00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
In this concept video, we're going to talk about identifying your club-faced closing pattern.

00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:10,000
This relates to seeing the motorcycle and understanding where the club-face is pointing during the swing.

00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,000
The club-face gives you two piece of information.

00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:18,000
Roughly, where the club-face is pointing at impact is approximately where the ball is going to start.

00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:25,000
And then the face-to-path, how much the club-face is either open or closed or square to the path,

00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,000
dictates how much it's going to curve.

00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:33,000
So it's really important to pay attention and use feedback so that you understand what your club-faced pattern is.

00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:38,000
Oftentimes when I'm giving lessons, a golfer will say that, well, the club-face is open,

00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,000
maybe I need to strengthen my grip.

00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,000
And I'll say, well, you know, hey, that's a reasonable guess,

00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:49,000
but why don't we investigate a little further and try to identify when your club-face is getting open?

00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:56,000
Because if it's not open really early in the movement, then perhaps strengthening the grip

00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,000
isn't the best long-term solution.

00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,000
And that's ultimately what we want to try to achieve,

00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,000
which is the best long-term solution for our club-face pattern.

00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,000
Not just the quick fix.

00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:12,000
So when we're looking at the club-face control, we want to break the swing down into a couple different phases.

00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,000
I want to see, at roughly parallel to ground like this, so we'll call that

00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:20,000
chef-parallel.

00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,000
At chef-parallel in the backswing, I want to look at roughly where the club-face is.

00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:30,000
If it's somewhere between my spine angle and vertical, then the club-face hasn't

00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:31,000
opened a whole lot.

00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,000
If you're the type that struggles with the club-face getting into a position where it's way

00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:41,000
open like this, then I've probably opened the club-face during take away,

00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:47,000
which might mean that I do have a really weak grip, and my body is just as I move the club,

00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,000
kind of naturally the club-face is getting really open.

00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,000
The second place that a lot of golfers start opening the club-face

00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,000
is the look-find here, and then at the top of the swing,

00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,000
you'll see that the club is pointing more straight down instead of

00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,000
parallel to the left-form or even more up towards the sky.

00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,000
What will usually happen there is as they're setting the club,

00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,000
you'll see that this wrist is going into more of an extension position, kind of like this.

00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,000
So that's the same thing as if I was here, and then I extended the wrist,

00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,000
you could see how that opens the club-face.

00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000
So if I get that club-face in a really open position there,

00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,000
I've just got to make sure that I do a really good job of closing it pretty aggressively

00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:32,000
on the way down.

00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:39,000
The last checkpoint before impact would be at shaft parallel on the way down,

00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:46,000
and looking if the club-face is roughly parallel to my spine angle, or at least between parallel

00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,000
to my spine angle in vertical. So somewhere between here and there.

00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:58,000
So what can happen is club-face is fine, club-face is fine, and then I tend to really pull

00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:04,000
down and the club-face gets into an open position. Or the club-face is fine, the club-face is

00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,000
past vertical, but I still come into the golf ball with an open club-face.

00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:15,000
So this can help me figure out the phase of the swing, where I'm losing the club-face control,

00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,000
and ultimately what I need to do with the arms and the hands in order to get it back.

00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:25,000
Because really it's the wrist and the arms and the hands and the forearms that control the club-face

00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:31,000
position more so than the body pivot. So you're either going to be struggling with opening or closing

00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:39,000
the face in the takeaway during setting the swing, during transition, or during the release.

00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:44,000
But by using this framework you'll be able to figure out exactly when you're losing the club-face

00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,000
which will give you a much better opportunity for using one of the related drills for being

00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:54,000
able to solve that specific club-face issue.