Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

[Timothy Slaught]

Hello All:

I am looking for some input with regards to setting up to the ball with a driver that is 2 degrees closed.

Should I be aligning the club face square to my target or should I be more concerned with the shaft position? Where should my hands be in relation to the head of the driver (ahead, level, behind??)?

It seems if I have the face square, I have to have my hands too far forward in order to manipulate the shaft to acheive the square face alignment. If I set the shaft square to the target then the face appears slightly pointed left of my target. With the design of the driver, it seems I can have a square clubface or shaft but not both at address.

I have been fighting a tendency to lose the ball right with a slight push/ fade. I know I'm coming from inside and the drives feel about 80% solid but I am leaving the face slightly open at impact.

When I experimented with aligning the shaft square and working from address with the clubface slightly closed, I really began hitting more with a draw and more solid feeling. The sense was that I was swinging with the face shut throughout the swing but I did not have to use my wrists as much during the release. This could just be a bandaid however so I was looking for opinions as most of todays 460 cc drivers are designed with a closed face (not offset).

Thanks for reading,
Tim

[BrianW]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

Hi Tim,

A driver with a set closed face can only be designed to counteract a fade or slight push. With a standard club you would set the club face square to target and address the shaft as it lies, in this case the shaft would be slightly ahead of your hands which is no good. I would suggest that you set the shaft level with the face slightly closed at address, when making a swing that is a little in to out the ball should draw back towards centre, or a small push will also attract the ball back to centre.

[takinitdeep]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

It seems if I have the face square, I have to have my hands too far forward in order to manipulate the shaft to acheive the square face alignment. If I set the shaft square to the target then the face appears slightly pointed left of my target. With the design of the driver, it seems I can have a square clubface or shaft but not both at address.
First, why play a driver that is 2* closed?
If you must, you will place the face behind the ball and move the hands ahead until the face is square with the target. Your backswing will be inside now but that's ok as long as you go slow and remember to complete the swing and drop down inside hitting out to right field with soft hands.
The ball will travel between 1st and 2nd base and then draw back in to center field.
Most drivers are a little open so you have to know up front you are playing with an unusual, albeit, unnecessary face closure.

I have been fighting a tendency to lose the ball right with a slight push/ fade. I know I'm coming from inside and the drives feel about 80% solid but I am leaving the face slightly open at impact.

When I experimented with aligning the shaft square and working from address with the clubface slightly closed, I really began hitting more with a draw and more solid feeling. The sense was that I was swinging with the face shut throughout the swing but I did not have to use my wrists as much during the release. This could just be a bandaid however so I was looking for opinions as most of todays 460 cc drivers are designed with a closed face (not offset).

Thanks for reading,
Tim[/quote]

[LowPost42]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

Tim, the point of 2° closed is to help your fade.

The face should be pointing to the hook side at address - this is how a closed face is designed to setup.

If you square the face at address you defeat the purpose of it being closed. Let it close.

[takinitdeep]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

My point exactly; if one must play with an offset head, compensate by aiming right and squaring up the face or get a normal driver. Otherwise, using an offset will mess up your swing.

Tim, the point of 2° closed is to help your fade.

The face should be pointing to the hook side at address - this is how a closed face is designed to setup.

If you square the face at address you defeat the purpose of it being closed. Let it close.

[shootin4par]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

going down a side street

in all of my clubs they are all Neutral, irons, woods, hybrind. Neutral faces with nuetral weighting. if a club is weighted more towards the heel, even with a square face, it will be draw biased.
If your driver is a little clused, then have your irons and hybrids the same. If you play with game improvement irons, play with game improvement woods, and a 2* closed clubface would fall under that category. make your set match so the same swing will be good for all clubs

[cyc53870]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

You are probably fanning the club open on the upswing, shootin'... It's a common mistake most amateurs make...

