Club Face Alignment Drill: 3 Steps to Check Your Setup

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DRILL OVERVIEW

Club Face Alignment: Check It Before You Swing

Your drill at a glance

Long gameDrill category

More consistent clubface alignmentBenefit

15 minutesPractice time

1 / 10Difficulty

Iron + ballsEquipment

Clubface alignment: choose a target, check the face, try a small opening, keep the setup familiar and complete eighteen routines. Two alignment sticks show the foot line and target line.

This drill is from the Golf Practice Made Fun App.

Checking the clubface gives every shot a clearer starting point. An unnoticed setup change can send you chasing a swing fault when the clubface was already pointing somewhere unexpected. This drill helps you notice that starting position, test one small adjustment and compare the ball flight, so your practice is guided by what the shot actually does.

Step 1. Watch the clubface and shaft work together

In this lesson, Mike Malaska discusses how the clubface and shaft position relate to impact. The video starts at the section used in the original drill. Watch the demonstration, then try the idea at an easy pace.

Treat a slightly open face as an experiment, because there isn’t one address angle that every golfer absolutely must copy. For the ball’s starting direction, the face position at impact matters most.

Trackman explains face angle here.

Step 2. Check the face, then take your stance

Stick figure golfer looking down at an iron clubhead behind the ball before swinging — Check the clubface first. Build your stance around the shot you want.

Step	What to do
1. Pick a specific target.	From behind the ball, choose a flag or range marker. Find a small reference point on the ground along that line.
2. Place the clubhead behind the ball.	Notice where the face points in your usual setup before changing it.
3. Rehearse the video’s small adjustment.	Turn the face slightly open, rather than making a large change. For a right-handed golfer, open means pointing to the right of the target line; for a left-handed golfer, it means to the left.
4. Keep the rest familiar.	Take your normal grip and stance. Recheck the face after settling in, then make an easy swing.

A worked example

“Seven iron to the middle flag. Check the face behind the ball. A small opening for this test. Normal stance. Smooth swing.”

If you use an alignment stick, lay it flat alongside your feet as a reference and outside the club’s path. You’re checking a starting position, not steering the face during the swing.

Watch for these easy mistakes

Easy mistake	What to do instead
Turning the whole body towards the new face direction.	Keep your original target so you can compare the setups.
Opening the face much more than you intended.	Make a small change, then check again.
Changing your grip, ball position and swing as well.	Change one thing at a time so the result means something.

Step 3. Complete your round

Branded stick figure in a blue polo and golf shoes beside eighteen ticked practice boxes. One routine. One tick.

What to do

Use one comfortable iron and target. Complete 18 full setup routines: choose your target, place the clubhead, check the face, take your stance and make an easy shot. Reset before each ball.

First nine: Complete nine setup routines: place the clubhead, check the face, take your stance and make an easy shot. Second nine: Pause, then repeat nine routines. Keep any face adjustment small and return to your familiar position if needed.

Score	When to award it
1 point	You complete the shot, routine or movement described above.
0 points	You do not complete the attempt.

Add your completed attempts for a total out of eighteen.

George’s Conclusion

George, scratch golfer and mad inventor of the Golf Practice Made Fun App, holding a phone at the range.

A tiny setup change deserves a proper test. Check the face, keep the rest of your routine familiar, and let the ball flight earn the change a place in your game. The prettiest address position in the world is no help if the ball keeps visiting the wrong postcode.

Fancy another challenge? Browse the long game drills.

Want to tidy up the rest of your address position? Try the Avoid Common Setup Mistakes Drill or the Stare at the Target, Glance at the Ball Drill.