Using Your Golf Fade (Video) - by Pete Styles
Using Your Golf Fade (Video) - by Pete Styles

If you've established through the paper exercise that we talked about and through driving range practice that we've talked about, if you've established now that you have a left to right shot shape as a right handed golfer, we've got to classify that as fade. If that's a good shot shape and you're happy with that -- that's a your natural shot shape. Just a couple of things you've got to watch for, things you're going to be aware of next time you go out on the golf course and play. The first thing is you're probably going to get a little bit less distance. It's going to cut into the air a little bit, probably not go as far as a draw and particularly noticeable when it lands, it won't roll out as much. But sometimes on a t-shot you might think of as a good thing because it's not going to roll off line or it's not going to reach for the hazard but it's actually very positive when you're playing into a green. We want that ball to get onto the green land and sometimes you want it to stop and spin up fairly quickly particularly for flags at the back of the green.

We don't want the ball bouncing at the back of green he's shooting over we want to be able to have the control. So quite often golfers like that fade shot when it lands on the green. It just puts the brakes on a little bit quicker. Just be aware that it won't roll out so much. Also consideration, if you're fading the golf ball, generally you're hitting from out to when across the ball with an open face, you're going to find that ball flying a little bit higher. You probably have a higher ball flight than a guy that draws the golf ball, so we have to consider about the wind. The strength of the wind and the wind direction. Someone that fades the golf ball is going to be more influenced by the wind than someone that draws the golf ball. So you've got o be careful of that. One last consideration, if the fade is your natural shot shape is that your fade does not turn into a slice, we've got to be really careful that we understand in this fade start down the left side, finishes back on the green and a slice may start on the left side but finish to the right and in trouble. And for a lot of golfers, the difference between the fade and the slice is commitment and that if you don't commit to your fade, you end up sort of pulling out of it and holding off, you're going to open the face up too much, you're going to hit that ball slide left to right quite violently and it turns into a slice. Don't kid yourself if you are slicing it, you need to get help correcting the slice rather than thinking, "Oh the slice is just my natural shot shape." You can't really play with a slice but you can play with a fade and lots of good players do play with a fade. Just be true to yourself and make sure it's a fade not a slice and that's how I think you can use the fade as a natural shot shape out on the golf course. 2016-07-18

If you've established through the paper exercise that we talked about and through driving range practice that we've talked about, if you've established now that you have a left to right shot shape as a right handed golfer, we've got to classify that as fade. If that's a good shot shape and you're happy with that — that's a your natural shot shape. Just a couple of things you've got to watch for, things you're going to be aware of next time you go out on the golf course and play. The first thing is you're probably going to get a little bit less distance. It's going to cut into the air a little bit, probably not go as far as a draw and particularly noticeable when it lands, it won't roll out as much. But sometimes on a t-shot you might think of as a good thing because it's not going to roll off line or it's not going to reach for the hazard but it's actually very positive when you're playing into a green. We want that ball to get onto the green land and sometimes you want it to stop and spin up fairly quickly particularly for flags at the back of the green.

We don't want the ball bouncing at the back of green he's shooting over we want to be able to have the control. So quite often golfers like that fade shot when it lands on the green. It just puts the brakes on a little bit quicker. Just be aware that it won't roll out so much. Also consideration, if you're fading the golf ball, generally you're hitting from out to when across the ball with an open face, you're going to find that ball flying a little bit higher. You probably have a higher ball flight than a guy that draws the golf ball, so we have to consider about the wind. The strength of the wind and the wind direction. Someone that fades the golf ball is going to be more influenced by the wind than someone that draws the golf ball. So you've got o be careful of that. One last consideration, if the fade is your natural shot shape is that your fade does not turn into a slice, we've got to be really careful that we understand in this fade start down the left side, finishes back on the green and a slice may start on the left side but finish to the right and in trouble.

And for a lot of golfers, the difference between the fade and the slice is commitment and that if you don't commit to your fade, you end up sort of pulling out of it and holding off, you're going to open the face up too much, you're going to hit that ball slide left to right quite violently and it turns into a slice. Don't kid yourself if you are slicing it, you need to get help correcting the slice rather than thinking, “Oh the slice is just my natural shot shape.” You can't really play with a slice but you can play with a fade and lots of good players do play with a fade. Just be true to yourself and make sure it's a fade not a slice and that's how I think you can use the fade as a natural shot shape out on the golf course.