'Stock' shot shape dilemma!

Hi guys,

I've been having regular lessons for 6 months now and as such have been going through various swing changes and improvements. I've gone from a 15 hcap to 9 in that time and although much has improved I've kind of hit a brick wall over past few months and I think a lot of it has to do with the indecision I have over shot shape I want to hit over the ball.

I'd describe myself as a pretty capable shaper of the ball in that I can bend it both ways at will, though often not with as much finesse as I might like! My 'natural' shape is a draw, but its only 'natural' becuase I'm consciously swinging in to out and I can just as easily swing out to in for a fade.

My dilemma is this. Although in my head I'm nearly always playing for a draw with my woods and irons, the reality is I'm not getting a consistent enough flight for it to be a reliable stock shot. A lot of my attempts to draw (especially with driver) result in pushes, push slices or hooks. I also find off the deck I can come at the ball too much from the inside (6-7 deg on trackman), particularly with the longer irons and woods, resulting in poor strike (usually a fat with the woods) and/or hooks. Also, in general I'm picking the ball off the turf a little bit too clean, especially with short irons, where I often barely bruise the ground, and ideally I'd like to take a divot and compress the ball more.

Whereas when I consciously go for a soft fade my strike improves, I compress the ball better, my plane is less flat and the ball's curve is less pronounced.

I know it seems like i'm answering my own question here, but both shots have their pros and cons. For me, when im drawing it nicely the flight is penetrating, the distance is good and the spin on the longer clubs is less. When I'm struggling the draw is either too pronounced or just a straight push, the strike is inconsistent, the ball is hit too cleanly with the irons and I can put myself in trouble, particularly with tee shots. With a fade, I feel I can be more aggressive at the ball, come at it a bit steeper with more lag, compress it more and see less curve. But the downsides are I can sometimes come too steep and chunk it, the ball can often balloon on me (especially in wind) and theres a little less distance.

As my 'new' swing is really taking shape I feel I need to decide now which I work at as my 'go to' shot shape and fine tune my swing accordingly.

Am I going through a sort of golfing 'identity crisis' in that I want to draw the ball and prefer to see that shape, but the reality is I hit a fade better and more consistently?

Thanks

The topic seems to be more of a "I'm a scratch player trying to get to the +2 range" type of question.

So, I can't bend it both ways, but have been playing a push-draw or trying to as it turns into a pull-draw all too often. Hoping the stuff in my swing thread will help remedy that.

Draw seems pretty nice since I know how it will hit the green and roll. I've only successfully hit a green exactly the way I wanted for a tap in birdie. Most of the time it's just plain luck that the ball rolls exactly where I wanted it to go. I've bounced off many bunker mounds and other stuff and sometimes landing the green.

Kind of haphazard. With the low-single-digit/scratch guys I've played, it's a more decisive looking shot. The balls mostly land the greens near the pins.

I hit a natural fade. I used to hit a fade for years, but now I really have to concentrate to hit a fade. In fact, I really have a problem hitting a fade with my woods. If my natural fade won't work (ie a tree in my way etc), I will hit a punch shot really holding off any release of my wrists and it will go pretty straight. I recommend working on a shot shape that happens without thinking about it. If it's a draw, go with it. Patrick Reed generally only hits draws. Trevino did pretty well with only hitting fades. If the pin is on the right side of the green (I'm right handed) and there is trouble on the right side, I will play for the middle of the green and try to hold off the shot a little. Usually goes straight to a little fade. Sometimes it's better to accept par and move on. If the pin is on the left side, I aim to the right of it and play my natural draw. I play single length irons and typically don't mishit shots and don't have much dispersion. I don't snap hook irons. My misses a typically straight shots to the right of my target.

"Are you trying to make different swings"....well...yes.....because if i made the same swing I'd get the same shape of shot!?

When someone draws the ball onto target, at impact their club face was putting right of target (e.g. 2 deg) whilst their club path was travelling further right of target line (e.g. 4 deg). Its vice versa for fade. So although changing my alignment may encourage a certain swing path in reality it wont necessarily result in a certain shot shape. The old adage's of "point your club at target, align left for fade, right for draw"; whilst for some this may result in a fade/draw, what they think they are doing at impact is not what they are actually doing at impact.

Mark Crossfield has done some good video's explaining this. Launch monitors have kind of dismantled many of the old perceptions of what is happening to cause certain things.