Fading

Hey guys,

I need another bit of advice. I can hit the ball pretty much where I want it with irons but as soon as i get the woods out, whether off the tee or fairway, the ball always swings to the right mid flight (I think this is called fading, but correct me if I'm wrong). As I do not know what I'm doing wrong and I can't start to put it right till I get some help off you guys, so for the time being I've started aiming further to the left to compensate for it.

On the same note, my Dad's shots swing to the left mid flight (Which I think is called pulling, but again correct me if I'm wrong). For both of us, it only happens with the driver or fairway woods and not the irons.

Anyone have any ideas???

Thanks in advance.

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Kerry Moralee
Durham, UK

I hit my iron pretty straight, not much turn if anything. Fairway woods I go from hitting draws to hitting fades. Give me a driver and it is all fade. I finally come to turns with it, and I aim for the left side of the fairway now instead of the middle. and I am getting longer drives that are ending in the middle of the fairway.

Hi Kerry,

With woods we all tend to put a little more effort in for some unknown reason, (although it is usually trying to lift the ball) this may cause a simple overthetop downswing due to the violence in the swing.

Hence the reason you only do this with the longer clubs, another thing you should not ever do is keep aiming further down the left to compensate, like closing the clubface at address this only makes things worse. Golf is a game of opposites, for a test try teeing up on the left side of the tee box next to the marker and aim down the middle or slightly to the right of the fairway you may be suprised by the result.

Hope this helps

Ian

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Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

Thanks Ian,

So basically it has nothing to do with my swing or technique, but the aggresion that I use with the woods? That makes sense, so I'll see if I can control that.

In my experience fading or pulling the ball are caused by the same thing.I would guess that both of you are swinging on an in to out path.When you start your back swing try to keep the club head travelling back straighter for longer and low to the ground.This promotes a wider arc and helps to get the club head square at impact.

Hi, I had the same problem as you, all my shots just went to the right midway, but my Instuctor advised me to move my right right foot slightly back ( being right handed ) when addressing the ball . When you start your downstroke , try to brush your elbow slightly against your waist on the way down and follow thru. Hopefully this prevent a 'out to in' swing path. It works for me most of the time.