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A fade is a golf shot that is hit left of target initially but then deliberately curves to the right in the air, finishing on the target. It is a valuable shot to learn how to play, as when you are out on the golf course, you will face situations where you need to be able to deliberately curve the golf ball around hazards, such as trees, if you are going to shoot a really low golf score and get yourself out of any trouble that you may find yourself in.

Being able to hit a fade is not difficult once you understand what you need to achieve in order to do it. The golf ball curves during its flight whenever the direction that the club head was travelling in as it struck the golf ball is different to the direction that the face was aiming in as it struck the ball. A difference between face aim and direction of head travel, or swing path, results in the golf ball spinning around a tilted axis. As a result of this tilted axis spin, the ball curves in the air and depending upon which way the axis is tilted, the ball will either curve right to left or left to right.

To hit a fade, the ball needs to begin its flight on the left of the target and then curve to the right in the air, finishing on the target. To achieve this, you need to swing the golf club on a swing path across the target line. Place an alignment pole on the ground, or a golf club to show you the target line. The pole simply needs to point from the ball to the target. If you swing the club head directly along this pole, with the club face aiming down the pole, then you would hit a straight shot at the target. To fade the golf ball, the ball needs to start on the left of this target line.

To achieve this, you need to swing the club head from the far side of the pole, the outside, to the near side, the inside, as you strike through the golf ball. This will give you an out to in swing path, so that the club head is travelling across the target line from out to in as you strike the ball. To achieve this movement, you need to position your feet so that they are aligned to the left of the target and more left than usual so that they are left of parallel to the target line. Again you could place a pole across your toes to show you your alignment line and then check that this is more left than parallel to the target line.

To achieve the correct tilted axis spin on the golf ball, you now need to swing with an out to in path but with the club face aiming to the right of this path, but left of the target. If you have the target line represented by the pole on the floor and your feet line also represented by another pole on the floor, then you need to strike the golf ball with the club face aiming between these two poles. To achieve this, you can aim the club face between the two poles and then hold the golf club. This will open the club face to your swing direction, but not open it to the target and you will then see a fade golf shot when you play your golf shot.

Closing the club face, or turning it to the left of your swing path as you strike the golf ball will result in a shot that flies left of the target and finishes further left of the target, producing a pull hook golf shot.

Strengthening your grip, or rotating your hands clockwise on the handle of the club before you hold it, will result in you striking the golf ball with the club face aiming more left of the target. If you have made your swing so that the club head is travelling in the direction of the target, with this club face position, the golf ball will actually miss the target on the left and not fade.

Positioning the ball further back in your stance will result in the club head moving towards the right of the target as you strike the golf. If the club face is square to this direction of movement as you strike, you will hit a push. If the face is open as you strike you will hit a push slice and if the face is closed, you will hit a shot that moves right to left in the air.