Golf Question

[Riprorin]

How do I go from hitting a slight fade off the tee to a slight draw?

 

[Mucman]

Open your stance a bit and change your swing path to slight inside to out.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: Mucman
Open your stance a bit and change your swing path to slight inside to out.

ROFL, open stance? Stick to mini-golf.

You need to close your stance and try to change your swing path. If you're hitting a "slight fade" I suggest you leave well enough alone, it doesn't matter if you fade or draw, it's if you can control it. A controlled fade is just as good as a controlled draw and is much better than a snap hook. If however "slight fade" is actually code for "big-ass slice" then you should fix it.

Step one: Check your feet and shoulder alignment. Your feet, shoulders and hips should be parallel to the target line. If not square, fix them.

Step two: Check your grip. A weak grip can turn a neutral swing into a slight fade. I can't explain that one here, grab a book and check pictures.

Step three: If stance is square and grip is good, slightly close stance. That means, for a righty, the left foot is a bit close to the ball and the right foot slightly farther away.

If that doesn't work...

Step four: Strengthen your grip. That means turning your hands around the grip just a bit clockwise. See if that works.

Step five: Check transition from backswing to downswing. A slice/fade is often caused by a casting move, aka hitting from the top. Your first move down should be down, not out. If you try to hit hard or early the clubhead gets shoved out away from the body. From there it's got to get pulled back in and that outside to in path produces slice spin. Quiet the transition and get the hands started down without a wrist break, it'll feel like your right elbow is heading for your right pants pocket. That should produce a better inside to out path.

If none of that works, you don't have a fade, you have a slice. See a pro and get lessons. A swing is a very hard thing to fix here, it takes another pair of eyes. You might feel one thing and do something entirely different, only seeing the swing can tell.

 

[Mucman]

GagHalfrunt, no need for the flame... I mixed up the terminology. Replace "open stance" with your description in step three. I don't golf as much as I used to, but I still manage to shoot in the mid 80's. Not bad considering I never practice and only place 3-4 rounds a year.

 

[mugs]

Stand on the other side of the ball.

I wish I could hit a slight ANYTHING. I do decently for being self-taught though.

 

[Riprorin]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: Mucman
Open your stance a bit and change your swing path to slight inside to out.

ROFL, open stance? Stick to mini-golf.

You need to close your stance and try to change your swing path. If you're hitting a "slight fade" I suggest you leave well enough alone, it doesn't matter if you fade or draw, it's if you can control it. A controlled fade is just as good as a controlled draw and is much better than a snap hook. If however "slight fade" is actually code for "big-ass slice" then you should fix it.

Step one: Check your feet and shoulder alignment. Your feet, shoulders and hips should be parallel to the target line. If not square, fix them.

Step two: Check your grip. A weak grip can turn a neutral swing into a slight fade. I can't explain that one here, grab a book and check pictures.

Step three: If stance is square and grip is good, slightly close stance. That means, for a righty, the left foot is a bit close to the ball and the right foot slightly farther away.

If that doesn't work...

Step four: Strengthen your grip. That means turning your hands around the grip just a bit clockwise. See if that works.

Step five: Check transition from backswing to downswing. A slice/fade is often caused by a casting move, aka hitting from the top. Your first move down should be down, not out. If you try to hit hard or early the clubhead gets shoved out away from the body. From there it's got to get pulled back in and that outside to in path produces slice spin. Quiet the transition and get the hands started down without a wrist break, it'll feel like your right elbow is heading for your right pants pocket. That should produce a better inside to out path.

If none of that works, you don't have a fade, you have a slice. See a pro and get lessons. A swing is a very hard thing to fix here, it takes another pair of eyes. You might feel one thing and do something entirely different, only seeing the swing can tell.

Thanks for the tips. I hit an occasional pull hook or banana slice, but mostly I hit a controlled fade. I'd like to hit a draw to get a little more distance. I did notice that when I was hitting a big slice I was striking the ball near the sole. I usually draw the ball when I hit it more off the toe.

I just picked up a Taylor Made Burner 420. I hit it for the first time today and it was okay. I'm going to have to buy some longer tees as this has a big honker head. For solid hits, I was carrying the ball 250 - 260, which isn't bad considering the temperature is in the low 40s.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: Mucman
Open your stance a bit and change your swing path to slight inside to out.

