Instruction
What happens when “over-the-toppers” try to hit a draw
One of the worst feelings in golf is not being able to hit a certain shot, and more specifically for many, not being able to hit the coveted draw.
Over-the-toppers everywhere would give anything to hit a ball that begins right of their target and falls back toward the target. However, whenever golfers who swing over the top try and draw the ball, all they get is a HUGE pull. So what I’d like to do in this article is explain to you why this occurs and help you to understand what you must do in order to move the ball consistently right to left like a Tour player.
To illustrate the point, let’s take a look at a solid player I had in the Academy who swings the club from out-to-in on every swing and hits a very controlled fade. Below you can see that all his paths are negative (on the left part of the screen), which shows he is indeed swinging out to in.
Now, I am not here to say that this swing pattern is bad by any stretch of the imagination because I’m all for working with your strengths. However, this path will make it very easy to move the ball left-to-right, but difficult to hit a draw without causing a pull. That’s because his average path is -7.2 degrees left of his target.
I asked this player to hit several draws to see what happens…
After many attempts, this was the common shot he (as a very good player) hit. Let’s examine the data and see why:
- His average path, shown on the left side of the screen, never shifted right of the target, which would be shown by a positive number.
- His average path when trying to draw the ball was basically the same as his normal swing — as is the result with most over the top players when they try and draw the ball.
- His path when trying to draw the ball (as shown by the blue line) is still way left of his target.
- The only thing he did differently while trying to draw the ball was to hit the ball with a more closed face than usual at impact, causing the face to be -1.7 degrees left of the path… thus, a shot starting left and heading farther left.
What you need to understand if you are an over-the-top player and you try to draw the ball, you MUST shift your path to the right of the target. If you close the face and keep the same path, a pull is inevitable.
The only true way to move the ball from right to left is for the path to be right of the target, and the face to be left of the path but right of the target, (as shown below). You must always have this order when trying to curve the ball correctly: path, then face angle at impact, then target-line. Anything other than that is dangerous
When the path is right of the target (shown by the blue line above), you can shift the face left of the path slightly and cause the ball to fall from right to left.
Hopefully by now you finally understand WHY you tend to pull the ball as a over-the-top player when trying to draw the ball, and the adjustments you need to make in order to correct it. Keep in mind that you’re making these changes merely to widen your arsenal of shots, because at the end of the day, nothing is more reliable than a trustworthy fade when you need to hit a fairway or green.
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Instruction
Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?
Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!
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Instruction
The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic
My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Instruction
Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!
Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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KoreanSlumLord
Sep 4, 2016 at 4:08 pm
I dislike the look of my ball going right to left. I fought for many years to rid myself of my natural draw. I like my irons and fairway woods to be high, straight, with a soft 5 yard left to right fade at the end. My drives I like a long, low running fade taught by the great Jimmy Demaret. Jimmy Demaret at the Champions Club in Houston said Mr. Hogan was disgusted with any shot that went right to left. Now mind you, I can shot shape a draw at will should the conditions call for it.
KK
Sep 4, 2016 at 3:43 pm
So wrong. You can totally hit a draw with a square face and an in-to-out clubhead path. In fact, that’s the simpler and very likely better method.
tom stickney
Sep 5, 2016 at 4:21 pm
KK- if you impact the ball with a square face and an in to out path you will miss the ball left of target…check out the new ball flight laws on the Trackman blog etc to aid your understanding of how face and path interact to produce curvature
Mr. Wedge
Sep 6, 2016 at 1:42 pm
It’s important to distinguish whether you are talking about face angle in relation to the club path or target line. If you are talking about target line, then you are correct, because an in-to-out path with a club square to target line, will actually be closed in relation to club path, and thus produce a draw. But an in-to-out path and a square club face in relation to the club path will just produce a push to the right. The “spin” and resulting draw/fade are dependent on face angle in relation to club path.
Billy
Sep 9, 2016 at 2:42 pm
U guys are wrong .. There’s gear effect
He must shank every shot
Sometimes a Smizzle
Sep 2, 2016 at 12:07 pm
I am not sure why there are many shank ratings. Nothing wrong with this article thay i can see.
