fading the ball

[msklar92]

I understand to hit this shot you need a slilghly open stance and the club face should face the target. My question is, to prevent the club face from turning over, would anybody recommend keeping the leading edge of the club moving towards the target, rather than allowing the club face to turnover. Does this seem like a good visualization? It seem that as opposed to a draw, the right hand then stays under the left (right handed) as opposed to a draw where the right hand moves above the left.

[BrianW]

Re: fading the ball

Just open your stance, clubface at target as you say, then hit solidly down the line of your feet with a normal swing.

[msklar92]

Re: fading the ball

yeh, that makes sense. the problem is aiming left and then having the clubface shut on you. It seems to me trying to keep the leading edge towards the target sort of prevents this.

[GregJWillis]

Re: fading the ball

I defiantly feel like I "hang on" to the right hand not rolling "over" the left. It keeps the face open into impact.

But I think the best way to fade a show is with the path, and not the face angle. The path is so much easier to control, all you do is use your arms to swing outside slightly (or push away from your body slightly) and then in the downswing, just pull them in slightly. This causes the out-to-in path and is very predictable. Face angle stays the same, so this also keeps the hight the same.

[golfshooter]

Re: fading the ball

I too have fading woes.I have to open my stance up to 45 degrees from the target to get a shot close to target with my driver. I can live with this but the power leakage from the side spin is counterproductive and shortens the shot considerably.Add to this how can I possibly hit a draw when needed? I am trying to swing neutrally. I am convinced the shaft is stiff enough. I am also slightly hooking my irons with what I think is a neutral swing. Are they related? Your thoughts gladly accepted.

[bill reed]

Re: fading the ball

hi
i agree about opening the stance but i would not line up at the target but more to the left of the target as the ball will fade about 5 to 10 yards.
if hitting a driver my feet line up pointing into the left rough but i line my club face at the first cut on the left about 200 yards down the fairway. that way the ball will turn and land about 5 yards in from the left and run about 10 yards taking it more to the center of the fairway. if i aimed at the center of the fairway my ball would always end up on the right edge of the fairway.
when i hit a driver the ball always starts out where i aim my swing path down and only when the ball reaches the top of its flight does the backspin stop working and side spin take over and the ball then start to fade and drop to the right.
all i play now is a fade and i have a very open stance about 40%. by changing the club face and my swing line i can + or - the amount of fade with ease.
another thing i find with hitting a fade if the ball fly higher but also lands softer and with less run so you can better judge where the ball will land. with a draw the ball runs more and sometimes runs a lot more than you want it to
cheers
bill

[rotator]

Re: fading the ball

I agree with Greg Willis re holding on through and past impact longer, along with the open stance, clubface at the target and swinging along the body line. That's the way a lot of the pros explain how they do it.

There is another way I've seen a few pros say they do it, and I'm sure Tiger also showed this in one of his clinics. I've been meaning to work on it. Apparently, if you take your normal stance, then wriggle closer to the ball, it will induce a fade. It just got me thinking that this will probably make the arms react in the way Greg mentions in his second paragraph:

"But I think the best way to fade a shot is with the path, and not the face angle. The path is so much easier to control, all you do is use your arms to swing outside slightly (or push away from your body slightly) and then in the downswing, just pull them in slightly. This causes the out-to-in path and is very predictable. Face angle stays the same, so this also keeps the height the same."

I now definitely have to work on this last one at the range. It may be a easy natural way, not much thinking or manipulations. There's one par 5 hole that screams for a solid long fade off the tee to open up the second shot, which bends the other direction (double dogleg). Otherwise you can't get there in two. My usual shot is straight and I can draw the ball very comfortably. I used to fade every shot for a long time, but now have difficulty in getting a dependable solid fade. How do you figure that.

Ted

[bill reed]

Re: fading the ball

hi rotator
what you say is the best way for you to fade is very much like the way i do it and it is very much like Trevino, he also holds his hand through impact and try not to have his hand roll over. he does use a lot of hips slid through impact.
by adjusting the swing line of your arms and as you say and swing out and then back inside it is so easy to tweak the amount of fade you give the ball,
cheers
bill

[golfshooter]

Re: fading the ball

Well,after alot of sweat and expermentation I can say I have finally got it.My stance is only slightly open ,clubface slightly closed and I think my swing is fairly neutral AND the ball is going STRAIGHT,YAHOO! From here opening the stance a little more and closing the face a little more it is drawing, and doing the opposite it is fading! Hope this helps someone.

[golfshooter]

Re: fading the ball

I have also found experimenting using a long iron , say a 4 iron alot more predictable than a wood when working through this frustrating problem
Happy Hitting
Peter