How to Square Up a Golf Driver

Sending a golf ball careening with a slice or a hook is one of golf’s purest frustrations, and more often than not, it points back to one culprit: an open or closed driver face at impact. Learning how to present a square clubface to the golf ball is the single most important skill for hitting powerful, straight drives. This guide will walk you through the fundamentals of what a square face means, how to achieve it in your setup, and how to maintain it throughout your swing with practical checkpoints and drills.

What is a Square Driver Face and Why Does It Matter?

Imagine your driver's face is like a tennis racquet. If you want the ball to go straight at your target, you must strike it with the racquet strings pointing directly at that target. If the racquet is angled open or closed upon impact, the ball will shoot off in that direction. The driver face works the same way, but the effects are magnified because of the high clubhead speed and low loft.

• A "Square" Face: At the moment of impact, the clubface is pointing directly at your intended target line. This orientation transfers the maximum amount of energy in a straight line, resulting in longer, straighter shots.
• An "Open" Face: The clubface is angled to the right of the target line (for a right-handed golfer) at impact. This imparts sidespin that causes the ball to curve to the right, a dreaded slice, which robs you of significant distance and accuracy.
• A "Closed" Face: The clubface is angled to the left of the target line at impact. This causes the ball to curve hard to the left, which is a hook. While it might fly a bit further than a slice, it's just as difficult to control.

A few degrees of difference at impact might not seem like much, but when you’re swinging a driver at 90+ mph, those few degrees can translate to 20, 30, or even 40 yards offline. Mastering a square clubface is the foundation of consistency off the tee.

Getting Square at Address: The Foundational Steps

You can't expect a good result if you don't start from a good position. Many clubface issues are baked in before the swing even begins. If you are starting with an open or closed face at address, your body will instinctively try to make complicated adjustments during the swing to correct it, rarely with consistent success. Let’s build your setup from the ground up.

Step 1: The Grip – Your Steering Wheel

Your hands are your only connection to the golf club, and how you hold it has the biggest influence on the clubface angle throughout the swing. We’re aiming for a "neutral" grip.

• Left Hand (Lead Hand): Place your left hand on the club so you can comfortably see the first two knuckles when you look down. The "V" formed by your thumb and index finger should point roughly toward your right shoulder.
• Right Hand (Trail Hand): When you add your right hand, the palm should face the target, basically "covering" your left thumb. The "V" formed by your right thumb and index finger should also point toward your right shoulder.
• Common Fault (Weak Grip): If you see only one (or zero) knuckles on your left hand, your grip is likely too "weak." A weak grip makes it difficult to square the clubface, often leaving it open at impact, which causes a slice.
• Common Fault (Strong Grip): If you see three or more knuckles, your grip is likely too "strong." A strong grip promotes active hand rotation, often causing the clubface to shut too quickly, leading to a hook.

Start neutral. It gives you the best chance of returning the club to square without needing to manipulate it.

Step 2: Ball Position – Setting a Launch Pad

Unlike an iron shot where you want to hit down on the ball, a driver is designed to be hit on the upswing. This maximizes distance and launch angle. Your ball position is the key that unlocks this.

• Where to place it: Align the golf ball with the inside of your left heel (for right-handers).
• Why this works: The bottom of the driver swing arc is roughly in the middle of your stance. Placing the ball on the "front" side of that central point lets the clubhead begin its ascent before making contact.
• What happens if it's wrong: A ball positioned too far back toward the center of your stance encourages a downward strike. This action often forces the clubface open, de-lofts the driver, and produces low, weak slices.

Step 3: Stance, Alignment, and Posture – Your Stable Base

A solid, balanced foundation allows you to rotate powerfully without losing your angles.