[guitardave3]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

My driver is a 'normal' (by normal I mean not specifically 2 degrees closed) taylormade driver and the face of mine seems slightly closed at address and when using my friends drivers they all seem the same I think most drivers are slighty closed, I could really do with finding a driver that isnt as I hook my drives anyway LOL

Infact at first I used to have a bit of a slice when I squared my club face at adress but since ive let it sit slightly closed I hit with a hook

[Mox]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

I think most drivers are slighty closed, I could really do with finding a driver that isnt as I hook my drives anyway LOL

I agree that most drivers are slightly closed nowadays, except for the "Tour" models, which are usually half a degree open.

So pick up a Callaway FT-3 Tour or a Taylormade "Tour Preferred" (TP) model.

[takinitdeep]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

I play the Taylormade R7 quad Tour Preferred model with an open face and my normal shot is a draw; I have the weights set on neutral. When I had the weights set to favor a draw, it was too easy to hook it or overdo the draw.
Its all about the swing and learning to hit from inside out with good release yet lag. It does take practice to get to that point and some now and then to stay at that point but is well worth it.
I am very much against bandaids such as closed or offset drivers because they forgive bad swing technique. If one really wants to learn the swing, why use band aids that prevent that learning process.
Am I too rigid?

I agree that most drivers are slightly closed nowadays, except for the "Tour" models, which are usually half a degree open.

So pick up a Callaway FT-3 Tour or a Taylormade "Tour Preferred" (TP) model.

[LowPost42]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

My driver is a 'normal' (by normal I mean not specifically 2 degrees closed) taylormade driver and the face of mine seems slightly closed at address and when using my friends drivers they all seem the same I think most drivers are slighty closed, I could really do with finding a driver that isnt as I hook my drives anyway LOL

Infact at first I used to have a bit of a slice when I squared my club face at adress but since ive let it sit slightly closed I hit with a hook

Mox has got it - almost all drivers today are closed. Mostly 0.5° up to around 11 or 12° for loft, at which point they go to 1° closed.

Please remember, though, that even if the spec is square, face angle has a tolerance of +/- 1°, too.

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: Set-up With Todays Closed Faced Drivers

Hello All:

Thanks for the great follow up responses. As I did additional research on this topic I found some interesting info.

1) Most drivers are manufactured with a 1-2 degree closed face configuration. It is also true that Tour Models are usually square (neutral) or open by 1 degree.

2)The weighting design for these closed drivers is as important as their face set-up. Closed faces should not be confused with offset drivers as they are two totally distinct designs.

3) These clubs are designed to be set-up closed at address by 1 or 2 degrees. The shaft should be perpendicular to your target line. With the ball position at the left heel, this would put the butt of the shaft pointed just left of your belt buckle at address. This is important. Any forcing of the hands ahead of this position can lead to problems ranging from open shoulders to a forced sway off the ball in the backswing.

4) Since I was having a real problem setting up properly (the face just did not look right being pointed left of target) I placed a thin white line on my driver indicating a square alignment. This line runs from the hosel across the crown of the club. When I look down at it at address I use this line to set up the shaft square to my target line. The shaft is then square and in the correct position but the face is pointed 2 degrees closed as it was designed. I do not focus on the closed face but instead on the square white marking.

5) I can now keep my right wrist cupped much more solidly through impact. The weight of the club head feels perfect in relation to my grip.
I can swing with my prefered slight in to out path and watch the ball draw or stay straight (either is just fine by me).

6) I talked to several player who were unaware that they were playing with closed drivers. In all of these cases they set-up with the face square but the shaft in an open position as a result. They hit slices and pulls for the most part. I also spoke with several low handicapers who play with closed drivers and they were very aware of this fact. In fact they all said it was an adjustment getting used to the set-up but once they got past that, the design is really helpful. The closed face is a engineering by product of the large headed light wieght shaft design of todays drivers. It helps fight the high right ball that plagued the first of the 400 cc plus drivers.