Fixing Club Face Too Open In Transition
A lot of golfers struggle with having the club-face rotate open in transition. This typically shows up as a bigger problem for the driver, which is better hit with less trail arm straightening than an iron. That trail arm straightening helps close the club-face, but also prevents body rotation. Because the timing of the trail arm straightening is later for the driver swing than the iron swing - keep in mind that the arm is typically a little more bent with the driver swing than the iron swing. If you have the club rotating open in transition, it is most likely the left wrist extending as you change directions coupled with a powering of the swing from the shoulders (lat and tricep) more than the hips and core.
A lot of golfers struggle with having the club-face rotate open in transition. This typically shows up as a bigger problem for the driver, which is better hit with less trail arm straightening than an iron. That trail arm straightening helps close the club-face, but also prevents body rotation. Because the timing of the trail arm straightening is later for the driver swing than the iron swing - keep in mind that the arm is typically a little more bent with the driver swing than the iron swing. If you have the club rotating open in transition, it is most likely the left wrist extending as you change directions coupled with a powering of the swing from the shoulders (lat and tricep) more than the hips and core.
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.740
This video is opening the clubface in transition, so in the in the clubface
2
00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:09.300
section or in the in the video of understanding the movements that adjust
3
00:00:09.300 --> 00:00:14.460
the clubface I'm speaking as a global kind of hey these movements are just
4
00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:18.180
the clubface anywhere but there's one specific time where I'll frequently see
5
00:00:18.180 --> 00:00:22.980
the clubface airing towards getting to open and that's in transition and it's
6
00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:27.260
usually part of a little bigger pattern so what that looks like is if I go up
7
00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:27.420
to
8
00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:31.900
the top of the swing as the golfer starts down that lead wrist will tend to
9
00:00:31.900 --> 00:00:37.660
go into extension and the clubface will rotate more up towards the sky kind of
10
00:00:37.660 --> 00:00:42.660
like this so I'm exaggerating it it may look just as subtle as something like
11
00:00:42.660 --> 00:00:48.540
that but if it's opening it's not starting to square and it's not closing
12
00:00:48.540 --> 00:00:52.400
what we tend to see with the most consistent ball strikers is that they
13
00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:57.020
will be closing the clubface somewhat consistently the entire downswing
14
00:00:57.020 --> 00:01:02.940
so if we get back to this opening during transition why would a golfer do
15
00:01:02.940 --> 00:01:08.780
that well the the big reason is if I'm using my lats and if I'm pulling down
16
00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:14.120
with my arms it actually is gonna feel stronger for and give me more force
17
00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:19.740
pulling down if this risk goes into extension so using that clubface getting
18
00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:24.560
open as an indicator that I'm I'm kind of more upper body dominant I'm really
19
00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:30.040
starting that transition move with more of a lunge and pull pattern as opposed
20
00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:35.000
to a rotational body pattern because what you'll start to find is if I tried
21
00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.920
to get open like this and I tried to rotate open this is almost gonna get into
22
00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:45.000
an unplayable clubface position where I'd have to really close it down during
23
00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:51.200
that release phase which is hard to really hard to do consistently so the
24
00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:56.200
the usual steps are if you're working on getting that if that clubface is
25
00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:59.840
getting open and you're working on getting it to close a little bit the
26
00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:03.300
main movement is going to be that flexion of the wrist because the the
27
00:02:03.300 --> 00:02:07.200
club is at 90 degrees to my arm so that's the one that's going to rotate it
28
00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:12.880
closed so a lot of players tend to feel weak at first when they're rotating
29
00:02:12.880 --> 00:02:13.040
this
30
00:02:13.040 --> 00:02:18.120
or when they're flexing that lead wrist in transition and the main reason is
31
00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:23.000
they're not using their legs they're not using their core to bring the arms
32
00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:27.480
down into delivery position so that then the arms can extend during the release
33
00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:34.480
so if you find yourself struggling with getting used to the motorcycle or if
34
00:02:34.480 --> 00:02:34.640
you
35
00:02:34.640 --> 00:02:39.640
find yourself getting really narrow in the clubface opening it's part of this
36
00:02:39.640 --> 00:02:44.040
global pattern of kind of pulling with the arms instead of getting more of the
37
00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:49.440
engine evenly distributed throughout my body working from the ground up so from
38
00:02:49.440 --> 00:02:53.280
the top of the swing if it's gonna work from the ground up this first movements
39
00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:58.800
down should be controlled mostly by the lower body and the core if you do that
40
00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:03.040
if you power the early movements by the lower body in the core then the wrist
41
00:03:03.040 --> 00:03:03.400
if
42
00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:08.880
it stays relaxed is going to want to go into flexion because the weight is
43
00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:13.000
gonna be slightly behind where I'm attached to the club so if you're
44
00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.240
struggling with getting open specifically during transition understand that it
45
00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:17.320
's
46
00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:20.560
part of how you're powering your swing and you want to look at the lower body
47
00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.880
drills during transition to really start working on powering your swing from
48
00:03:24.880 --> 00:03:25.040
your
49
00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:29.040
core work on continued rotation and getting that clubface a little bit
50
00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:34.520
square or squared earlier that combination will ultimately help you to
51
00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:40.480
not pull quite as much with your arms and get the club open in transition
Have questions?
