Here’s an easy way to get a sense of what a square club face feels like and how to get back to it every time.

To start this, set up to your ball and take the club back so that it’s parallel to the ground AND parallel to the target line. When you do this, what you should see is that the club face angle should match relatively closely to the angle of your spine.

Now, if you were to set up with your club parallel to the ground, you should see that the club face is perfectly vertical and still matches the same angle as your spine.

When you move around in this position, your spine should actually match the club face if everything else stays the same and this is a great reference point to understanding squaring the club face.

We actually want to try to keep the club face square to the arc of our swing. Which means that we really don’t have to “control” the club face much, just allowing it to move along with the centripetal force. In order to get a good feel for your club face being square to your arc, think of your club face matching the angle of your spine throughout the swing.

A couple weeks ago, we talked about why the high handicapper slices. This week we are talking about why the low handicapper has a tendency to hook the ball.

Our high handicap golfer tends to swing the club a bit out to in. Conversely, the lower handicap golfer knows that he or she should be swinging more in to out; however, that golfer may swing a little too much in to out. In other words, if you tend to hook the ball, you are probably swinging out to the right (for a right handed golfer) with a closed club face.

If you are struggling with hook shots in your game, a way to correct this or to work on this would be to

1. As you start your downswing, try to feel your hands moving away from you.

2. Feel like you are unwinding your body in a way that’s going to get the club working more toward the target line. Your hands should be more out in front of your chest in the downswing as opposed to back behind you.

3. Try to feel like you are swing more to the left (for a right handed golfer).

4. Work on these drills mostly with a mid iron; it’s much easier to work on your swing with an iron than it is with a driver. The drill will translate to the driver if you work at it.