• Stance Width: Your feet should be slightly wider than your shoulders. This creates a stable platform for the powerful rotation needed in a driver swing.
• Alignment: Imagine you’re standing on a set of railroad tracks. Your feet, hips, and shoulders should be on the inside rail, aligned parallel to the target. The ball and the club should be on the outside rail, pointed directly at your target. A common amateur mistake is aiming the shoulders at the target, which creates an "open" alignment and promotes an out-to-in swing path - a classic recipe for a slice.
• Posture & Spinal Tilt: With a driver, you need a slight spinal tilt away from the target. From your setup, simply bump your hips slightly toward the target, which will cause your upper body to tilt back. Your right shoulder should be noticeably lower than your left. This tilt sets your body up to seamlessly launch the ball on an upward angle.

Practice Tip: Use two alignment rods on the range. Place one on the ground pointing at your target (your clubface line) and a second one parallel to it for your feet. This visual feedback trains your body to recognize what a truly square setup feels like.

Squaring the Face During the Swing

Once your setup is solid, you need to maintain control of the face as your body moves. This is where feel and a proper sequence come into play.

The Takeaway

The first part of the swing sets the path for everything else. Keep it simple and connected. Feel as though your hands, arms, and chest all move away from the ball together as a single unit. As you take the club away, the clubhead should stay outside your hands for the first couple of feet. The clubface will naturally feel like it's rotating slightly clockwise, but it should still be looking relatively at the ball.

Checkpoint: Top of the Backswing

If you pause at the top of a good backswing, the clubface should be "square" relative to your body's rotation. What does that mean?

• Square at the Top: The driver face should be in a position that is roughly parallel to your left forearm (for a right-hander). If you were to flatten out your left arm so it's parallel to the ground, a square clubface would be angled upwards at a similar 45-degree angle.
• Open at the Top: The clubface points down towards the ground. This position is almost impossible for most golfers to recover from. It will require a massive, unnatural manipulation with the hands to get back to square by impact.
• Closed at the Top: The clubface points straight up to the sky. This promotes an early shutting of the face on the downswing, leading to hoods.

The Downswing and The Moment of Impact

Here is where timing is everything. Squaring the club is a result of turning your body correctly, not consciously manipulating your hands.

The downswing should start from the ground up. The feeling is a squat into your lead leg accompanied by a rotation of the hips. Your torso will follow, and your arms and the club will naturally fall into position, trailing behind. This proper sequence gives the clubface time to rotate back to square. Spinning your shoulders open first - a classic "over-the-top" move - will almost always throw the club out and leave the face wide open.

The 'release' is the natural unhinging of the wrists and rotation of the forearms through the impact area. Avoid the feeling of trying to 'flip' your hands at the ball. Instead, focus on rotating your body all the way through the shot. As your torso turns towards the target, feel as though your hands are simply going along for the ride. The clubface will square itself up as a natural consequence of this powerful, body-led rotation.

Putting It All Together: A Simple Drill

When you put all these pieces together logically, the process feels less complex. To learn the feeling of a proper face rotation powered by your body, try the **Split-Hand Drill.**

1. Grip your driver normally, then slide your right hand down the shaft about four or five inches.
2. Make some slow, half-speed practice swings.
3. You will immediately notice how your wrists need to hinge correctly in the backswing and then how your right forearm needs to rotate over your left through the "impact" zone. This drill provides an exaggerated sensation of the clubface squaring up.
4. After a few swings, go back to your normal grip and try to replicate that same feeling of rotation through the ball.

Final Thoughts

Mastering a square driver face at impact is a journey from the ground up. It begins with a neutral grip and a setup that builds the right angles at address, continues with a well-sequenced swing, and finishes with a body-led release through the ball. By focusing on these checkpoints, you remove the guesswork and replace it with a reliable swing that produces straight, powerful drives.

It’s one thing to learn these concepts on the range, but feeling confident enough to execute them under pressure on the course is a different challenge. When doubt creeps in or a nasty slice reappears mid-round, the guessing game can become frustrating. That's a perfect moment where Caddie AI comes in handy. You can describe your miss to Caddie, get a quick reminder of the key causes for a slice, and receive a simple checkpoint to focus on for your next tee shot. We give you instant access to that trusted, on-demand golf expert, helping you troubleshoot on the fly and commit to every swing with new confidence.