ROFL, open stance? Stick to mini-golf.

You need to close your stance and try to change your swing path. If you're hitting a "slight fade" I suggest you leave well enough alone, it doesn't matter if you fade or draw, it's if you can control it. A controlled fade is just as good as a controlled draw and is much better than a snap hook. If however "slight fade" is actually code for "big-ass slice" then you should fix it.

Step one: Check your feet and shoulder alignment. Your feet, shoulders and hips should be parallel to the target line. If not square, fix them.

Step two: Check your grip. A weak grip can turn a neutral swing into a slight fade. I can't explain that one here, grab a book and check pictures.

Step three: If stance is square and grip is good, slightly close stance. That means, for a righty, the left foot is a bit close to the ball and the right foot slightly farther away.

If that doesn't work...

Step four: Strengthen your grip. That means turning your hands around the grip just a bit clockwise. See if that works.

Step five: Check transition from backswing to downswing. A slice/fade is often caused by a casting move, aka hitting from the top. Your first move down should be down, not out. If you try to hit hard or early the clubhead gets shoved out away from the body. From there it's got to get pulled back in and that outside to in path produces slice spin. Quiet the transition and get the hands started down without a wrist break, it'll feel like your right elbow is heading for your right pants pocket. That should produce a better inside to out path.

If none of that works, you don't have a fade, you have a slice. See a pro and get lessons. A swing is a very hard thing to fix here, it takes another pair of eyes. You might feel one thing and do something entirely different, only seeing the swing can tell.

Thanks for the tips. I hit an occasional pull hook or banana slice, but mostly I hit a controlled fade. I'd like to hit a draw to get a little more distance. I did notice that when I was hitting a big slice I was striking the ball near the sole. I usually draw the ball when I hit it more off the toe.

I just picked up a Taylor Made Burner 420. I hit it for the first time today and it was okay. I'm going to have to buy some longer tees as this has a big honker head. For solid hits, I was carrying the ball 250 - 260, which isn't bad considering the temperature is in the low 40s.

well you know what causes fade/hook/slice, etc right?

I'd see a pro and check your grip, maybe turn your left hand over a little more to get the clubhead to come around?

I'm guessing here.

 

[silverpig]

I bet I'm the only golfer in the world who can hit a ball dead straight for 100 yards and then have it do a 90 degree slice and skip across the next fairway

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Thanks for the tips. I hit an occasional pull hook or banana slice, but mostly I hit a controlled fade. I'd like to hit a draw to get a little more distance. I did notice that when I was hitting a big slice I was striking the ball near the sole. I usually draw the ball when I hit it more off the toe.

I just picked up a Taylor Made Burner 420. I hit it for the first time today and it was okay. I'm going to have to buy some longer tees as this has a big honker head. For solid hits, I was carrying the ball 250 - 260, which isn't bad considering the temperature is in the low 40s.

A pull and a slice are almost exactly the same thing, they're indictitive of a bad swing path and are caused by the same swing path. You're definitely approaching the ball from the outside in rather than the inside out. The only difference between a slice and a pull are timing, they can both come from the same swing. If you approach outside in, the club will cut across the ball, it'll pick up side spin and slice. From the EXACT same swing with only slightly different timing the clubface squares up to the approach angle and since the approach angle is towards the left, it's a pull. That tells me it's not a grip or alignment issue, it's the swing. You're almost certainly making the classic hitting from the top move, casting the clubhead outside the proper path and you're yanking in back in at impact. That's really easy to fix, but it takes another pair of eyes because it's very hard to feel the right move to get the club in the slot. You need somebody standing behind you, maybe with videotape, to get you into the habit of dropping the club inside. If you have a friend or relative that's a good player they can probably help, if not take a couple of lessons. It's not a big problem and should not require more than a lesson or two.

 

[jst0ney]

Listen to GagHalfrunt he knows what he is talking about. If you can hit the ball consistentaly you can put some left or right action on your shot to get yourself out of trouble if you need to.

To hit a fade aling your body to the left of your target but keep the clubface open/aiming at your target. To hit a draw aling your body to the right of your target but have your clubface closed/aimed at your target. Of course this is for right handed players.

 

[Riprorin]

I have a tendancy to slide rather than turn my hips. I think that's what's causing me to come over the top.