Alignment

[bobmac]

My mind is officially blown now.
I now understand what a fade is but how do you do it?
Help me here...

Right!
I'm trying to hit the pin so do you either:
1. I align left directly at the bunker. Point the clubhead straight at the pin and swing normally.
2. Align left directly at the bunker. Point the clubhead left, parallel to my feet so it's aiming towards the bunker too and then swing out to in to create the spin???

Both to me will create a left to right spin on the ball.
So which way is correct?????

No. 1
No. 2 will start further to the right and then turn more to the right.

That saying, it depends how much your normal swing moves the ball left to right.
Experiment with your sticks and see which aim gets you hitting the ball on target without altering the clubface

 

[Losttheplot]

Cheers bobmac! Many thanks.... I'm off next week so I'll do some experimenting on the range.

Can I just say this thread has done my head in. Trying to understand all of this stuff has confused the crap out of me but I'm a lot clearer now. Happy days.

 

[thecraw]

Some people need to remember what their handicap is and the aim of the game is enjoyment!

 

[Losttheplot]

Some people need to remember what their handicap is and the aim of the game is enjoyment!

For me I want to enjoy the game mite than anything but I also want to be able to shape the ball and do it correctly and play golf with lots of variety and have different shots in the armoury.

 

[Region3]

My mind is officially blown now.
I now understand what a fade is but how do you do it?
Help me here...

Right!
I'm trying to hit the pin so do you either:
1. I align left directly at the bunker. Point the clubhead straight at the pin and swing normally.
2. Align left directly at the bunker. Point the clubhead left, parallel to my feet so it's aiming towards the bunker too and then swing out to in to create the spin???

Both to me will create a left to right spin on the ball.
So which way is correct?????

No. 1
No. 2 will start further to the right and then turn more to the right.

That saying, it depends how much your normal swing moves the ball left to right.
Experiment with your sticks and see which aim gets you hitting the ball on target without altering the clubface

Isn't that the wrong way round Bob

To me, it sounds like 1) would start almost at the pin and miss right, and 2 would start at the bunker and move to the pin.

I find it hard to purposely swing off the line my feet and shoulders are on, so I'd go with option 3, of pointing the club at the bunker, aligning my body to the left of the bunker, and swinging normally which would make the path out-to-in 'relative' to the club face.

 

[bobmac]

Isn't that the wrong way round Bob

Doh.
You're right of course

 

[MashieNiblick]

On JustOne's diagram think about path B, a fade into the middle of the fairway. Feet line up on blue line, club face on pink dot. Normal swing.

That would give you shot C

Ball would start at the pink dot and drift right.

Thanks JustOne. Have now read all the subsequent posts and understand (thanks also Bobmac in particular)

Probably then this old method appears to work because the ball does move and it does end up sort of towards where I want it, but it doesn't actually fly on the path intended or end up exactly where it should.

That's useful to bear in mind. It could still be OK where that shape is needed but I'd need to work on the other method if I want more control and accuracy.

Again thanks for the patience in explaining it.

 

[kid2]

Just to confuse you here's a little image....

Let's start and pretend you are lined up left of the target with your feet and hips aligned along the BLUE line, (the flag is the pink blob) and you hit 3 shots, a ,b and c

A is a pull-fade as it starts left of your feet line and curves back to it

B is a fade as it starts straightish but tails off to the right

C is a push-slice as it starts to the right of your foot line and drifts further away (like the shot you described above that ended up to the front right of the green)


HOWEVER if your feet and hips were aligned parallel to the GREEN line (directly at the flag) then shot B is no longer a fade, it is a PULL-FADE (starts left of your feet and curves back to it)

shot C is no longer a push-slice, it's a FADE (starts pretty straight and tails off to the right)

shot A, well you don't even want to know what that shot is if you are lined up square to the green line (it's almost a straight-pull left but you could say it's a VERY BAD pull-fade)

So the shape of shot you are hitting depends where you are lined up, not where the target is.

