Do you try to hit it straight?

Ive heard that most "pro" golfers rarely every try to hit the ball "straight". Almost all of the time they try to play either a fade or a draw depending on the shot. And that by playing either a draw or a fade is much more consistent.

I just played my first round under par today and I'm really trying to take my game to the next level which would be consistently shooting scratch golf. However, especially when hitting with irons my goal is to always hit the ball straight. I just feel like much more can go wrong when i start trying to work the ball.

I was wondering what your take was on this

I normally hit the ball pretty straight.  Sometimes with a little draw, every once and a while a little fade...but that depends on my swing that day.  But they are all in-line shots, meaning i aim straight at my target and the ball ends up about on the line of the target...considering it is a decent shot, of course.

I only work the ball when i have to...so mostly when i'm in trouble.  Why not hit the shot that has the best percentage of doing what you want it to do?

I would say practice working the ball a little bit and use it when you need it.  But don't get too carried away with it until you are very comfortable with it.

I try to hit it straight at the range.  On the course I play my natural shot though.

I try to draw and fade it at the range but my natural shot is a fade and it's hard for me to draw the ball consistently.  So on the course I just hit my "normal shot" and expect it to fade.  Sometimes it actually does go straight which is usually not a big deal.  Sometimes it hooks and then I'm usually screwed.

My normal shot is pretty straight. Not dead on straight. Sometimes I have a nice baby draw, sometimes I have a soft fade. But my best shots are straight.

I have heard that if you try to hit it straight off the tee, then you aim down the center of the fairway. Now if your ball fades to the right or draws to the left it has little room so if it is too big then its off the fairway. But if you have a consistent draw or fade then aim down the right side of the fairway (for a fade) then the ball has more room to work, if its straight then left side of fairway, if bigger then its still in the fairway.

I just recently started working the ball more often and I have a pretty big fade for my natural shot and so far I hit the fairway quite often than trying to hit it straight and hope it don't go either way too much. Not mastered my draw yet but I have also used that on the tee.

For the most part I just play my "natural" shot shape (a push draw) and not worry too much about working the ball. Hitting a draw or fade as your predominant shot is all about managing your misses. For the most part I know my ball is going to draw five yards so I aim 5 yards right of target and let it draw in. If my ball doesn't draw then I know it's going straight and will be about 5 yards right. The S&T; guys call this your "shot cone" and I know my ball will usually end up in this 5 yard cone. This makes it easy to manage your shots into the green and allow for your miss. For example, if the pin is cut on the right side I can't go for it because if it doesn't draw then I'll miss the green right. So I aim for the center of the green and if it doesn't draw my miss will put me fairly close to the pin. If you play a straight shot then your miss is probably going to be left sometimes and right sometimes - both your swing path and your club face have to be perfectly aligned for the ball to go straight. So how do you plan for your miss if playing a straight ball? You're not sure if it's going straight, right or left. This is why you always see the pro's curve the ball one way or the other - it's all about managing the miss.

I would say I try to play the ball straight and my natural ball flight is a fade.  I rarely hit it straight, but if I didn't try to play it straight it would be a 30 yard slice.  While the good golfers work a ball left or right, I would say I try to work the ball straight and the results are a fade!

So you are a 12 handicapp who shot under par today?

You can get alot of answers by watching the tournaments on TV and listening to the commentary by guys like Johnny Miller and NIck Faldo, also there are alot of informative programs on the Golf Channel.

Am I the only one that finds it odd that a guy who shoots under par has to ask this question?  I would figure someome with the skills to shoot under par would watch alot of golf on TV and read alot and already have the answers or at least some common knowledge on the subjuct.

Id say that I dont try to hit the ball straight as much as I try to hit it to my intended target.  If it starts off to the right and draws back, cool.  If it starts off to the left and fades back, thats cool too.

I don't hit the ball straight, I hit it at the hole :).

Off the tee I try to shape it.  It doesn't always work, but I find that if I try to hit a draw out towards the right and bending back towards the fairway, if it doesn't work I'm still in play on the right side, if I over bend I'm usually safe, and if I hit it right i'm good.  Its less likely (though it still happens) that I slice it.

Into a green I usually try to hit it straight, but aim a little left to allow for the unintentional fade.

My natural shot shape is a cut, but I've been working for a couple of years now on how to hit a push-draw.  I find that, when I'm swinging in synch, my ball flight with the driver is dead straight.  I always try to use the tee box to create the optimal angles for an approach or layup shot, but I typically only try to "work" the ball when a particular feature of the golf course (hazard, OB, etc.) demands it.

With irons, I'm usually a straight hitter, unless I am hitting a punch/cut to get under the wind.  If I could hit the "trap draw" Johnny Miller always talks about I would, but I seem to be missing that chromosome.

Swing easy, and let the club do the work.

Be consistent.  That's all that matters.  Straight is easy to visualize, but draw isn't that tough either.  I like to try to hit it as straight as possible, but make concession for my natural shot shape.  If you hit a high push-draw, you're going to have trouble when trees overhang the right side on shots.  Same goes with pull-fades.  You almost always have a relatively straight look at a target, though.  My goal is always a consistent very baby draw, what most people would call "straight".  It draws half a yard for every 100 yards I hit it in the air, though.  Knowing it's relatively straight makes it easy to play.  Knowing it will draw makes it easier to play away from trouble.  Both are good.

His question was not "how do I learn about golf".

Even so, I dont see how listening to former major championship winners is "the worst way to learn about golf".

In my 2 week experience in the forum, listening to forum members may quite possible be "the worst way to learn about golf".  Suppossed pros advising a grip change to fix major swing flaws is significantly more "horrible" than anything Johnny Miller has EVER said on TV.