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

[Fore Right!]

In my experience, if you really spend a lot of time hitting balls and working on your full swing you will start to understand and 'feel' what it takes to shape shot a certain way. I recently decided to eliminate, once and forever, my little fade/slice and battling through that swing change (from over the top to inside-out) I figured out how to work the ball pretty consistently. Maybe I got lucky and just worked and practiced enough to stumble into it. I think once someone understands the fundamentals and basic principles of how a golf swing works he will be able to control his ball flight quite handily. I'm not even close to a single digit handicap but I think I can get there one day and learning to shape shots is just a step along the way that one will reach once he understands the golf swing and his swing, more importantly. Hope that made sense.

[RichF]

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

I spend a lot of time on my local golf club's range and I've started purposely fading and drawing with anything from driver down to 7-iron - I had to: I was sick of going into tree-lines all the time.

Controlling trajectory is pretty easy for me also, but combining the two above - I can't do that yet.

[imtomtomim]

I have just about always worked the ball. Eventhough last season was my first, I found myself trying to turn it the second 9 holes I was out playing. It's because I was wild and I got into trouble often calling for some huge hero shots. I don't like to chip into the fairway, I'd rather hit it at the green and into the rough closer to the green and working it hard was the best way. 2 days ago, I was having a lot of trouble playing, just a bad day, and I flubbed my tee shot 100 yards with a 4 iron supposed to go 205 to take me to the dogleg left bend. Instead, I was just at the start of the fairway. I had about 180 straight to the hole but gigantic trees that I'd need a 9 iron to get over, so what do you do? You hook it hard left, about 35 yards. Saved par from that terrible crap with a gimmie chip. Even if you don't have great control, sending the ball in a curve can be one of the most valuable tools you have.

I also read early when starting golf, and Jack Nickalus said hitting a draw or fade was alway easier than hitting it dead straight, and I can understand why, your room for error was just much wider than hititng it with perfect vertical spin.

[Zeph]

To be able to work the ball you need a solid golf swing. If you have any flaws, those will knock you out if you attempt to work the ball.

I'm in no place to work the ball at this point, I'm not even close. Easiest may be the driver, but it's very easy for the planned fade to become a slice, or the draw to become a hook. With hybrids and woods it's also manageable, but with irons I can't do it. I can't even hit a iron pure, I won't be attempting for a curved shot anytime soon.

[billysandy]

I can do low draws from rough with my irons and 3 out of 10 times i can pull off a high fade for a particular tee shot on my course

[AmenCorner]

Haven't been able to work it lately for some reason. Just hitting the straight shot with a slight fade sometimes. It looks pretty at least.

[Leftygolfer]

I have had a huge swing fault that has made a fade very difficult. I am sure everyone agrees that most courses set up best for a right handed draw. I have hit so many double crosses trying to hit a fade and hitting a pull draw (my big miss and the reason my scores have suffered (well that and not being crisp around the green)).

I have recently had a lesson and I understand the cause of my fault and I am working on this.

I agree that I do try my best to visualize what I want to do. I used to visualize it only moving right. If the pin is right, I aim for the center of the green becuase I a missing it to the right and do not want to shot side myself. If it is on the left I aim at the pin and usually if I hit the green I will be 40 feet left because of the hook.

But all this is based on past experience. I am in the process of hopefully getting better and can just play and not defend.

I woud say when the pros work the ball (which obviously they do) it is only a 5 yard draw or hook. They have the big hooks and fades when needed but to the eye it looks like a pretty straight ball.

[nevets88]

I can work the ball, but there's a higher chance it won't come off than a stock swing.

I work the ball:

- Approach shot to green, no direct path to green, relatively clean lie, not too much trouble around green. It's very gratifying when it comes off. It's much easier to make par/bogey when you're close to the green, as opposed to punching out. I have trouble working the ball when it's in rough though.

- With a fairway wood, hole has big dogleg.

- With a driver and only a draw, for extra distance. If I try for a fade, I have trouble controlling the amount of fade/slice.

- In the wind. Low draws.

[David in FL]

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

I think that's a pretty good question. Once you understand the fundamentals of a draw or fade, it's really very simple to hit one. Learning to control each might take a little bit of practice, but not any more than any other aspect of the game and is easily incorporated into any practice session. I tend to think that most mid-to-high handicappers seldom think about shaping the ball one way or another simply because they're more concerned with ball striking than they are with course management.....and moving the ball one way or another is all about managing the course. The question then becomes, at what point do most golfers really start to think their way around the golf course? IMHO, for most, that happens when they start to get into the single digits, simply because additional improvement becomes less about improved ball striking and more about managing the inevitable misses and keeping the doubles off the card without playing so conservatively that you don't have any realistic chances at birdie.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I hardly ever "work" the ball. I play my natural shot. The only times i purposefully try to hit a draw or fade is when i need to go around something, or i feel the need to hold the ball strait agaist a crosswind. Somestimes on a long par 3 i will hit a high cut because its an easy shot to hit with a long iron or hybrid. I will only move the ball with my 4-8 irons and hybrid. I never try to work the ball with my woods, short irons, or wedges.

