Driver - Draw, Straight or Fade

While playing with a single handicapper, i noticed that he always plays a fade ball. His standing position is not parallel to the target line.

I asked him, why? He say's he prefers to work the ball.

Now the confusing part for me.
I always think that the ball flight should be straight to get the most out of the technology and distance from the driver.

Do all single handicapper like to play this way?

BTW. my ball fades naturally without working on it. tamade.
I just want to understand how they think. or is this a mere preference.

I think single handicappers or any good golfer for that matter would first try and drive straight. Once you do that, you should have confidence and a steady swing. This gives you square contact which allows a straight shot. Thereafter, better players can work the ball on a need-to basis by changing their swing, stance, lie etc to give them the ability to play the ball to where they want it to be.

It's kinda like snooker or pool. Before you can do side-spins, back-spins, forward-spins etc., you should be able to hit a straight shot. This means steady cuing, good arm action and solid follow-through. Thereafter, you can work the ball.

Of course... I can only comment since golfing at this level is many rungs above where I am right now.

no lah.
some people like to fade and then some like to draw. I have two friends both single handicap (actually the other is buaya and he is more like scratch). One tends to fade and the better guy tends to draw. so go figures.
My coach used to say a good drive is a draw drive but again dunno lah, my drive can go straight, draw and fade, it's just i have no say or control on it. it goes wherever it likes.

which is better for driver? Draw or Fade and which one can go further.....I guess distance is more important for beginner like us as it is difficult to pass 200m.

everyone is entitled to their own school of thought, golf was never meant to be played in only one manner.

but i do think i understand why a low handicap player would want to lay a fade, its more controlled on the bad misses but i think those that choose to play fades probably do not worry about distance

Dan5 wrote:

which is better for driver? Draw or Fade and which one can go further.....I guess distance is more important for beginner like us as it is difficult to pass 200m.

a draw should give more distance

All acceptable it it gets you GIR!!!

Very hard to hit the ball straight!!!!

shorthitter wrote:

Very hard to hit the ball straight!!!!

Haha. I think it's actually more difficult to hit the ball along the line you were planning. I've hit the ball straight before... but not when I was actually planning to do so.

For example, given that I power-fade my shots (i.e. slice), I'll aim left... only to send the ball to the other fairway on the left

Thinking that I've corrected my swing, I'll aim my next shot straight... only to send the ball to the other fairway on the right

Just hit the ball straight.... u dun really need to shape your tee shot in most golf courses.

duffader wrote:

Just hit the ball straight.... u dun really need to shape your tee shot in most golf courses.

Bro duffy... I like the idea but I think execution is not easy

Technospaz wrote:

duffader wrote:

Just hit the ball straight.... u dun really need to shape your tee shot in most golf courses.

Bro duffy... I like the idea but I think execution is not easy

Only advice i can give.... practise.... it really pays to see that your tee shot works well, its very motivating and seriously, everything will start to gel together. My tee shot was in a total mess about a year ago.... only now i am seeing results and i am happy that i stick to the harder way out which is practise.

duffader wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

duffader wrote:

Just hit the ball straight.... u dun really need to shape your tee shot in most golf courses.

Bro duffy... I like the idea but I think execution is not easy

Only advice i can give.... practise.... it really pays to see that your tee shot works well, its very motivating and seriously, everything will start to gel together. My tee shot was in a total mess about a year ago.... only now i am seeing results and i am happy that i stick to the harder way out which is practise.

I think you hit the nail on the spot. It all boils down to practice and effort. If one wants to improve, one needs to put some sweat and tears into it.

Technospaz wrote:

duffader wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

duffader wrote:

Just hit the ball straight.... u dun really need to shape your tee shot in most golf courses.

Bro duffy... I like the idea but I think execution is not easy

Only advice i can give.... practise.... it really pays to see that your tee shot works well, its very motivating and seriously, everything will start to gel together. My tee shot was in a total mess about a year ago.... only now i am seeing results and i am happy that i stick to the harder way out which is practise.

I think you hit the nail on the spot. It all boils down to practice and effort. If one wants to improve, one needs to put some sweat and tears into it.

Its almost in self denial if you think by changing a driver, you will hit the ball straight... even with a close face driver, if you dun get the fundamentals in the swing right... you will still be slicing or pulling those shots!

Practice yes, but it only takes 1 mm of club face open or closed at impact to hit ball offline...

Even Iron Byron the robot club tester in Texas that has a "perfect" swing each time cannot hit straight each time.....

Practice your short game, so when you are slightly off you can still save par...

