When you add it all up, a draw has the potential to travel significantly farther than a fade. The exact distance difference between these two shots will vary from player to player, but even a small gain is a gain worth taking. Nearly every senior golfer can benefit from adding a bit of distance to their shots, and doing so just might be as simple as switching your ball flight from a fade to a draw.

In reality, it isn't all that complicated to hit a draw. You need to make a full backswing, you need to hold onto your lag angle, and you need to stay behind the ball coming down. If you can check off those three boxes successfully, you will most likely be able to turn the ball from right to left in the air. Of course, it can take considerable practice to master the moves required to hit those three points, so expect to need some range time before you are an accomplished draw player. A ball flying with draw spin will also have a lesser amount of back spin and therefore should not balloon in the air like the distance sapping slice shot. This will produce a longer rolling and more penetrating flight which will also create more distance even on windy days.

For a right-handed golfer, a draw shot is one that turns from right to left as it flies through the air. This is seen as a desirable ball flight for a number of reasons. For one thing, you are likely to get a little extra distance out of a draw as compared to a fade – and who doesn’t like extra distance? Also, draws tend to cut through the wind a little more effectively, making them useful when the conditions get tough.

In this article, we are going to talk about a variety of topics related to a draw shot. We’ll discuss how you can go about producing a draw, and how you can use that shot properly on the course, Also, we will cover some troubleshooting points for golfers who are producing too much of a draw – in other words, a hook.

Before we get started, it should be pointed out that you don’t have to hit a draw to be a good golfer. Plenty of success players – even top pros – prefer to play a fade rather than a draw. The key when working on your ball flight is that the shape of your shots is not too dramatic, and that you can repeat the same shot shape over and over again. Whether your preferred pattern is a draw or a fade is up to you in the end.

All of the content below is based on a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play golf left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.

— How Do You Hit a Draw?

We can’t go too far in this article without first talking about how you produce a draw in golf. Many players who would love to turn the ball over from right to left don’t actually understand how it is done. And, as a result, they have very little chance of finding success. It’s still going to be difficult even after you have a clear picture of what you need to accomplish, but at least you’ll know what you are trying to do.

On a basic level, a draw is produced when the ball is spinning from right to left as it flies through the air. The more draw spin that is placed on the ball, the harder it will curve. In fact, you can easily turn a draw into a hook by putting too much spin on the ball at impact. Golf is a game that is all about manipulating and managing spin, so being able to spin the ball from right to left on command is a big advantage on the course.

You may have already known that you needed to spin the ball from right to left in order to hit a draw – but how do you go about creating that kind of spin. There are two key elements that need to work together to get the result you desire. Those elements are swing path and face angle. It is the relationship between those two pieces of the puzzle that will decide how the ball spins when it leaves the club.

Draw spin is produced when the face is closed at impact relative to the path of the swing through the hitting area. The key word in that previous sentence is ‘relative’, so let’s talk a little more about what that means and why it’s important. Some players tend to compare their face angle to the target line they chose before the shot, but that is actually irrelevant. The ball doesn’t care about what line you picked out for the shot – it only cares about what direction the club was travelling and how the face was positioned. If the face was closed at impact in comparison to the path of the club, the ball is going to turn to the left. It really is that simple in the end.

The amount of side spin created at impact is going to depend on how dramatically the face is closed. Also, the club you are using for the shot will influence the amount of draw produced. For instance, if you are hitting a shot with a pitching wedge, there will be a lot of backspin – so the sidespin rate will tend to be reduced. On a longer shot with a long iron, however, there is less backspin and it’s easy to wind up with more draw spin than you desired. This is why it is harder to control long shots than short shots.

If you head to the range with the understanding that your club face needs to be closed at impact relative to the path of your swing, you will probably be able to turn the ball over with just a little practice. However, turning the ball to the left is only the start – you need to be able to control those shots to make them effective. If your idea of a draw is actually a wild hook that doesn’t stop until it hits something on the left side of each hole, you won’t be having much fun on the course.

