Wanting a Reliable Fade from My Driver. Would a Longer Shaft Help?

[drumdude96]

Getting tired of hitting pulls when I try to hit a cut.  I play a G400 Max driver, so maybe it's just not the easiest driver to fade, but would a longer shaft help?  I'm currently at 44". 

[MPAndreassi]

For me personally, I have a more difficult time turning over something with a longer shaft. That being said the longer shaft also makes it more difficult to control the dispersion pattern when trying to shape it either way. 

[Valtiel]

5 minutes ago, MPAndreassi said:

For me personally, I have a more difficult time turning over something with a longer shaft. That being said the longer shaft also makes it more difficult to control the dispersion pattern when trying to shape it either way. 

Same, I feel like the swing gets a little longer and it is easier to be flatter and more inside with a longer driver. If I want an anti-left build I almost always go shorter in length, like my current SIM which is 44.25". 

A stiffer shaft might help you "hold off" a bit more since a pull when trying to fade the ball is a face angle issue. You also may consider opening up the face angle as much as possible by lofting down. 

[Cwebb]

For some players, adding weight to the head can lead to a more open face at impact.  Certainly easy enough to test, with some lead tape on the toe.  Monitor your impact pattern on the face while testing it

[drumdude96]

The longer shaft, flatter swing thing makes sense.  My adapter is set to standard, so I will try lofting down a bit.  But if that doesn't work, I have an F7+ that might have a bit of a fade bias.  That might be worth a shot as well.  At my new course, a pull for a lefty is a no-no.  OB lurks at every turn down the right side.

[GolfTurkey]

50 minutes ago, Valtiel said:

Same, I feel like the swing gets a little longer and it is easier to be flatter and more inside with a longer driver. If I want an anti-left build I almost always go shorter in length, like my current SIM which is 44.25". 

A stiffer shaft might help you "hold off" a bit more since a pull when trying to fade the ball is a face angle issue. You also may consider opening up the face angle as much as possible by lofting down. 

 

Same here, long shaft = club behind me stucksville

[Valtiel]

33 minutes ago, drumdude96 said:

The longer shaft, flatter swing thing makes sense.  My adapter is set to standard, so I will try lofting down a bit.  But if that doesn't work, I have an F7+ that might have a bit of a fade bias.  That might be worth a shot as well.  At my new course, a pull for a lefty is a no-no.  OB lurks at every turn down the right side.

It sounds like you have some room to experiment with then, plus I agree with @Cwebb about weight. More weight often slows release/face closure with the symptoms of too much being an overly fadey/blocky ball flight and too little weight resulting in pulls/hooks. Slap some lead tape on the toe to experiment and you can always purchase aftermarket PING weights if you don't like the lead tape look. 

[Skhacker]

Ever consider a larger grip? I switched to oversized grips years ago when I was battling a hook. Helped me loosen up a little bit and become less handsy. Now my stock shot is a high fade. Not solely because of the grip, but the grip change was a bit of a catalyst. 

[Stuart_G]

I'd look at these things in this order:

1) face angle  

FYI - Billy Bob's golf has a CMX +/- 1.5* adapter for ping g400 so more adjustability and can get more open than the stock ping adapter.

2) head weight

3) shaft weight

4) shorter (=> flatter)  (also adjusting head weight for the shorter length)

[rsballer10]

For me the head design or movable weight adjustment makes the biggest difference.

 

When I had the Cobra F9 10.5 and the 9.0 driver heads it was apparent that the 9.0 model had more fade bias. No matter what I did with my setup, that was a fade driver for me. The 10.5 had completely different characteristics - so much that I could swap the shaft from 1 head to another and change shot shape. Even when I adjusted the lofts to be equal.

[mogc60]

Learn to hit a controlled block rather than trying to hit the cut. It’s simple really, bigger turn and make sure your weight moves right first on the downswing (factored in you being lefty) and just let the ball go left off the face.  Aim right anc swing left. It’s a powerful shot and has been my go to for 20 years. For me I aim left and block it down the middle. By trying to hit a cut you’re bringing the right side into play. Think Fred Couples. He didn’t hit a pull cut or a cut that started toward trouble. He aims left and blocks it on line with a tailing cut. He takes the left miss out of the equation completely. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by mogc60

[vadersfather]

21 hours ago, Cwebb said:

For some players, adding weight to the head can lead to a more open face at impact.  Certainly easy enough to test, with some lead tape on the toe.  Monitor your impact pattern on the face while testing it

This. Crank up the head weight/swing weight. 

