Elbow in

Recently, my usually strong natural draw has turned into an uncharacteristically weak slight fade. I usually swing with good tempo, hitting the 7-iron about 165, and every other club 10 yards difference from there, give or take. But recently, it feels like I'm coming across the ball, playing a fade and losing about 8-10 yards per club. it feels like my downswing is too far outside the correct plane and i'm cutting it unintentionally. I'm guessing the problem could be fixed if I just worked on getting my right elbow closer to my hip on the downswing, like you always see in that footage of hogan. do you think this would fix the problem, and what are some drills/things to remember during the swing, to help fix this?

You nailed it exactly - drop your elbow to your hip and accelerate through the ball. To use Darryl's analogy, imagine the ball is square and try to hit the ball diagonally from the inside right corner to the outside left corner.

I've found that when I start getting outside, a little loop à la Jim Furyk helps get me back inside.

Now, I mean a little loop - Jim takes a grand one. It's just enough to drop the clubhead inside, and away you go.

Just something to try.

Be careful in how you do this. Trying to manipulate the arms to achieve a result and not really getting at the origional problem will be a backward advancement. It may work for a little while, but very soon will go away and create some sort of other issue.

Make sure all you are doing on the first 18 inches of the takeaway is turning your shoulders back, and letting the arms and hands take a ride. This is enough to put you in the correct position to attack the ball at all the right angles.

Thanks everyone, I'll try to keep as much of that as possible in mind this weekend when I play. I'll let you know how it goes.