Driving tips 24 Oct 2026 10 min read

Over-the-Top Driver Swing: Check the Clubface First

If your driver keeps fading weakly right and the club comes down steeply, swinging farther from the inside can feel like the obvious fix. Check what happens to the clubface as well. A shallower delivery with a face that is still wide open can leave you with another right miss.

Piers Ward worked through that combination with Cameron: check the setup and grip, rehearse a different delivery, then find out whether the change survives when a ball is added. A narrow split-stance drill helped when Cameron’s body action continued to overpower the rehearsal.

This sequence suits the open-face, over-the-top pattern being addressed here. If your usual miss is already a strong hook, copying a stronger grip and a face-down feel may take you in the wrong direction.

Why the face and path need to be checked together

Cameron’s driver did not miss in exactly the same way every time. Some fades were playable; others moved much farther right. His concern was the weak flight and inconsistent distance, rather than simply the fact that the ball curved.

The swing review showed the club working well inside going back, then coming down above the reference plane. The face was also open. Trying to change only the over-the-top movement could leave that second problem untouched.

Piers also noticed useful movement that he wanted to preserve. Cameron could turn and create speed; he did not need every part of his swing rebuilt. The task was to get the arms, club and face working better with that movement.

Our guide to why an over-the-top swing can keep returning explains the broader face, feedback and setup checks behind this decision. Here, the focus is on taking a changed delivery from a rehearsal into a driver shot.

Start with a repeatable clubface and grip

At address, Cameron’s clubface pointed right. Piers treated squaring it as a test, rather than assuming it would solve the entire problem. Cameron’s hand placement and the way he turned the club at setup were linked, so the response to the change mattered.

Use a simple reference:

1. Put an alignment stick on the ground along your chosen target line, clear of the swing.
2. Use the leading edge of the clubface as your setup reference, at right angles to the stick.
3. Organise your hand placement while keeping the face in that position.
4. Hit a few controlled shots and observe the starting direction and curve.

Piers then adjusted Cameron’s lead hand, bringing it farther around the handle and using visible knuckles and the glove logo as a repeatable check. He was comfortable with the right-hand placement. The aim was a more useful grip-and-face combination for Cameron, rather than a hand position everyone should copy.

Check the grip with the club set down as well as held up. The knuckles you can see can change with the viewing position. Do not chase a particular count while allowing the face to drift open again.

For broader help with hand placement and grip options, see our guide to building a golf grip.

Piers also points out the raised reference ridge on a Golf Pride ALIGN grip as an optional aid to repeating the hand placement. That reference depends on the grip being installed correctly; it does not replace checking the clubface.

For equipment to use alongside your practice checkpoints, you can explore our Training Aid products.

Let the arms come down without freezing the body

Cameron already recognised that a smoother transition and a more arms-led feel could help. His usual move was aggressive with the body, with the hands and club moving out in front on the way down.

Start without a ball. Swing back, then rehearse the arms coming down and deeper instead of immediately throwing the club out towards the ball. Piers first guided Cameron through the position so he could recognise the difference.

For Cameron, the feel was arms only. The full golf swing still uses the body. This cue quietened an action that was dominating his delivery; it was not an instruction to lock the hips or stop turning through the shot.

Make the rehearsal slowly enough to recognise where the club is going. If adding effort immediately brings the hands back out in front, return to the slower version. A strong sensation is useful only while it produces the movement you are trying to learn.

Check the clubface during the delivery rehearsal

Cameron’s practice swings became much shallower, but Piers spotted a problem: the clubface was still excessively open. Better plane feedback had not automatically solved the face.

A shallower rehearsal is not proof that you are ready to hit a good shot. Include the face in the task before adding speed or a ball.

Rehearse down to the delivery position and pause. Here, delivery means late in the downswing before impact, with the shaft roughly parallel to the ground. Use the same camera view to check where you pause, or ask a coach to help; avoid forcing the club into an exact angle. Piers wanted Cameron to feel the face turning more towards the ground compared with his original open position. Then swing through, keeping the new sensation manageable.

