Club Face Control Killers

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.440
In this video, we're going to discuss clubface killers.

2
00:00:08.440 --> 00:00:13.650
So clubface killers are basically movements or patterns that tend to make it

3
00:00:13.650 --> 00:00:14.360
really hard

4
00:00:14.360 --> 00:00:17.320
to square the face appropriately.

5
00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:22.720
So you end up either changing your path or having some compensations for the

6
00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:23.400
fact that

7
00:00:23.400 --> 00:00:27.040
the clubface isn't rotating the way that it's supposed to.

8
00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:30.440
And that creates some of your curved challenges.

9
00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:37.320
So the main clubface culprits, or the main clubface killers, are going to

10
00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:37.880
result from

11
00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:44.650
either tension, excessive pull down, poor grip, or the way that you're feeling

12
00:00:44.650 --> 00:00:45.600
the clubhead.

13
00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:49.120
That one can be a little bit trickier at first.

14
00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:53.340
So first let's talk about the grip, because that's probably one of the more

15
00:00:53.340 --> 00:00:54.320
common ones.

16
00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:58.980
If I have this grip all the way up in my palm, kind of like this, instead of

17
00:00:58.980 --> 00:00:59.760
down in the

18
00:00:59.760 --> 00:01:05.030
fingers, then the club has a lot more freedom to move around, and so it takes

19
00:01:05.030 --> 00:01:07.160
more tension,

20
00:01:07.160 --> 00:01:10.200
or it takes more tension to keep it under control.

21
00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:16.080
And so what ends up happening is the grip becomes the source of tension.

22
00:01:16.080 --> 00:01:19.860
But ultimately, the biggest clubface killer is having too much tension,

23
00:01:19.860 --> 00:01:20.640
especially in

24
00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.400
transition or down at the bottom.

25
00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:28.600
Because the two times where pros tend to have a lot less tension than your

26
00:01:28.600 --> 00:01:29.760
average amateurs.

27
00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:33.890
And by having less tension, I can move the clubface, or I can rotate the club

28
00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:34.620
face, but

29
00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:38.820
if I have it locked, then what ends up happening is if I was going to try to

30
00:01:38.820 --> 00:01:39.960
rotate the clubface,

31
00:01:39.960 --> 00:01:45.480
I would have to do so more with shoulders or bigger body movement.

32
00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:50.680
So let's talk about tension at the couple main points, either up at the top or

33
00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:50.800
down

34
00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:51.800
at the bottom.

35
00:01:51.800 --> 00:01:57.320
We'll use the Monster Wedge to kind of amplify where that clubface is pointing.

36
00:01:57.320 --> 00:02:01.780
So if we go up to the top of the swing, if you have a tendency to get a lot of

37
00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:02.760
tension,

38
00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:06.580
or you have a tendency to really pull down aggressively, if you're going to

39
00:02:06.580 --> 00:02:07.160
pull down

40
00:02:07.160 --> 00:02:10.730
aggressively, like if I was, if I had a cable here or a chain and I was trying

41
00:02:10.730 --> 00:02:11.440
to pull this

42
00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:16.650
down towards the ground, my wrist would want to go towards extension, and that

43
00:02:16.650 --> 00:02:17.440
would cause

44
00:02:17.440 --> 00:02:19.640
the clubface to want to open up.

45
00:02:19.640 --> 00:02:23.690
So what you'd see on the down the line video is the club would lay up more

46
00:02:23.690 --> 00:02:24.520
towards the

47
00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:30.230
sky like this, as opposed to getting pointing more parallel to your spine angle

48
00:02:30.230 --> 00:02:30.560
.

49
00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:35.480
So it would tend to kind of go like this in transition.

50
00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:39.160
Then from here, it would be virtually impossible to get your body to get into a

51
00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:39.880
good merrygo

52
00:02:39.880 --> 00:02:45.080
round position, use the wipe or any of those key movements.

53
00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:48.440
And so what you'll end up doing is you'll end up stalling and flipping, and

54
00:02:48.440 --> 00:02:49.200
that flipping

55
00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:54.200
tends to cause some low point issues, but also some clubface issues.

56
00:02:54.200 --> 00:03:00.540
So piece number one is having a ton of arm pull down in transition, but it

57
00:03:00.540 --> 00:03:01.520
could just

58
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:06.920
be, I'm holding on to this really tightly and trying to lock it in place and

59
00:03:06.920 --> 00:03:07.520
turn my

60
00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:08.520
body.

61
00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:13.730
I find that common with a lot of athletes who played body sports, whether it's

62
00:03:13.730 --> 00:03:14.200
wrestling

63
00:03:14.200 --> 00:03:18.640
or mountain biking or rock climbing, where you're used to having a lot of

64
00:03:18.640 --> 00:03:19.480
tension and

65
00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:24.310
making more of the movements happen at the shoulders and the body, as opposed

66
00:03:24.310 --> 00:03:25.000
to people

67
00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.600
who played racket sports or threw a lot like baseball, stuff like that.

68
00:03:28.600 --> 00:03:33.310
So feeling that softness in transition will help the clubface start rotating

69
00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:34.000
early.

70
00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.160
But you can also have a lot of tension down at the bottom.

71
00:03:37.160 --> 00:03:41.560
And that usually, if you're looking at the down the line video and the clubface

72
00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:41.920
is in

73
00:03:41.920 --> 00:03:47.200
a good position here, but then you see it move more vertically like this.

