Xander Schauffele’s clever trick to square the club face at all times

When golfers start hitting the ball poorly, they often go around making swing changes. Whether it’s food intake, swing path, or any number of other factors, they always assume their problems need some kind of change.

However, often times, the cause of their problems can be a breakdown in the configuration BASES. These pre-shot checkpoints aren’t the sexiest element of the golf swing, but if they’re done wrong, they can ruin your chances for success before you even start your swing.

Take it Xander Schauffele, for example. Entering the 2019 Masters, he was battling a case of the hooks and was at a loss as to what was causing it. As it turned out, his problems were all the result of poor technique in his organization.

Xander’s trick for a square face

As Schauffele searched for answers to his case of lefties, his father, Stefan, suggested he take a look at the clubface angle in the setup. Schauffele insisted he wasn’t setting up with a closed face, but when he actually got around to measuring it, he was shocked at how closed his clubface actually was.

“He puts this (golf) glove box on and tells me to put my face behind it,” Schauffele said.

With the straight edge of the box as a control point, Schauffele could finally see how closed his face really was at address.

“I was like, ‘Holy shit,'” Schauffele said. “This looks like a butter knife. It just looks terrible.”

After months of playing with a closed face at address, having the face of the club in fact the address field looked like it was open. However, in reality, the face was perfectly square.

“I played with what felt like an open face,” Schauffele said. “I believed through that objective measurement that this was fair and it was square, though.”

If you’re struggling with a consistent miss, take a page from Schauffele’s book and place a glove box (or any other straight edge) behind the clubface at address. Fixing it can be as simple as getting a square front on the address.

Zephyr Melton

Editor of Golf.com

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the GOLF team, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists with all lessons and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.