Beri beri difficult to hit the shots straight. But it you know your shots pattern and you know you are consistent with the pattern, then the next best thing is to manage it.

e.g. I am hitting fade with my driver, so I manage by aiming left fairway. So that at least ensures I stay on the fairway.

but in the meantime, try to go for the desired end state of hitting straight by practicing and practicing at the range.

sadly to say...with my level...

regardless how my ball fly, from hook to draw to straight to fade to slice..i always ended up losing ball, either into water or forest....

smallhorse wrote:

While playing with a single handicapper, i noticed that he always plays a fade ball. His standing position is not parallel to the target line.

I asked him, why? He say's he prefers to work the ball.

Now the confusing part for me.
I always think that the ball flight should be straight to get the most out of the technology and distance from the driver.

Do all single handicapper like to play this way?

BTW. my ball fades naturally without working on it. tamade.
I just want to understand how they think. or is this a mere preference.

I may be a little late to this party, but here's what I've gathered over the years.

Hitting the ball straight is the hardest thing to do in golf as shorthitter mentioned. There is only one golfer that I know of that can actually lay claim to being the straightest driver of the golf ball in the world. The late great Moe Norman. A savant who was the proponent of the "Natural Golf Swing".

Whether to draw or fade the ball depends on what you want out of your drive, control or distance.

A fade offers more control since the face at impact is either slightly open, or the swingpath is slightly out to in with a square face. This cut across the ball results in shots that climb higher with a steeper descent rate and little roll. This is the preferred shot shape for power players who already hit it far enough.

A draw traps and compresses the ball more, the reason for more distance since the ball rolls out a whole lot more. A draw is either the result of a closed face at impact or a square face with a more in-to-out swingpath. This is the preferred shot shape of players who don't hit it as long as others do.

These aren't the only reasons for hitting either a fade or a draw.

If you were to hit a straight shot, it means you have to aim down the centre each time to allow for a margin of error on either side for the ball to fade or draw by mistake. This margin of error is effectively 50% of the fairway on either side, not a very big margin.

If however, you have a consistent shot shape of either a fade or draw, your margin of error can be at least 75% of the fairway, more if you are cocksure and brave. Say you fade the ball, instead of aiming for the centre, you aim for the left side of the fairway knowing you won't ever draw the ball.

Or water on the left side, you can even aim over the water and know that your ball will fade back to the fairway with confidence.

These are the basic reasons why better golfers prefer a certain shape to their shots. Of course the more versatile ones can work the ball either way on command, which offers even more of an advantage, especially where wind is concerned. But that's for another windy day......

yup, cant agree with birdman more.

I used to drive it with a slight draw. Back then, all the right side troubles were eliminated. If left side trouble, just avoid the driver lorh.

Nowadays, much straighter, but sometimes will still pull, push, hook or slice. No way of knowing the results with confidence. Sometimes feel i dont commit to the drive as much as i used it.

Some pros tell me they like to play fades cos they play in a variety of courses, and sometimes fairway very hard and fast, draw sometimes hit fairway will bounce and roll to left rough. Play fade more control.

Also, draws and hooks into head win will send the ball off the planet. Fade apparently not so jialat. This one i am not so sure, but that's what i heard la.

Ughly, my storey exactly the same as yours now.

I also never used to worry about the right side. Now not sure where to aim, and can't swing with as much confidence as before, like throwing dice each time... sigh...

Birdman,

Your 50% to 75% is very thought provoking, i like .... never think of it this way, has always been aiming centre.

alangolf,

Can take it one more step further to make the fairway even bigger.

Common scenario is that most golfers tee it up in the centre right between the markers, then aim down the centre.

Let's say you fade the ball, you can:

1. Tee it up centre of tee box, aim down the left and fade back to centre.

2. Tee it up left side of tee box, aim anywhere from the left to centre and fade back to the right again.

3. This third option gives the widest margin for error since you now have the whole fairway to use. Tee it up on the right side of the tee box, aim down the left side, and you can even slice the ball and still end up on the right side of the fairway.

Use the whole fairway and the whole tee box. I have even on occasion teed the ball up almost to the left marker (but still within the markers of course), then stood outside of the left side of the tee box to hit my drive.

You are allowed to stand outside of the tee box, only your ball must remain within the markers, up to 2 club lengths back. Useful to know on par threes when you are in between irons. Just take a longer club and tee up further back of the tee box. Distance problem solved.

the percentage play theory is very true, I'm sure we all watch golf channel and its almost exactly what the pros do when they are aiming at a green. If one doesnt fade or draw enough, will end up in centre of green, if the shot is played perfectly you will stick it at the flag. Makes sense helps in course management!

Birdman - you LIE! I tried the 3rd option last weekend. Stand right, aim left and hope for the fade.

And I pull/hooked my shot into the far side of the other fariway! Think the ball went 120 yards forward, and it went left more than it went forward!

Well, you know how unpredictable hookers are right?

Did you figure out why that happened in the end? For me, it's usually a flipping of the hands at impact, sucks when it happens.