Changing your natural shot shape - has any one done it?

[JustOne]

I just sent this link to someone else...

watch from 13min 30secs....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAEE3_WcT1k

If you over do it or let your plane get too low you WILL start hooking it though, so what you have to do is keep your swingplane nice and high/normal and STOP thinking "Don't hit it left, don't hit it left".... just swing through to a decent finish.

It's the grip that controls the clubhead... not the other way round! :thup:

 

[Curls]

This is what I am doing tonight.

As to what I am currently thinking 'don't hit it left' is high up there.

Good stuff, and I'm sure you've heard about the fact that the brain doesn't process "Don't" so all it hears is "Hit it left", a common thing, you need to give it a positive thought like a small specific target area of the fairway to aim at, you'll be fine, like many on another thread yesterday this drop in performance is a natural part of the improvement process so just ride it out, in the meantime if you want to enjoy your hectic golfing weekend give up control and send the ball to targets, you'll stand a better chance of fully committing to the shot and as you say quitting is a problem at the moment. Play golf and enjoy it chap, you could be worse places this weekend ;-)

 

[jammydodger]

Murph , I always used to play with a draw and it was a simple, natural thing for me to do. However it would turn into a nasty hook a couple of times a round or else i'd hold off and blast it miles straight right and cost me a double or worse. Eventually I just had enough of always playing from the left side of the course.

I embarked on a program of grip adjustment to weaken my left hand so much that it was impossible for me to get the ball going right to left off the tee. Consequently I could just wallop it as hard as I could up the left side of the fairway and if it moved back then fine and if it didn't then that was fine too. My game improved no end and my confidence off the tee soared to new heights. It was fantastic playing fairway golf and gave me all sorts of crazy good scores as I was usually putting for birdie or even eagle most holes. Combined with massive work on the short game it was a dream to play golf and every time I rocked up to the club I knew i'd play well.

I could still throw that draw in though if it was needed for the hole just by adjusting the grip back stronger. Since I gave up playing and have come back for the occasional game i'm just letting my natural shape happen again with a draw off the tee. In the 3 rounds i've played this year i've only been in bad trouble twice off the tee with both being knobs off to the right.

A fade is not just for old men with cronky backs , its a lovely way of controlling your ball and a very consistent shot to have.

 

[JustOne]

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I agree PROVIDED it's a push-fade you are referring to, that being so it's STILL a draw swing!!... a NORMAL SWING if you will, not that over the top rubbish cutting across the ball at 45 degrees with a closed clubface.

 

[USER1999]

Not that over the top rubbish cutting across the ball at 45 degrees with a closed clubface.

This is what I am trying to get away from.

 

[Hobbit]

After playing with what became either a gentle fade/straight shot for 35+yrs I decided to develop a high draw... 6mths, a number of lessons and countless lost balls later I dumped the idea and went back to my ingrained swing. It took a good few months to get back to my old swing, and 5+yrs later I'm in a happy place with my game. I break 80 95% of the time, and on really good days I break par.

My reason for going back to my stock swing was fairly simple. Just what was I going to achieve by trying to change something that in all honesty, at 50yrs of age, would improve my game by at best only a few shots...maybe. And if my good rounds with my old swing was low 70's was I chasing the impossible?

Sometimes reality is just accept what you've got.

 

[chrisd]

I just sent this link to someone else...

watch from 13min 30secs....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAEE3_WcT1k

James ... what happens after 14.30 just after he says to Holly to go down the shaft as I found it necessary to visit the toilet when I got to that point!

 

[JustOne]

I think that's when he says "Hold these two balls........"

 

[Curls]

I think that's when he says "Hold these two balls........"

We don't have hookers like that at our club.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

When I started with the guy I use at the moment I had misses both left and right. We've almost exclusively taken the right side out of the equation and so all of my misses now tend to be big pulls and hooks but I understand why they are happening.

I can't hit a fade if my life depended on it so while we're trying to eradicate the 10-15 yards of movement on my longer shots and hit it much straighter it isn't coming naturally. Stick with what you have at the start of the day Murph and try and just find a way to get it round as stress free as possible until you and your pro can work on something more long term

 

[kid2]

This is what I am trying to get away from.

Murph why are you struggling with and over the top move when your natural ball flight was a high draw.....I would think that being able to draw the ball was and advantage and not something that would cause your swing path to change in to out to out to in.....

As james said....Try working on a push fade....Much stronger flight and distance than a pull fade and you shouldnt need to change your swing path....Just open the clubface and your body a little.

 

[USER1999]

Why would a draw be an advantage?

It isn't any longer (provided your fade doesn't add loft), and there's more to go wrong.

The low fade has passive hands (which is what I need for consistency). The high draw, as I hit it has active hands that leads to inconsistency.

Tried it last night, and although there is a lot of room for improvement, it has freed up my driving to an extend. I hit a couple of monsters. It was great to feel I could really go after one, without any worry of hoicking it left.

But more than anything, this is to improve my iron play. Early days, but hit a few good ones.

 

[Ethan]

I used to be a slicer as a teenager, so I taught myself to draw the ball. Well, I say draw, what I really mean is hook, and I have been fighting the darn thing ever since. I can hit them all - the duck, the smother hook, the snapper. Sometimes I hit a nice soft draw, but more often it is not so soft.

If I could start with a clean slate, I would hit a baby fade. Now that is a fade, not a slice. A slight pull fade, to be precise.

The fade is a ball that flies straight and then as it starts to drop from the apex of its flight it falls a little bit to the right. It shouldn't really curve in the air too much. If you ever see a pro hit one of these, it is a thing of beauty.

 

[Foxholer]

If it's any consolation, being 5' 9" with short legs doesn't seem to help either

H'mm. That's exactly me and my stock shot is a slight pull fade.
Feeling quite good about it reading this thread!

@Murph. Does sound like you are filling your head with too many (negative) thoughts. Hogan's bent left wrist (at impact) could also help reduce the amount of hand action that you mentioned you had. Mis-timed/too much hand/forearm action is a major contributor to unpredictable results.

 

[JustOne]

Tried it last night, and although there is a lot of room for improvement, it has freed up my driving to an extend. I hit a couple of monsters. It was great to feel I could really go after one, without any worry of hoicking it left.

Welcome to my Bubba world!

If I play devils advocate then I'd say draw your irons, it's the natural way... the club swings behind you and should approach the ball from the inside... that's how simple a choice that is.

Driver.... different kettle of fish (always has been as it's on a tee) I like the passive hands that can just leave the face open... as long as you get your path to the left of the face you can pretty much guarantee a medium height fading ball, worst case scenario you practically slice the ball from the left edge of the fairway into the right rough and lose some yardage in the process. But it's in play.

On a bad day with my draw I used to block them right into the trees or hook them into the left rough... THAT SAID I'm pretty sure that I was over doing the pattern for a draw.... I was practically envisioning a raking 15yrd pattern where the ball started down the right edge and drew into the middle of the fairway... I should have just played for a smaller shape and hit the ball straighter off the tee.... a draw isn't a running hook