74
00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:51.420
You see the clubface kind of staying pointing out at the face on camera or

75
00:03:51.420 --> 00:03:52.400
staying pointing

76
00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.800
right of the target line, kind of like this.

77
00:03:55.800 --> 00:04:00.130
That's often from having a lot of tension in the forearm instead of letting

78
00:04:00.130 --> 00:04:01.000
that clubface

79
00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.320
rotate.

80
00:04:02.320 --> 00:04:09.750
Because you can see if I grip very lightly, because the club is L-shaped, the

81
00:04:09.750 --> 00:04:10.400
mass of

82
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:13.880
the club is not dead in line with the stick that I'm swinging.

83
00:04:13.880 --> 00:04:17.870
And so it will naturally have a little bit of rotation on the way through

84
00:04:17.870 --> 00:04:18.760
unless I was

85
00:04:18.760 --> 00:04:21.080
to prevent it.

86
00:04:21.080 --> 00:04:26.960
And so a lot of golfers will hold on really tight down at the bottom and either

87
00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:27.440
have

88
00:04:27.440 --> 00:04:30.600
a very strong grip and close clubface to account for that.

89
00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:36.140
Or they will kind of chicken wing and pull the club in in order to help it

90
00:04:36.140 --> 00:04:37.120
square.

91
00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.380
And that can cause a lot of pulls so that can cause some of your start

92
00:04:40.380 --> 00:04:41.440
direction times.

93
00:04:41.440 --> 00:04:44.980
So face killer number one would be gripping the palm because that creates a lot

94
00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:45.760
of tension.

95
00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:50.260
But face killer number two is tension either in transition or down at the

96
00:04:50.260 --> 00:04:51.040
bottom.

97
00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:54.170
So when you're working through some of your drills, that's something to look at

98
00:04:54.170 --> 00:04:54.560
on video

99
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:56.000
and pay attention to.

100
00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:01.580
Now one third that's kind of a common feel is some people don't feel the club

101
00:05:01.580 --> 00:05:02.360
face very

102
00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:07.570
well, instead they're feeling this whole object as a stick almost like a

103
00:05:07.570 --> 00:05:08.480
baseball bat.

104
00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:14.410
And so what you end up doing, if you were going to swing the stick for maximum

105
00:05:14.410 --> 00:05:15.080
speed,

106
00:05:15.080 --> 00:05:18.780
then you would want the center of mass of the club going right through the

107
00:05:18.780 --> 00:05:19.360
stick.

108
00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:24.760
And so because the stick was traveling in a direction down like that, this will

109
00:05:24.760 --> 00:05:25.480
actually

110
00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:31.040
feel more in line and stronger than if I had it like this.

111
00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:34.550
If I do it like this, it feels like there's a wobble or it feels like the club

112
00:05:34.550 --> 00:05:35.200
face wants

113
00:05:35.200 --> 00:05:36.200
to rotate.

114
00:05:36.200 --> 00:05:39.810
Now, that's a good feeling if you're going to get in a body position where you

115
00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:40.240
can stay

116
00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:44.120
ahead of it and kind of that's a rhythm or a feeling of the release of feeling

117
00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:44.960
the clubface

118
00:05:44.960 --> 00:05:45.960
close.

119
00:05:45.960 --> 00:05:51.380
But if you're not prepared for that feeling, then going like this is where the

120
00:05:51.380 --> 00:05:52.240
club would

121
00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:55.640
be traveling in the same direction as the stick.

122
00:05:55.640 --> 00:05:59.540
And unfortunately that causes the clubface to stay really open and then I have

123
00:05:59.540 --> 00:05:59.920
to do the

124
00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:05.130
classic stand up and flip and that can cause my path to get off or my clubface

125
00:06:05.130 --> 00:06:05.640
control

126
00:06:05.640 --> 00:06:07.280
to get off.

127
00:06:07.280 --> 00:06:14.050
So usually the clubface control issues comes down to one of these few problems,

128
00:06:14.050 --> 00:06:14.600
either

129
00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:21.850
poor grip, too much tension, either in transition or on downswing, or feeling

130
00:06:21.850 --> 00:06:23.520
more of the speed

131
00:06:23.520 --> 00:06:29.100
in the shaft of the club and not enough in the clubhead or just kind of losing

132
00:06:29.100 --> 00:06:29.480
that

133
00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:31.360
face awareness.

134
00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:35.760
Getting the club moving in the same direction as the stick instead of where I

135
00:06:35.760 --> 00:06:36.480
would want

136
00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:40.360
it closed a little bit so that I could get into a good impact position.

137
00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:44.080
So if you're looking at yourself on video, that is a common area where you want

138
00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:45.440
to study.

139
00:06:45.440 --> 00:06:49.110
If you're looking at P6, that's a great indicator for what's going on with the

140
00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:49.840
clubface and

141
00:06:49.840 --> 00:06:55.240
path and if you just keep seeing that the clubface is either too open there,

142
00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:56.160
then investigate

143
00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:01.920
tension up above or the grip or the idea of the weight of the club.

144
00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:05.770
If it's good there and you still struggle with the clubface, then you want to

145
00:07:05.770 --> 00:07:06.400
look at

146
00:07:06.400 --> 00:07:10.160
the tension in the clubface pattern during the release.

147
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.150
So that's your quick snapshot for if you've worked on it, but you're still

148
00:07:14.150 --> 00:07:14.880
having some

149
00:07:14.880 --> 00:07:18.520
clubface control issues.