hitting fades...

[Ethan]

A fade is a beautiful shot, and I would love to have a nice soft fade. By that I mean a shot which is essentially straight but falls a few feet to the right, not a shot which starts down the left rough and just ends up in the right side of the fairway.

I think Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods used a full release for their fades.

 

[Foxholer]

would love to find out exactly the point in the shot where the club stops influencing the ball.

That's easy! As soon as there is no contact between the club-face and the ball - so about 2-3 inches or so so past initial impact. Once there is no contact, it is physically impossible to have any influence!

I believe what you are/were really searching for the swing thought that will have an appropriate influence on your body such that your swing through the impact zone will one that produces the desired shot. Now that is a whole different ball-game! I have no doubt that thoughts about post-impact have an effect on that absolutely crucial part of the swing.

To me, that's a small part of the shot visualisation process. The greater part is actually visualising the shot result, then moving back to seeing the swing that produced it, then starting to actually make that swing. I may occasionally check something in that swing (I've hit 3/4 shots where I intended to play 1/2 ones and vice versa!) but have found that the less I think mechanics, the better the shot tends to be!

 

[garyinderry]

visualising the fade certainly helped in making the shot! its amazing how much the grip plays its part in things!