Here’s a question often get asked in golf lessons. What’s the most difficult shot in golf? Some say the downhill bunker shot. Others say driver off the deck. Then there are those who say a high soft lob over a short-sided bunker. The most difficult shot in golf is the straight shot. If you’ve been trying to hit dead straight shots, the effort could be costing you strokes on your golf handicap.
A dead straight shot is hard to hit. Everything in your swing has to be absolutely perfect to hit the ball dead straight. That’s why many great players hit fades and draws. They are easier to hit when it comes to precision and timing, and easier to repeat. And that is a big plus when it comes to playing well and/or shaving strokes off your golf handicap. You need consistency to shave strokes from your scores.
Among the keys to hitting a fade or draw with control is the downswing. How the body initiates the downswing is critical, as are attaining specific positions at key points in the downswing. And while the differences in hitting the fade and draw are subtle, they are substantial. Below are some golf tips that will help you master the subtleties of the down-swing when trying to hit fades and draws.
The Fade
To hit a fade you need a steeper swing plane into the ball than with a draw. The steeper swing plane lets you to hold the clubface slightly open at impact. To achieve that steeper swing plane, the hands need to be high above the head at the top of the swing, your gloved hand cupped, and the left elbow (right for left-handers) flared out. In addition to coming in at a steeper plane, you must also maintain a more upright plane midway through the downswing. (Here’s a golf tip: If you look in the mirror you’ll see the shaft bisecting your left arm, ensuring the steeper angle into the ball.)
It’s critical at this point as you come into the ball that the body rotates fully to meet the clubface. To do that with a fade, you must use more of an upright angle to get to the ball. You can’t hit a fade (as a right-hander) if you never get to your left wrist. Simply put: A strong lower body rotation is critical to avoid hitting blocked shots.
The finish position for the fade is with the hands held high, the torso fully rotated, and the head facing the target. For more fade, simply open the clubface more. Whatever you do, don’t try to over manipulate the your body. You don’t want to get too upright and/or too steep into the ball. That will cause you to slice. One drawback with the fade: it doesn’t usually travel as far as draws because of the ball’s backspin. On the other hand, fades tend to stay in the fairway. A good swing thought to have when hitting a fade is to remember to keep the clubhead high after impact.
Hitting The Draw
Let’s look now at the same key areas of the downswing and how they differ with a draw. The key to hitting a draw is the position of the upper body at the top of the swing. To hit a draw your hands must be lower at the top than when hitting a fade. That’s because your downswing doesn’t need to be as steep as with a fade. You also need a flat left wrist and a more rounded swing plane.
The draw is more of an arms-driven swing. And you need to come from the inside. If you can’t get there, you won’t be able to start the ball to the right (left for left-handers) and draw it back toward the fairway. Unlike the fade, the bottom of your swing arc is charac-terized by a more active rolling of the hands. Since you can’t hit a draw with an open clubface, the clubface must be square or slightly closed at impact.
The finish to a draw mimics the lower position you were in at the top and midway through the downswing, like the finish on the fade. This helps flatten out the downswing, so it becomes more rounded. If you want to adjust how much draw to put on the ball, close the clubface a little more at impact.
These golf tips will help you hit better fades and draws. Hitting a crooked shot with con-trol is much easier than trying to hit a dead straight shot. So if you’ve been trying to hit your shots dead straight and that strategy hasn’t done much for your golf handicap, do what we often tell students at our golf lessons: try hitting fades and draws.