I'm finding that I have to be very diligent (actually adjusting the club in my grip) to make sure that the clubface is open enough at address with my 4,5,6 irons (as well as my 3 hybrid and 5 wood) in order to avoid over hooking. I starting thinking that it is partly because my irons (Taylormade M6's) have a pretty significant offset (4-5.8mm, 5-5.2mm, 6-4.7mm). I'm wondering if most Saguto/S&T golfers have found that irons with less offset are more suited to the system and the stock push-draw shot shape. I definitely don't have the same challenges with my 7 iron thru wedges as they have much less offset. Once I figured this out and really made sure that I compensated for the offset of my 4,5,6 irons, I've been able to control the hooks and pull hooks but wondering if I am fighting a bit of an uphill battle with these irons. Thanks!
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@john.pyle19 I've been experiencing this myself as I have gotten better with the swing. A lot of times people say its your ball position ,but the big breakthrough for me was seeing my swing from face on. My arms and the club made a capital Y shape. That closes the face!!! Instead, move the handle forward so it's on your lead thigh (a lower case y shape). That will open the face without you having to change your grip or actively do anything! Let me know if it helps!
@john.pyle19 - Indeed, as your swing takes shape and is consistently approaching the ball on an in-to-out downswing path, you really begin to harness the power of the Grid in shaping your shots. The basic premise of this can be found in the following truths: 1) Clubface relative to target line = the ball's starting direction; 2) Clubface relative to path = direction and degree of curvature. This being the case, you will likely need to "offset your offset" by either opening the face prior to gripping the club or demo-ing some clubs with little or no offset to see how they work for you.
The purpose of the offset - so they say - is to provide a draw bias in order to help amateurs who are prone to slicing and who, apparently, haven't either the interest or time to address the root cause - a poor downswing path. It's lipstick on a pig. You are here in this school; therefore you are not a lipstick-wearing pig, and you are putting in the time and effort to develop a proper path... 😎
So, considering that the stock shot shape for this swing is a push draw as you mention, your clubface needs to be open to the target line for the push starting direction, and closed to the in-to-out downswing path to impart the draw spin. To me, while it can be accomplished with offset clubs as described above, this is far easier to preset with a more of neutral face orientation.
Nice post on a much-overlooked topic!
Maybe but, I would try moving those long clubs more forward in stance. I saw a video where Tom had a line of balls forming an arc. It showed what each ball position did to the curve of the ball.