Fixing a fade

[kinneywhat]

I'd like to hit a slight draw

Well, I've tried about everything. Some days I hit the balls pretty straight off the tee, some days I hit an all out slice that goes 30-40 yards left to right. Last night, before league, I got some tips online and practiced with some plastic balls in my back yard, then went to the range at our club before league started and hit about 30 balls with my driver and 3 wood. I had worked it down to a slight fade, even towards a slight draw on some. When league started shortly after, I was hitting all out slices again, with what I thought was the same exact swing.

On the last two holes of league, I was getting pretty agrivated and was just taking a hard, but controlled swing, going for distance more than anything. They were two of the best drives I've had all season, not to mention two of the longest. They weren't the slight draw that I was looking for, but they were straight to a very slight fade. I have no idea what I did, but it worked.

The slice is seriously killing my game. I lose a stroke on almost every hole I have to hit a driver on, due to having to chip back into the fairway. I'm a 16 handicap now and if I could straighten out my drive, I think I could consistently be shooting in the low 80's. I make great contact with my driver (Nike Sumo) and have a swing speed around 102-105mph.

Any tips would be appreciated. I'd love to be able to hit a slight draw consistently. I would have probably taken a couple lessons this season, but our old club pro left this year and I don't have complete confidence in the new one.

[oregongolf]

i think what you need to understand is the swing path for a slight draw first.

 

if you can visualize an inside out swing, then make practice swings on that swing path, you'll figure it out.

 

i just work on it at the range, alternating between fade/draw -- and my natural shot shape has always been a soft fade.

 

also, much of your problem could just be a lack of a full release through the ball. so i'd keep that in mind also.

[kinneywhat]

I actually went to the range for lunch and just got back.

 

I hit about 160 balls. I hit about 40 with my driver and 40 with my 3 wood (25 off the deck, 15 off a tee)

 

I tried a few things I saw online and came up with a few ways to tweak my swing. If I can continue to hit my "new" swing I'll be in great shape. I wasn't drawing the ball much, but I was hitting it straight and about 10 yards longer. Every now and then I'd have a slight fade or a little draw, but nothing more than 5-15 yards at most.

 

A few things I noticed. I wasn't turning my hips enough, and when I was it wasn't really a rotation, but more of shifting them from one side to another. That helped me get my clubhead around and squared much better. That brought me to straight or with a small fade. I also worked on getting use to swing inside-out more and staying down on the ball. That got me hitting straight consistently, but sometimes pulling the ball. I did get some draw in it though.

 

The swing feels pretty akward for now, but the results have been good. I just need to make sure I can keep it and put it to good use on the course.

[oregongolf]

well at least you're making progress.

 

a lot of the times, i work on hitting draws by simply hitting low hooks at the guy picking range.

 

sometimes when the hitch isn't working on the range cart, they have to use this old beat up toyota truck. i swear, i must be responsible for at least 40 dents in that thing.

[Diesel]

that huge slice is an over the top move... you need to elminate that to get that slight draw you are looking for...

 

if i tend to get quick from the top, and not initiate the downswing with the legs, i will come over the top...

 

a video of your swing would allow some of the better players here to pick out any other issues you might be having...

[GregMarc5280]

I used to be similar to you, but I changed my natural shot from a fade to a draw. I would really advise just working on coming from a inside path instead of possibly outside. I do have one word of advise for you though, if your fade isnt too bad just play it! If you start to get too far from the inside you could start to hook the ball or hit some bad pushes, and it goes nowhere! After being thru this Ive started to work my way back to favoring the straight to slight fade ball a lot more. Ive learned the hard way why players like Singh favor a fade rather than a draw, if a draw gets out of hand your dead, a fade that gets out of hand is easier to rein in and is not soo costly. At least for me a little fade is a lot more dependable and playable.

[kinneywhat]

Yah, I have a new digital video camera that I've rarely used. I should have my wife follow me to the range and then post my video so I can get some tips.