And (to me) the interesting part is that you could aim your feet to the left hand side of the fairway and 'slice' one right across it into the right hand rough and it isn't actually a slice!! because a slice starts to the LEFT of the feet.


I hope that's got you suitably confused...... I am 'cos my first reply was utter tripe

If you line up with your target line at the flag and your feet parallel to that target line and the ball starts a little left before drifting back into the pin then that's a PULL-FADE

If you line up left, start the ball at the bunker and it then moves off to the right you've hit a FADE

Fixed!

And if you line up left, your ball starts at the flag and drifts right then that's shot C, a PUSH-SLICE. I knew I'd get there in the end.




..... NEXT!

Thanks Pal!
Its making a little more sense to me anyway....

 

[kid2]

There should be a governmnet health warning on this thread, it will seriously srew your mind if you try to read it all!!

Very educational though....

 

[kid2]

Many thanks to James and Bob for clearing all this up.....I thought i might be the only one that was confussed about the issue


Just one last quesion........
With all that i have read it might make this simple for people who might still be unsure.....

Am i right in thinking so that regardless of whether you want to hit a draw or a fade you aim your feet where you want the ball to start an you aim the clubface at the destination that you want the ball to arrive?

 

[Losttheplot]

Isn't that the wrong way round Bob

Doh.
You're right of course

Bob you can't say that!???????? Please tell me your kidding!!

 

[Losttheplot]

Am i right in thinking so that regardless of whether you want to hit a draw or a fade you aim your feet where you want the ball to start an you aim the clubface at the destination that you want the ball to arrive?

Please say this is the way to look at it....?????!!!!!

 

[kid2]

Isn't that the wrong way round Bob

Doh.
You're right of course

Bob you can't say that!???????? Please tell me your kidding!!

This is gonna start all over again isnt it......

 

[Losttheplot]

I'm officially messed up with it now... I thought I had the theory in my head sorted but not anymore. Too many contradictions... Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!

 

[kid2]

I'm officially messed up with it now... I thought I had the theory in my head sorted but not anymore. Too many contradictions... Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!

Just go out and murder that S2 L.T.P.
Hit it find it hit it again

 

[Region3]

Many thanks to James and Bob for clearing all this up.....I thought i might be the only one that was confussed about the issue


Just one last quesion........
With all that i have read it might make this simple for people who might still be unsure.....

Am i right in thinking so that regardless of whether you want to hit a draw or a fade you aim your feet where you want the ball to start an you aim the clubface at the destination that you want the ball to arrive?

That is what was taught for a long time until video technology proved it wasn't the case.

I bet there are still tour players now that use this method, or at least think they do.

 

[Region3]

Am i right in thinking so that regardless of whether you want to hit a draw or a fade you aim your feet where you want the ball to start an you aim the clubface at the destination that you want the ball to arrive?

Please say this is the way to look at it....?????!!!!!

Sorry mate

 

[richart]

I have always aimed my feet where i want the ball to start, and aim the face where i want it to finish. I would add that for the draw i do add a bit of a top spin forehand to it, and for the fade i add a bit of forehand slice. (As you can probably tell i play a bit of tennis !) I was taught back in the 'old days' you were allowed to use your hands in the swing. Watch how Lee Trevino shapes his shots, and tell me there is only one way to play draws/hooks, fades/slices.






Is there a wooden spoon symbol on here ?

 

[Region3]

Right, I'm going to have a go at explaining, if anyone wants to listen to an 11 capper going the wrong way

Imagine 2 lines.

Line A is where the club is pointing.

Line B is the line that your body is aiming on, assuming that you're swinging along that line with no other 'issues'.

The ball will start off more or less on line A.

If line B points to the left of line A the ball will move left-to-right.
If line B points to the right of line A the ball will move right-to-left.

Where JustOne's explanation sometimes gets complicated in my opinion, is that he's a good enough golfer to align his body with the target, and manipulate his swing so that the path is that of line B above.

I find it easier to move my body and try to swing straight. The danger is subconsciously swinging along the line that the club is pointing, and the ball goes straight left or right

 

[bobmac]

What was the question?