I think controlling the face of the club at impact is perhaps the most important ball striking skill. Most golfers have consistent club paths, but they have a hard time managing where the face is pointing (it has to be functional relative to the path). @Adamyounggolf and I discussed that in this podcast
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You’re right yet most golfers spend 90% of their energy trying to change their path, usually without much success.
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Wonderful JohnM, thanks for sharing. What course? Aberdour? Or is it West Coast?
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Jon_UK the thing that blew my mind when I first went on a Trackman was that you basically never want your club face aimed at the target at impact. Isn’t that strange and paradoxical?!
With a square clubface, the only way you will hit the ball at your target is if you have a totally neutral (0.0) path, which is essentially impossible to replicate. If your face is square to the target and you have a right path, your ball will actually curve to the left of the target and you will miss left (and vice versa for left paths). What this means in practice for you as a drawer of the golf ball is that you need to have an OPEN face at impact. Just to make up some numbers, if you have a 3 degree right path with a five iron, you probably want your face about 1.5 degrees open at impact. If you face is square (or god forbid closed) you will hit a hook that crosses your target and misses left.
Another interesting thing is that your path changes depending on ball position and the length of the club. You will have a more pronounced “draw” (right) path for short irons than you will for your driver, This is because the ball is further back in your stance for short irons so you the arc around the body will send the club more naturally to the right. With a driver, the ball is off your front heel, and so the natural arc of your swing will encourage the club to be headed to the left at impact. In fact, Jon Rahm has a right path with his 9 iron and a left path with his driver!
I encourage you to go have a session with a launch monitor. All this will become totally intuitive once you see how it applies to your own swing. As you can see it’s about way more than just nailing down yardages (though this is helpful). I could write another entire article about how Trackman has changed my understanding of how to play wedge shots inside 50 yards!
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Just turned 40 and I’ve never felt better about my golf game. I’ve heard you play your best golf in your 40s, as you have the most experience and knowledge of the game and your own swing and tendencies and fixes, combined with the physical ability to execute. Looking forward to it! I continue to learn every day. Just trying to stay fit to keep it going as long as possible!
And how about that @Ebs02? Can he pen a piece or what? You should see his college essays on Shakespeare. Didn’t do much for the ladies, but his professors sure seemed to enjoy them…
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Hi @Ebs02 - this is Largs Golf Club, north Ayrshire. I worked behind the bar circa late 80s. Sam Torrance was a member (European Ryder Cup captain 2002). Meanwhile I met my wife there who was a waitress in the restaurant. Special memories 
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First and foremost, great article which I enjoyed reading.
So where does that leave me, it looks from the replies above that I am the oldest to reply to date. I am already in my 60’s and didn’t start to play golf until 20 years ago, prior to that I played other sports to a reasonable level.
I currently have a handicap of 12 which depending on who you believe is half a dozen shots better than Mr Average. Do I believe that I can get any lower? Absolutely.
If I had a lot less miles on the clock I would be following you guys, but I need to be realistic. My path to shooting 80 is to keep the ball in play, put it in the right place and play a boring 10 pars and 8 bogies.
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I sure hope this is true. Something to look forward to in a few years.
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Thanks for taking the time to set this down - much appreciated and this point is certainly something I’ve never quite considered!
With a square clubface, the only way you will hit the ball at your target is if you have a totally neutral (0.0) path, which is essentially impossible to replicate.
I’ve had much more luck shaping the ball with my short irons, and never quite worked out why, so appreciate your point there too. Thanks. Great info. 
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Sounds quite enjoyable to me! I long for the days when I know my ball will be in the fairway! Of course when that day comes I’m sure I will long for the days when the ball soared through the skies at great speed. Ahhh golf…
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One of the oldest … I’m gonna be 65 this Winter and took up golf 11 years ago. Bogey golf is my current goal - and achievable once (not “if”) I learn to limit my mistakes (eg. doubles, 3 putts, etc.) - and then will be looking to break into the 80s and hopefully play there consistently. Never too old!
Apropos anecdote:
There’s a short 9 hole course on the grounds of a VA center near me; one of the regulars - who still gets out and plays several times a week, most of the season - is 95! Still hits the ball well enough, and … typical guy 
… still gets down on himself if he hits a bad shot…!
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Wow how beautiful is that.
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Tangent - Carol seems to rebranding Growth Mindset. She acknowledged that it hasn’t worked out quite the way she’d intended, and a former grad student of hers has now pivoted towards “Strategic Mindset.”
As this is of interest to those of us fascinated by “golf improvement”…it would be interesting for someone here to dig in.
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Outside of golf, this is actually in a bit of my wheel house as my day job is learning & organizational development. The questions about “growth mindset” seem less about the mindset itself and more about how it can be “taught” (and then measured) in academics, not anything wrong with the concept itself. As for the strategic mindset, I agree with it, but don’t see it as much more than an extension of the growth mindset, as the growth mindset is all about experimentation, which is in essence “finding another way to do this”.
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Solid read @Ebs02. The relationship changes again once you hit around 50ish. Generics and how much wear and tear (and surgeries) you’ve endured over the years will dictate but the day will come when you’re warming up and only two things are going through your head: How well am I able to turn today? Where is bottom today (your swing)? Once you figure that out, you adjust and play accordingly. Being able to rotate hard through the shot is a gift that should be savored. Because eventually that page will turn and balance and tempo will become your best friend again. Along with hybrids. Plural. Those will be your BFF.
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I am right with you there. I will be 64 and took up the game when i was in my late 30’s. But only played occasionally and for some reason never took it as serious as i should have or could have. I think that is why i am trying to catch up now on all that i have missed. My goal is to consistently shoot in the 90’s and with playing more now and getting all of these tips on here, along with lessons i will get there. But either way, i love the game. As they say, a bad day on the golf course is always better than a good day at work.
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Ain’t that the truth, bruthah! Good luck on your golf journey 
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