 

I have tried to play the fade, and it works ok sometimes, however, sometimes I'll aim left then hit it dead straight and get myself in trouble. I'd rather fix the swing than just make it work. On my home course, a slice is much more dangerous than a hook. A hook will generalls just put me in another fairway, where a slice can put me OB on many holes.

 

As others have said, I think my problem is not swinging from inside. I think slowing my swing down to just get it in the fairway has actually been hurting me as well. (same thing happens when I try to swing too light when playing tennis). Swinging harder seems to work a little better off the tee for me. Initiating the swing with my legs/hips is also something that I wasn't doing that I tried earlier today and it helped a ton, plus added some yardage. I do with my irons, but for some reason with my fairway woods and driver I wasn't.

 

Hopefully next time out on the course I can find some fairways.

[oregongolf]

We've gotta have video now. You'll get a pretty solid analysis then.

[leekgolf]

Never Slice Again

By Brian Manzella

 

Do you slice? Most golfers do. Even some people who hit the ball right-to-left are just slicers with enough compensation to turn the ball the other way. Believe it or not, fixing a slice is usually pretty easy. Often, one can make a permanent improvement in the first lesson. It’s easy, because there is only one thing that must be done correctly to correct the problem. Most golfers have no idea what it is or how to do it.

 

Why do you think you slice, because you come ‘over-the-top’? Reverse Pivot? Cut across the ball? ‘Hang back’ on your back foot, etc.?

 

Nope. You may do one or all of the above, but these ‘flaws’ don’t cause the slice, you do them because you slice.

 

You slice, because the clubface is too open. Period. Fix the clubface, and the slice goes bye-bye forever. The compensations will often also go away quickly when they are no longer needed.

 

The first step is to take any compensation out of your grip. You want a classic neutral grip (see AutoSuccess Magazine Sept. 03). Once this is done, you want to learn the all-important motion of the right wrist. Holding the club out in front of you, with the shaft level to the ground and the score lines vertical to the ground (PIC 1),

 

move the clubhead backward by bending the right wrist straight back while you bend the right elbow toward you. Your hands should stay directly in front of you as you do this (PIC 2).

 

If you do this correctly, the shaft will stay parallel to the ground, and the clubface will remain vertical to the ground. This is exactly the motion your hands should do during the backswing.

 

Most golfers incorrectly ‘cock’ their right wrist, which immediately bends the left wrist (PIC 3).

 

This ‘double wristcock’ puts the clubface in a toe down position at the top, with a bent left wrist and a flat right wrist (PIC 4),

 

the exact opposite of the correct hand conditions at impact.

 

By bending the right wrist and twisting the clubface away from you as you swing the club to about chest high on the backswing (PIC 5),

 

you put the clubface in a far less open position. The completed backswing should have a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist, with the clubface ‘matching’ the angle of the left wrist and arm (PIC 6).

 

 

Often, this ‘twist-away’, results in a slightly arched left wrist at the top. But that’s not a bad position to be in as you learn to make your hands do the opposite of what they were doing before.

 

A key element to this slice cure is to ‘hold the twist’ into the downswing. The clubface should look away from you halfway down, just as it did halfway back.

 

Often, these adjustments will fix the slice by themselves. But, most golfers need the further ‘insurance’ of a proper swivel of the hands as the club travels to the finish after impact. Through impact your left wrist needs to remain flat and your right wrist bent (PIC 7).

 

The clubface needs to turn toward the ground past the ball on the way to pointing toward the target. This swivel position should consist of a still flat left wrist and a ‘fully rolled’ whole left arm (PIC 8).

 

As the club nears the finish the left thumb should be under the club, and the left forearm should point straight toward the ground.

 

After making these adjustments, most slicers will be ex-slicers who need an improved impact position to keep from hitting the ball too right to left, a problem that most slicers would love to have.

 

Next month, we will learn to lag the clubhead and really compress the ball through impact, just like the pros.

