Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro

It can really help you when you’re playing golf, to shape your shots in hitting draws and fades if you use the logo of the golf ball to help you do this. Now, if we take a golf ball, you’ll see all the golf balls have their logo on. And what we can do with that logo, is set that to help you align your body correctly and align the club face so it’s going to help you to hit either a draw or a fade. So first of all let’s have a look at how to hit a draw or a fade, and then how we can use that logo. But just remember, you’re only going to be able to do this on your tee shot because once the ball is in play, you’ve got to play it as it lies. So you won’t be able to then pick it up and move it and align the logo again. So only do this for your shot off the tee.

So having a look at how to hit a draw or a fade, just going to use this alignment pole to represent the line we want to hit the ball down. Now, with this position here, if we want to hit a straight shot, we would set up so that we’re still parallel to the target line. So we will align so our feet are parallel to that target line, our hips are parallel, and our shoulders are parallel. And then we are going to work on swinging the golf club, so the club head travels along the target line with the face pointing down the target line and that will hit straight shots.

If we want to hit a draw though, so that’s a goal shot that moves right to left, this is still going to represent our target line, but we need to stop the ball over to the right. So our alignment needs to become more to the right. So I’m no longer parallel to the target line. So my alignment would be represented more by this pole. And I’m also going to swing the golf club in line with that pole. So even though I’m wanting to hit the ball down this line here, and it’s going to finish on the target there, I’m going to swing along this line here, which is making sure I’ve got a swing turf. Well that just means the direction of moving in the club is from the inside to the outside of the target line. And as I do that, if my club face is aiming between these two lines, I’ll hit a draw.

And the same is true of hitting a fade it’s the other way round. A fade moves left to right, so I will now just align myself to the left of the target, now parallel to this new line that I’ve put on the floor, and I’m going to make my swing path move from the outside of the target line, that’s the far side, to the inside. And again if I make sure the club face is pointing between those two lines that do that, that will hit a fade. So the way we can use the logo on the ball is, if we make sure when we’re on the tee, if we look at where we want to hit the golf ball to, and then we make sure the logo is pointing in that direction of where we want to hit the golf ball to. And then if I want to hit the draw I’m going to just turn the logo to the right, so that I can align myself up parallel to that logo. And as long as I swing through the direction of the logo, with the club face pointing slightly left of that, it’s going of hit a draw.

If I go to the left, with the logo, and I swing through that direction, with the club face pointing just to the right, I’m going to hit a fade. So the next time you’re on the tee, try using your logo to help you with your alignment and then you’ll start to be able to hit draws and fade on demand.