Faders?

[mikelaw]

Any faders left on tour? Vijay...

Name them here. 98% of the coverage I watch of the tour they are all hitting draws.

#1-Name active tour 'faders' here.
#2-Am I wrong? I swear they all hit draws on tour.

Thanks.

[TMO]

Honestly, there are a ton of golfers on tour that appear to be going to draws but the majority still hit fades. Draw is just turning into a miss shot for a lot of players with so many of them trying to flatten their swing plane. Don't think too much about it though. A power fade is still the preferred shot on tight courses and considering your home course probably doesn't have fairways that roll at a 12 you are probably better off with a power fade anyhow.

[Stacey_E]

I believe I saw coverage 2 weeks ago where they were talking about Freddie setting up for a fade. They even analyzed his swing saying he opened his stance a little for a push-cut? I know he faded the hell out of his shot coming into the 18th. Right into the trees. Heartbreak for me.

While Olgilvy isn't hitting fades, he's not hitting draws either. Just high and straight.

[Shindig]

I could swear that half the Nike staff is playing fades. Woods and Kim, for sure, and I think Cink too.

[michaeljames92]

Allenby who draws everything, was saying the other day that with new driver technology he can play a tiny fade for control and still hit the same distance as he could with a draw(without run). I don't mind a draw but for me a fade seems more controlled(coming from a 15 capper) and i am less likely to miss with a slice than a hook.

[Hidalgo]

I believe I saw coverage 2 weeks ago where they were talking about Freddie setting up for a fade. They even analyzed his swing saying he opened his stance a little for a push-cut? I know he faded the hell out of his shot coming into the 18th. Right into the trees. Heartbreak for me.

Couples has always been a fader of the golf ball. He struggles to hit a draw at times. The shot on 18 wasn't a fade...it was a block. The club was behind and never got caught up with his hands.

Tiger has always preferred the fade because it is more consistent for him. Other players who prefer to fade the ball if conditions call for it: Calcavecchia, Duval, Nicklaus (of course), Maruyama, Weir, Kite, Stadler, just a few that cometo mind. Remember...most tour players have INCREDIBLY fast hands. They prefer a fade because it almost never turns into a slice. On the other hand...it's very easy for them to "hand flip" a draw into a violent hook. But remember this: Very few tour players hit the ball straight. They will intentionally bend teh ball in order to make SURE they have control of the shot. At the higher levels, it's all about controlling the golf ball. One thing about shot shaping that Mr. Hogan said in one of his writings......... "Scoring is dependent on how efficiently you manage your missed shots, and the decisions you made that caused those missed shots. No matter what the situation, I'll always play the easiest shot that allows me to score and fits my eye. I never force a shot that I don't have total confidence in. And I never aim at trouble, nor turn the ball towards trouble." I don't remember the tournament, but Mr. Hogan lay up short of the green on a par 3 all 4 days....simply because he deemed the "appropriate" shot was too dangerous and didn't fit his eye. It required starting the ball over water to get to the pin. He got up and down all 4 days and won the tournament.

[wannabe]

I don't remember the tournament, but Mr. Hogan lay up short of the green on a par 3 all 4 days....simply because he deemed the "appropriate" shot was too dangerous and didn't fit his eye. It required starting the ball over water to get to the pin. He got up and down all 4 days and won the tournament.

Great story and reminder to play your own game, within yourself, to your own strengths. It's so easy to want to impress and "play the (so-called) right shot", when it's better for you to go to what you know you can do and feel confident about.

Regarding fader of the ball, I remember Monty saying that's always been his shot. It's easy to see why when you look at his swing.

[Andrew Rice]

The majority of players on tour are trying to fade the ball as their 'stock' shot. They can all hit fades or draws, but they prefer the fade as it is a more consistent shot. Draw means active hands and fades mean quiet hands.
Watch a player after they miss a shot left - it really takes away from their confidence and can adversely effect them for the rest of the round. Conversely, they all seem to be 'okay' with misses to the right. The left misses are the killer ones for tour golfers.

[tjy355]

K. J. Choi

[LongballGer]

The longer hitters usually play power fades to keep the ball in play.

J.B. Holmes, daly, couples, etc...

You'll never see them hit a draw...

[RichF]

A lot of guys are fading it on the tour now. I know Woods said as much in
the PGA Grand Slam a couple of years ago

In an interview recently, Nick Price reckons a high % of players fade it using a draw stance and swing, but just open up the clubface on impact.

[Quinn07]

A lot of guys are fading it on the tour now. I know Woods said as much in

I remember hearing the same thing. How a pro fades the ball and how amateurs fade the ball are quite different, as mentioned above. I don't know the names or the numbers, but my guess is that the number of players that fade the ball is larger than you think.

[Prodigy]

DL3 and James Nitties

[JonnyGolf]

there's a saying that goes: "Players hit it right to left to get to the tour, and they hit it left to right to right stay on the tour."

Most players would do anything to avoid a hook. Unlike slices, they have way more power and get in way more trouble. And, the fades help them to land soft and stay in the fairway instead of landing and running like a draw.

[imtomtomim]

well, I started to go to a fade for many of the reasons the tour players play it. If you hook it, and you run next to a tree or some bush or something like that, you'll end up in a lot more trouble than you would with a fade or slice. For a right hander, you could always hit a ball up against something on the right, but if you hook it up against something on the left, you probably gotta turn that club upside down or something dumb like that to get it out. The misses are just better.

[VardonFlyer]

Any faders left on tour? Vijay...

Most tour players can shape both shots as they want, but a fade is far more consistent than draw. In a fade you're hand are farther ahead of your ball than a draw, much like you would hit an iron or wedge. a slight fade also has less spin which equals more distance, higher trajectory which is more controllable, and a fade plays better into the wind. Both swing shapes have their perks, i think its just as effective and easier to hit a fade.

In this weekend tourney most of the top 10 hit a fade Mickelson, Mcllroy, Villegas, hoffman, watney. etc...

[iacas]

a slight fade also has less spin which equals more distance

That's not accurate. Fades tend to have more spin (because they're hit with more loft).

[shortstop20]

And shouldn't a draw work better in the wind as the trajectory of a draw is(typically) lower than a fade?