My fade is back, I've lost 20 odd yards per club and it feels great!

[Hacker Khan]

Recently I've been suffering from an increasingly drastic draw, which turned into a bad hook, which was then turning into a round ruiner and was completely spoiling my enjoyment of the game. It was great when it first appeared as it was adding yards onto my shots. But recently the ball was landing anywhere up to 40 yards right (I'm a lefty) of where I was aiming. And I had lost the ability to use anything under a 5 iron as they would just duck hook across the ground and go nowhere.

Anyway, last weekend I went for a lesson with an assistant pro which cost me £14. And he pointed out that I had the worlds strongest grip, and could view about every knuckle on my right hand. Which was not good. I kind of knew this myself but every time I tried to weaken it it just felt too weird. But he told me that it had to be done.

So I've weakened my grip drastically, it feels extremely strange, and at first I was struggling to hit the ball. But just been down the range and after 150 balls things are looking up a bit. I have lost at least 20 yards on most clubs, but they are not hooking. And in fact are now fading a bit. I know this is not ideal, but I am a lot more accurate and with a bit more practice I should be able to add some more yards. And if not I'll just buy some TM RocketBladz as it's well known they are the answer to any yardage problems Plus I managed to hit my hybrids again, and after a while they were mostly going straightish and landing nice and softly. I'd really had forgotten what that was like.

Best £14 I think I've ever spent.

 

[Nashy]

Glade you feel more comfortable but you shouldn't have lost 20yards per club just by hitting a slight fade. I choose to play a fade and loose me 20yards over hitting a draw.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Glade you feel more comfortable but you shouldn't have lost 20yards per club just by hitting a slight fade. I choose to play a fade and loose me 20yards over hitting a draw.

You didn't see how long I was hitting the clubs before. Plus the fact that I am a high handicap happy hacker, so choosing to play a draw or fade is not in my armoury yet. I was getting tour like distances from my 8, 9 and wedges, because I was hooding the club face so much and taking so much loft off them. Great if you can control it, not so great when you had no idea which fairway they would land on.

 

[Jensen]

Maybe you've now gone to the other extreme, as we tend to over exaggerate changes. You've weakend the grip too much so you now have a fade. I imagine the solution would be somewhere between the strong grip that you had and the weak grip you now have.
Out of interest how many knuckles are now showing on you're top hand at address.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Maybe you've now gone to the other extreme, as we tend to over exaggerate changes. You've weakend the grip too much so you now have a fade. I imagine the solution would be somewhere between the strong grip that you had and the weak grip you now have.
Out of interest how many knuckles are now showing on you're top hand at address.

You are completely correct there. I am only seeing one knuckle now, which I know is probably too weak. But the problem was that once I tried to show just 2 or 3 then I would inevitably creep back to my strong grip. So I though may as well go very weak to try and train my hands to feel vaguely comfortable. I just wanted the confidence in knowing I can hit a shot with a weak grip after having a strong grip for so long. Then when I go neutral it should feel fine. But in reality who knows.

 

[Ethan]

When you say fade, how much does the ball curve in the air?

 

[full_throttle]

If your prepared to spend time on the range practising with a weak grip then why not with a neutral grip. I'm sure by the end you will feel the benefit.

 

[G1BB0]

I have also accepted my fade, tried for ages to hit a draw, got it going well but then turned into a hook (especially off the tee with driver), had a spell not playing and gone back to basics and my stock fade. Played 18 today and had 7 pars 5 of which were GIR with 3 lipped birdie putts, ok the putter was a major factor as had zero 3 putts but knowing where the ball was gonna go with the longer clubs was the major factor.

Also have lost about 2 clubs distance but with the cold its probably in reality 1.

It was nice to be out and hitting a ball half decent without worrying about setup over every shot, line up and hit it was the order of the day, about a 300% improvement over last week.

Glad you are enjoying it :thup:

 

[Lump]

To the guys that have had issues with a "draws/hooks". Where did the ball start? left and then hook or right and then hook? I have never played with anyone that has hooked the ball from a shot hit starting right, but always been a pull hook.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Hacker,

Order yourself one of therse and use it at the range http://www.direct-golf.co.uk/golf_accessories/golf-grip/swing_aids_grip_training_aid/p14858.aspx I am trying to weaken my grip a tad and it has made the changes feel quite natural quite quickly. As for hitting the fade, plenty of good golfers have won much money hitting that shape

 

[Ethan]

A fade is not a short shot. Hogan, Nicklaus and Tiger all play(ed) fades and none of them were short. Most club golfers who say they fade the ball actually slice it. The slice is a short shot with a lot of wasted energy. But pro faders fade the ball about 6 feet in the air not aiming at the left rough and finding the right rough.

I hook the ball. On a good day I draw it but really it is a snap just trying to lull me into a false sense of security and a true snap is never far away. When I was fitted for a 913 (thanks GM) I asked the fitter to give me a set up which gave me a soft fade and be did. I haven't compared it yet in normal summer conditions but I expect to gain distance through a better flight.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Hacker,

Order yourself one of therse and use it at the range http://www.direct-golf.co.uk/golf_accessories/golf-grip/swing_aids_grip_training_aid/p14858.aspx I am trying to weaken my grip a tad and it has made the changes feel quite natural quite quickly. As for hitting the fade, plenty of good golfers have won much money hitting that shape

Cheers for that, I may invest. And as for whether I have a fade, draw, slice, hook etc etc, I'm not that bothered as long as I am enjoying my golf. I'm not a member of anywhere so all my games are fun games against mates. So all I want is for the time being is for the ball to end up vaguely where I was aiming it. My hook was destroying the fun where as my push/fade/slice or whatever it is, is slightly more enjoyable as it doesn't look like it will end up on the next fairway 50% of the time.

Next range session I will go more neutral and see what gives.

 

[garyinderry]

can someone please point me in the direction of the middle of the fairway. since trying to move back to playing a fade i am now hitting monster slices. need some range time quickly!

 

[One Planer]

A fade is not a short shot. Hogan, Nicklaus and Tiger all play(ed) fades and none of them were short. Most club golfers who say they fade the ball actually slice it. The slice is a short shot with a lot of wasted energy. But pro faders fade the ball about 6 feet in the air not aiming at the left rough and finding the right rough.

I hook the ball. On a good day I draw it but really it is a snap just trying to lull me into a false sense of security and a true snap is never far away. When I was fitted for a 913 (thanks GM) I asked the fitter to give me a set up which gave me a soft fade and be did. I haven't compared it yet in normal summer conditions but I expect to gain distance through a better flight.

Ethan is quite right :thup:

I play a push fade. The ball starts right of my toe line and straight. The ball reaches the peak of it's flight then begins to drop right. From the line it starts on, it fades around 5 yards.

Powerful and safe shot in my book :thup:

 

[USER1999]

5 yard fade, 5 yard draw, no difference in length. The ball doesn't know the difference.

A slice adds loft and back spin, so loss of distance.

A hook de lofts, and lessens spin. For most, more length, more in the bundu.

Golf. It's only science.