[grochol17]

I'd check your address position when you're trying to hit the fade.  I had this same problem a couple of years ago... the issue was that, when I was trying to hit a fade, I'd inadvertently open the face by shoving my hands toward the target, rather than rotating the club open in my hands.  As a result, although I was swinging left of my target (I'm a righty), at impact my hands would return to their natural position, which would square the face to my swing path and lead to pulls instead of fades.  

[third-times-a-charm]

I just did this with the new epic driver but I’m sure it can be done with any drive that can have weight in the toe area

 

ive been working on and out to in swing and that paired with moving all the weight to the toe in the driver I now hit fades and the left side of the course is gone 

 

moving to a proper shaft helped as well. Something tip stiff

 

I had a bad snap hook previously

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by third-times-a-charm

[ChipNRun]

On 3/24/2021 at 5:01 AM, Stuart_G said:

4) shorter (=> flatter)  (also adjusting head weight for the shorter length)

To experiment with this, mark a point a half-inch below the butt end of your driver shaft.

• Grip down a half inch...this will flatten the lie slightly... and hit some shots.
• Grip down an inch, and hit some shots.

What does this do to the ball flight? If a half inch makes it OK, just continue to grip down a half inch rather than trimming. The shaft end sticking out will give you a touch of counterbalance too.

 

Similar on fairway woods. I switched to Rogues last summer. Some of the shots were a bit leftish in drift. I choked down a half inch, and this converted the shot to a slight draw (my desired shot) or a straight ball.

 

Note: The longer shaft idea could make things worse. At the GolfWorks Academy, a quick check for driver problems was to have a person put a face decal on the driver and hit 10 shots. If the impact points were scattered across the clubface, very likely the shaft was too long. (Too long = poorer control)

 

This is a common critique of club design since early 2000s.  Long-club shafts are too long, not too short.

[drumdude96]

I'm thinking it may be a combination of a shaft with a stiffer tip and setting the face more open.  My current shaft has a softish tip, and that may be contributing to the problem.  I'll mess around with settings on the range tomorrow and see how much that helps things.

[Cwebb]

41 minutes ago, drumdude96 said:

I'm thinking it may be a combination of a shaft with a stiffer tip and setting the face more open.  My current shaft has a softish tip, and that may be contributing to the problem.  I'll mess around with settings on the range tomorrow and see how much that helps things.

 

Remember that you can always just grip the club more open, if you don't want to reduce the effective loft of the head by setting the hosel more open

[drumdude96]

1 minute ago, Cwebb said:

 

Remember that you can always just grip the club more open, if you don't want to reduce the effective loft of the head by setting the hosel more open

I was doing that on the range Monday and hitting some nice fades.  But then I played 9 after that and hit a couple pulls again.  I know I need to work on it some more on the range, but I just want my equipment to make hitting that nice little cut easier.

[drumdude96]

I hit a new Epic Speed at DSG today and it had a Smoke Green 6.0 in it.  I thought it felt pretty nice, even though it's supposed to be one of the stiffest HZRDUS shafts.  I wish I could have seen some LM data, or I'd order one to try in my G400 Max.  Heck, I may just order one anyway since they don't cost a whole lot.  But I'll start with hosel settings first.

[vietnameeh]

On 3/24/2021 at 3:01 AM, Stuart_G said:

I'd look at these things in this order:

1) face angle  

FYI - Billy Bob's golf has a CMX +/- 1.5* adapter for ping g400 so more adjustability and can get more open than the stock ping adapter.

2) head weight

3) shaft weight

4) shorter (=> flatter)  (also adjusting head weight for the shorter length)

Thanks for this!

 

I feel like my G400 max would be better if I can get a bit more adjustment lower and slightly open!

[dmeeksDC]

On 3/24/2021 at 1:07 PM, mogc60 said:

Learn to hit a controlled block rather than trying to hit the cut. It’s simple really, bigger turn and make sure your weight moves right first on the downswing (factored in you being lefty) and just let the ball go left off the face.  Aim right anc swing left. It’s a powerful shot and has been my go to for 20 years. For me I aim left and block it down the middle. By trying to hit a cut you’re bringing the right side into play. Think Fred Couples. He didn’t hit a pull cut or a cut that started toward trouble. He aims left and blocks it on line with a tailing cut. He takes the left miss out of the equation completely. 

i hit a lot of pulls trying to hit a high fade. It’s an awful miss with a driver. I may give this a try. It does sound a little easier. 

[mogc60]

Big problem is the modern golf ball doesn’t curve much. I’ve found that swinging away from trouble is easier than curving it away from trouble. A block is the most natural miss in golf. If your aiming left for a right hander just let the ball start right and tail from there. You’ll find it takes no manipulation just ensuring your lower body is leading the upper body and your hands don’t flip it. Just swing down the line you want it to start on 

Edited March 27, 2021 by mogc60