Advice for what i should do...

[Shooter McGavin]

should i change my natural shot shape?

Hey guys, i'm about a 15 handicap and have been playing for almost 2 years. I've taken some lessons and have been taught to play a natural draw. At first the instructor really had to get my hands working because they werent releasing but i eventually got that and got the hang of hitting the draw. I'm not a very long hitter, 7 iron 150 and driver 225 when im hitting the ball well. But thats the problem i tend to be really up and down with my swing and my distances fluctuate by about 20 yards when im hitting the ball average. For example when i'm not hitting that great my 7 iron will be my 130 club, when im hitting well its my 150 club. So you can see for yourself the inconsistency and it drives me crazy. My instructor had gotten my shoulders to be slightly closed at address because i had a natural habit of leaving them a little bit open at address and over time i believe that has caused me to develop an inside takeaway that i'm having a real hard time getting rid of. I really want to get rid of that because it really affects how well i hit the ball at times. When i get too inside i have a real hard time making good contact or ill just hook it. Also my long irons arent very consistent at all, I tend to hook them a lot and dont have much confidence in them. My driver is very up and down. When I hit it well its glorious but thats not the norm. So I'm at my local range the other day and a new pro at the course sees me hitting and starts to make conversation with me about my swing and so on and so forth. We get to talking a bit and asks me to hit a few balls for him and tells me what i had already suspected which is that i fight an inside takeaway and tend to flip my hands over too much in order to save the shot and i end up hooking the hell out of it. He was telling me how i should develop the fade as my stock shot because i will be more consistent and my scores will end up dropping as a result. He had me to a couple minor things and take a couple swings and i must admit that i hit the ball pretty well a few times. Nothing spectacualr but better than i had been hitting that day. So my question for you guys is should i give this guy a shot and let him turn me into a fader? I dont consider myself a long hitter and i really wouldnt want to lose a considerable amount of distance if i switch to a fade, will i lost a decent amount of distance? Is this a hard transition to make? Also im in my mid 20's and i'm in very good shape physically so i see no reason why i shouldn't be hitting the ball further. Sorry for the long post guys but I'm really confused and some of your insight would really help. Thanks

[hbear]

Note I haven't seen a swing...so bear with me and don't take this the wrong way...

 

20 yard fluxtuations seem a bit excessive for a 7 iron. To me it sounds like a bit more practice on "grooving a swing" and making consistant contact would do you better than a ball flight change.

 

I've begun moving from a draw to a fade (1.8 index)...but was soley for control in flight path under pressure. Which I had trouble with in my draw...5 or 25 yards hard to say until I looked into the sky. But carry distance was always close.

 

Time on the range and consitancy in ball striking right now is more important that shot shape for you as a 15 index imo.