I've seen people during their address, their driver clubface is slightly open , is there any particular reason why would they be doing it ? Is it supposed to be this way or shd we follow the principle of clubface square to the ball ?

Thks

Trevor Immelman is doing that right now!

address != impact. you can address with a completely open or shut club face and hit it square at impact.

conversely, you can address it square and at impact it's open or shut, which happens most of the time

i thot i address it square, and hit it square, but my ball flight tell me otherwise......

From my experience, the swing plane may have something to do with the ball flight upon impact even if you are squared at setup. I know I hit my ball square (check the club face after every hit) but still my ball fades a little before coming back straight. If I use a higher spin ball, the fade is even stronger and may end up a going too far right. I learned to live with it by compensating a bit to the left and using a lower spin and softer ball.

[quote="r510tp"]

ironstarz wrote:

Another reason why pros like to address the ball with an open clubface is their tendency to hook the ball when they "go after it". A hook is often disastrous and more difficult to remedy than a fade or slice. Just take a look at Tiger Wood's recently hooked tee shots...

or rather than creating an anti slice mechanism, i personally think its more a matter of shot shaping... because these ppl are pros and most times they would hit a good tee shots... i read somewhere that martin kaymer likes hitting fades with his tee shots rather than draw... which i thought it would be the opposite(draw gain distance via carry, fade u lose) and freddie couples hits a load fade tee shot... i guess its a matter of control(more not always better)...

did u see bubba watson's amazing driver shot off the fairway earlier this year? he deliberately opened the face of the driver ON the fairway(2nd shot) so that he created a major slice that ended up on the green...

u might not agree with me but thats what i think:
a falsesafe mechanism does come into play but ii think ts so they can shape their shots...

Look at the shoulders, when they take their stance. It will tell a tale....
If u wanna fade....shoulders aim left of target. Doing the opp, will do us a lil bit of help,
esp if we have an out to in swing path. Just compensating our swing.

Well, it depends on how one wanna shape the ball - High fade, high draw, low fade, low draw, etc. If one tends to hook the ball in his natural swing, he may wanna open his clubhead face a few degrees and also hold the releasing of the club slightly longer.

My TM TP Burner S/F driver is designed with the clubhead face opened by 2 deg. It suits my swing and it looks more palatable to my eyes when I am addressing it against the ball ...

Sibeh Cheem.....

Better players tend to fight the lefts (hooking) so they tend to prefer open-faced clubs.

Game improvement clubs tend to sit square to help square the clubface at impact.

Anti-slice drivers will sit closed with a slight offset.

For example, this one.




Technical Specifications
Club 1 1
Loft 10.5° 12°
Lie 58° 58°
Weight 198g 198g
Face Angle -1° -1°
Offset 5mm 5mm
Face Height 55mm 55mm
Volume 460cc 460cc
Men's Std. Length 45" 45"
Ladies Std. Length 44" 44"

Unless i get to see it face to face, if not, i never trust what i see on video when it comes to such things.

Live demos are always the best.