This is an individual correction, not a reason for every golfer to turn the face down as much as possible. If the change produces repeated strong left shots, reassess the combination rather than continuing to exaggerate it.

Keep the feedback specific. A favourable plane label tells you about the selected movement checkpoint; it does not certify the face, strike or ball flight. Piers changed which checks were displayed during the analysis, so even a “good swing” response needed that context.

To review selected movement checkpoints alongside your own face and ball-flight checks, explore Swing Coach.

Use a rehearsal, a flowing swing and a gentle shot

Piers built a routine that Cameron could repeat beside the ball:

1. Pause at delivery. Rehearse the arms down, check the face, then swing through.
2. Make a flowing practice swing. Keep the same sensation while removing the stop.
3. Hit a gentle driver shot. Use the movement you rehearsed without immediately chasing full speed.

The first two swings have different jobs. The stopped rehearsal makes the position easier to inspect. The flowing swing tests whether you can find it without pausing. The shot then tests whether the movement survives the presence of the ball.

Cameron’s actual shots initially remained steeper than his rehearsals. Adding the ball made the task harder. Piers lowered the effort and continued comparing the tasks separately.

His starting instruction was a full swing with a gentle, 150-yard intention. Treat that as Cameron’s way of reducing effort, not a distance target every golfer needs to hit. Choose an effort at which you can still recognise the delivery you practised.

On the range, repeat the ball-free rehearsals when the shot starts to pull you back into the old action. Keep checking the actual shot as well as the practice swing. A shallower rehearsal reading belongs to that rehearsal; it is not the delivery number for the next ball.

Keep distance comparisons realistic, too. Piers was judging shots from the range, and there was no launch monitor in use. The observed flights were encouraging, but they do not establish a measured distance gain. For information about launch-monitor equipment, visit Full Swing’s MMG page.

Try the narrow split-stance drill

If the body action still overwhelms the arms-down rehearsal, Piers gives Cameron a more constrained setup. Bring the feet closer together, then draw the right foot back from its usual toe line, away from the ball. For right-handed Cameron, that is the trail foot.

The task stays gentle:

• Settle into a narrow stance you can balance in.
• Rehearse the arms coming down into the space created by the withdrawn foot.
• Make a controlled swing through, keeping the clubface part of the check.
• Try a soft shot, then inspect the delivery and the ball flight.

Piers later moved Cameron’s right foot farther back when the body continued to take over. You do not need to copy an exact distance between the feet. The test is whether the constraint helps you find the delivery without losing balance or the face check.

The first attempt still showed some steepness. Later drill swings received on-plane feedback and produced a more encouraging flight. The stance gives you a way to practise the change; it does not guarantee it.

Use it alongside the stopped-delivery routine. The stance helps create space; the routine helps you recognise and repeat the movement when you return to a normal setup.

Return to your normal stance and check what changed

After the split-stance work, return to your usual stance and the same rehearsal routine. Add effort gradually and find out whether the face and delivery remain manageable. If the old move returns immediately, reduce the effort and rehearse again.

One of Cameron’s later, fuller shots was on plane at delivery while still a little steep at the earlier downswing checkpoint. The face was also slightly open. That is a more useful description of progress than saying every part of the swing was now neutral.

Keep the next decision equally specific. Piers deliberately left Cameron’s inside backswing alone while working on the downswing. If the pattern later starts producing too much draw or a hook, the backswing may become part of the next adjustment. That is a reason to reassess the whole pattern, not to keep strengthening the grip or dropping the club farther inside indefinitely.

Begin your next practice session with the face-and-grip check, then work through the stopped rehearsal, flowing swing and gentle shot. Keep the split stance available when it helps, and judge the change again from your normal stance.

For help choosing the changes that suit your own swing, explore our Golf Schools.

For course information, visit The Grand Golf Club.