Commonly, players who are trying to use a draw will aim for a square club face position at impact with a swing path that moves slightly from inside to outside. That combination will produce a gentle draw that is easy to control and can be used in a wide variety of situations. If you need help dialing in your draw swing just right, consider working with a local teaching professional to sharpen up your mechanics and put the club in a good position throughout the swing.


— Putting Your Draw to Work

In this section, we are going to assume that you are hitting a draw with reasonable consistency, and you want to use that draw as effectively as possible on the course. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just heading out to the links and letting it fly – there is a lot of strategy in golf, and you need to think your way around the course clearly if you want to come away with a good score at the end of the day.

The following points should help you get the most out of your draw.

• It starts with trust. The key to using any ball flight successfully is to trust that the ball is going to do what you expect when it leaves the club. If you have doubt in your draw, you’ll always be concerned about whether or not the ball is going to turn left as it flies – and you will swing with something less than complete conviction. Will all of your shots turn out how you imagine? No – that simply isn’t a possibility in this game. Bad shots are a part of golf, so you might as well accept them. The key is to believe in yourself and your ball flight before each swing. Some of those swings aren’t going to work out, but many of them will. Pick a target line somewhere out to the right of your actual target (based on how far you expect the shot to curve), and then swing with total confidence. As you gain experience using a draw on the course, it will become easier and easier to be confident in your swing.
• Stick with it when you can. It’s tempting to adjust your ball flight to the demands of the course hole after hole, all day long. And while being versatile with the shots you hit is a good thing, it’s possible to take this too far – especially as an amateur golfer who probably doesn’t practice as much as a professional. Unless you are extremely talented on the links, do your best to stick with your primary ball flight for most of your shots. That means even on a hole that is a slight dogleg to the left, stick with your draw and try to make it work. Unless the shot at hand simply can’t be played with a draw, find a way to use your standard ball flight so you will be more confident and more likely to execute. Amateur players tend to think professional golfers work the ball around the course all day long, but that actually isn’t the case. Many players stick with a standard ball flight for the vast majority of their shots. In other words, if you master your draw, you might find that it isn’t necessary to use other shots very often.
• Pay attention to slopes. When you plan out your shots, remember that the ball is likely to move from side to side on the ground after it lands, in addition to moving in the air as it flies (unless the course is particularly soft/wet). As you plan out your shot, pay attention to what the slope will be like in the area where you expect the ball to come down. If the ground is pitched from right to left, you’ll get even more movement to the left since the shot will be coming in with a draw shape. On the other hand, if you are drawing the ball into a left-to-right slope, you may get a pretty straight bounce in the end. This is an important factor to monitor both on tee shots and approach shots into greens.

Hitting a draw is a great way to get around a golf course, but don’t expect the game to suddenly be easy just because you can turn the ball over. Carefully think through your plan for each shot before making a swing and do your best to commit to those shots completely. One last point – don’t get frustrated if you don’t see immediate results after switching to a draw ball flight pattern. It’s always hard to make changes, and it may take a while for your new shot shape to result in lower scores.


— Managing a Hook Problem

At this point, we’d like to discuss the negative side of hitting a draw – when your draw turns into a hook. Even if you have solid mechanics and are able to produce a controlled draw on most occasions, it’s likely that you will hit an occasional hook. And, for the most part, you can get away with one from time to time, as long as this is not a frequent occurrence. However, when you start to hit a hook on a regular basis, it will be time to figure out what is behind this mistake.

The points below will hopefully help you gain a better understanding of why the hook keeps popping up, and what you can do about it.

