What Shot does Tiger Play?

[live4u120]

I read an article in Golf Magazine about how depending on high your finish is above your head, the greater the chance you hit a fade.

Now I've seen alot of tiger's swing videos, and his finish comes pretty high above his head. Does this mean he's hitting a fade?

[westcyderydin]

what i think what they mean in the magazine is that if you see someones follow thru while they are hitting a fade, they could be trying to keep the club face open to execute the fade and their path will probly come thru higher, as opposed to someone who is hitting a draw who will be trying to keep the club face closed and will come thru at a lower plane in their follow thru.

but another rule is that if u have a high follow thru you will get the ball up more and if you have a low follow thru, your hands will probly release the club much later if they do at all and you will hit the ball much lower.

so he is probly getting the ball in the air and thats why his follow thru is high. if you watch how he is working the ball then you will see what shot he is hitting and what that will do to his follow thru.

[Gibby]

Tiger, along with around 90% of the tour consistently works the ball according to fit the situation. There are a few players like Kenny Perry that pretty much hit one shot (draw) like 95% of the time, unless the situation ABSOLUTELY calls for the other shot type.

The reason one would tend to finish higher with a fade, is because in order to hit a fade, you need to hold off on the release. The swing plane could also be ever so slightly steeper. This is why when people make an exaggerated fade or slice (on purpose), you often get the "windmill" finish.

-Gibby

[iacas]

what i think what they mean in the magazine is that if you see someones follow thru while they are hitting a fade, they could be trying to keep the club face open to execute the fade and their path will probly come thru higher, as opposed to someone who is hitting a draw who will be trying to keep the club face closed and will come thru at a lower plane in their follow thru.

We've been over this: a draw is hit with a clubface open to the target, and a fade with a clubface closed to the target... I can hit a push-draw from an open stance or a closed stance - those will affect the loft. And people hitting a draw tend to finish with the hands higher than those hitting a fade if they've done it with their alignment and setup. Think about it - with a fade, you tend to swing left more (for a righty), and with a draw, out to the right. The former is lower, the latter higher.

That can change based on the type of shot you need to hit - if you need to sling a 6-iron 10 feet off the ground and 50 yards left or right, or there are trees in the follow-through, or whatever... things can change. Tiger flips the clubface at the ball quite a bit to try to hit his draws, and that can lower the clubhead quite a bit. He holds it off on his big slices, too, which can keep the clubhead higher. He's not hitting those shots with his stance, alignment, and by altering his swing path, though.

Tiger, along with around 90% of the tour consistently works the ball according to fit the situation. There are a few players like Kenny Perry that pretty much hit one shot (draw) like 95% of the time, unless the situation ABSOLUTELY calls for the other shot type.

That's not true. 95% of the PGA Tour play their stock shot 95% of the time. The ones who don't aren't on your television on the weekends...

[westcyderydin]

geez..nevermind then...just sayin that ive probly seen 5 different ways to hit a draw or fade in golf magazines. im guessing that this may be what they meant.

how do you draw and fade the ball iascas? i have played around with a few different ways and i kinda use a few of them depending on if i am hitting a driver, my hybrid, or one of my way too player enhancing irons (i think that is the term for them, they are way oversized cavitybacks, offset, with big soles.)

[Fatphil]

how do you draw and fade the ball iascas? i have played around with a few different ways and i kinda use a few of them depending on if i am hitting a driver, my hybrid, or one of my way too player enhancing irons

you're an 8 I'm and 8,,,I play courses that the fairways are 40 yards wide. I try to hit the freakin ball on the sweetspot with a decent attack angle..imo for anyone over a 5 to worry about cutting or drawing is mental overload.

Go for straight...if it goes 20 yds left or right on most recreational courses you're still OK. Dude ya ain't playing Oakland Hills...or maybe you are?

[Randy4h]

Regardless of what others may declare, draw spin is developed from a closed clubface in relation to the swingpath. Fade spin, just the opposite. Some folks keep their alignment toward the "target", then manipulate their swing to accomplish an inside-out or outside-in swingpath. Others will alter their alignment (and thus, their "target"), then use their normal swing, but adjust the clubface to accomplish draw or fade spin. Two ways to do the same thing. Iacas, I assume, prefers the first. I prefer the second.

[iacas]

Regardless of what others may declare, draw spin is developed from a closed clubface in relation to the swingpath.

Nobody's said the opposite.

Some folks keep their alignment toward the "target", then manipulate their swing to accomplish an inside-out or outside-in swingpath. Others will alter their alignment (and thus, their "target"), then use their normal swing, but adjust the clubface to accomplish draw or fade spin. Two ways to do the same thing. Iacas, I assume, prefers the first. I prefer the second.

I too use the same swing. I alter my alignment a bit for a fade, but I don't often play the fade. I also alter my handle position and how far forward I go in the swing. And for fades, the clubface is closed relative to the target... For a draw, it must be open relative to the target. Obviously it's closed relative to the swing path - that goes without saying. But the ball needs to start to the right to have room to draw, hence, open to the target.

To actually answer the original question, Tiger tends to play a draw, but on occasion he'll play a fade for the week if he's working on something (he'll hit fades at Muirfield Village for the week if the U.S. Open course requires a lot of fades). His stock shot is a little draw, though. He's said it a few times on video and following him around you'll see he hits far more draws than fades when he's not confined to hitting one shot shape or the other. Most good players hit draws as their stock shots, and those that don't almost always hit push-fades. Almost nobody plays a pull-fade consistently because, in terms of where you're making contact, you're more likely doing so on the "front side" of the circle and good players make contact on the back side of the circle.

[grandaddy510]

That's not true. 95% of the PGA Tour play their stock shot 95% of the time. The ones who don't aren't on your television on the weekends...

This reminded me of the President's Cup at Harding Park, I had a perfect view from the tee on a short par-4 dog leg left. I'm sure most know AK is known for playing a fade. When he gets up to the tee box, I bet my cousin $1 that his ball ends up in the trees to the right. Sure enough he hits the fade and ends up in jail on the right rough. Obviously the hole plays for a draw, he still went to his go to shot and I get a $1 in my pocket (actually we collect at $10 so I didn't actually see the dollar).

[ET-Taylor]

i only ever have to work the ball after my drive is in trouble