Ask Mulligan for helpFixing Club Face Too Open In Transition
A lot of golfers struggle with having the club-face rotate open in transition. This typically shows up as a bigger problem for the driver, which is better hit with less trail arm straightening than an iron. That trail arm straightening helps close the club-face, but also prevents body rotation. Because the timing of the trail arm straightening is later for the driver swing than the iron swing - keep in mind that the arm is typically a little more bent with the driver swing than the iron swing. If you have the club rotating open in transition, it is most likely the left wrist extending as you change directions coupled with a powering of the swing from the shoulders (lat and tricep) more than the hips and core.
A lot of golfers struggle with having the club-face rotate open in transition. This typically shows up as a bigger problem for the driver, which is better hit with less trail arm straightening than an iron. That trail arm straightening helps close the club-face, but also prevents body rotation. Because the timing of the trail arm straightening is later for the driver swing than the iron swing - keep in mind that the arm is typically a little more bent with the driver swing than the iron swing. If you have the club rotating open in transition, it is most likely the left wrist extending as you change directions coupled with a powering of the swing from the shoulders (lat and tricep) more than the hips and core.
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.740
This video is opening the clubface in transition, so in the in the clubface
2
00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:09.300
section or in the in the video of understanding the movements that adjust
3
00:00:09.300 --> 00:00:14.460
the clubface I'm speaking as a global kind of hey these movements are just
4
00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:18.180
the clubface anywhere but there's one specific time where I'll frequently see
5
00:00:18.180 --> 00:00:22.980
the clubface airing towards getting to open and that's in transition and it's
6
00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:27.260
usually part of a little bigger pattern so what that looks like is if I go up
7
00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:27.420
to
8
00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:31.900
the top of the swing as the golfer starts down that lead wrist will tend to
9
00:00:31.900 --> 00:00:37.660
go into extension and the clubface will rotate more up towards the sky kind of
10
00:00:37.660 --> 00:00:42.660
like this so I'm exaggerating it it may look just as subtle as something like
11
00:00:42.660 --> 00:00:48.540
that but if it's opening it's not starting to square and it's not closing
12
00:00:48.540 --> 00:00:52.400
what we tend to see with the most consistent ball strikers is that they
13
00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:57.020
will be closing the clubface somewhat consistently the entire downswing
14
00:00:57.020 --> 00:01:02.940
so if we get back to this opening during transition why would a golfer do
15
00:01:02.940 --> 00:01:08.780
that well the the big reason is if I'm using my lats and if I'm pulling down
16
00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:14.120
with my arms it actually is gonna feel stronger for and give me more force
17
00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:19.740
pulling down if this risk goes into extension so using that clubface getting
18
00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:24.560
open as an indicator that I'm I'm kind of more upper body dominant I'm really
19
00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:30.040
starting that transition move with more of a lunge and pull pattern as opposed
20
00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:35.000
to a rotational body pattern because what you'll start to find is if I tried
21
00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.920
to get open like this and I tried to rotate open this is almost gonna get into
22
00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:45.000
an unplayable clubface position where I'd have to really close it down during
23
00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:51.200
that release phase which is hard to really hard to do consistently so the
24
00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:56.200
the usual steps are if you're working on getting that if that clubface is
25
00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:59.840
getting open and you're working on getting it to close a little bit the
26
00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:03.300
main movement is going to be that flexion of the wrist because the the
27
00:02:03.300 --> 00:02:07.200
club is at 90 degrees to my arm so that's the one that's going to rotate it
28
00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:12.880
closed so a lot of players tend to feel weak at first when they're rotating
29
00:02:12.880 --> 00:02:13.040
this
30
00:02:13.040 --> 00:02:18.120
or when they're flexing that lead wrist in transition and the main reason is
31
00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:23.000
they're not using their legs they're not using their core to bring the arms
32
00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:27.480
down into delivery position so that then the arms can extend during the release
33
00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:34.480
so if you find yourself struggling with getting used to the motorcycle or if
34
00:02:34.480 --> 00:02:34.640
you
35
00:02:34.640 --> 00:02:39.640
find yourself getting really narrow in the clubface opening it's part of this
36
00:02:39.640 --> 00:02:44.040
global pattern of kind of pulling with the arms instead of getting more of the
37
00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:49.440
engine evenly distributed throughout my body working from the ground up so from
38
00:02:49.440 --> 00:02:53.280
the top of the swing if it's gonna work from the ground up this first movements
39
00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:58.800
down should be controlled mostly by the lower body and the core if you do that
40
00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:03.040
if you power the early movements by the lower body in the core then the wrist
41
00:03:03.040 --> 00:03:03.400
if
42
00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:08.880
it stays relaxed is going to want to go into flexion because the weight is
43
00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:13.000
gonna be slightly behind where I'm attached to the club so if you're
44
00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.240
struggling with getting open specifically during transition understand that it
45
00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:17.320
's
46
00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:20.560
part of how you're powering your swing and you want to look at the lower body
47
00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.880
drills during transition to really start working on powering your swing from
48
00:03:24.880 --> 00:03:25.040
your
49
00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:29.040
core work on continued rotation and getting that clubface a little bit
50
00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:34.520
square or squared earlier that combination will ultimately help you to
51
00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:40.480
not pull quite as much with your arms and get the club open in transition
Have questions about this video?
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