Here's the uncomfortable truth about most golf practice: golfers work on path, plane, shallowing, takeaway, body rotation — and never check the one variable that determines where the ball actually starts.
Face angle at impact accounts for roughly 75–85% of ball starting direction. If the face is open, the ball starts right — regardless of what the path does. If the face is closed, the ball starts left. Path is a secondary variable. Face is the primary one. And most golfers never test it.
Brad Pluth has a drill that does exactly that. One setup. Instant diagnosis. No guessing.
The drill
Brad Pluth — PGA Master Professional Teaching & Coaching (Class of 2025), Golf Digest Best in State (Minnesota), US Kids Golf Top 50 Master Coach, Founder of Brad Pluth Golf Achievement™ at Dick's House of Sport, and three-time Minnesota PGA Award winner — sets the pathpal at 90 degrees and places it on the target line a few feet in front of the ball.
That vertical rod is what he calls the "Truth Detector."
Setup
- Set the pathpal to 90 degrees — fully vertical
- Place it directly on your target line, three to four feet in front of your ball
- Hit shots and read the result from each one
The diagnostic is binary and immediate:
Ball hits the stick — face was square to the target line
Ball misses right — face was open at impact
Ball misses left — face was closed at impact
No launch monitor required. No video review. No interpretation. The ball tells you everything you need to know about your face angle on every single rep.
Watch the drill
View the full guided drill on pathpal →
Why it works
The 90-degree vertical rod works because it converts an abstract measurement — face angle at impact — into a concrete spatial target. Golfers who struggle with face control are almost always working with internal feedback only: "did that feel open?" is the only data available after most practice shots. The pathpal rod replaces that uncertainty with a physical target that either gets hit or doesn't.
Define the correct outcome physically, and the motor system figures out how to produce it consistently.
Over repeated reps, the nervous system learns what wrist positions, forearm rotation, and grip pressure produce a square face — not through conscious management of each variable, but through outcome-based feedback from the rod. This is the same principle that makes putting gates effective.
Brad's description of this as "point-and-shoot" accuracy is precise. The pathpal at 90 degrees on the target line is a real target the golfer can aim at — and the muscle memory built by consistently hitting it transfers directly to on-course accuracy where no rod exists but the same face-square requirement applies.
A square face with a slightly imperfect path produces a manageable ball flight. A correct path with an open face still produces a push or slice on every shot. Brad's drill targets the higher-leverage variable directly.
Who this is for
- ✓Golfers who can't reliably identify whether their misses are path-related or face-related
- ✓Players who have worked on swing path improvements without seeing directional improvement in ball flight
- ✓Anyone working on clubface control who wants a physical target that demands a square delivery rather than just a feeling cue
- ✓Instructors who want a quick, versatile diagnostic tool to instantly identify a student's face angle pattern in any lesson
Try it
Set the pathpal at 90 degrees on your target line, three to four feet in front of your ball. Hit 20 shots, tracking each one as right miss, left miss, or hit. The pattern across those 20 shots tells you your face tendency immediately.
Once you can hit the stick on 12 out of 20, tighten the feedback by moving the rod slightly closer. Once you're consistently at 15 out of 20, remove the rod and hit five shots — the face-square habit you've built will show up immediately in the starting line of those balls.
This drill uses the pathpal set to its 90-degree vertical position. Shop the pathpal or explore the Complete Training System to get everything in one kit. Used by Brad Pluth at Dick's House of Sport.
Related drills
Face angle, body position, and setup geometry are all part of the same delivery chain. Once you've diagnosed your face tendency, these three drills address the underlying causes and natural next steps.
The Brick Wall Impact Drill
Taught by Janean Murphy (2024 LPGA Global Teacher of the Year). Addresses the body position that allows the face to square — staying behind the ball at impact so the release is possible. The natural root cause for golfers who consistently block or push right. View drill →
The Kneecap Setup Drill
Also taught by Brad Pluth. Creates the correct posture and spine angle before the swing begins — the geometric foundation for an on-plane, face-square delivery. Pair it with the face squareness drill to address both setup and outcome in the same session. View drill →
The Staggered Gate Path Drill
Taught by Chris Foley (PGA Master Professional, Golf Digest #1 Best in State Minnesota). Once face is diagnosed and improving, path becomes the next variable. Chris's staggered gate configuration corrects both slice and hook patterns in the same setup. Browse all drills →
About the instructor
Brad Pluth is a PGA Master Professional Teaching & Coaching (Class of 2025), Golf Digest Best in State (Minnesota), US Kids Golf Top 50 Master Coach, and Founder of Brad Pluth Golf Achievement™ at Dick's House of Sport. He is a three-time Minnesota PGA Award winner in Youth, Player, and Professional Development.
bradpluthgolf.com · @bradpluthgolf · @bradpluthgolf on X · Follow pathpal on Instagram
Frequently asked questions
Why does face angle matter more than swing path?
Face angle at impact accounts for roughly 75–85% of the ball's starting direction. Path influences the curve after launch, but the ball starts where the face points. A golfer with the correct path but an open face will push or slice every shot. That's why diagnosing and fixing the face first is the higher-leverage place to start.
How do I set up the pathpal for the Vertical Face Squareness Drill?
Set the pathpal to 90 degrees — fully vertical — and place it directly on your target line, three to four feet in front of your ball position. That's it. The vertical rod becomes the target: hitting it means face-square, missing right means face-open, missing left means face-closed.
How many shots should I hit before seeing a useful pattern?
Brad recommends 20 shots, tracking each as a right miss, left miss, or hit. The pattern across those 20 reps reliably reveals your face tendency. A scatter of random misses suggests inconsistency; a consistent pattern to one side reveals your dominant fault.
What does "hitting the stick" actually train?
Consistently hitting the 90-degree rod requires the clubface to arrive perpendicular to the target line at impact — which requires correct wrist angles, forearm rotation, and grip pressure to all converge at the same moment. Rather than consciously managing each variable, the drill trains the outcome and lets the nervous system find the inputs. Over repeated reps, those input patterns become automatic.
Can I use this drill indoors?
Yes. The pathpal at 90 degrees on the target line works on any flat surface — range, mat, or indoors. For an indoor setup without a full swing, you can work on shorter chip-swing feels to build the face-square habit before taking it to full speed at the range.
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