Calling All Faders

[nomullies]

I think I've been an over the top swinger since I picked up a club. Left to right ball fight. Pull slice says the sim. I've tried lessons, tips, and numerous videos to straighten out. Nothing has helped. I marvel at my 75 year-old buddy who hits it dead straight virtually every time.

I'm thinking I stop trying to fix it and simply live with it or perfect it. My dead pull miss causes more pain than the occasional slice. Anybody out there in the same boat? Do it intentionally? Open stance, rotate stance left (RH) or just let the OTT happen and aim left? FYI my app says I'm a 13 cap but average score about a 90. I lose four balls a round, hit 50% of fairways and 25% of greens. Would love to improve those numbers.

[Cdntac]

I think I've been an over the top swinger since I picked up a club. Left to right ball fight. Pull slice says the sim. I've tried lessons, tips, and numerous videos to straighten out. Nothing has helped. I marvel at my 75 year-old buddy who hits it dead straight virtually every time.

I'm thinking I stop trying to fix it and simply live with it or perfect it. My dead pull miss causes more pain than the occasional slice. Anybody out there in the same boat? Do it intentionally? Open stance, rotate stance left (RH) or just let the OTT happen and aim left? FYI my app says I'm a 13 cap but average score about a 90. I lose four balls a round, hit 50% of fairways and 25% of greens. Would love to improve those numbers.

Over the years my miss has been a pull. I’d counter it by aiming to the right but occasionally I’d double cross myself and push it right.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, last year I began standing with a slightly open stance — but with the driver face aimed straight down the line — and I began to hit the ball much more straight.

I’m guessing that by having my hips already open, they’re prevented from turning open as I swing (dragging my shoulders, arms and club face along with them). More lower body seems more stable doing this.

Standing square, I think my lower body still wants to rotate at the timing I did when younger (but now swinging a bit slower) and subsequently my upper body gets behind and dragged along to the left when my hips turned.

[Jeffc]

I really try to focus on taking the club straight back or a touch inside. Take the club back like Weir did to see where it is when it is parallel to the ground. I was amazed how out of position I was.

[Pingeye2_fan]

Maybe try and think about the ball as a clock face as you look down at it.

Try and hit the ball in the area of the 4 or the 5.

[NickStarchuk]

Not all faders are over the top and not all fades swing out to in

[bogey5]

What's wrong with playing a reliable fade? Much easier to play with than pull hooks.

[Jeffc]

What's wrong with playing a reliable fade? Much easier to play with than pull hooks.

Nothing. I love it. Except when the fade turns to slice.

[Pingeye2_fan]

“You can talk to a fade but a hook won't listen.”

- Lee Trevino

[nearace]

Nothing. I love it. Except when the fade turns to slice.

That's just a balance issue imo.

[Fore Warned]

This is from an older thread on the same subject. HOW I FIXED MY FADEY/SLICEY - EASY PEASY!! started by tarrantian

....Simple Grip Change to Stop Your Slice - & Hit Driver Straight - YouTube

Take a look at the video, and in particular the grip change described at the 9 minute mark. It suggests griping the club in such a way as to close the face at address.

I did this last season and it made for big differences off the tee. While it may look awkward at address, for me, it actually squared up the club face at impact.. It took a while to trust this. Even now I still have a tendency to aim left, to land middle and avoid going far right. The problem when I do this, is that the closed face makes the ball go straight, and if I aim left....it goes straight left. Old habits die hard.

[nomullies]

Not all faders are over the top and not all fades swing out to in

I see myself on video. It isn't prononced, but it is OTT. And the divots seem to be aiming left.

[nomullies]

This is from an older thread on the same subject. HOW I FIXED MY FADEY/SLICEY - EASY PEASY!! started by tarrantian

....Simple Grip Change to Stop Your Slice - & Hit Driver Straight - YouTube

Take a look at the video, and in particular the grip change described at the 9 minute mark. It suggests griping the club in such a way as to close the face at address.

I did this last season and it made for big differences off the tee. While it may look awkward at address, for me, it actually squared up the club face at impact.. It took a while to trust this. Even now I still have a tendency to aim left, to land middle and avoid going far right. The problem when I do this, is that the closed face makes the ball go straight, and if I aim left....it goes straight left. Old habits die hard.

Thanks. Ya my grip is pretty well there already. Any stronger and bad stuff happens. It's funny the little video at the sim often shows the driver head opening but well after (two inches?) the ball strike.

[nomullies]

What's wrong with playing a reliable fade? Much easier to play with than pull hooks.

Nothin wrong at all. I was just curious how others do it consistently. Pull hooks are rare for me. Dead pulls however creep in and almost always cost strokes.

[SmoothBomber]

Maybe try and think about the ball as a clock face as you look down at it.

Try and hit the ball in the area of the 4 or the 5.

I think you mean 7 so you are coming from inside. by hitting at 4/5, you guarantee coming into the ball out to in...for a rightee

[SmoothBomber]

One of my best scoring season (2 kids ago), I played high fades on every shot. I had a repeatable pull fade and just leaned into it and played my shot. Results were predictable and my cap dropped to below 5. You can def make a consistent fade work.

Over the years, since that fader's dream season, I've developed my ability to control curvature and trajectory and generally favor a tight draw most days. Before I improved my overall mechanics, I started transitioning away from the high fade (mostly because I didn't like the height, not the fade) without altering my mechanics at first and just made my same OTT move from a closed stance. Some guys even teach this move as "over-the-top, from the inside". Malaska's 'turn the wheel" or "stand the club up" moves come to mind immediatly, but there are others. Another guy calls this type of swinging "hands over the top".

Either way, the point is, depending on the nature of your OTT move, it may be possible to change very little about what you actually do to swing and just alter your alignment so you address the ball more closed. Obv ball position may need to move a touch as your natural lowpoint will move farther back as you do this. Basically, even tho you remain OTT relative to your body, relative to the shot line you will be coming into the ball more square or likely even from in to out. Your ball flight will change to having less left-to-right, maybe it will be str8, maybe it will go over into slight right-to-left territory, but there will be some sort of change in this direction. From the closed setup, your current miss of a str8 pull will actually go str8, you are essentially setting up to hit it, leaning into your tendency rather than trying to change it.

Alignment and aiming can be thrown off by such a change, but watching Mr. Lee's of Gravity Golf presentation on 'dynamic alignment' helped me get over this and may be worth a view.