 

Brian Manzella is a PGA Teaching Professional. You might want to visit www.brianmanzella.com for details with pictures of all of this.

[ezra76]

Forget about the draw and learn to control the fade down to 5yds. with the driver and 1yd. with a wedge and you'll have a shot at being single to scratch. I took a week off and my natrual ballfight came back. Played all fades and shot a 39 with crap putting. I tried to hit 2 draws and one was a bogey and the other the double after I hooked it into a pond. The fade is so much more consistant because the club is square forever.

 

My buddy hits a draw and has a good swing. Hits the ball a mile but he knows he's in for it when I start moving the ball L to R.... the run of pars is going to be hard to keep up with.

[slicefixer]

A "fade" from the OUTSIDE is perhaps the WORST way to play golf.........but, that being said, a TRUE "fade" from the INSIDE is without question the absolute BEST way to swing a golf club......at least when it comes to the driver.......and IMOP the DRIVER IS the most important club in a serious tournament players bag......."drive it in play and YOU decide when to play smart or more aggressive, drive it in the cocka' and the COURSE and LUCK decide for you".......

 

You see, when you fade it from the inside, or hit ANY shot from "inside to inside," you can then hit ANY shot you like by simply adjusting your set up "angles"......IMOP, the absolute best way to "play" HIGH level competitive golf is to hit a "knuckle fade" (fade from the inside) with the driver and long clubs (with NO loss of distance and, in some cases, hit it FURTHER) and a slight draw with the scoring irons......believe it or not, you can groove this pattern quite easily with the EXACT SAME SWING.......set up is different, but, the actual swing motion is the same.......NO manipulation of the face through impact with the hands or arms is necessary.......that's what Hogan and a few others mastered and as a result are/were the absolute best at creating any shot they wanted under the most excruciating pressure imaginable, at least when they were swinging well.

 

However, when their "timing" was off they could always simply "rotate through it" and TOTALLY eliminate the left side of the golf course (righties).....Cabrerra was an INCREDIBLE example of this a week ago Sunday :bad: ......wonderful feeling when you can swing as HARD as you can with NO fear of hitting a shot very far left, if left at all.........result is the effective hitting area your driving to is now 60 or 70 yards wide instead of 2 35 yard wide "halves"......I CANNOT tell you how MUCH easier competitive golf becomes when you have TRUE control over the golf ball and KNOW where it WILL "start" relative to your body lines.......then it simply becomes a matter of your heart/guts/intelligence (or in some cases, lack thereof....:ok:) and your short game that determines your ability to SCORE day to day......It's NOT a ball striking crap shoot that can vary wildly from one day to the next.........

 

One thing to ask yourself IF your a good player, "how far can I hook a ball IF I strike it solidly?"......then ask yourself, "how far can I fade it IF I hit it dead solid?" In most cases with good players they can easily hook a driver 40, 50, 60 YARDS from a "normal" set up with the driver and strike it SOLIDLY, but, they can only FADE it 10 to 15 yards when they strike it SOLIDLY unless they set up the face to accentuate the fade so as to cut a corner or work the ball around an obstacle.........

 

One other thing, I believe that ANY good player, once they've ingrained solid fundamentals and a fundamentally sound pivot with arms/club that are synchronized to their pivot, can quite EASILY learn to hit an ON DEMAND "knuckle fade" with the driver.......this same player can also quite easily learn to hit a slight draw with the driver WITHOUT using their hands/arms......a "NO hands draw".......and IMOP that IS the ONLY way a player will EVER have "true control over the golf ball" for any significant amount of time.......they'll have their ballstriking "ups and downs," but, overall they will always have the ability to SCORE UNDER PRESSURE once they've "got it"........does take time, but, IF your going to be working HARD on your game/swing you'd might as well be working on a golf swing that, over the long term, will stand up when you can't spit cotton or pass a split pea or have forgotten how to breath rather than some contrived manipulation of multiple body parts some of which are moving in opposite directions at the same time..... :)