• Lazy legs are often a problem. When you start to notice more and more of your shots turning hard to the left, consider the possibility that your lower body is to blame. In a successful golf swing, the legs will turn hard toward the target in the downswing, providing speed to the club while maintaining excellent balance. If you let your legs get lazy, however, the club is going to swing down prematurely, and it’s likely that you will close the face down before impact. This is one reason it’s fairly common to see professional golfers hit hooks under pressure – they get nervous and their legs don’t fire through the shot as they should. Are many of your hooks happening late in a round? It might be that you are either getting nervous as you near the finish line, or tired from a long day on the course. Either way, when your legs start to let you down, it’s hard to avoid the hook. Simply being aware of this issue may help you get on track, as you can remember to fire your legs through the shot aggressively in an attempt to avoid hooking the ball well to the left of the target.
• Aggressive with the hands. This is particularly a problem for golfers who are just starting to get used to hitting a draw. If you are new to turning the ball over from right to left, you might feel like you need to actively use your hands through the hitting area to get that kind of action on your shots. You don’t – but it may feel that way, at least at first. So, when you start to get your swing path and face angle into the right position, those active hands can work against you and turn what would have been a pretty draw into a hook. Try to remember that the movement of your hands through the hitting area should be a result of how you have used the rest of your body – not an intentional action. In other words, if you turn your body through the hitting area properly, and deliver the club on the right path, your hands should pretty much take care of themselves.
• Alignment issues. Countless golfers struggle with alignment problems and they never actually know that it is an issue. If you don’t line up properly at address, you could be setting yourself up for a hook completely by accident. To understand how this works, let’s walk through a quick scenario. As you get ready to hit a tee shot, you decide to aim down the right side of the fairway to give your draw room to turn back toward the short grass. You step up to the ball, align your feet so you are aimed down the right side, and set the club in place. However, as you are over the ball, you get a little uncomfortable with that target line, so you turn the face of the club back toward the center of the fairway. Now, your feet are aimed out to the right and your club is aimed toward the middle. You are aiming across yourself, and already it’s likely that you will wind up with a hook. Now, if you swing along the line that your feet have created, you will be coming from the inside and running the risk of turning the ball over too hard. It’s essential that your stance works together nicely from your head down to your toes. Commit to the line that you pick and orient everything properly, so you don’t sabotage your swing before it even begins.

As we mentioned above, hitting a hook from time to time isn’t a big deal. Hitting them regularly, however, is a serious problem. It’s hard to play when you know your next hook could be lurking just around the corner. To limit the chances of hitting a hook at the wrong time, consider the points we listed above and work hard on the range to position yourself for plenty of solid, reliable draws in your upcoming rounds.


— Deciding on Your Go-To Ball Flight

So far, we have talked a lot about the draw and how it can help you play good golf when used correctly. That’s true, but it’s not the only way to play good golf, as there are plenty of excellent players who turn the ball the other way. For instance, none other than Jack Nicklaus preferred to play the ball from left to right, and things worked out pretty good for him on the links. There is no right answer to what the best ball flight in the game is, as both options can lead to outstanding results.

With that said, you do need to decide which shape is better for your needs. You don’t want to be stuck in between, never quite sure what the ball is going to do when it leaves your club face. The best place to be is having one ball flight that is your standard, go-to shot, while also having the capability to turn the ball the other way when necessary.

As you try to decide whether you will be a draw or fade player, keep the points below in mind.

• It’s your decision. Don’t let the choice of any other golfer influence what you are going to do with your ball flight. For instance, it shouldn’t matter that your favorite tour pro hits a draw or a fade – that person has their own swing and their own personal preferences. Instead of copying someone else, trust your instincts and go with the shot pattern that gives you the most confidence.
• Let the range lead the way. If you are struggling to make a choice, try this – head out to the range and hit a bucket of balls without much of a goal in mind. Use a variety of clubs and just make solid swings to a target out in the distance. What way does the ball want to turn when you aren’t trying to make it do anything in particular? The natural pattern of your swing should show you which ball flight is best for your game. You don’t want to consistently be fighting against what is natural to you, so trust this kind of range work to point you in the right direction.
• Try it out on the course. Still not sure? Play a round or two with the ball flight opposite of what you have been using up to this point. How does it feel to play with the ball turning the other way? Don’t evaluate this round on your score so much as how it feels to play a draw rather than a fade, or vice versa. You might be surprised to find how strongly you feel one way or another after trying this out for a couple of rounds.

Do you have to hit a draw to be a good golfer? Nope – but it sure does help to know how to hit one at least from time to time. Adding versatility to your golf game is always a good thing, as you never quite know what types of shots will be demanded by the course as you make your way from the first tee to the last green. We hope this conversation on draw shots has given you plenty to work on during upcoming practice sessions – good luck!