Playing to your faults

[hansol04]

Hey all,

I am just starting to get into the "finer" points of golf, learning about the importance of body alignment and target lines and swing mechanics and all that stuff, rather than just walking up to the tee box and swinging away.

That being said, I was watching on the tv the other night a thing about Ben Hogan, and one thing that was said really interested me. Apparently, Ben tended to hit a consistent draw with his swing. And because he was consistent with this, he just included it into his game in that he would aim a little further to the right of the fairway, knowing that the ball would draw back in towards his target line. (Hopefully that made sense.)

So that got me thinking, is this common practice in low-handicap players? I always thought that a guy should strive to always shoot arrow-straight shots all the time, but to also be able to add a little draw or fade to them depending on the course lay-out. What exactly is the "goal" here? Arrow-straight or knowing your swing and playing according to the faults in it?

Thanks for humouring me guys -Cameron

[hansol04]

So does my having no responses to this topic mean I am an illiterate idiot who can't compose a decent, intelligible thread of sentences? My apologies guys. -Cameron

[iWALK18]

You hear people talking about eliminating one side of the course all the time...

Personally, I know how to hit a shot I KNOW will draw... sometimes a bit too much, but if there is trouble right I am directly at it and then hit my draw and i know I am in play...

But obviously this is not really an option on a hole that requires a fade... so my answer to your question is... its both.

[Drunk Driver]

Ahhh apologies, I actually read this topic yesterday but I didn't really have anything useful to add at the time since my faults involve things like banana slicing into woods and topping the ball onto the ladies tee... I have yet to figure out how to turn these amazing skills to my advantage.

However I did come across a video of some guy called Jack Nicklaus (who might know a little more about golf than me) talking about just this kind of thing. The video also includes some quite good graphical explanations, of why hitting a fade might be the best shot even on a straight hole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM3HTujsSsY

I hope that is somewhat relevant and helpful

As for the modest number of replies... I wouldn't take it too personally. From what I know of forums... the best way to get 6 pages of replies instantly is to post something stupid, which everyone disagrees with. People love nothing more than to tell you when you are wrong. So if no one said anything chances are you're probably okay...

[Dub]

When I first started playing I had the dreaded bananna ball slice. I had little options other than to tee up as far right as possible and aim well left. This gave me a lot more room to "work" it. Someone finally took mercy on me and told me that what I was doing was making it worse on myself and there was much easier golf to be played. I figured they meant by others....I was doomed to play the slice forevermore.

Eventually I got tired of that and went and took some lessons. They showed me how to eventually turn the ball over the other way. Then....I was really in trouble....not really knowing which shot I'd have.....arrgggggh.

Now I consistenly.....dare I use that word in describing my game.....hit a slight pull/fade. It gives me a little more lattitude in aiming, but I still use as much of the tee box width as possible to give me the greates margain for error.

Hogan could pull off any shot shape that he deemed the conditions dictated. He also stressed to develop a swing that holds up repeatedly....and stays true under pressure. Find out what your "go-to" shot is and aim for that is what I say. For me....it's never been a straight affair. I always seem to have the ball going one way or another.

[Jack_2251]

I consistently play a big draw as it is more reliable than trying to hit it straight, although i can still hit a fade when needed. I find it takes the one side of the course out of play mostly, and gives me more distance.

[Shindig]

The myth of the straight shot kills many a high-handicapper. I know people who hit driver after driver on the range, just putting another ball on a rubber tee, saying that they'll work on their short game once they're able to hit their driver straight.

There are no points for straight shots, only accurate ones.


It isn't really playing to a fault to aim left to allow for a fade or right to allow for a draw. It's playing to the ball flight you're going to produce and just a smart play. If you know your driver is going to draw 15 yards each time, aim right to allow for it, and don't waste your practice time trying to eliminate that.

Now, if it fades 75 yards, you might want to work on it.

[hansol04]

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks very much guys.

I actually hadn't heard of "playing one side of the course", but I can see how that could actually work. I think I will try and include that into my game. These days I'm really trying to work on my swing mechanics, and it seems that my most "repeatable" and fluid swings tends to fade the ball right-to-left (I'm a lefty remember), and I wasn't sure if this was a horrible thing, or if a guy can work with that or not.

And thanks for the heads-up on not taking it too hard if people don't reply. I will definitely try to limit my posting of stupid non-sense. Although I suppose I should watch what I say, as I'm sure you experienced guys read this and rolled your eyes haha. Once again, thanks guys, and have a wicked amazing phenominal weekend -Cameron