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From Jay,
golfer: |
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I have been a fader for 25 years, and I want to draw the ball. What is
the easiest way to do this? I play to a 12. Thanks!" |
|
PGA/LPGA
TEACHING
PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSES: |
Colorado
"Dear Jay: The reason you fade the ball is really a very
simple fact of physics - your club face is open (looking AWAY from
you) at impact. The primary (though not the ONLY) controller of
clubface alignment is your grip. Like most players, you may be
reluctant to change your familiar grip, however it is the likely
answer for you. Try turning BOTH HANDS slightly to your right (if
you play right-handed) and keep turning them until your ball flies
straight or curves slightly to the left. This change will likely
produce a pull, since like most players you have learned to align
you body and swing to the LEFT as a
reaction to your ball curving right. Don't be discouraged - the
pull is a sign of true progress! Work, then, on aligning your body
square to your target line and focus on swinging down primarily
with your ARMS rather than your upper body - work toward
delivering the club to the ball from the inside of the target
line, through the ball and then again to the inside just after
impact (an INSIDE TO INSIDE PATH), and you will soon be hitting
the draw you desire. Two drills to help you: 1) hit 6 irons with
your FEET TOGETHER (touching each other) to learn to swing in
balance with your ARMS more than your body;
2) make practice swings with your hands split apart on the grip by
3" or so, to promote the feeling of releasing the clubface
properly through impact. GOOD LUCK!"
- William
Kipp, Teaching Professional |
Connecticut
"Hi Jay: First of all you need to understand what
creates a fade and draw. If you are truly fading your shot it is
because your clubface is slightly open at impact. Your swing path
is probably fine. In order to create a draw you need to come
through impact with a slightly closed face as well as an inside
swing path. Check out your grip to see if you aren't in a weak
position with your hands. If you have a neutral position (
one knuckle showing ) try to rotate your hand so you see (two
knuckles). Looking at the target hand. A little stronger position
will help to rotate your hands a little quicker through impact
which will enable the clubface to square up quicker. Also, make
sure you are coming from a slightly inside swing path. These two
combinations will get you started. I would suggest you take a
hands on lesson with a PGA or LPGA Professional, so that you can
be diagnosed properly."
- Sherri
Keller, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"If you just want to change because you would rather draw
the ball, keep in mind that since you have been playing for 25
years, your swing path produces the fade. I would only use a draw
when it is necessary. If you want to draw the ball would be to
close your club face a little, align your body a little more right
and make your normal swing." - Andrea
V. Drake, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Dear Jeremy, sorry for the late response
however sometimes you have to save the best for last. This is
going to sound so simple, but take it from somebody who has
learned the hard way. You have to trust yourself and not try so
hard repeat do not try so hard you do not have to prove anything
to any one not even yourself. Go play and free wheel it. As far as
the problem with your draw-hooks 2 things watch out that your
right hand is not to strong .secondly discover for yourself what
happens if you swing fast- medium-slow and what the ball does then
swing with that same pace. Have fun!"
- Sean
Gorgone, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Jay, work on getting the face closed at impact and
swinging toward the target. 1) Check your grip. Make sure both v's
are pointing toward your right shoulder (you'll see 2-3 knuckles
on your left hand). 2) Don't open the club-face on your take-away
(at hip level the club-face is not quite toe-pointing up. 3)Try to
have the club-face turned in at impact (the toe of the club is
closer to the target at impact).4) Hit some shots with your right
foot pulled back one foot. This allows you to extend your arms
toward the target. A fader pulls his arms in. This restricts the
right arm crossing over the left arm."
- John
Pallot, Teaching Professional |
Georgia
"In my opinion, the easiest way to promote
a draw involves your setup rather than your swing. 1) Make sure
your shoulders are square with your hips and feet when in the
address position. 2) Make sure your grip on the club rests mostly
in the fingers and not the palm. 3) Rotate both hands clockwise on
the grip so that you see a minimum of 3 knuckles on your left
hand. The lines formed between thumb and forefinger on both
hands should point to your right shoulder and not to the chest
(this assumes you are right handed golfer). Setup corrections or
modifications are quicker and easier to learn than swing related
adjustments." - Sandy
Leach, Teaching Professional
|
Indiana
"Try this drill. Take a 6 iron,
place the ball on a tee, take the club back in a nice slow
rhythm, and as you start to swing through the ball just step
toward the target with your back foot. If you want more info
contact me. Good luck, Jay! By the way, I have enjoyed five
trips to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico." - Gary
Focken, Teaching Professional
|
Iowa
"Jay: Why do you want to change
after 25 years. If you watch the tours, more and more players
are now fading the ball. It is a lot easier to control. If
you want to lower your handicap, you should work on 100 yards in
very hard and your handicap will come down. Again by watching
touring pros, see how accurate they are from 100 yards in.
Good luck with your game."
