Adjustable Driver - Addressing the ball

[HowlingGale]

I'm a natural slicer of the ball. I have a Titleist 910 D2 set up as D2, which is closed (or Draw) on the Matrix. This is to try and offset my slice. For the most part it works OK but can often be offline.

One of the guys I was playing with at the weekend was saying I was addressing the ball wrong. I've attached an image showing the two options. 'A' is how he said I should be addressing the ball even though the driver is adjusted. 'B' is how I normally address the ball holding it down it's natural neutral line, if that makes sense. The arrow is the target line.

So the question is who is correct? It's more swing thoughts so I'm tending towards my way as I'm all for the 'whatever works most of the time' to enjoy the game.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

to be fair its how the club face is at impact that matters.....not how you address it. Can you post up a video of your swing?

 

[Capella]

I address it as in image B, for the reason that the club is in another position at address than it is at impact, because I am moving quite a bit to the left during the swing. If I address it as in pic A (which I did for a long time, because I thought that was the correct way), I slice it very consistently. It is the first thing I check if the slice starts to creep back in. But as adam said, it's the moment of impact that matters.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

There is no right or wrong way, whichever helps you hit the most controlled shots is the 'right' way.

 

[Maninblack4612]

What is much more important is how you grip it. If, say, you grip the club in such a way that, at address with the face square, only one knuckle on the left hand is visible, you have a weak grip & the face is likely to be open at impact. If, on the other hand, three knuckles are showing, the grip is strong & the face would be more likely square or closed at impact. I would say that lining up is much easier when the face is square. I usually put the club down with the face square to the line & align my feet, hips & shoulders to that.

I am very sceptical about face adjustment on clubs. It only works if you ground the club then take your grip. If, like me, you grip the club first, then ground it you may have negated any adjustment on the club.

How you grip decides how open or closed the face is.

 

[HowlingGale]

No vid sorry. I think the message is whatever works.
The problem is after getting the imromptu on course 'lesson' I start hitting it well and the 'coach' goes away happy. Next time I play it doesn't work so I revert back. With no time to practice I think I'll continue what I'm doing. It works most of the time.

 

[the_coach]

I'm a natural slicer of the ball. I have a Titleist 910 D2 set up as D2, which is closed (or Draw) on the Matrix. This is to try and offset my slice. For the most part it works OK but can often be offline.

One of the guys I was playing with at the weekend was saying I was addressing the ball wrong. I've attached an image showing the two options. 'A' is how he said I should be addressing the ball even though the driver is adjusted. 'B' is how I normally address the ball holding it down it's natural neutral line, if that makes sense. The arrow is the target line.

So the question is who is correct? It's more swing thoughts so I'm tending towards my way as I'm all for the 'whatever works most of the time' to enjoy the game.

am thinking that image B is maybes a an 'exaggerated diagram angle' of the real club face angle - as that is pretty extreme

it looks around 15º to 20º 'closed' to target line if thinking of the diagram drawn to represent the ball & club head from the distance viewed by the player

with that 'closed angle' at address what is also happening is the 'loft' of the face angle is being 'de-lofted' pretty dramatically

naturally it's the relationship between face angle & presented loft at impact that's important to strike & shot results - but setting up this ways (diagram B) is goin to mean there are having to be some pretty 'funky' compensatory moves being employed during the swing motion itself

would be a ton easier to give some 'advice' if you just posted even a static pic (realize not everyone wants to post a video of the swing itself) of address from 'square' face-on then showing how the body angles are set-up & head position in relation to grip hold/shaft angle/driver face angle/ball position

plus another static pic of address taken from the dtl viewpoint (so taken looking down the target line again "square 90º to target line" so then able to see body angles (shoulders/arms/hips/feet/club) in relationship to ball & target

as it's all this stuff combined that is more dictating how the club is going to be moved through the swing motion to get to impact - cannot really extrapolate anything necessarily from an isolated ball/club face angle image at set-up - excepting image A would give the brain a more instinctive image to 'work' from

 

[leotom]

Great thread! Lots of good info!

 

[Sidsidgwick]

I also play with a slice (currently booked for a lesson to look at it) and I too address the ball as per 'B' (but not quite to that extent) I've found when I do I play with a nice gentle fade shot that doesn't often leave me in trouble (using a Titleist 909D2 for around 12 holes a round)

When I address as per 'a' I often hit my wild slice and spend a good hour or so looking for golf balls in the trees.

Thank you for the info on this thread I'm going to follow it and get a video of my swing to look at where the problems are being generated.

 

[Smiffy]

If you had to describe my "natural" shot it would be a fade. Stupid thing is, I have my Nike Vapor set to open and actually address the ball with the face slightly open too. This, funnily enough, helps to promote a draw!
Must be some weird and wonderful things happening in my excuse for a swing.............

 

[Robster59]

I bought a Callaway XR 16. Normally with the my old non adjustable drivers, the face always looked slightly closed. With the Callaway I find it's a lot easier to lie it square. I'm also a fader but the XR in neutral is fine for me and in draw setting causes me to hook the ball.

 

[GG26]

In the first of my two lessons with our current pro he simply got me to focus on ensuring that the club was square on impact. Not so easy with the driver because of the length of the club, but ultimately its what is important and different set ups will suit different people.

In the last few weeks I've gone back to one simple tip I was given last year and it has improved my driver accuracy significantly. That was to gently brush the ground with the club as I start the backswing - the idea is to not to lift the club too early. With this technique, I have noticed that when I do slice the ball it is almost always because I have transferred too much weight on to my back foot at impact and so that's fairly easy to correct.