Changed to a Fade. Need feedback

[DallasDan]

So I have tried to play a draw for my entire 20 year golf career. Old age and a bad back have caused me to lose distance. I was hitting my 7i 150 but I found myself swinging harder and harder to achieve that distance. As many of you have experienced the harder I swing the more crooked I get. 

 

I have a simulator upstairs and decided a couple weeks ago to see what happens if I swing the club with no swing thought whatsoever. In other words, what happens with my natural body swing. Turns out a cut/fade comes out. 7i goes 140 but my shot is much more consistent. I am able to release the club with more consistency because I'm not trying to force a draw anymore. I play the Blue Tees so hitting my 7i 140 is not going to hurt me too much. 

 

Here is where I need feedback. From Driver all the way down to PW I get right spin on my ball for a cut/fade/slice with pretty good consistency. However, with my AW/52/56 the ball comes out with a slight pull draw. Is this normal for you faders out there? I'm finding myself trying to "manufacture" a fade with my wedges and it's causing me to get confused with my aim/setup. Should i just accept the fact that my wedges will be a pull/draw and the rest of my clubs will curve right? Or is there something that I need to adjust in order to make ALL of my shots come out with right spin?

 

I read that Dustin Johnson went from a draw to a fade and have much better accuracy. That is what I'm going for but wanted to hear about the experiences from the faders out there. What else should I be aware of??

 

[BigManSlim]

16 minutes ago, DallasDan said:

So I have tried to play a draw for my entire 20 year golf career. Old age and a bad back have caused me to lose distance. I was hitting my 7i 150 but I found myself swinging harder and harder to achieve that distance. As many of you have experienced the harder I swing the more crooked I get. 

 

I have a simulator upstairs and decided a couple weeks ago to see what happens if I swing the club with no swing thought whatsoever. In other words, what happens with my natural body swing. Turns out a cut/fade comes out. 7i goes 140 but my shot is much more consistent. I am able to release the club with more consistency because I'm not trying to force a draw anymore. I play the Blue Tees so hitting my 7i 140 is not going to hurt me too much. 

 

Here is where I need feedback. From Driver all the way down to PW I get right spin on my ball for a cut/fade/slice with pretty good consistency. However, with my AW/52/56 the ball comes out with a slight pull draw. Is this normal for you faders out there? I'm finding myself trying to "manufacture" a fade with my wedges and it's causing me to get confused with my aim/setup. Should i just accept the fact that my wedges will be a pull/draw and the rest of my clubs will curve right? Or is there something that I need to adjust in order to make ALL of my shots come out with right spin?

 

I read that Dustin Johnson went from a draw to a fade and have much better accuracy. That is what I'm going for but wanted to hear about the experiences from the faders out there. What else should I be aware of??

 

Fade does not automatically mean shorter distance. It can be more or less accurate than a draw depending on how well you strike it. If it works for you then fine. But there isn't any miraculous improvement or worsening of your game by moving to a different ball flight.

[DallasDan]

34 minutes ago, BigManSlim said:

Fade does not automatically mean shorter distance. It can be more or less accurate than a draw depending on how well you strike it. If it works for you then fine. But there isn't any miraculous improvement or worsening of your game by moving to a different ball flight.

I disagree. I have gained a very significant improvement in dispersion and ball striking by changing to a fade. I am not saying that this is the case for all golfers but I do not think it's fair for you to say "There isn't any miraculous improvement or worsening of your game by moving to a different ball flight". 

[BigManSlim]

1 hour ago, DallasDan said:

I disagree. I have gained a very significant improvement in dispersion and ball striking by changing to a fade. I am not saying that this is the case for all golfers but I do not think it's fair for you to say "There isn't any miraculous improvement or worsening of your game by moving to a different ball flight". 

LOL we agree. I'm saying there isn't some miraculous improvement or worsening for all players. Some players, like you it sounds, may improve from a fade but others it would likely hinder their performance.

