Driver Head Angle

[durban]

Hopefully not too stupid a question.

I was watching the Jack Nicklaus invitational this week (Awesome final round from TW!) and it got me thinking.

The instruction I have been given for driving is pretty straight forward.

Rest the club head on the ground and then work out the correct distance away from the ball for your stance, then just take your grip, align and swing.....

so basically when I am about to swing my clubhead is more or less flat on the floor, the ball ligned up with the centre of the face and this is pretty normal from the other players I watch......

However when you watch Pros playing (male and Female) it seems that 50% of players have the face angled diagonally across the ball (so the grip is a lot lower I presume or they stand further away from the ball, not sure) Basically the club head seems to sit on the Heel rather than between heel/toe but I have no idea what this is meant to achieve and whether its something I should just ignore?

The thing is, at first I presumed this may be to add draw to the ball but it would seem that they line up like this regardless of the drive needing to draw/fade or just go straight down the middle.

Can anyone give any links to a good description of the best way to set up your club face for a drive in terms of alignment horizontally (not the actual open/close face instruction which is the norm) as this has really baffled me.

If it helps at all I am primarily after Accuracy, I have no issues hitting quite long drives (so am not after any more length at the moment) when I hit it straight but I want to be able to consistently (within reason) put it down the middle....

I presume as a beginner I am best sticking to the basics and that the 'angled' head approach used by Pros is them just adding something to their game that would ruin a beginner.

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Head Angle

It's more or less irrelevant. What you're discussing is the LIE ANGLE of the club - and at driver loft it doesn't effect ball flight enough to warrant worry.

Most pros setup toe-up because of shaft droop: a phenomenon where the clubhead center of gravity (CoG) works to get in-line with the force applied to it via the shaft. This causes the effective or dynamic lie angle to flatten.

The other factor is that clubs have gotten longer. A longer club produces a more upright lie angle at address. In this case, either you'll fit your posture to your club, or you fit your club to your posture.

[durban]

Re: Driver Head Angle

Thanks Low Post

Makes a lot of sense, so basically unless there is a reason for ME to adopt that sort of angle I shouldn't take any notice of how others play it

Thanks again

Mark

[AussieGolfBoy]

Re: Driver Head Angle

stick to the basics and i think you'll be right....... set up the same for each shot......... (((remember, every player on tour has a different setup and swing.. by all means, watch what they do, but take it with a grain of salt... they all have the basics, but they incorporate them into "their" swing.)))

so.

by this i mean ball position in height and also in relation to the centre of the club face. i saw on an instructional video somewhere that if you wanted a draw then you should give the ball a little more height on the tee and if you want a fade, then lower it a fraction... i guess a happy medium is to find a spot inbetween..

also. your driver should have a centre mark ontop of the club head... for me, i position the club head rested on the ground with the ball on the outside of this mark.. when i swing through the club head rises and meets the ball directly below the centre line on the club....

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Head Angle

also. your driver should have a centre mark ontop of the club head... for me, i position the club head rested on the ground with the ball on the outside of this mark.. when i swing through the club head rises and meets the ball directly below the centre line on the club....

That's a great tip for those that tee it high. Lift your driver until the face is level with the ball (where you want to hit on the face). If you line up that alignment mark with the mark on the crown on the ground, you'll see that you're setting yourself up for a heelie. Line up that mark inside when you're grounded, and see how it becomes centered at what will be impact.