers play so defensively through impact that they will never know what a fully released driver feels like.
Tournament players rarely slice. Their losses stay under control, usually as mild thrusts or fades. Amateurs are constantly waiting and this is no accident.
The real reason you leave your face open
He doesn’t believe in letting go.
You start your backswing, build your spiral, and intellectually understand that your hands should rotate through impact. But going into the ball, that feels reckless. Like you’re going to fix it on the street next door.
So you hold on. You keep the face stable through impact, preventing natural rotation because it feels secure and controlled.
Wrong thought pattern all the time. You’ve just guaranteed an open face and a skinny part.
Model 1: Good setup, lock on impact
You have everything at address: square face, proper grip, balanced stance. Then, through the stroke, your hands freeze and keep your face open.
Cause: Fear from the left side. You are terrified of a hook, so your hands refuse to rotate. Your body slides past the ball while your arms and club lag behind. This gets worse with the driver because the longer shaft amplifies the face angle. A slightly open face becomes a disappointing part.
Adjustment: Practice release drills without the ball. Take half-speed swings where you consciously roll your right forearm over your left through the strike zone. The logo on your glove should face the ground after impact, not the target.
This feels extremely aggressive at first, as if you are spinning it but in this exercise, that’s the right feeling. It’s one of those “feel” vs. “reality” scenarios.
During the warm-up, hit a bucket of balls with your driver, but only at 60 percent speed, focusing on seeing your right hand finish over your left. Speed ​​comes later. Release comes first.
Model 2: Poor grip forcing compensation
Your grip is too neutral or weak, requiring perfect timing to square the face at impact. Under pressure, that time disappears and the open face returns.
Cause: You see a finger, or no fist, on your left hand at address. A weak grip requires massive hand rotation to square the face. This is a time move you won’t repeat under pressure. This pattern often develops because someone once told you that a tight grip causes hooks.
Adjustment: Gradually strengthen your control. Rotate the left hand clockwise until you see two or three keys in the address. Your right hand should sit more under the handle, not on top.
Yes, your first drives can go left. This is your body learning to trust that the face will come up. Give it 20 swings and you’ll start to feel more comfortable with this change.
A stronger check does the square’s work for you, turning an open face from a guarantee to an impossibility.
Model 3: Sliding instead of rotating
You feel like you’re rolling through the ball. However, you’re actually sliding your hips toward the target while your upper body hangs back, so the club arrives late at impact with an open face. This is a common trait I see in students.
Cause: You are using lateral movement instead of rotational speed. Your hips slide forward, but your chest never turns. The club cannot reach so it reaches impact still pointing to the right of the target.
Adjustment: Feel like you’re hitting hard on the left side. Your left leg should roll back and up through the shot, not slide toward the target.
Practice this with your feet together. Make full swings touching your feet. You will be forced to roll instead of slide because there is no room for lateral movement. This workout reveals what real rotation feels like.
Square face workout
Lift the ball and catch your driver two inches. Take a smooth 70 percent swing, focusing on rotating the clubface closed through impact. Hit 10 balls.
Some will attract more than you want. This is the essence of this exercise. It means that he is finally releasing the club.
Your goal is not to hit every car straight. It is to eliminate the open face slice. Once you’re comfortable letting it go completely, you can moderate it a bit if needed. But most golfers should be swinging 30 percent more than they currently do, not less.
Stop the direction of the face square. Trust the release, tighten your grip and let your body roll. The freeway is wider than you think when you square your face.
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