Golf Club Aim - Align the Club Face According to Point of Separation - Article 8 of 13 in Series
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The correct way to aim the golf club face is to have the club face square to the intended target or desired lines of flight at the "Point Of Separation" which is the point at which the ball leaves the club face. The ball does not leave the club face at first point of contact. The ball is squeezed onto the club face while the club is still travelling forward and the ball springs off the clubface at some point after point of first contact. If you have never heard of "Point Of Separation" you should read this article. You may be aiming your club face wrong which asks your body to make unnecessary compensations to try and keep the ball on line.
Positions in relation to the ball to target line.
Square: Is when the leading edge (or bottom groove) is 90 degrees to the Ball to target line. Open: Is when the Toe of the club is behind the heel. Leading edge is angled away from you. Closed: Is when the Toe of the club is ahead of the heel. Leading edge is angled toward you.
We will discuss here a little about the club face square position and when this should be achieved during the swing. First it is important to understand that I will be talking about three positions primarily although there are multiple positions in between when broken down into milliseconds.
The first position is the club face at first point of contact with ball but at this point it has had no real impact on the ball. It is that precise, millionth of a second when the two surfaces - Club face and Ball - first make the slightest of contact.
The second position is when the ball has been compressed to its maximum against the club. It is in essence "squashed" onto the face, out of shape and at full compression. Watch any high speed video of a ball through impact to see this.
The third position is what is called the "point of separation" this is when the ball compression has reversed and the ball "springs" off the club-face. We often hear about "Impact, the moment of truth" but actually it would be more accurate to say, "Point Of Separation, The Moment Of Truth."
I am not going to go too deeply into the physics of all this because I do not believe that you need to have this in depth information and if you want it there are better sources to study it than here. What you need to understand is that the moment you want your club-face square to the target line is at "point of separation" not impact.
The point of separation will occur AFTER initial impact. In other words the ball will separate from the club at a point past where you set the club-face and ball up to. The ball will separate from the club-face at a point nearer to the target than at address. This means that technically you want the face to be slightly "open" to the ball to target line at address.
Imagine now that the club-face comes down to the ball during a swing. At the first point of contact between the ball and club the face is slightly open. The club face and ball continue to travel forwards while the ball is compressed onto the face, and then begins to spring back off. All the while the club face is squaring more and more to the target line. By the time the it has travelled a few inches forward of the original ball position, it has squared to the target line and the ball has sprung off and separated from your club. Now the ball is independent and will spin, move in the direction dictated by, swing path, club-face and more importantly, line of compression.
Remember: The amount that the ball is squashed onto the club face is dependant on the type of shot and the swing speed of the individual golfer. The faster the swing speed of either the individual player or the shot being played, the more the ball will compress and therefore the more these descriptions apply. If you are playing a delicate little pitch or a chip shot there is no compression to speak of. Golfers who have faster swing speeds through the impact area will compress the ball more and so these laws apply more.
Next - Article 9 In series - Club Head Speed Through Impact
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