- Pat
Zedrick, Teaching Professional
|
Michigan
"If you are consistent at what you are doing I would
suggest you continue that way. However, to add a draw to your
arsenal of shots is easy. You want to aim right of your target
with a slightly closed stance promoting a slightly flatter or
inside swing plane. This should help you release the club through
impact creating a right to left ball flight. I hope this
helps." - Shaun
Bezilla, Teaching Professional |
North Carolina
"Jay, I would do the following drills to work on improving
the path of my club. At address take your right foot and set it so
that the toe of the shoe is even with your left heel. Your feet
are still at the same width as they are for a full shot. Go ahead
and take full swings to improve the path of the club coming to the
ball from the inside. This drill helps to put more curvature in
the swing. Another drill is to hit balls with your feet close
together. This will help keep your upper body from getting in
front of the ball and will allow your arms to swing around to the
left. If your upper body gets in front of the ball you will
lose your balance. Try these and I think you'll see a straighter
ball flight with a little fall of the ball back to the left."
- Ben
Hynson, Master Teaching Professional |
Ohio
"One of the reasons players like yourself who have been
playing for over 25 years and have a fade, is that you were told
that your dominant or lower hand on the grip, only went along for
the ride, and couldn't control the swing. I'm here to tell you
that it is okay to use that dominant hand and arm in the swing.
The easiest way I have found with my students is to get them to
rotate their right arm over their left if they are right-handed,
or their left over their right, if they are left-handed. This move
is what is involved in getting the club to "release"
through the ball. In other words, this move gets you to start
closing the face of the club at impact rather than having the face
coming into impact slightly open. A swing thought that you can use
to start to get this feeling is to pretend that you are throwing
your club out at the target. If done properly, as you swing
through impact, the club head will start to rotate around to the
left (if you're right-handed, vice versa if you are left-handed).
Another drill is to try and hit a duck hook. I tell my students to
aim at a target out in front of them and hook the ball to another
target well left (again right-handed player) or well right (again
left-handed player) of that target. If you can succeed in doing
this without changing your alignment, you are well on the way to
learning how to hit a draw." - Patty
Reno, Teaching Professional
|
Pennsylvania
"Jay:
Try turning the head of the
club to the left (closed for a right hand player) , then grip the
club. Now, roll your hands and the club back to a square position.
When you swing your hands will automatically close the face of the
club." - Bob
Sheppard, Teaching Professional
|
South Carolina
"The easiest way to learn to draw the ball is attend
Whispering Pines Golf academy. I have never met a
slicer I could not convert. Telling you how to draw the ball
without seeing your swing is impossible. I
need to check out your spine angle, the position of your club
face, shaft angle and so on. I can tell you
that odds are you are pulling your arms into your body after
impact but without seeing your swing. I can't tell you why."
- Glen
Davis, Teaching Professional
|
South Carolina
"Jay: Hold on a minute. As long as you are talking fade,
not slice, you may wish to consider my view before rushing into a
program bent upon changing you swing of so many years. In the
first place, a 12 handicap is not that bad. Caution, such a
dramatic make over may not bring you back to 12 for many
years, if at all, and the reason can be found between the ears.
You did not become a 12 by having a load of swing thoughts.
Whether you know it or not, the subconscious or athletic instinct
is the final determinant of the motion made. That means that new
instincts must be trained until they take precedence over the
other. Forget all of the quick fixes. They are band-aids that fall
by the wayside with good speed. What is so bad about a fade? Ben
Hogan and Lee Trevino would not have it any other way. Moe Norman,
the Canadian ball striking legend told me every shot that hooks is
ugly. I sense that the root is that you are seeking additional
yardage? Let's work from that aspect. You shall have to experiment
unless you would like to fly across the country to South Carolina
or look up Larry MacKin at
the Holiday Resort in Mesa. Another of my senses is that you are a
fairly good athlete with a bad take
away that takes you out of balance. Second, you have been advised
to hit down on the ball. These two errors are the taste of the 12
handicap, unless sixty yards in is so bad that it usually takes 4
or 5 to get down. They bring about a premature release of energy.
It would take several pages to truly help you here. Other factors
might be your clubs. Do they fit? What is the bend point of the
shafts you now play? There are three possibilities regardless of
stiffness. Are you playing the best ball for you? Make a copy of
this and make the investment to see Larry. Good luck!" - Michael
Lucas, Teaching Professional
|
Texas
"The first thing to do is get
the ball to fly straight with no curve at all. Then once you get
comfortable with that we can fade when we need it and draw when we
need it. To fade the ball drop your left foot back so that your
body is aimed left of the target. leave the clubface at the
target. This should cause the ball to start on a path left of
target and curve to the club face (target). A fade. To hit a draw
set up square and then drop the right foot back a little so that
the body is aimed right of target. Once again leave the face at
target. This should produce a shot that starts right of target and
curves to the target. Draw. Good luck."
- Dave
Baron, Teaching Professional
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