When golfers begin to hit the ball poorly they often go about making swing changes. Whether it be the takeaway or the swing path or any other number of factors, they always assume their troubles need some sort of swing tweak.

Often times, however, the cause of their issues can be a breakdown in setup fundamentals. These pre-shot checkpoints are not the sexiest element of the golf swing, but if they’re done incorrectly it can ruin your chances for success before you even start your swing.

Take Xander Schauffele, for example. Entering the 2019 Masters, he was struggling with a case of the hooks and was at a loss for what the cause was. As it turned out, his problems were all the result of poor technique in his setup.

Xander’s trick for a square clubface

As Schauffele searched for answers on his case of the lefts, his father, Stefan, suggested he take a look at the angle of his clubface at setup. Schauffele insisted he wasn’t setting up with a closed face, but when he actually got around to measuring it, he was shocked at how closed his clubface actually was.

“He put this [golf] glove box down and tells me to put my face down behind it,” Schauffele said.

With the straight edge of the box as a checkpoint, Schauffele could finally see how closed his face actually was at address.

“I was like, ‘Holy smokes,’” Schauffele said. “This looks like a butter knife. It just looks awful.”

After months of playing with a closed face at address, having the clubface actually square at address looked like it was wide open. In reality, though, the face was perfectly square.

“I played with what felt like a face that was wide open,” Schauffele said. “I did trust through that objective measurement that that was right and it was square, though.”

If you’re struggling with a persistent miss, take a page out of Schauffele’s book and lay a glove box (or any other straight edge) down behind your clubface at address. The fix may be as simple as getting a square clubface at address.

Zephyr Melton

Golf.com Editor

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.