Tour Pros: Draw v. Fade

[trumps4]

I have been told by countless buddies that most pros favor a fade. However, if I understood correctly, I think I heard a commentator say this past weekend that "so-and-so likes to draw the ball like most other PGA players."
Having only been to a couple PGA tour events, I don't think I'd say most pros favor any particular ball flight.
What say you? Secondly, if there is a preferred pro ball-flight, why do you think the pros prefer it?

[right handed phil mickelson]

I have been told by countless buddies that most pros favor a fade. However, if I understood correctly, I think I heard a commentator say this past weekend that "so-and-so likes to draw the ball like most other PGA players."

Usually a fade is more controllable of a shot. Plus it will give a little bit more spin when hit, so I'd think the pro's would play it more often now that they have the new groove rule in effect. That's why Tiger's go-to shot is a fade.

[slabm7]

I took at golf lesson with a former player a couple weeks ago, he never won anything and was only there for a couple years but he said to embrace a nice fade and that there has been alot more pros become successful who play a fade as opposed to a draw. Most golfers who have a fade it comes naturally and over time consistent.

[saevel25]

I wish i had my fade again, its a pretty shot. Power-Fade, best thing there is.

[IcemanYVR]

I would take a consistant fade or a fade as a miss any day over the unpredictability of a draw and the even worse mishit hook.

[RC]

I think the prettiest shot is straight and falls one yard right. If you can hit those inside 175 yards, you can score.

[acj990]

Wow, I'm gonna go out and be the minority on this thread. I actually prefer a slow draw and just love the way it looks. I also like a nice controlled fade though, but a slight draw towards to the right spot is money. Good thread!

[nlowplacez]

i hate draws. i hit em when i have too, but there just too unpredictable and IMHO ugly. but i'm not a pro. i do know a few. they all have a stock shot which is either a draw or a fade, never straight. but honestly, i've never met a pro who couldn't hit both on command and most (not all) can hit both just as well, just trust one a little more than the other. ive studied a lot of swings and players throughout history, and I believe the best ball strikers we have seen hit fades. when tiger used to be a good ball striker, he hit a fade. ben hogan is (i think) the best ball striker of all time and he hit almost exclusively a baby fade. trevino is the secondbest and he hit a fade. nicklaus hit a fade and he was the best until he got to about a 7 iron on down. i think sergio is the best currently on tour, and he hits mostly a draw. so either one works, but it seems the majority of good strikers hit fades. please don't bash, just my opnions

[senorchipotle]

i can hit a power fade with the best of them. and i don't mind it, i actually prefer hitting it. but the problem comes in about 2 or 3 times a round when i need that draw, and end up push slicing it or pull hooking it into the woods.

[raycharles]

A fade is the most consistent shot to play for most golfers. Whether one chooses to play a draw, or fade, they should commit themselves to practice one ball flight for consistent play.

[iacas]

when tiger used to be a good ball striker, he hit a fade.

No he didn't. His stock shot was a baby draw until he really got into his work with Hank Haney (at which point he became incapable of hitting a baby draw - instead opting for small to large blocks and the occasional flip hook). He's said so numerous times, has been recorded on video as saying such, and I've seen it in person.

To the OP, your buddy was right - most PGA Tour players play a baby draw as their stock shot. It's just as easy - perhaps easier - to control than a fade if you understand how to create a draw. A pull-draw caused by "releasing the club" is tough to control, you bet. But a push draw? It's as easy to control as the push-fades played by Hogan and Trevino.

[laconic517]

from personal experience i dislike fades when playing when its windy. My draw seems much better. I have a friend who plays exclusively a fade (borderline slice and hes a scratch) and the wind doesnt hit his shots at all. Its mindblowing.

[ericstamper]

i think pros favor the fade because they can hit it much higher and land softer

[iacas]

i think pros favor the fade because they can hit it much higher and land softer

A push fade and a push draw will go the same height. The spin is simply to the left instead of the right. A lefty's push-draw would have the same flight as a righty's push-fade, and vice versa.

Pros don't hit pull-draws, but a few do hit pull-fades, and they're low-ball hitters. Lee Trevino was a push fader with a really low ball flight, for example. Hogan was mid-height, and Nicklaus was high - but all were push-faders of the golf ball. You can hit towering draws just as easily as you can hit towering fades.

[atrapasuenos]

I think I saw a video in which Tiger said that his "stock" shot was a 1 - 2 yard draw. Stricker, Kenny Perry plays a draw too.

Greetings!

[deronsizemore]

I really dislike hitting a fade and prefer to hit a draw on every shot.

[anthony]

I wish I could hit a draw.

[iacas]

I think I saw a video in which Tiger said that his "stock" shot was a 1 - 2 yard draw.

Yes, it used to be.