Rather shape a consistent fade or a consistent draw ??

[kjmtthws]

My natural shot shape that I don't even have to think about is a fade.. But for some reason when I was growing up I always tried to hit a draw cause thats what the kids that hit bombs did.. I hated giving up yards to friends !!

 

But now that I am older and I have decent distance on all my clubs, I find myself completely abandoning that notion and feel that I would be happy just hitting fades for the rest of my life -- just hope my years of chasing a draw shot shape didn't mess up my swing too much!!

 

And is seems the pros now are mostly moving to a fade (why is that??) 

[mattwood]

I would take a controlled fade as my go to shot shape but that's because my misses have always been left, and my misses left are much worse than my misses right.  There a days when I have a case of the duck hooks that I envy my slicer buddies.

[SNIPERBBB]

Fade is fits my eye better 

[phizzy30]

I learned how to swing in to out as a kid as that was what was being preached by golf instructors at the time.  As a result, my natural shot shape is a draw which can turn into a nasty hook when my swing is off.  I wouldn't mind exclusively playing the fade though as it's more controllable IMO. 

[TLUBulldogGolf]

I would slightly draw every club in the bag except driver if I could but my natural shape is a draw. Fade with the driver is easier to control and doesn’t really lose distance with modern equipment (if you do it correctly).

[Kuuuch]

I typically fade woods and draw irons but I honestly don't concern myself too much with shot shape. I used to but as I've gotten better my thoughts on shot shape are that as I continue to improve and enhance my motion, the natural shot shape will tend to change on its own and I don't fight it. I really just try to hit it solid and when I'm hitting it solid the shot shape is usually very predictable. 

[Ri_Redneck]

/|\ THIS!

 

BT

[pshabi34]

18 minutes ago, Sixironvswedges said:

I didn’t know draw or fade was due to my swing?

 

I was taught it was stance and grip.

 

feedback welcome

Shot shape is determined by the relationship between the club face and your swing path. These things can certainly be influenced by stance and grip.

Edited June 23, 2023 by pshabi34
typo

[nsxguy]

On 6/21/2023 at 4:43 PM, kjmtthws said:

My natural shot shape that I don't even have to think about is a fade.. But for some reason when I was growing up I always tried to hit a draw cause thats what the kids that hit bombs did.. I hated giving up yards to friends !!

 

But now that I am older and I have decent distance on all my clubs, I find myself completely abandoning that notion and feel that I would be happy just hitting fades for the rest of my life -- just hope my years of chasing a draw shot shape didn't mess up my swing too much!!

 

And is seems the pros now are mostly moving to a fade (why is that??) 

 

I spent a lot of years trying to get rid of the beginner's slice,,,,, and turned myself into a drawer of the ball. It wasn't easy.

 

Recently, maybe 12-15 months ago I tried hitting fades due to ONE particular par 5 dogleg right where I played quite a bit. Try as I might I couldn't get it to fade. My "fade" went dead straight - so I guess relative to my standard draw, it was kinda sorta a "fade.

 

Anywho, I felt the takeaway, which had become a lot wider and less inside, also gave me a little more swing speed, thus (somewhat ?) countering any distance loss by not drawing the ball.

 

Then I read right here on WRX,,,,,, Seems as though the straight-to-fade shot is easier to hit and control with little if any distance loss.

 

Why ? And here's the secret(?) sauce. To draw the ball the driver has to rotate through the hitting zone. Rotate too slow and it's a push (slice ?). Too quickly and here comes the ol' snapper. Time it just right and there ya go; that high draw that so many love (and so many hate ).

 

But to hit the straight-to-fade, the clubhead goes through the hitting zone with little-to-no rotation, and the face is "held" square (longer) through the zone. i.e. face control is easier to ob/maintain.

 

I take no credit for this. I only learned it within the last couple of weeks and it makes perfect sense to me. And works great too. No more draws for me - unless I "must". 👍

[nsxguy]

12 minutes ago, Sixironvswedges said:

Good

cos I was taught open stance with a closed grip and visa versa

 

thanks

 

What's a closed gr,,,,,,,, awwww,,,,,,, never mind,,,,,,,,

 

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by nsxguy

[MelloYello]

Well, even if things were equal--which I don't think they are since we're not robots--you could probably argue in favor of fade simply on the basis that there seem to be 2 fade holes for every 1 draw hole at most courses (at least the ones I've played). 

 

But I think in general, it's easier to hit a fade for the average player and what's more, a bad fade is still playable while a bad draw becomes a hook pretty quickly and can even turn into a hook-block, two-way miss. 

 

A lot of amateurs who fade it, couldn't really draw it if they tried. That's a pretty big advantage actually. 

[SVTM5]

When I was younger I was trying to work the ball both ways. It's not until I played with a head pro and he told me what's your natural shot I said fade. He said stick to it and eliminate one side of the course. After that my handicap improved tremendously. Best advice as it's controllable. 

[iacas]

9 hours ago, SVTM5 said:

He said stick to it and eliminate one side of the course.

 

That's one thing that's never made sense to me. Playing a shape doesn't eliminate one side of the course, at least not if you're employing a good strategy. Your shot pattern should be centered on (assuming the trouble is roughly equal right and left) the center of the fairways or corridors. You should miss left about as often as you miss right, because then the most shots are in the fairway or middle of the corridors.

[NoTalentLefty]

I went from a slice to fade to draw. Fixed the slice with lessons to a fade . But I went to a draw in my older years without knowing what changed. I liked the fade better as someone else said it fit my eye. The ball landed softer on greens.

[naj959]

Add me to the list of occasional hookers that would love to play a fade. My swing faults lead to an extremely draw biased swing at times. The more I improve, the closer to neutral my swing gets. Being able to hit a fade with my irons is a litmus test for how well I'm swinging at any given time. Currently my fade swing is a straight ball so I need to do some maintenance. 

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

Fade, all day, every day...much more predictable and controllable.