Thinking About Embracing the Fade

[deronsizemore]

I've typically played a draw (or tried too) for as long as I can remember. Over the last could years it seems my natural shot shape has moved toward a baby fade. I find myself more and more here lately setting up down the right hand side of the fairway anticipating my usual draw and I find myself in the right rough or very close to it more often than not; I line up there and hit it there with a slight fade.

I grew up playing golf and like all other golfers, I hit a lot of slices. I think this is where my hatred for the left to right shot shape started. Even today, I just HATE to see my ball take a left to right shot shape even if it is just a "baby" fade. As much as I've disliked a left to right flight, I dislike being in the right rough more. I'm considering starting to just embrace the fade and start trying to perfect it rather than fight it as it seems that more and more here lately, it takes effort on my part to draw the ball and a fade just happens.

Anyone else go from a drawer of the ball to a fader and as a result become up a better player because of it? It will take some time but I think eventually I could get used to that ball flight.

[uttexas]

Hogan progressed from draw to fade. Nicklaus loved the fade. Vijay fades everything.

The high baby push fade is the most forgiving shot in golf, in that it lands softly. The miss with the fade is also less severe. Nothing worse than an overdraw, while an overfade will leave you in the right rough. Draws, I agree, look cool, but tend to land with more force and susceptible to unfavorable bounces.

"Dance with who you brung" Embrace it, love it.

[rubbery]

I can totally relate. I used to hate hitting accidental fades too because I used to have such a bad slice. Recently though, my ball flight with my driver has gone from a pretty sizable draw to a fade as well.

I've always been able to control fades pretty well, but only when I was intentionally hitting them. I ingrained a draw into my muscle memory through countless hours of practice because I thought I would get better distance. But today, I hit two of the best, longest drives of my life (a par 4 green in one, and an absolute bomb that gave me an 8 iron into a par 5).

The way I see it, if I can have back to back eagle putts thanks to a fade, it's about time to just let the cut happen.

[patriot07]

I played a draw when I started playing golf 10 years ago. I played it for 5 or 6 years and then started playing some narrower courses.

I hated the occasional duck hook when I started playing the narrow holes, so I eventually worked my way to a fade. But I was never able to play the "power fade", so I lost a ton of distance and my scores ballooned like crazy (went from a 4-handicap to a 12 within a year and a half).

In the last year, I've gone back the draw and my scores are very good for my talent level and the amount of golf I play. A couple months ago, I switched to the X-18 irons (kind of odd for a 7 handicap, I know), and my scores dropped quite a bit. I was playing Cleveland TA7's, and the X-18s are soooo much more forgiving. I played in a tournament Saturday and shot a 75 and won a closest to the pin contest with a 112 yard punch PW that I started about 5 yards right of the hole and it finished about 10 inches left.

All that being said, you should play whatever you feel most comfortable and confident with. Whatever shot you can play most consistently is the one that will give you the best scores. I tried to force a fade and it was a bad idea. If your fade is coming in naturally, I wouldn't fight it.

[xDeathFollowsDaybreakx]

always been a right to left player.. ive been having the same dreams... i want to perfect that power fade... especially off the tee... im actually gonna hit the range tomorrow and see if i can groove this swing in!! wish me luck!!

[mattttt25]

My good buddy is about an 8 and until recently loved his shot- big looping draw. Loved when he hit that shot. He plays X-18s which he picked up several years ago, which have a big offset to help promote that draw. We went to a demo day a few weeks ago and I talked him into hitting several player irons and standard drivers. What do you know, his normal shot is a monster, straight down the pipe. He even hit a couple baby fades with good accuracy and distance. I think I've finally convinced him that its much harder to play that big draw he loved so much.

I really think many of us are conditioned into thinking left to right is bad, considering most starters struggle with a slice.

[Bump-n-MI]

Several years ago I was in the opposite position. My natural shot shape was a draw….and I overcooked it often. I did what I needed to do to start playing a fade. My misses are now less severe and my fairway % has increased.

Nothing wrong with a fade...

[saevel25]

I started with a draw, because its what my first pro taught me. Then i developed a fade as my swing got flatter and flatter. But my tendency now is about a 2-3 yard draw, even with the driver. I might fade a wedge here and there because its a shorter club and have a more upright swing.

