Tips on Shaping Shots

[The Ultimate Spin]

Consistently

I need some help developing my shot shaping ability. I hit the ball straight, but sometimes thats just not what I need...ya know? I try various things and most of the time it doesn't work out. Usually it results in a horrible shot, sometimes I get lucky. But the chance of success are not gambling odds...I'm a cheap bastxxx so I don't want to pay for a lesson that might not help at all.

So my question is...how do you shape your shots. Draw and Fade.

I'm right handed...if that makes a difference

Thanks for all the help guys

[patj]

For a draw, I take the club inside and swing with an inside to outside path and try to hit the ball with a square clubface. If you want to hit a hook, take the club inside and on the downswing try to hit the ball with the club as closed as possible. Work on it on the range so if you ever need it you'll have it. For a fade, I weaken my grip, take the club a bit outside, and swing with an outside to in path, and hold the face off (Don't release) If you don't hit the ball very far, this may not be the best idea. It takes a little distance off.

[larrybud]

I think trying to adjust your swingpath to move the ball is a very unreliable way of doing it. The best way, IMO, is just to slightly change your setup and make the same swing as you normally do.

 

For instance, all other things being equal, if you set up with the club slight closed (not by rotating your hands to the left, but by closing the face slightly then gripping it normally) and make the same swing, the ball will draw. Why complicate matters?

 

This assumes your fundamentals are sound. I've seen plenty of golfers hood the club to try to correct a big slice, and it just ends up being even bigger. That reminds me of a guy on my league a few years ago... he would literally hood the club about 45 degrees and still hit big slices most of the time. He was kinda a big guy, and on the rare occasion he would connect, he'd just kill it, but it was like 1 out of every 20 shots.

[patj]

It doesn't matter how much you hood the club at address it is all about swing path direction and where the clubface is pointed at impact. Obiously your friend had a open face at impact and or and outside to in swing path. I do open my stance a little and swing out to in swith a pretty square clubface for a fade, but I never could do the closed stance thing to draw it very well. Try both and whatever works, there you go.

[juansky]

The easiest way to do it is what Jack Nicklaus did.

 

Open the club face for a fade, cut or slice.

 

Close the club face for a draw or hook.

 

Don't change your set up and swing with your normal swing.

 

Works great!

[WRXJIM]

I cant remember which mag it was? (GOLF I think? ) I took a couple with me on a few flights around the East coast this last week so it could easily be an older one???

I would say it based on Jacks theory..

 

It went something like this:

 

Said to aim right with your feet, and aim the clubface left to hit a draw, and to aim left with your feet and open the face to the right with your club to hit a fade. and swing your normal swing.

 

Sounds simple enough. ha ha

 

I will try it Tuesday when I get to smack a few balls after arriving back home in (hopefully Sunny) NZ, before I have some beers with my BBQ :drinks:

[The Ultimate Spin]

thanks for the ideas, i'll be trying some things on the range when the snow finally leaves!

[Fastmover2]

IHMO Unless you are a very low single figure player for me the best...and fastest way with this is to go with your natural shape. As far as possible try and take one side of the golf course out of play. A consistent shape is what you should be looking for. I would look more at your flight trajectory tio start with.

 

mind you I might be a bit biased...if I hit a draw I want to throw up :drinks:

[TKing]

Place club in position for the line you want.

 

For fade open stance and place thumb to left of neutral.

 

For draw close stance and place thumb to right of neutral.

 

Amount of stance change and hand placement change should be equal.

 

Take normal swing.

 

Practice.

 

Different amounts of setup and hand placement changes give different amounts of ball turning from slight to U-turn.

 

I put a ribbed grip on my 3 wood with the rib up (after I learned sort of how to do it to start with using a regular grip). Our home course has a 245yd. fade hole followed by a 245 yd. draw hole. You can't even see the green for the fade hole and the draw hole has to go around a tree. I have my lineups wired and can hold the club by feel. It's lots of fun to make the turns and either have a putt or chip for eagle.

 

I watched A. Sorenstam show how to do this on the golf channel and went out and made my first par on the fade hole using a 5 wood. I just started golf this past August.

[pocketfulladoubles]

moving the ball up an inch or two and slightly opening my stance while hitting the back of the ball helps me cut it, moving it back an inch or two and slightly closing my stance causes me to close a bit faster putting some draw on it. I don't like to mess with my grip though. Too much manipulation, and too much to go wrong.