[gioguy21]

i have a friend who plays exclusively a draw. more often then not he has trouble hitting the high ball -- and ends up having his ball 'run' into the left rough. 

if we play a tight course with taller trees, he has to take something else off the tee - and any dogleg rights he is screwed. IMO it's easier to hit a hold off fade or straight ball than it is to keep a consistent draw on the ball. 

[TheLongBall]

11 minutes ago, gioguy21 said:

i have a friend who plays exclusively a draw. more often then not he has trouble hitting the high ball -- and ends up having his ball 'run' into the left rough. 

if we play a tight course with taller trees, he has to take something else off the tee - and any dogleg rights he is screwed. IMO it's easier to hit a hold off fade or straight ball than it is to keep a consistent draw on the ball. 

Agreed, I've found a fade much much easier to control and is my normal shot shape. I can turn the ball over when needed, but sometimes I feel I come over the top when I'm doing this, causing the face to hood, therefore hitting the ball not only left, but long and left.  I'd rather sacrifice a little bit of distance for accuracy any day.

[jomatty]

I play a fade almost exclusively.  One of the few exceptions to this is with my wedges.  I find two things happen when I think draw thoughts with wedges. 1.  I flight the ball lower and 2. I can actually avoid the pulls a little better.

 

one thing that does not happen is actually hitting much of a draw.  It’s more of a straight shot with a slight amount of draw spin.  If I need to hit a fade then I have to hold the face off through contact which I don’t really love doing with full swings.  With partials it works well and avoids the pulls,

[thejazzmarauder]

It depends on the body/swing. Anecdotally, I play best when I embrace the fade. I want my only miss to be a pull. Eliminate the double-cross. 

[pinhigh27]

53 minutes ago, gioguy21 said:

i have a friend who plays exclusively a draw. more often then not he has trouble hitting the high ball -- and ends up having his ball 'run' into the left rough. 

if we play a tight course with taller trees, he has to take something else off the tee - and any dogleg rights he is screwed. IMO it's easier to hit a hold off fade or straight ball than it is to keep a consistent draw on the ball. 

Tons of pga tour players who play draws. He can’t hold greens because of his swing or speed not bc he draws it.  If dogleg rights are that bad and he hits it that low then it’s probably a hook not a draw. 
 

 

[Krt22]

1 minute ago, pinhigh27 said:

Tons of pga tour players who play draws. He can’t hold greens because of his swing or speed not bc he draws it.  If dogleg rights are that bad and he hits it that low then it’s probably a hook not a draw. 
 

 

Agreed, most ams who draw the ball play the tilty dumped under hook more so than a properly compressed push draw (myself included!). Hitting a tight high push draw with good low point control is lots of work on pivot and wrist conditions.

[Pepperturbo]

I hit the ball relatively straight but can hit it both directions when needed.  Earlier during my golf learning I hit a fade almost exclusively.  Not till about twenty years back did I find to hit the ball straight I just needed a minor setup and swing adjustment, which made ball control easier. 

 

IMO - It's said with a fade the user has more control over the ball, but I don't buy that.  The user is just swinging naturally, so his style of mechanics of course produces a fade.  I wouldn't say there's greater accuracy, just not as much run out, so it tends to be shorter than a nice high draw.   A properly struck draw is higher than a hook.  A properly struck fade is not as high as a slice. 

 

With shorter clubs my swing isn't as free cause I want more trajectory, distance and spin control, my follow though isn't the same either, but maybe that's cause I am self-taught using 3 books. 

 

If a fade is coming easy with long clubs, and you say you're hitting a pull/draw with short clubs, sounds like you're changing your swing mechanics without knowing it.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[gioguy21]

4 hours ago, pinhigh27 said:

Tons of pga tour players who play draws. He can’t hold greens because of his swing or speed not bc he draws it.  If dogleg rights are that bad and he hits it that low then it’s probably a hook not a draw. 
 

 

huh? he's not hitting driver into greens. 

it's def not a hook. a 20y draw at most usually -- but if there are trees it's kinda hard to thread a needle at times for him -- his ss is 125+ and his ballspeed is between 185-195. he doesn't HAVE to hit driver to score well -- i'm just saying i've seen him struggle from time to time playing a draw vs. a higher flight cut.