[hattrick3518]

just hit your natural shot, but if you must draw it, start out with maybe a little closed face, maybe a closed stance, and really swing back inside and finish out, you just have to know the swing path and what path causes the draw. it might take some time dont get discouraged

[stasek]

Forget about the draw and learn to control the fade down to 5yds. with the driver and 1yd. with a wedge and you'll have a shot at being single to scratch. I took a week off and my natrual ballfight came back. Played all fades and shot a 39 with crap putting. I tried to hit 2 draws and one was a bogey and the other the double after I hooked it into a pond. The fade is so much more consistant because the club is square forever.

 

My buddy hits a draw and has a good swing. Hits the ball a mile but he knows he's in for it when I start moving the ball L to R.... the run of pars is going to be hard to keep up with.

 

Amen!!!! My natural ball flight is a slight fade (w/ an occasional slice thrown in to keep me honest). Last year I was dead set on learning to hit a draw. Guess what - it didn't work! I was so determined to hit it from inside out, that every other shot was either a pull hook or a dead pull. After the failed experiment, I've concentrated on controlling my fade - MUCH easier to do. Even w/ the fade, I can still venture into the 300+ territory and for the most part I'm pretty sure I can eliminate left side of the fairway.

[slicefixer]

The reason it won't work is that a proper draw is NOT hit from "inside-out".......at least to your BODY LINES........it's hit inside-out (actually more inside to down the line) to the TARGET LINE, but, "inside to inside" to your BODY LINES..........when a player trys to make his arms/club go to the RIGHT while their body is trying to go to the LEFT they are going to find a LOT of trouble......on BOTH sides of the golf course..... :bad:

[ezra76]

Forget about the draw and learn to control the fade down to 5yds. with the driver and 1yd. with a wedge and you'll have a shot at being single to scratch. I took a week off and my natrual ballfight came back. Played all fades and shot a 39 with crap putting. I tried to hit 2 draws and one was a bogey and the other the double after I hooked it into a pond. The fade is so much more consistant because the club is square forever.

 

My buddy hits a draw and has a good swing. Hits the ball a mile but he knows he's in for it when I start moving the ball L to R.... the run of pars is going to be hard to keep up with.

 

Amen!!!! My natural ball flight is a slight fade (w/ an occasional slice thrown in to keep me honest). Last year I was dead set on learning to hit a draw. Guess what - it didn't work! I was so determined to hit it from inside out, that every other shot was either a pull hook or a dead pull. After the failed experiment, I've concentrated on controlling my fade - MUCH easier to do. Even w/ the fade, I can still venture into the 300+ territory and for the most part I'm pretty sure I can eliminate left side of the fairway.

 

I've been doing the same thing, trying to hit draws. I worked so hard that my natural shot is now a slight draw with the shorter irons and I kind of can't lose it now with the wedges. I had my 58* wide open from around 70yds. today and just as I thought "oh crap" it fell back in R to L leaving an uphill 10footer. Putting is another story. lol.

 

I don't want to quote that massive but very informative post by Slicerfixer but man that is spot on. I learned to go inside-inside and now have that true fade coming along with the driver. I had a very strange but really cool feeling today. I swear the club felt square from hip to hip. By the third hole I got cocky and ripped a 3-4 yd. fade leaving me a smooth 8i in on 445. That drive blew my mind since it was as long as any 3yd. draw I've ever hit and as dead center as I could be. By #9 I was in the groove. Stepped up to the 410yd. par 4 and cool as a cucumber hit it 2 yds. left of the 150 and 5yds. past it with a high cut.

 

So, yeah, inside-inside is the key. I use a drill I call "stagger step" where I have the right foot way in front of the left. It forces me to swing around my body and get inside. I'll hit an entire bucket like this at the range sometimes. Stay connected and go inside to inside. It's been hard for me to get connected and took literally 10's of thousands of 3/4 gap and sandwedges to groove but it's worth it.

