Hitting a Fade (Ball Flight Question)

[Fatphil]

i think iacas is messin with us

[Zeph]

I open the clubface a small bit when I hit a fade.

Open relative to what, the swingpath or target?

[atrapasuenos]

I don't aim... I try to "feel" what I want to do... that is, left to the tree and then try to make a full cut, start the ball well to the left and cut back.

Cheers!

[Zeph]

By feeling, you rotate the clubhead slightly open and prevent it from squaring up again. Same thing.

[Parker0065]

Interesting thread on how others would play the shot.

I was taught by a very reputable pro a few years ago when I took lessons to aim the clubface at the target when you want to draw or fade a ball. You then adjust your stance and swingpath to accomplish the movement of the ball. I have used this technique many time with great success.

I concure with this method and for this example I would aim the clubface relative to the pin, set up my stance to the left of the tree, and cut the ball around it. Actually what I would do in real life is play a draw from the right side of the tree if there was room because I prefer that shot,,lol.

[Phil McGleno]

I was taught by a very reputable pro a few years ago when I took lessons to aim the clubface at the target when you want to draw or fade a ball.

The pro was wrong. You should ask for your money back.

As of right now 13 people are wrong (I saw one or two people who said they voted incorrectly). 40 are right. And by right, I mean left.

[rebby]

- Be the ball, be the ball, nananananannananananana

Wait, you mean that not an option in the poll?

[jpalermo]

How big is the tree and is it possible to just go over it? Thats always my first thought, draw second fade last. I can hit a draw on command but I can only fade the ball when I dont want to.... LOL

[goblue107501]

The pro was wrong. You should ask for your money back.

How the *bleep* can it be wrong? I have done it that way hundreds of times.

[HoosierGolfer]

I would aim left of the tree, open my stance, play the ball slightly more more forward than normal and be sure to swing outside, in. Fade everytime.

[iacas]

I would aim left of the tree, open my stance, play the ball slightly more more forward than normal and be sure to swing outside, in. Fade everytime.

That doesn't answer the question.

How the *bleep* can it be wrong? I have done it that way hundreds of times.

I think the point is that you only think you've done it that way.

The ball starts where the clubface is aimed. If you truly did what you thought you did, you'd have hit the tree "hundreds of times."

[goblue107501]

http://www.ehow.com/video_4992320_hi...shot-golf.html

http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/qt/fade.htm

http://www.tees2greens.com/blogs/stu...it-a-fade.aspx

http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-art...e-1136457.html

http://swingmachineblog.com/how-to-hit-a-fade.html

http://www.intotherough.co.uk/golf-t...t-a-fade-shot/

http://www.•••••••••••••••••.com/tag/fade/

I guess there is more than one way to skin a cat.

[Zeph]

I guess there is more than one way to skin a cat.

I've never skinned a cat, but that may be so.

To hit a fade though, there is only one way. There are of course many variations in angles which produce different amounts of curve, the general rule however is not something to get away from. It's the laws of this earth, no matter how many experts think there are different ways.

[Gioguy21]

Wait, i clicked right instead of left.

yeeeeea i did that too...

[iacas]

goblue107501, link to the stuff all you want. They're all wrong. All of 'em.

Yeah, it's an earth-shattering type of thing. I agree. But you're going to play better golf when you realize the clubface controls the starting line.

[sean_miller]

I know what "should" be done for a recovery fade, but I project a low success rate. I never seem to take enough club for a controlled fade. Hey it worked . . . and now the ball's bunkered short of the green. Woot!

[goblue107501]

I am in no way arguing that the ball takes a different flight from where the clubface is pointed. The key here is the question that was asked was " where do you aim the clubface ", not "where is the clubface pointed at impact". To hit a draw or fade I aim the clubface at the target like I was taught. Where the clubface is aimed at address and where it is pointed at impact can be two different things. I could aim the clubface at my left foot, that doesn't mean that after I swing, the ball will hit my left foot.

You are probably right, I would be hitting into a bunch of trees...if the club was pointed at them at impact. My best guess is if I start the club at the target, and the balls goes up in the air and then moves around the tree, the club probably wasn't pointed at the target at impact. How did it adjust? Don't know, don't care. I got the result I wanted so it really doesn't matter.

[iacas]

The key here is the question that was asked was "

Yes, it could be, and that's the compensation good players have been making for years IF they've taken this approach to hitting shots. But it's a dumb approach to take, and the whole point of aiming the clubface to begin with is, for most people, so that they return the clubface to that alignment (with the shaft leaning forward more, but horizontally, to the same position) at impact.

Relying on your subconscious to not only flip or hold open the clubface at impact but also to exaggerate your swing shape beyond what you set at address seems to me antithetical to everything we teach about the golf swing: that you set your alignment so you can return to it at impact. We'll table that discussion for now, though. There's only so much room to type out a question, and so this one assumed that setup mirrored impact because that's the generally, commonly accepted goal.