The Relationship Between Face Angle and Strike Location in Golf

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"I shanked it because I left the face open" No, you didn't. This 🧵thread🧵 will show you why Follow me @adamyounggolf for more cool #golf info Here we see a square face and a centered strike

If, all else being equal, we presented the face more CLOSED, the strike moves more towards the TOE. This image shows a 5 degrees closed face

If, all else being equal, we presented the face more OPEN, the strike moves more towards the HEEL. This image shows a 5 degrees closed open

Here's a closer-up view. So while the face being more open/closed does affect strike location, it's not by as much as you'd think. A few mm at best. And 5 degrees open or closed is pretty significant. With a driver, that's around 50 yards off-line!

There is a point where the face is so open that, all else being equal, it could move a centered strike to a shank. But it's around 45+ MORE open than normal. Golfers don't do that. So, no. The cause of your shank isn't that you "left the face open".

In the above, I rotated the face around the sweet spot of the club. "But what about if you rotate it open/closed around the shaft?" Similar results. Pic 6 shows 5 deg more closed Pic 7 shows 5 deg more open

In fact, something super weird happens if you open the face enough, twisting around the hosel. At some point, the strike starts to move more to the toe! So, again, leaving the face open was not the cause of your shank.

If you want to learn more about how to fix #golf strike issues without faffing around, check out my Strike Plan program here - adamyounggolf.com/the-strike-plan/