[denver_nuggs_15]

My natural shot is a high draw. It used to be a high fade, but I have since changed my swing and I come (probably too far) from the inside. I usually just play my slight draw with my irons, but sometimes I try to draw the ball extra. I haven't been able to control my fades this year, but I realize that it is extremely valuable, so I'm working on them. I also try the play a straight ball into some greens where a draw or fade is not the best play. (All I do is weaken my grip slightly.)
I draw my driver (because of my natural swing). I don't work my hybrids though I'd like to learn a high fade with them. I usually try to hit the ball straight, but that's because the grips are too small so I tend to overdraw them. The lowest club I'd work left to right or right to left is a 9-iron. The highest being a 4. I try to work some of my irons in terms of height, but that's usually a 8-U.

[pjsnyc]

I dont think working the ball has as much to do with a person's skill level than distance control.

That said - I pretty much try to work the ball on every shot because, well, ever since I figured out how to draw or fade the ball, hitting the ball straight is now an impossibility.

[PiKapp23]

With my driver I usually want to hit a 'draw' as my normal shot, but with my other clubs I prefer to hit the ball straight most of the time. I hit a baby fade with my irons sometimes, but that's only for particular approach shot needs. I seldom want to fade or cut a ball with driver as those tend to get away from me quickly. Most of the time when I do attempt to 'work' the ball it's either because I need to to because of an obstacle or something of the sort or because I am fighting a shot that day and want to make it go other way (like when I'm fighting a hook with driver I'll try for fade instead).

I have known really good golfers (3-5 handicaps or less) who really didn't even try to work the ball unless forced to and I've known higher handicappers who did try to work their ball around the course (often with varying levels of success on a shot-to-shot basis). I see more 'older' golfers trying to work the ball from this higher handicap level than younger golfers, though. My dad is a PGA Pro and says he sees a lot of the older members at his club still trying to work the ball because they still haven't realized the newer balls do not turn as much (he says many of them are even using cheap 2 piece balls to attempt this).

[Elsfan]

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

If the pin is on the left you play a fade as a right handed player and on the you play a right draw. OK I personally would do the opposite so you have a little room for error. You go to a tucked pin on the left with a fade your miss will be off the green. Off course wind will affect what type of shot I play.

[Fourputt]

I don't worry about it. That is just another variable that my game doesn't need. My natural shot is a fade and I'm happy with it. If I need a draw, then tough luck. My home course favors a draw player, but I still shot 83-77 this weekend in a 36 hole tournament with my typical fade. Took 2nd place gross and low net in my flight.


I see some 15+ handicappers here saying that they work the ball because it's "fun". I have more fun shooting lower scores. In my opinion they would probably score better if they just forgot about shaping shots and focused more on ball striking and short game. There have been PGA Tour players who never worked the ball. Bruce Lietzke comes to mind, always played his stock fade, and Jack Nicklaus could draw the ball but he only did so when he had no other choice.

[Alohaed]

Sorry for intruding. On the subject of "workability", I asked about this and "forgiving clubs" in the Equipment posts and didn't really get a clear answer. I do not have the time, and am not at the handicap, to work the ball, yet would like to at least draw and/or fade, around a tree if need be. Can this be done with Gi or SGI irons?

[DavidFehertysBike]

Sorry for intruding. On the subject of "workability", I asked about this and "forgiving clubs" in the Equipment posts and didn't really get a clear answer. I do not have the time, and am not at the handicap, to work the ball, yet would like to at least draw and/or fade, around a tree if need be. Can this be done with Gi or SGI irons?

It can be done, but it would be much more difficult than with a players iron. The offset and parimeter weighting on GI irons pretty much only allows for strait or draw ball flight. GI are built around the high handicappers tendency not to let the hands lead the club and coming over the top, producing a slice. Players irons have much less offset which allows the player to use the club face more effectivley to control ballflight.

[PiKapp23]

Sorry for intruding. On the subject of "workability", I asked about this and "forgiving clubs" in the Equipment posts and didn't really get a clear answer. I do not have the time, and am not at the handicap, to work the ball, yet would like to at least draw and/or fade, around a tree if need be. Can this be done with Gi or SGI irons?

Can it be done with GI and SGI irons? Yes. The problem is that it's more difficult and often those 'fades' and 'draws' an become 'slices' and 'hooks' much quicker. These type of irons (and other clubs as well) are designed to hit the ball high and straight so it's definitely more difficult to do with any amount of control. They tend to have a very low center-of-gravity and perimeter weighting as opposed to 'player' irons which usually have the CoG higher and with less perimeter weighting. Those are the main reasons it becomes more difficult.