Many golfers struggle with slice, blocks and unstable contact without realizing that the real issue is often the face of the club, NO swing path.
When the clubface is in a poor position during the downswing, golfers are forced to make last-second compensations to square it before impact. Sometimes these compensations work, but they can also lead to inconsistencies and poor ball strikes.
An interesting observation from the study of elite players is how quickly many of them begin to close the club face during the transition. In fact, some of the best players in the world make this move within the first few inches of the drop. The challenge is that doing so requires tremendous skill, awareness and time.
For most recreational players, I prefer a simpler approach, which you can see in the video below.
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How to fix your club face
One of my favorite drills uses a short stick, such as a wedge. Grip the club normally with your lead hand, then place your thumb on the toe of the clubhead. As you take practice swings in slow motion, feel your lead hand twisting the grip as your trailing thumb provides light resistance.
The goal is not to aggressively close the clubface. Instead, the drill helps create awareness of how the clubface is moving during the downswing.
As golfers develop this skill, they begin to realize that club control is largely an equation of timing. For a right-handed golfer, if the face closes too early, the ball tends to start left. If it closes too late, the face remains open and the ball starts straight.
By improving awareness and learning to adjust the face earlier, players often find they can spin more freely, hit the ball harder, and eliminate many of the offsets that lead to inconsistent shots.
Sometimes better golf starts with a better understanding of what the club is doing, rather than making wholesale changes. So if you’re struggling with your ball strike, check what your clubface is doing on the downswing. If you get it right, you’ll start making better contacts in no time.
