When do I start worrying about shaping my shots?

[jefkve]

As a realatively new golfer, I'm still working on general consistency, et al., but I'm curious when I should start working on shaping shots? Is this something I should wait till I hit single digits, or should I be taking a few shots during practice?

My natural shot shape is a fade, so its more learning to draw the ball that I'd be working on...

Thanks in advance for any advice...

[MEfree]

There are a lot of pros and scratch golfers who play their "stock" shot (draw or fade) a majority of the time.

I think the answer to your question depends on how big a fade you are playing.  If it is a small fade, then I would likely just work on consistency and contact at this point.  If it is more of a slice, then you might want to work on trying to learn to hit a draw (or at least less of a fade).

[poser]

at your level I would just worry about building a good repeatable swing.  When you get to a better level it's easy to shape shots with some simple adjustments.

[rustyredcab]

If your fade is a fade -- and not a slice -- then you can play golf with that shot. If it is a slice, learn to work it straight.

[jefkve]

ok, to clarify, my shot STARTED as a slice, and I've learned to hit it straight. My misses are now fades and pushes, but I cannot draw the ball. At the range today, I tried playing around a bit to see if I could draw the ball and eventually it took me closing the face SIGNIFICANTLY at address to get any right to left movement whatsoever....just curious if I should abandon this effort for the time being and focus on getting my handicap down or if I should continue to work on this occaisionally .....

[Jarrod Putnam]

It couldn't hurt to work on it. I was in the same situation awhile back, but I focused in simply hitting the ball straight first and maybe hit a dozen attempted draws. It really is purely up to you as to when you start practicing this really. If you feel confident in your "normal" shots for the time being, why not mix in some shape shots? I went through an entire bucket at the range purely to work on my draw. At first I was trying the method you are doing (closing the face) but I couldn't do a thing with it. So I tried having my back swing come more inside, then on the downswing bring it to the outside so it feels extremely exaggerated. That worked for me personally though I still am trying to get it down pat. I somehow can hit a draw at will with a 56 wedge, but maybe 6/10 with my 7 iron...go figure.

[David in FL]

If your goal is to become a better golfer and to lower your scores in the least amount of time, I'd agree that trying to intentionally "work" the ball either way isn't the way to do that at this point.  Your goal should be to ingrain as much consistency in everything you do as possible at this point.

I'd recommend working on ball striking consistently and trying to play a relatively straight shot, while accepting your natural left to right tendency.  I'd also HIGHLY recommend that you spend AT LEAST 50% of your practice time working on short game.  Pitching, chipping, and putting.  You're not hitting very many greens at this point, and that's not going to change for quite some time.  What you can change is how many strokes it takes you to get the ball into the hole once you get up to and around that green.

BTW, rustyredcab quoted this in a prior thread and I'm going to pass it along as great advice here too.....

Putt when you can

Chip if you can't putt

Pitch if you can't chip

Lob/flop when you must

[The Recreational Golfer]

In my experience, one has to learn how to hit the ball straight reliably before learning how to curve the ball on command, because those kinds of shots are played off the straight ball.

By "straight", I don't mean ruler straight, but reasonably straight with a controlled, consistent, and predictable curve one way or the other. In other words, the ball goes where you want it to instead of all over the place.

Shaping a shot, BTW, is something I need to do only two or three times per round, to get the ball around something, or to gain an advantage where there is no cost for the shot not coming off as planned.