Drills for a square clubface

What you'll learn

• Understand why the clubface drives your start line more than anything else
• Groove a square face through the Gate Drill corridor
• Catch an open or shut face early with the Pause-at-P3 check
• Build a strong, square impact with forward shaft lean using the impact bag

Before you start

• Golf selected, and a Diagnose read so you know whether your miss is a face or a path error.
• Two tees for the Gate Drill and, ideally, an impact bag (a stacked towel works).

Step by step

1. 1

   Know what you are training

   Most direction problems trace back to the clubface — where it points at impact matters more than anything else. These drills square the face rather than hide it behind a grip change.

   Why it matters:Why

   A grip change can mask an open face, but the face still controls your start line.

2. 2

   Gate Drill

   Push two tees into the ground just wider than your clubhead, forming a gate around the ball. Make swings that pass the clubhead cleanly through the corridor.

   What good looks like:Good

   The club passes the gate without clipping either tee, shot after shot.

   Common mistake:Avoid

   Setting the gate so wide it gives no feedback — keep it just wider than the head.

3. 3

   Pause at P3

   Swing to P3 (lead arm parallel to the ground on the way back) and pause. Check the face: toe roughly up is your reference; wide open or shut is the error to catch early.

   What good looks like:Good

   The leading edge sits roughly parallel to your spine angle — neither hanging open nor shut.

   Common mistake:Avoid

   Rushing past P3 without checking — the halfway-back face predicts the impact face.

4. 4

   Impact Bag Drill

   Strike an impact bag with the hands slightly ahead of the ball, feeling forward shaft lean. This builds an impact position where the face arrives square instead of flipping through.

   What good looks like:Good

   Hands lead the clubhead into the bag and the face is square at contact.

   Common mistake:Avoid

   Scooping or flipping at the bag — the goal is a firm, forward-leaning strike.

5. 5

   Match the drill to your read

   Face errors and path errors need different work. Pick the drill that matches your Diagnose read rather than doing all three at random.

   Why it matters:Why

   Targeted reps change the swing; scattered reps just tire you out.

6. 6

   Ten focused reps, then retest

   Ten focused reps beat fifty careless ones. Use the start line of each shot as feedback, and retest after a week — a straighter start line is the honest sign the face is squaring up.

   What good looks like:Good

   Start lines tighten toward your target line over the session.

Common mistakes

• Reaching for a grip change before checking the face at P3.

  Use the Pause-at-P3 check first — the halfway-back face tells you what to train.

• Flipping the hands at the impact bag.

  Lead with the hands and feel forward shaft lean so the face arrives square, not scooped.

• Grinding fifty careless reps.

  Ten focused reps with a start-line check beat volume every time.

What happens next

Continue your path

The next lessons that build on this one.

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