KK
Sep 4, 2016 at 3:39 pm
Because you can’t see that he’s flat out wrong.
Jim
Sep 2, 2016 at 12:50 am
jeez….stop swinging 7 degrees out to in. Practice with some visual aide….Of you have a grass range, tie a 6′ piece of string between 2 tees, make it straight and pull it tight. Press it right down firm and hit balls right off it with irons. For a driver, put another tee just a few degrees outside the string about a foot after your teed up ball and ‘program’ that into your ‘computer – that the club has somewhere to go BESIDES THE BALL. The ball is not the terminus of the swing! Most OTT folks are hitting at the balln not swinging through it. Close the stance A LITTLE! – It’s better for your back anyway. A closed stance doesn’t
change ball flight – but it might help you make a better turn.
Have a good spine tilt toward the back side (10 degrees anyway) & get a little more turn from the entire front side while sweeping the club away – STOP LIFTING it up before your hands pass your belt line.- MAKE your hip turn – even a
100 degree + shoulder turn doesn’t ‘make’ your hips turn. Try and get a LITTLE ‘flatter’ OR at LEAST get your hands behind your shoelaces at the top. Even my XXL students and those with fused spines can get there if they start with the spine tilt and turn the front shoulder more ‘level to the
ground’ to start the backswing…. Try a little shift off the back foot and deliberately hold the shoulder turn (and hands) for an instant to allow the front hip to lead the umwinding, then lead with the back of your front hand and try to clip the second tee with the follow through….
there’s NO reason to live with 7 degrees out to in. Look at the smash factor – he must have been hitting pretty close to center face to produce even 1.41 – notice the jump to 1.48 with the draw attempt…. there’s no reason this person – or any OTT wildman can’t reduce that to 2 degrees with a little coaching and get to square better
Hawt
Sep 1, 2016 at 10:25 pm
Well, you OTT fade guys gotta just aim way right and hit a hook, and live with calling that a draw, aintcha
Hawt
Sep 1, 2016 at 10:27 pm
If you’re right handed, that is.
Brian
Sep 1, 2016 at 3:13 pm
I would give my left nut to be able to hit a predicable fade. Few things in golf are more miserable, in my mind, than fighting snap hooks off the tee.
Hugh
Sep 1, 2016 at 1:27 pm
Absolutely. You can get away with this with irons but over the top with a wood is just a game killer.
Justin
Sep 1, 2016 at 1:17 pm
An “over the top” fade with the driver, no matter how controlled and consistent, will never travel as far as a true power fade. The angle of the swing path on a power fade is much less negative and the face only slightly open. The golf swing is very much a game of staying within the lines. In this case, if you are trying to hit a power fade, the lines you need to stay within are the negative swing path angle and the target line. Close the face left of your swing path and as Tom said you’ll hit a big pull. Open the face right of your target line and you’ll hit a very weak push or block. For most amateurs, It’s much easier to develop one solid swing and then use the position of your feet to change whether you are hitting a draw or fade. If you set your feet right of the target line but keep the club face angled toward the target, you are creating a “closed” club face as far as the swing path is concerned. This will result in a draw unless you swing path is negative (over the top) with regard to your intended path.
I truly believe that before any amateur tries to add a draw to their game (especially off the tee), they should learn to hit a proper fade with minimally negative swing path and just slightly open face. Once you get that down, you may never even want to hit a draw!
Jack
Sep 2, 2016 at 2:39 am
I believe in that. I’ve recently changed from draw to fade as I changed my swing around, and the results are nice. Way better control, and actually the distance is better for me as it’s at the same time further and more consistent (has to do with my improved swing mechanics too) but the fade doesn’t really impact it negatively that much. I can still execute my draw/hook when I need it but it’s my secondary shot shape now. Though it’s useful in certain wind conditions.
AllBOdoesisgolf
Sep 1, 2016 at 10:55 am
embrace the fade