Golf Club Face Angle Fitting

1. Open faced
2. Square faced
3. Closed faced

Obviously, the face angle that is ideal is the square face angle.  Another factor that comes into play here is your clubhead path.  The clubhead path relative to the target will be one of the following three:

1. Inside-out
2. Square
3. Outside-in

Now, when you combine the golf club face angle with the clubhead path, one of the three following conditions will exist:

1. Clubface open to path
2. Clubface square to path
3. Clubface closed to path

Lets look at the first condition, Clubface open to path.  What will happen here is that the ball will generally curve to the right.  This means you probably have an outside-in clubhead path.  The severity of this path will determine which course of correction you should take.

If the ball starts a little to the left and then comes back to the right and ends up on the right half of the fairway, then this is what is called a fade.  Sometimes this is a very desirable shot, and sometimes not. 

If you do this on a consistent basis then I would consider using clubhead's with a 1 or 2 degree closed face.  This will help make the golf club face angle more square.

If the ball starts pretty much straight and then makes a turn to the right ending up in the rough, then this is what is called a slice.  The only time this is desirable is on a dog-leg right and you can reach the turn with your driver. 

If you slice on a consistent basis, then I would consider using a 2 or 3 degree closed face clubhead.  I would also, consider taking lessons to straighten out your swing path. 

If your ball takes a really wicked right turn and ends up in the wrong fairway, then it is definitely time for some lessons. 

Lets look at the second condition, Clubface square to path.  If the golf club face angle is square to your clubhead path, whether you have an outside-in swing path or and inside-out swing path, the ball will fly generally straight. 

If you have an outside-in swing path, the ball will fly straight to the left of the target.  Depending on how far left of target you are, you may want to try an open faced club to try and bring the ball around to your target.

Conversely, if you have and inside-out swing path, the ball will fly straight to the right of the target.  Again, depending on how far right of the target you are, you may want to try a closed faced club to try and bring the back to your target.

Lets look at the third condition, Clubface closed to path.  If the golf club face angle is closed to your clubhead path, then the ball will generally curve to the left. 

This means you probably have an inside-out clubhead path.  The severity of this path will determine which course of correction you should take.

If the ball starts a little to the right and then comes back to the left and ends up on the left half of the fairway, then this is what is called a draw.  Sometimes this is a very desirable shot, and sometimes not. 

If you do this on a consistent basis then I would consider using clubhead's with a 1 or 2 degree open face.  This will help make the golf club face angle more square.

If the ball starts pretty much straight and then makes a turn to the left ending up in the rough, then this is what is called a hook.  The only time this is desirable is on a dog-leg left and you can reach the turn with your driver. 

If you hook on a consistent basis, then I would consider using a 2 or 3 degree open face clubhead.  I would also, consider taking lessons to straighten out your swing path. 

If your ball takes a really wicked left turn and ends up in the wrong fairway, then it is definitely time for some lessons. 

Here is a little experiment to try.  If you generally slice the ball, then at address position, turn the golf club face angle counterclockwise, 1 or 2 degrees.  Don't turn your grip, loosen your grip on the club enough to spin the club inside of it.  This will give you a closed face angle. 

Go ahead and hit the ball and take note of the flight path of the ball.  If you hook the ball, then you have turned it to far.  Work with it a little until you have found a golf club face angle you like. 

One thing to note here, is that your ball trajectory may not be what you would normally want.  By turning the club you are effectively reducing the amount of loft of the club.  But this is a good test to indicate the proper face angle for you.

Two more things to note here:

1. This entire discussion on this page assumes a right handed golfer.  You will have to reverse everything for a left handed golfer.
2. This entire discussion on this page also assumes that you are using the proper flex shaft for your golf swing speed.  If you are using too flexible or too stiff of a shaft, it can seriously affect the balls flight path.

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