[ezra76]

Slicerfixer- tell me if I'm wrong on this. The way I see it with a fade is that I'm already cleared to start so I've virtually take a push out of play. Now with the face square I can simply take it straight down 12 o'clock. I have no worry about turning it over, it's square by the time it hit's my right hip and staying there till my body rotation turns it over. So now I've elimated the right side push as well as the left side hook and pull. What's left? A double cross or a possible outside in open face slice? Even if I do lose it right I'm open left anyway so most cases it's still playable RR unless it's really been F'd up.

[diablojoe]

I finally realized a funny thing during my quest to cure the slice. Much conventional wisdom says to make the grip stronger, or rotated clockwise for a right-handed golfer. This is supposed to help close the clubface. I finally figured out why it didn't work for me: the stronger my grip, the more I swing outside-in. So, I either hit hard pulls, or pull-slices. A strong grip was very counterproductive -- maddeningly so, since it *seems* like it should work.

 

Only when I finally kept a weak-to-nuetral grip and figured out how to swing in a circle did the slice go away. I still push the ball now and then, but I never really slice it anymore.

 

The other little mental cue that helps me is to focus my sensations in the right hand on the takeaway and downswing -- I feel myself pull the shaft back with the the middle two fingers of my right hand, and then reverse that pressure and pull it back down to the ball with the palm of my right hand. The instant I try to do anything with the left hand, I swing outside the ball and open the clubface. The more I keep all of my sensations in my right hand, the more consistent I hit with driver, irons and wedges.

[diablojoe]

....result is the effective hitting area your driving to is now 60 or 70 yards wide instead of 2 35 yard wide "halves"......I CANNOT tell you how MUCH easier competitive golf becomes when you have TRUE control over the golf ball and KNOW where it WILL "start" relative to your body lines

If I get this right...rather than aim down the middle and hit a draw or fade, which will go +/- 30y either way...aim down the left and hit it straight or fade...with zero risk left and 40-50y room to the right.

 

This is what I've been realizing now that I ditched the hook-prone Cobra F Speed and got a nearly-square FT-5. I now hit the ball either straight or with a slight push-fade. Every once in a while I get a teensy draw of 5-10 yards at most. I'm so used to lining up aiming right (and praying I don't hit a fade or a hook) that I have a hard time staring down the left-center of the fairway! It feels downright weird. I played a quick 7 holes tonight solo and hit four tee balls at a par 5 dogleg left. I hit the first three long and straight down the right side, but through the fairway, waiting for a draw that didn't come. It took me a bit of nerve to rotate left and aim at the dogleg corner. I nailed the fourth ball straight across that corner -- a perfect slight fade that went as far as any ball I've ever hit (in calm conditions).

[hayam]

OTT creates PULL. Under plane PUSH. ON plane . straight.

 

Open / close face at impact impart side spin . this is caused by how much the hand or wrist at impact rolled or Released or flip . The club and the hand have to switch direction, which some call release . These rule do not change in ANY golf swing model. can be in any combinations. example Pull, Duck hook is Over the top + flipping ... or super high push slice is Underplane and not releasing the club.. etc etc.

 

So the reason for slice is OPEN clubface at impact, alot of reasons, but most of the problem nowadays is the arms too behind the body, and the arms have poor participation or don't understand their role.. Modern teachings bring alot of misunderstandings that the arm to be passive , the body swing the arm, people ask to eat one panadol not the whole bottle , and i think are the main causes of most slice. And most of the solution people via self help to square or close the clubface is to FLIP their wrist( breakdown of left wrist) at impact to give them a draw.. instead of learning to Lag and Roll through impact with a flat left wrist.

 

But we really want to hit shots , most shots with a flat left wrist , either draw or fade...

 

To learn not to slice is to learn how to release the club , with a no roll you get a fade, to learn to draw is simply learning how to roll your arms through impact. And to learn to hit perfectly straight shot is all luck and timing.

