To Draw Or Not To Draw?

[Big Sheesh]

I recently watched the Tiger's Clinic from the 2nd disc in his 3 Set disc special. He said his natural shot is a draw.

Is that just him or do most professionals draw the ball on purpose? My PGA instructor did tell me the correct golf shot is a slight draw, not straight. Is this true?

[Mizunoman]

Re: To Draw Or Not To Draw?

Hey, Big...

This argument about the Draw vs the Slice will run and run. Basically there is no 'correct' shape. Better players just happen to draw the ball because of the path of their swing. A good players destructive shot is always the hook. A straight shot is the hardest to do since it requires your swing path and club face to be perfectly true and very few people can do that.

Jack Nicklaus is actually a bit of an anomaly since he claims his natural shot was the fade and only learnt to really draw the ball to order some years into his career.

As far as the majority of pro's go most of them would say a draw is their shot but they can all play pretty much every shot anyway so it doesnt matter. For club players most lower handicappers (single figure down to plus numbers) play with a draw. In an ideal world you would draw your driver and fade your irons the draw giving better distance and the fade better control.

D

[Ian Hancock]

Re: To Draw Or Not To Draw?

Big Sheesh,

It has already been said that this draw vs fade will go on and on.

You are certainly not a better player because you draw the ball, I am not sure what the stats are but I would hazard a guess that it is 50/50 on both tours.

Because of the increadible distances now hit on tour alot of top players are trying to bring the fade into their game for control because the distance is already there with technology. When many years ago players converted to the draw for distance.

The two guys I play with every week off 2 & 4 both play with a fade, only I play with a draw and always have.

My closing comments would be stick with what is natural for you and work on that first and foremost, you can learn to play the opposite later for thoses doglegs.

Don't try to change something what isn't broken........Monty won the European Tour 8 times with a fade !!


Hope this helps.


Ian.

[TeachingPro]

Re: To Draw Or Not To Draw?

I can answer one aspect of your question really quickly: whether or not most pros play a draw?

Well, I played the tours in America and Europe, "most" of the players did play a draw as their preferred shot which is different to their natural shot. Another problem with watching touring professionals is they can play any shot, any time and make it look as natural as breathing so it's really tough to know whether that's their natural shot shape or not!

In Spain in 2002, I sat and watched Jose Maria Olazabal (my golfing icon!) practicing and his natural shot is a draw. But he striped every shot exactly where he wanted it to go, from a gentle draw to a strong fade!

In early 2003, I watched Greg Norman (also a natural drawer) practice at a facility in Miami. The "caddy" who was picking up the golf balls stood with a baseball glove wherever Greg wanted him to stand. The caddy didn't move, all he had to do was stretch his arm out and catch the ball as it rolled or bounced past him! On the draw or fade side of the target ... That was seriously scary ...

[LowPost42]

Re: To Draw Or Not To Draw?

In an ideal world you would draw your driver and fade your irons the draw giving better distance and the fade better control.

What he said.