You're Correct!

The Thomas Golf Alignment guide is extremely useful and can provide you with a lot of information about club face position. If you want to hit straight golf shots, then the club head needs to travel along the target line with the club face aiming at the target as it strikes the golf ball.

The easiest way to achieve this club face position is to keep the club face aiming square to the clubs swing arc. Your swing arc is the arc that the club head creates as it moves around you. Keeping the club face at a right angle to this will allow you to hit straight golf shots and you can use the Thomas Golf alignment guide to show you if the club face is in the correct position or not.

On your takeaway, you are moving the club head away from the golf ball on your back swing, to around a hip high position. If your takeaway movement is correct, at hip high you should see that the shaft of the golf club is parallel to both the ground and the target line. However, achieving this position with the golf club will not help you to hit a straight and accurate golf shot if the club face is out of position.

The correct face position as you swing the club head back away from the golf ball during your takeaway is for the club face to replicate your spine angle or posture. This is very easy to achieve if you use the Thomas Golf alignment guide as you simply need to point the alignment guide towards the target line as the club head completes the takeaway. Achieving this will position the club face so that it is slightly angled downwards and forwards and if you returned the face back to the golf ball from this position, it would be aiming directly at the target.

The Thomas Golf Alignment guide has many more advantages than just being able to be used at address to help you aim the club face and align yourself correctly. If you understand the positions that you want to achieve with the club face as you swing the club head around you, it provides vital feedback as to whether you are achieving these positions or not.

If you make your takeaway and notice that the Thomas Golf alignment guide is pointing upwards, then you have actually over rotated your hands and forearms during the movement. The club face is now open and if you returned it back to the golf ball from this position, you would hit the ball to the right of the target.

Making your takeaway and seeing that the Thomas Golf alignment guide is pointing downwards shows you that you have moved incorrectly and that you have actually closed the club face. Returning the club head back to the ball from this position would result in the club face aiming left of the target as it struck the golf ball and the shot would miss on the left of the target.