Fade or Draw?

[JEFF4i]

The better you get, the more you want to hit controlled fades, simple as that

Ridonkulus.

Its been said before. The better you get, the more you want to have a draw and a fade, but most importantly, consistant in all things, be them draws or fades.

 

[niblick]

Ridonkulus.

Its been said before. The better you get, the more you want to have a draw and a fade, but most importantly, consistant in all things, be them draws or fades.

Agreed. There have been many, many fantastic players through the years who couldn't, or chose not to, hit a fade.

 

[mddubya]

With my driver I hit a fade. I don't think I could hit a draw with it if eClark held a gun to my head.

With my short to mid irons I hit a baby draw, long irons the fade comes back into play.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

What's a fade?

 

[dave.]

Don't agree Jeff, the netter you get the more consistent you get, thats given, and yes you will shape the ball at will. But you more often that not work at making sure at least the ball never ever goes in one direction ie you go on the course knowing the ball will never go left, or right. This gives you confidence. All am saying is that many handicappers work their knackers off trying to get this as right, ie play a draw, yet the better you get the more you switch towards the other side. You never ever want the ball to go left when you DO NOT WANT IT TO. Therefore you work hard at making sure you can hit a controlled draw. If you aren't consistent then you aren't good enough to play like that in the first place.

 

[LeftyHoges]

IMHO, I beg to differ. Jack stated several times in his career why he favored the fade over a draw. In my day which was a longgggggg time ago all we had was Nicklaus' book 'Golf My Way' and Jack makes it pretty clear that the fade was in his game for a very distinct reason.

As far as Hogan goes, pick up a copy of Hogan's 5 Fundamentals and he will detail the reason he built his entire swing around NOT going to the left. It nearly took him off the Tour before he rebuilt his swing into one of the most envied moves in the history of the game.

I think you've misinterpreted what I was trying to say. Yes, those three guys played / play fades because it suits their swing style and game so well. But what I was saying that if for some unknown reason they HAD to hit draws for 90% of their shots and could only hit a few fades a round they would still have the imagination, drive and most importantly TALENT to make a draw work for them. They would still have been the dominant names in world golf if this happened. Theoretically speaking of course.

And I still have a copy of Golf My Way floating around somewhere. With the slump i'm currently in maybe I should be referring back to that a lot more than I do.

 

[BStone]

My natural shot is a draw, but if need be I can play a fade. The nice thing is that I hit a very high ball naturally and can get a draw to sit fairly quickly.

 

[Loy]

I used to hide fades but am now a draw-man

Drawing the ball has REALLY helped me consistency wise get the ball around where I want.

 

[Wayneo]

I can fade and I can go straight. The other side of the field just doesn't exist, even if I try to hook

Same here. Driver only. My irons are usually straight. I wish I could hit a draw with my driver.

 

[atom]

Fade for me, but it will travel to left before fading and most of time, eventually ends up near target (center).

Anyone know the reason? Lie angle too upright or outside in swing?

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Fade for me, but it will travel to left before fading and most of time, eventually ends up near target (center).

Anyone know the reason? Lie angle too upright or outside in swing?

Direction the ball starts is due to the clubpath, how it spins is due to the clubface in relation to the clubpath. So if yours starts left, you have an outside~in path or over top swing. This is usually assuming your lie is correct, so lie angle could play part of the ball starting left, but not the side spin. Actually due to the physics, a more upright lie would cause spin similar to a draw if anything. If you take divots and study them you will know for sure. If the divot is going left of the target it is due to outside in swing. You can also usually get an idea of lie issue by seeing how they start and tail off, or use an impact board.

Obviously you shouldn't be taking divots with your driver, but since the loft is so little, the lie would have to be extremely upright to cause a noticable difference. I'm guessing outside in path. You clubface is just open to the path of the club, so it could even be open or equal to the target line, or even closed to the target line if you have a real hugh over the top swing. It is just open in relation to the path of the club.

 

[gwlee7]

The better you get, the more you want to hit controlled fades, simple as that

True enough here.

As I got better, I also developed a very bad hook. Now, when I am playing my best I hit the ball straight or it moves just a tad left to right.