How to Close Your Clubface for Improved Golf Performance

PGA professional and Superstition Mountain golf instructor, Dan Williams has shared his expertise with us on things like golf grip tips, tips for avoiding shanks and how to fix your slice. Today, he’s urging us to keep our clubface closed.

Here’s what Dan has to say about one of the most common swing issues he sees, an open clubface.

An open clubface can be the cause of so many other issues such as a slice, shank, pulls, chunks, thin shots and shots that fly too high and not far enough. Here, we’ll cover a few ways to help close the face and hit the ball better!

The fastest way most people can change from an open clubface to a closed/square face is by “strengthening” their grip. This does not mean more forceful, rather how your hands are placed on the club. For a right-handed golfer, you’ll want your left palm to be facing inward, towards your body and the left thumb will be on the right side of the grip. Although this doesn’t work for every single golfer, this basically pre-closes the clubface so the golfer doesn’t have to change their motion.

The downside to this is loss of swing speed. If you’re physically fit golfer and can create a lot of swing speed with your body strength, this is a great way to close the face. If you struggle to swing very fast however, you might lose the release of the club in the downswing which can lead to a slower swing and a shorter ball flight.

Many players try to create lag in the golf swing in an effort to compress the ball more. Often this leads to the face being open. So, rather than holding this angle too long, try to release the club.

When golfers make a back swing they should hinge their wrists, so the club is about 90 degrees from the lead arm. The release is the straightening of this angle by extending the wrists or unhinging them while also rotating the clubface from an open position to a closed position. Not only does this help square the face, it also creates some snap in the swing to create more speed.

One more option for closing the face at impact is by closing it right away in the backswing. When we change directions from the backswing to the downswing, our forearms are going to rotate a little bit which opens the face. If we close the face in the takeaway, and you get this change of direction, the face should be more square than open.

A club face that is too closed is every bit as bad as too open. If you’re a golfer who hits hooks or shots that feel solid but are too low, you probably shouldn’t try these. But, if you’re experiencing shots that curve too much to the right, high shots that are not compressed, shanks or contact issues, you might see experiment to see if any of these offer some improvement.

Members interested in booking a lesson with Dan can reach out via email: dwilliams@superstitionmtngc.com