 

SF writes tons of good stuffs. including the above posts. I think what he is trying to say is a Knuckle shots NO roll but feel like "swinging left " . Very advanced stuffs.( for me, its what Morad/TGM called a CP Fade, thanks to Hogan for pointing this out to me also ). which yield a powerful trajectory high Fade shots, not aim right or left ... not the same thing , but still have to be ON plane. Even playing a fade , or knuckle shots the hand/club still need to change direction and release. I admit , I am not even close to this point yet.. but I just saying its a different thing. Also this type of shots sounds very easy to perform but from what I understood from Dana, you need to be pretty strong doing this... its easier to do swing to the right draw shots.

[mikeybusa]

if you are desperate to lose a fade try a baseball grip. Really helps stop the over the top movement and gets you coming from the inside.

[mikeybusa]

if you are desperate to lose a fade try a baseball grip. Really helps stop the over the top movement and gets you coming from the inside.

[mikeybusa]

if you are desperate to lose a fade try a baseball grip. Really helps stop the over the top movement and gets you coming from the inside.

[kinneywhat]

Well, I hit some balls on the range again last night and practiced some in my back yard, just swining a crappy old driver I have weighted down (also hit some plastic practice balls to see what sort of spin I was getting). Starting my swing inside and turning my hips enough feels a little wierd, but hopefully I'll get use to it. By the end of the night, the swing was starting to feel a little better.

 

I changed my grip to neutral with my driver. I grip all my other clubs neutral, but had previously been rotating my right hand clockwise to help get my wrists to break through my drive. I was also using my arms way too much and not turning my hips much. I have a slight (1-2 yards) draw with my 7 iron and under, which always confused me a little. It's ideal, but I never quite understood why I couldn't hit the same ball with my driver, 3 wood and longer irons.

 

I see a lot of suggestions to control the fade. A few weeks back I was taking nice controlled swings with a gentle fade and shot just 2 over on the back 9 at my home course (still best I've shot on the back to date). That was with mediocre putting that night as well. The problem is, I'll be convinced I'm putting the same swing on the ball and then suddenly hit a 40 yard slice. I haven't hit my drive like that in weeks though and could not figure out what I did that day that I didn't do any other day.

 

The best advice so far that's helped is swinging from the inside and changing my grip to neutral. That combined with turning my hips out more helped last night when I was at the range/practicing. I was still hitting fades every now and then, but for the most part, they were slight. I did have a couple 40 yard slices, but I could feel that I put a bad swing on the ball. The draw would come out occasionally, but it was very very slight. Honestly, most of the balls went pretty straight. I'll keep working at it and hopefully have some good results to post soon. I've been pretty diligent about practicing and improvement this year. I play with single digit handicaps that have played much longer than myself and would liek to be in the same league as them. If I could get off the tee in good condition, I honestly think that I could be a single digit handicap by mid next season, if not the end of this season. I mean.... the last two rounds I've played I didn't hit a single fairway (literally, not a darn one) and still shot in the mid to high 80's (par 72).

 

Someone mentioned hitting their 3 wood with a pull slice. I noticed myself doing that, even with the "better" swing. I also do that on the course with my old swing. The ball ends up where I want it to, due to the pull and the slice canceling eachother out, but it's awfully ugly and I lose a lot of yards. could that be due to the closed face on my 3 wood? It's a Cobra F-Speed and it's obvious at address that it sits very closed. I hit it a mile when it goes straight, but that doesn't happen often.

 

If the raidn holds out, I'll be playing tonight. I'll also be on the course Friday and Sunday as well. Hopefully I'll see some improvement, then can get a video up next week for some final tweaks.

 

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions so far.

