Fades Or Draws

What would you rather hit. I am a little confussed myself on whether I want to hit a draw as my normal shot or a fade. I like to hear what others are thinking.

I think there is a lot of confusion about golf.............

I'll explain....98% of begginers try to steer away from a slice in their game so work on everything on the market to hit a draw like this will suddenly make them the 'god of golf' once the slice has gone.

The problem is that there is a mental block that says anything moving to the right is a bad shot or they were lucky not to have sliced it more..........................

The truth is yes a slice is a bad shot but a fade is a great shot, I have fell into this trap like many other golfers worked so hard until I hit a draw every shot, this last year I have now started to hit a nice little fade with my driver and my irons, a fade gives more control, better accuracy and lands much softer, there is a little distance loss, but this is mainly after landing as a draw give out more roll.

I am fortunate enough now to be able to hit both on demand (most of the time anyway).................


It a fade for me.



Ian.

Only my humble opinion.

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Most people think that the "draw" is the shot to play but I do agree with Ian that a fade is actually equally good or better. In fact, Jack Nicklaus natural shot is fade and he prefers it that way because of the extra control.

I think it will really depends on what kind of shots you like to see and which one you are comfortable with. If your think hitting a fade is easier for you, then go for that, and vice versa.

Now as to what I prefer, I have always been naturally a straight to draw hitter ever since I started and have become used to playing and setting my course strategy with it. With my drives and longer irons where I am not going for the pin I play a draw. With my mid to short iron, I play pretty much a straight shot. I dont force this to happen as its kinda natural. I would also use the fade when it is needed but I have to adjust my swing to hit it.
If you are still having trouble deciding which to play, look at players who you like and which shape shots they play.

Fade is my choice. If you need distance, take one extra club and you can get there. If you want accuracy, fade should be your default path. But is is good to know how to hit other kinds of flight as well, for you never know what this game will demand!

I actually prefer straight. I don't like my shots to bend at all.

But if I had to pick a consistent ball flight (and assuming I could only hit one, but not the other) I would pick a fade, the reason being that I'd rather hit a ball that fades (and hence wants to stop) when hitting into a green, rather than a draw (that wants to run).

But, I'd actually prefer to hit a bit of draw off the tee (par 4 & 5's) for the extra distance, and a fade into the green (for extra stopping power).

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Same here. If I can hit the ball straight and have some idea what roll to expect, then I can know pretty much where it'll end up. Maybe that's just a high handicapper attitude, which is entirely appropriate. I don't want to think about "shaping" shots until I can hit the ball straight, consistently.

Yeah, I agree with you Ubizmo, until you can hit it straight when you want to (or at least the same amount of bend in the same direction) consistently then you should be worried about draw v's fade imo.
You will rarely end up in trouble on any course in the world if you can hit it straight everytime.
Trying to change your natural swing to be a draw or fade when you are above 5handicap or so is a bit mad really.

Straight is good, but you cannot hit a perfectly straght shot, it will either turn to the left or the right. I hit a pretty straight shot now with a very slight draw, I'm talking about 2-5 yards off my target line. I do from time to time hit a fade about 2-5 yards to the right of my target line.

What I am talking about is should I play to the 2-5 yards left of the line or 2-5 yards right.

I hit the ball just as good as any 5 handicap player. My handicap is high because I am lost with chipping and putting. I'm a conpulsive 3 putter and I chip on and two putt, I can easily do 2 chips and 3 putts. I hit 11 greens in regulation. my putting average has been 44 a round. I have had a lesson about 5 weeks ago on putting and I have dropped it back to 38 putts, I am now going round in about 12 over par now. I should start playing in comps now and lower my handicap.

Mr. Change, I'd call a 5 yard variation a straight shot.

I have been on par 3's hit the left side of the green and people have said that when straight, I'm am thinking damm I hooked it.

Maybe you're confusing shots that bend with pushes and pulls? If it went straight, then I'd think you pulled it.

My natural shot off the tee is a fade. I've always been a fade and it's very comfortable for me. But I'd like to learn how to hit a draw. To hit a draw do I only close my stance a little bit?

All my iron shots are straight. They only fade if there's a bit of wind.

Dan

hmm I disagree, totally.

Neither, aim straight.


This I again disagree with, I could say I punch out from behind trees as well as a scratch golfer, its just the other shots Im not as good at.
If you were as good as a 5 handicapper you would be off 5, case closed.
Anything else is just kidding yourself imho.

I used to be a natural slicer of the ball when I was a total beginner but since learning the proper ways to swing a club I very, very rarely slice it by accident. I often pull my right foot back a little hoping to hit a slight draw but the trouble with that is it only works if you would have hit a straight shot had you not drawn your foot back and often it ends up where your feet are pointing and well right.

I can hit a big fade at will just by trying to hit the ball as hard as I can. But I try to hit slight draws on purpose to compensate for a natural fade. I think you play with whatever is natural. If you naturally hit it straight-ish then why the hell would you want to change that? If you can hit straight shots all the time then you only need to change a little of the setup to hit a draw/fade, why go through the trouble of changing to hit one all the time? You can never perfect exactly how much draw/fade you hit either I imagine.

GreeBoman my first year of golf I was working at a driving range and I would play on the coarse 2 times a month. But I would hit close to 1500 balls a week at the driving range. So do you think it might just be possible that because I practice hitting full shots with my irons that I am good with full iron shots? and because of my limited practice around greens I can't play them?

One more question I hit 9/14 fairways in regulation. I hit 11 greens in regulation every round, What is my handicap?