Instruction – Shot Shaping Made Simple

One of the questions I constantly get from students is how I shape the ball right to left or left to right. I have a few secrets below that are guaranteed to make you draw or fade the ball. Before I discuss how to draw and fade the ball, it is important you understand what causes a draw and fade. What makes the ball move right to left?

Draws

The yard stick demonstrates my target line, while the arrow demonstrates my feet alignment, the yellow line demonstrates my club path and the red line demonstrates my ball path. My feet and clubface are parallel to each other and are aimed slightly right of my target line. For the ball to draw I must have an in-to-out swing path with a slightly closed club face to my swing path at impact. What does this mean? In-to-out swing path is when the clubhead travels from the inside of the target line to the outside of the target line as it impacts the ball. As you can see in the picture, my club head is moving slightly right of my target line through impact and my club face is slightly closed causing the right to left spin on the ball (draw).

The drill I have provided above will ensure your ball goes straighter if you fade or slice the ball. The more you practice the drill, I guarantee you will start to see a draw. Grip the club like a hockey player with your hands apart and some space between your hands. Once you have gripped the club like so, I want your right hand more under the club so you can see a little bit of your right palm and your knuckles on your left hand turned away from your target, so when you look down you will see one or two knuckles.

Now, start by hitting some small shots just going from hip high to hip high with the length of swing and then move to a half swing and eventually a full swing once you have gained some confidence. Now, you should start seeing baby draws!

Fades

What causes a fade? A fade occurs when the clubface is open to the swing path through impact. An out-to-in swing path helps to create the left to right spin (fade). What is a out-to-in swing path? This is when the clubhead travels from the outside of the target line to the inside as it impacts the ball.

In the picture, the arrow demonstrates my feet line, the yard stick demonstrates my target line, the yellow line demonstrates my club path while the red line demonstrates my ball path. As you can see in the picture, my feet and clubface are parallel to each other aimed slightly left of my target line at setup. To make the ball fade, my club head is moving slightly left of my target line through impact with a slightly open club face.