[spcdon20]

This is unbelievable. I have your exact same problem. Ok so i'm an eleven handicap. Yesterday i played thirty six holes. on the first round, i shot a ninety. i went to the range and figured out all of my problems in one move. KEEP YOUR RIGHT ELBOW TUCKED! I swear man it works like magic. once you get that down, just think about keeping the club on plane to just slightly across the target line at the top of your swing, and then just come down the way you came up. It worked wonders for me. I shot 78 on my second eighteen.

[spcdon20]

Man, i think you are me. I have a cobra f speed three wood as well. haha this is so weird!

[tim270679]

A few tips:

 

Backswing make sure your weight gets behind the ball. I find the best way is to make sure you maintain the flex in your right knee, through the backswing.

 

Downswing: imagine a line from your right hip behind you, swing the club underneath it (inside). Same idea as a plane stick that Rick smith teaches with, personally i use a bamboo stick -its about $100 cheaper)

 

Imagine your shoulders pointing right by 15-20 degrees at impact. This will allow you to come from the inside. On the way through when your hands are hip high your left palm should be facing the sky.

 

Enjoy

[mikpga]

It all comes down to changing club path and face angle...

 

You are familiar with outside to in path and an open face angle...

 

If you feel that you can break this habit, which it won't be easy, then you need to figure out how to encourage an inside to out path and develop the sense of a square to closed face angle...

 

If you attempt to make these changes with your full swing, you probably won't have much success...

 

If you are determined to make changes, then your practice should be executed with shorter and slower swing motions until you can develop the change in path and face angle...

[tim270679]

Agree with mikpga

 

practice hitting half shots with a 7 iron around markers about 70 yards in front of you. Get the ball starting right and comming back by using the above drills. Once you master the draw move to full shots.

 

Another tip i recently tought to a student who was a keen tennis player is to think of a two handed top spin forehand stroke (right hand overtakes left). using this key thought and practising half shots i got him htitting half draws and then full draws within a hour (he used to play a fade).

 

I guess the key is finding a concept that you can relate to so you don't have to think about mechanics too much. If you think mechanics on the course your dead.... try to practice until you don't have to think about it too much.

 

Once you master it you will get a lot more distance thrugh the natrual physics of spin.

[kinneywhat]

I played on my college tennis team, so the 2 handed forehand analogy may work out well for me.

 

The 7 iron drill seems like a good idea. I was taking my driver about knee to hip high and practicing swinging last night. Went to look for some lead tape to weigh down my practice driver, but couldn't find any locally. Part of my problem, and the part that confuses me the most is that I already hit a slight (1-3 yard) fade with my 7 iron and under. My 5 and 6 irons are dead straight most of the time. My 3 and 4 hybrids are pretty straight as well with a slight fade sometimes. It's the driver and 3 wood that really give me problems.

 

I really don't know what I'm doing with my short irons that I'm not doing with my driver. I'll just have to keep practicing my swing relentlessly in the back yard when I'm not playing. I'm bound and determined to get rid of that slice. A slight fade off my driver I could probably live with. Would really like to get my 3 wood and driver to a fade or draw of less than 10 yards consistently. Since I hit a natural fade with my woods, I think that a draw would be easier to control, thus my reason and determination to hit fades.

 

The only thing that worries me is that my nice gentle fade with my irons will become a hook once I can control my drives.

 

Again, thanks for the advice. I WILL get that drive under control, regardless of what it takes. I have to if I ever want that handicap to go down :)

[stevestrike]

I think the approach you take here reflects what you ultimately want out of your golf game. Do you want to "just get it done", or do you want to develop a golf swing with good mechanics? If you want to learn the golf swing, I would HIGHLY recommend taking a lesson (or ten) to fix the root cause of your problem now, before you ingrain it any more into your swing. All this practice is great, but if you are practicing wrong things (as evidenced by your ball flight and inconsistencies) then you aren't really helping your game at all.

 

I just started taking lessons after being "self-taught" for over a year, and I've come further in one month of lessons than I had trying to fix it myself for the previous year. I wish I would have started taking lessons sooner.

 

My $.02

 

Good luck!