One thing must be carefully guarded in playing this open face shot. You should be certain that the club is kept in that open position throughout the swing. There is a great tendency when trying to play this slice shot for the club to roll into a low position as the top of the swing is reached. If the club does fall into this low position at that point, the right hand is apt to suddenly snap out at the start of the downswing, and instead of a slice shot being produced, an extreme hook, a smothered shot or even a topped shot may result. This happens many times when players use this technique in a sandtrap-this sudden forward lurch of the right hand completely destroys the shot and half tops the ball, sending it scooting across the green generally into more trouble on the other side, (b) In order to produce the reverse effect of a slice, the player must use the closed face technique. In this position the face of the club is turned towards the ground, and at the same time the shaft of the club must be tilted to the inside of the line of flight, towards and closer to the right toe. Both the face towards the ground position of the club and the inside tilt of the club shaft are readily accomplished through the simple process of supination with the left hand (an outward, away from the body turn of the left hand and left wrist). Supination can best be accomplished if the hands are placed so that the left hand is well on top of the shaft, at least three knuckles showing and the right hand is well under the shaft.
I would like to inject at this point that pronation can be accomplished with a very tight hold on the club with the entire left hand. Supination requires a sense of freedom in the back part of the left hand, because the butt end of the club must be thrown out, away from the body, instead of towards the body as in the slice technique. The closed face technique is used when the player wants to hook or bend the ball to the left.
This is the technique that is used to produce low flying shots-especially useful when playing into the wind, and it is the technique that is used to produce distance and running shots. continue slicing and hooking...