golf

There are many situations on a golf course where you might need to hit a special shot, for instance, to avoid a hazard, to fight against the wind, or to follow the contours of the course itself. When you’re faced with a situation like this, it would be great to be able to produce the kind of shot you need, and it might make the difference between saving a stroke or two on a particular hole, or falling victim to the hazard like everyone else in your foursome.

If you have been thinking that producing a fade shot on demand is something that only the PGA professionals can do, you should change your thinking on that right now. You can hit a fade shot when you need it yourself if you’re willing to practice the technique required to hit a fade.

Once you’ve read the information contained below, and you’ve practiced the swing techniques that are referenced, you should be able to produce a fade whenever the situation calls for it on the golf course.

What is a fade in golf?

A fade shot in golf is one where the golf ball will curve gently to the right, assuming you’re a right-handed golfer. When someone intentionally plays a fade shot, he/she will start the ball on a line which is left of the target, so that it can gently curve toward the desired endpoint. For a left-handed golfer, a fade would curve gently to the left, but since the majority of golfers are right-handed, we will consider a fade to be a right-handed curve for the purposes of this article.

A more pronounced fade in which the ball curves hard to the right would be known as a slice, and that’s simply a more extreme version of a fade. The opposite of a fade shot is known as a draw shot, and that’s one that would curve gently to the left. People will also sometimes refer to a fade shot as a cut shot since it cuts to the right rather than going straight down the fairway.

The reason a ball fades during flight is that a clockwise spin has been imparted to the ball, and the reason that happens is that your clubface remains slightly open at the time of impact. It can also happen if your golf swing is normally an out-to-in type of swing, which tends to swipe across the face of the ball at impact time.

There are many times when it’s to your advantage to intentionally hit a fade shot, although most amateurs don’t practice this type of shot often enough to master it. One of the times when you would want to fade a shot is when the right-hand side of a green is protected by a bunker, a pond, or perhaps a tree. By starting the ball left of those hazards, you can curve it gently into the green, without ever being endangered by the hazards.

How to hit a fade with irons

There are actually quite a few ways to play a fade shot, and you may have discovered one of these methods by accident already. If you haven’t, and you’d like to experiment with hitting a fade shot, here’s how you should go about it when using long or middle-range irons.

• First of all, you’ll need to open up your stance and aim your feet left of your desired target. The reason you align yourself this way is to be able to impart the right spin on the ball so that it will go in the desired direction. Your feet, hips, and shoulders should all be aligned a bit further to the left than your clubface is pointed. This will have the effect of opening up the clubface at impact time so that it can impart the necessary clockwise spin on the ball.
• Next, you need to position the ball slightly forward, which will add a bit more loft to the club and will slightly delay the strike point, as your club moves through impact. The clubface should still be pointed toward the target during the setup.
• After you’ve pointed the club directly at the target, make sure to take your grip with an open stance. It’s important that you take your normal grip with this open stance, and turn your hands so that the club points at the target because that’s what will cause it to go well left as you intended.
• At this point, your clubface is not aligned with your body, and when you swing, it should be along the line where your feet are set up. Because you are swinging along the line of your feet, shoulders, and hips, it will cause the ball to start out to the left of your target, and because your clubface will be slightly open at impact time, you will impart the proper spin on the ball, and produce the desired fade.

How else can you improve your golf game?

The one thing to remember when you really want to improve your golf game is to practice, practice, practice. You may or may not enjoy all those hours spent hitting a ball off your golf mats, but it is the one thing that will most often improve your game and have you playing better on the golf course.

If you have not yet purchased a home practice mat, you’ll find some very high-quality mats which are extremely affordable at the Rawhide Golf Ball Co., and that’s the place you should look first for your practice mat.

Every mat from Rawhide had been quality-tested, and refurbished so as to be in a near new condition, while saving you 66% off the cost of a brand new mat. Contact Rawhide Golf Ball Co. today, and start getting in more practice time that will help you hit fade shots on demand, and will help improve your overall swing immensely.