Fade, Draw, Power Fade, Spin...How?

[mutadayen]

I've been reading forums like this and GolfWRX, as well suscribe to Gold outlets such as Golf Digest and Golf Magazine to read tips on how to hit a draw, hit a fade, a power fade, spin the ball back, etc... No matter how many times i see a video or read an article, I dont know how to draw or fade my ball from right to left or vice versa. I open my stance and close it. I open my club face, and close it. I try it all. I recently have figured out spin a ball with a wedge (kinda), but i think it has to do more with the wedge I have than me. Once and for all, does anyone have any tips on any of these shots, or is it best that I go for lesson from a pro to figure out how do this. Please help!!!

[SwinginCaveman]

Your best bet here is the driving range. It will allow you to practice all types of shots.

When I hit a draw or a fade, I simply change my stance and clubhead position.

I'm a lefty, so a fade for me goes from right to left. To do this, I set up with a slightly open stance and open my clubface just a bit. You want to set you feet where you want the ball to start. Opening the clubface will impart sidespin on the ball and move it to the left.

A draw is the opposite. Close your stance a bit, and close your clubface. I will start off pushing it to the left, but the closed clubface will impart a left to right spin on it, moving it in that direction.

Spinning a ball is pretty easy with a wedge, a little more difficult as the clubs get longer. Wedges tend to have deep grooves that really grab the ball. The key to spinning a ball around to greens is to accelerate through the ball. If you think you're going to fly the green, take one less club. At first it will feel like you're hitting the ball a bit too hard, but you have to remember that the ball is going to bite usually on the 2nd bounce and spin backwards. You cannot be afraid of hitting it too long in this case; you will end up thinning it or chunking it and be in a worse place than you originally were.

The range is a great place to practice these things. It's going to take time, you just have to be patient. Start off with a little baby draw/fade and slowly work your way up. You're not going to boomerang it your first try.

[Leek]

What's your normal ball flight?

There are lots of ways to hit draws and fades.

[Avid Golfer]

What's your normal ball flight?

Thats a good question. If you normally hit the ball straight then you should be able to work the ball by aiming your club face where you want the ball to finish, align your body where you want the ball to start, and curve the ball in both directions. If you natural shot is a slice (or a hook) then that normal ball flight pattern is probably going to counteract your setup changes to some degree. Which means either your going to have to aim your club face and align your body even more drastically, or you're going to need to learn to hit the ball straighter first.

I've been reading forums like this and GolfWRX, as well suscribe to Gold outlets such as Golf Digest and Golf Magazine to read tips on how to hit a draw, hit a fade, a power fade, spin the ball back, etc... No matter how many times i see a video or read an article, I dont know how to draw or fade my ball from right to left or vice versa. I open my stance and close it. I open my club face, and close it. I try it all. I recently have figured out spin a ball with a wedge (kinda), but i think it has to do more with the wedge I have than me. Once and for all, does anyone have any tips on any of these shots, or is it best that I go for lesson from a pro to figure out how do this. Please help!!!

There are two areas I see people mess up on when trying to work the ball with the club face aim and body align methods.

First is that they take the grip and then aim the club face instead of aiming the club face and then taking the grip. When they take the grip and then aim the club face all they are doing is twisting the arms. If you did that and then hovered the club your arms would want to naturally twist back to their normal position and the club face would then be pointed the same place as the body and you would hit a straight shot. Second is that when they swing they don't swing along the body line, and instead swing in the direction they aimed the club face. If you aimed your body to the right and swung on that same line you'd be making contact in a direction from left to right, and thus put left to right spin on the ball. To take an example from Greg Norman if you take a beach ball or basket ball and brushed its right side the ball would rotate from right to left, and like wise if you brushed the left side the ball would rotate from left to right.

[B-17 Pilot]

. . .I'm in the beginning stages of attempting to teach myself to draw and fade as well. Most responses here and most of what I read says that at address, you aim your clubhead where you ultimately want the ball to land, and you align your body at address where you want the ball to start. Most self help articles state that you should only alter your stance 10-15 degrees to start and thusly will only get a "slight" fade or draw. Increasing your angle of stance offset will derive a more severe fade or draw. This seems like it shouldn't be too difficult. . .then I read about changing your swing plane and then it becomes a whole different animal!! Heck, I can only hope my natural swing is duplicated from outing to outing! Patience will be my virtue. . .!!

Mike

[mutadayen]

So what everyone is telling me, if I understand this correctly, is to aim with my clubface where I intend the ball to land, but simply open or close my stance? I think I understand the physics behind it. My swing path will alter dependant on my stance and that will result in a fade or a draw? After reading the replies, when broken down, is that the general idea?

[B-17 Pilot]

. . .that's the way I understand it! As long as your swing path matches your body alignment! It will not work if you just open or close your stance but have your swing path conguent with your actual club face direction. I can't wait to get out on the range and put this to the test! We'll discuss it here again in a few days!

Mike

[mutadayen]

Yup! Im headed to the range tomorrow or saturday so expect and update from me by Monday morning... This should turn out to be interesting

[Leek]

. . .I'm in the beginning stages of attempting to teach myself to draw and fade as well. Most responses here and most of what I read says that at address, you aim your clubhead where you ultimately want the ball to land, and you align your body at address where you want the ball to start. Most self help articles state that you should only alter your stance 10-15 degrees to start and thusly will only get a "slight" fade or draw. Increasing your angle of stance offset will derive a more severe fade or draw. This seems like it shouldn't be too difficult. . .then I read about changing your swing plane and then it becomes a whole different animal!! Heck, I can only hope my natural swing is duplicated from outing to outing! Patience will be my virtue. . .!!

I find that advice hurts more people than it helps. Slicers will hit big slices when open and will hit push slices when closed. Hookers will with pulls and pull hooks open and bigger hooks when closed.

Adjusting face angle and stance works well for people who can hit the ball dead straight, over and over. A foolproof way to fade, set up left, make sure your left wrist is bowed through impact. Bowed meaning the wrist bone on the back of your wrist is leading. This hits a very powerful shot that fades. For a draw, set up right of your target a little, then make the toe of the club lead the heel through impact while keeping your hands slightly in front of the clubhead through impact. This will make a powerful shot as well.

[beung]

Just think of it this way, your club path will determine the line the ball will start out on and the club face will determine which direction the ball will spin.

For spinning the ball, I assume backspin? Good solid contact will put plenty of spin on the ball when using a wedge. Backing up a ball on the green has more to do with the ball and the green then trying to make the ball spin.