"Workability"...How many people really "Work" the ball?

[juanrjackson]

I hear a lot of people here talk about "workability"...& "working" the ball. Especially when they talk about clubs...etc.

I play with people that normally have 8-20+ handicaps & most don't "work" the ball. They just want to hit the ball straight.

At what handicap level to golfers consistently "work" the ball?

[verse214]

I hear a lot of people here talk about "workability"...& "working" the ball. Especially when they talk about clubs...etc.

I'd think that the single digit handicappers you play with definitely should know how to work the ball if they really do have that low of a handicap...

Also, working the ball isn't any harder than hitting the ball straight-- all you're doing is just changing parts of your set up

[Smw]

You don't need to do it, but the ability to hit a fade/draw/high/low shot at will is invaluable. It really isn't that hard to do either. Mastering it is a different story though..

[juanrjackson]

The one thing I've noticed about lower handicap players is not their ability to "work" the ball...but their ability to have "distance control" with their irons which allows them to hit to the different quadrants or levels of a green.

[deronsizemore]

I can work the ball pretty easily one way or the other. If I'm intentionally fading the ball I tend to have a little control on how much it fades compared to my draw, but I just attribute that to my usual shot shape being a draw and I can control is better.

I don't typically work the ball though unless I really need too. I like to play my little draw and usually just stay with that unless a special situation comes up.

[iWALK18]

I almost never try to shape a shot. I can, but its not something I'm consistent enough to actually do.

[wedge player]

I hear a lot of people here talk about "workability"...& "working" the ball. Especially when they talk about clubs...etc.

i love workin the ball pin left=fade pin right=draw i dont like doing trajectory control unless i have to though.

[right handed phil mickelson]

I think people start "working"(shaping) the ball at around a 7-8 handicap. That is where the scores really start to matter to a person (trying to break 80). I shape the ball only when necessary. Twice I had to shape the ball in a difficult lie today and yesterday. Both shots were the same thing; a low draw under a tree about 20 yards ahead of me with 140-150 to the pin. Took my 5 hybrid, punched it out, both stopped about 15-25 feet from the hole ;)

Now why can't I do that when I'm in the fairway.....I hate golf......

[ryohazuki222]

it's fun. to do it on purpose though. makes you feel like a magician.

couple days ago I was on my last hole. Screwed up the drive and I was about 200 yards out with trees in my way in the right rough. bunker in the front right.

Pulled out the 3 iron... I aimed way left and hit the most beautiful intentional slice (yes, slice.... I had to curve it a ton) i've ever hit in my life. Ball was about 10 feet from the pin on the fringe.

[wedge player]

I think people start "working"(shaping) the ball at around a 7-8 handicap. That is where the scores really start to matter to a person (trying to break 80). I shape the ball only when necessary. Twice I had to shape the ball in a difficult lie today and yesterday. Both shots were the same thing; a low draw under a tree about 20 yards ahead of me with 140-150 to the pin. Took my 5 hybrid, punched it out, both stopped about 15-25 feet from the hole ;)

yea i had a phil shot last weekend miss a tree about 10 feet in front of me then had to go under a tree at 20 foot and over another tree at 35 ft had 207 hit a cut 5 iron pulled it off

it wasnt close but it was on

[RC]

I visualize every shot... and hope for, plan for, and hopefully get the shape I want. Does not happen every time, but every shot has a plan for a particular ball flight. Some holes look right for a drive that draws, others are better to let the ball leak right, and some, you aim down the middle and if it draws or slides a little you are still OK. This is all common sense, but no matter what happens, there was a shape and flight in my head.

When you start shaping your shots routinely, there will always be the double cross (you may aim left planning a fade and come over the shot and hit a draw or pull.) So the two key things in this game for full shots, in my opinion, are distance control and playing shot shapes in which you risk the least amount of damage with a double cross. What this latter means is don't aim for the lake, playing for a draw that will curve over and then away from the water, but rather aim for a spot and shape that allows a little bit of double cross (if it happens) and still keeps you in the hole and par in the equation. "Cautious creativity" is a good phrase to describe this approach. Oh, one other thing... it does not always work -- that's golf.

[Marinemike]

Is there a particular book that teaches the fundamentals of what needs to happen to get a particular shape?

And I'm not looking for tips and tricks on a website somewhere. I'm talking about fundamentals in the same way that Hogans book is the fundamentals.

[billm408]

For me, it's more about controlling trajectory. Being able to hit the ball low or high depending on the shot. I tend to hit my woods pretty straight and a slight 2-3 yard fade with my irons. For the most part, the only time I'm trying to hit a hard draw or exaggerated cut is when I have to which means I've put myslef in a bad position off the tees. IME, shaping the shot when I don't have to leads to bogeys.

[iacas]

i love workin the ball pin left=fade pin right=draw i dont like doing trajectory control unless i have to though.

That's backwards. You're not left-handed...?

I visualize every shot... and hope for, plan for, and hopefully get the shape I want. Does not happen every time, but every shot has a plan for a particular ball flight.

That's how I approach it as well. Working isn't just fades and draws, but height as well, trajectory. Spin, too, I'd almost consider part of "working" the ball.

As for when? I started when I was first playing the game. I was breaking 90 pretty quickly when I was first starting out, and I attribute a lot of my quick start to working the ball because it meant I had a plan for every shot.

[wedge player]

That's backwards. You're not left-handed...?

oops yea that was backwards.my bad

[wedge player]

i love workin the ball pin left=fade pin right=draw i dont like doing trajectory control unless i have to though.

pin left=draw pin right=fade i forgot my lefts and rights

[BigBoy]

As for when? I started when I was first playing the game. I was breaking 90 pretty quickly when I was first starting out, and I attribute a lot of my quick start to working the ball because it meant I had a plan for every shot.

I've come across this recently - just the act of thinking about shot shape makes me think more about the shot I want to hit. Makes me think more about outcome rather than technique which has been pretty powerful for me.

I started playing with some low single digit guys who enlightened me about what working the ball generally means - it does not usually mean trying to move the ball 20 yards in either direction, more like 5 yards. That opened my eyes as well, and I think its a common misconception many newer people have about working the ball. (that 35 yard slice is not a 'power fade' no matter how hard you hack at it ) I'm still not able to try to hit 'draws' with anything longer than an 8 iron on the course because of a tendency to hook the crap out of them. I just don't trust it enough. It'll be a few more months on the range working on that.

[wrx_junki]

I can play a draw but still trying to make my fades more consistent. My fade's have a high ball flight and is harder to control the distance. When working the ball, the wind hurts my carry distances so I still have a lot to figure out.

I don't mess with my driver and fairway wood though. Always aim slightly right of target and play to my tendency. Working the longer clubs may cause a lot of trouble.