To me, i prefer the straight ball, i know hogan said there is no such thing as a straight ball, i would tell him he never seen me hit the ball ;b Nah, i love my draw, its powerful, the ball hits the green, takes about a 1 hop forward then dead stops. Its a nice control shot for me. Though there is something pretty about the power fade driver shot, it just has a nice shape to it, really nice to look at.

[Zeph]

How do you hit a draw today? What is your swing path relationship with your feet and body alignment?

The best way to alter between curved shots, in my opinion, is by changing your alignment of both body and club. If you have a square, or a couple of degrees in to out swing, you will hit small draws with the body aligned at the target, or maybe slightly right of it to let the club face stay square and give the ball room to work with.

You can use the same swing to hit a fade, it's all about alignment. Let's say you hit the ball at 2 degrees in to out, relative to your body alignment. What you'll want to do is aim the body 6 degrees to the left of the target. Now, open the club face ever so slightly to it aims 2 degrees to the left of the target. Which will be 4 degrees open, relative to your stance. When you swing now, you will still come 2 degrees from the inside, so the club will hit the ball at 4 degrees to the left of the target. You opened the clubface 4 degrees, relative to your stance line, so it will be 2 degrees open, relative to your swing path. Done correctly, this will launch the ball at around 2.2 degrees to the left of the target, and because of a swing path at 4 degrees, you will put left to right spin on the ball.

The biggest problem when doing this is the mental part. Making the same swing with a different alignment and open clubface. Here is where practice comes into play. Make sure you aim correctly, lay down sticks or clubs to make sure you do. From there, try making the same swing you normally do.
This is how the pros hit different shots. They got a stock shot, being square, in to out or out to in, and then change the alignment and club face angle accordingly. Having one swing out to in for a fade and one in to out for a draw is too difficult, and unnecessary. Some alter their grip to change the club face angle, some hold it off and rotate the hands, some rotate the club in the hands, with the normal grip. Find what works best for you.

I have added yardages to the picture below, as they are easier to use when putting theory into practice. Ask someone to align their body 6 degrees left and they will look like a question mark. 20 yards is easier. If you know the width of the green fi., you can do a quick measurement in your head. If the green is 10 yards wide and the flag is in the middle, imagine 1.5 times the width of the green from the left edge of the green. You got 5 yards from the edge to the flag, add 15 yards outside and you got 20. Once you got the alignment established, lay down a stick or club, then swing and work on getting an open club face.

[saevel25]

I reversed that... I use to hit a fade, then went to a draw... oops ;b

[iacas]

The high baby push fade is the most forgiving shot in golf, in that it lands softly. The miss with the fade is also less severe. Nothing worse than an overdraw, while an overfade will leave you in the right rough. Draws, I agree, look cool, but tend to land with more force and susceptible to unfavorable bounces.

Fades at the pro level tend to go higher because they're push fades (so they can still hit the ball on the back side of the circle), but draws at the pro level are push draws, so they still go plenty high. We're talking about a difference of two degrees or so. It can matter, but in reality, it almost never does.

A double-crossed fade (a dead pull) is probably worse than a double-crossed draw (a push). But the thing is most pros don't over-fade or over-draw shots, so be careful when you talk about what the misses are... Most will hit a straight ball OR a double-cross, in which case (straight) is going to be roughly the same for either pro (drawer or fader) and a double-cross is likely to be worse for the fader (pull rather than push). Also, "nothing worse than an overdraw"? It's the same as an over-fade. Left rough, right rough... what's the difference? :)

[saevel25]

Well the typical miss for low handicap players are pushes or hooks. I think the assumption is that most low handicap players attack the ball from the inside. So i guess a push might be better than a hook overall, because you get more distance out of. I rather loose my shot to the right a bit than have a hook.

[deronsizemore]

How do you hit a draw today? What is your swing path relationship with your feet and body alignment?

There's way to much math in there for me to keep up. lol

I know how to draw the ball and fade the ball, it's just that my normal stock swing when I'm not nessessarily trying to do one or the other, is becoming a slight push fade.

[MiniMoe]

it took me years to get the hook out of my game. I can draw the ball when I really need to, but it is my last resort. I love being able to aim O.B. left and know it's coming back into play. There are a few courses that are a little more difficult to play, but with good course management and club selection, not hitting a draw does not hurt me that much.