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Are you happy hitting a reliable fade with a driver?

I am. I have been playing a fade most of my life and am comfortable with it. I try not to mess too much with things.
 
I would be screwed if I didn't rely on my "Power Fade". Sometimes it even seems to fade how I want it to :alien:
 
sickyspider said:
You are right I don't have that much control over it although saying that, the closer I move the club head to the ball during teeing up, the more the ball will fade then eventually slice. If I remember rightly, my longest drive was fairly straight. If I am honest I am quite happy with my driver shot so perhaps it is time to leave well alone and work on my other stuff.
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I guess it just depends on which stuff (part of ur game) is most knawing at you to improve. Perhaps there will be another time when you will decide its time to work on the driving.
 
Meh, I don't like when my ball fades. My path is good so it's about club face for me. I'd like my club face to square up so I can make good contact and hit it far.
 
My best tee shot is either straight or a slight draw. Then I know I have made a good controlled swing, and hit it reasonably near the sweet spot. If I overswing, I don't fade the ball, it's a mean slice to another fairway!!!
 
ummm...you said reliable.

Right now...I have NO clue what my golf ball is going to do off the driver face. no CLUE!!!!!!!!!!!

If I could constantly hit a fade it would be great.
 
For me I always take the right side out of play and always have a pull or a pull draw, I'd actually like to straighten out that a bit, but at least I can take one side out of play.
 
One of the only shots I can conmand is a fade with my old Cleveland Launcher DST driver. The driver I have now is longer and consistent enough, but it's nice to know there's a shot I have that I can realy on 99.9% of the time if absolutely necessary. I lose distance, but it's the most reliable shot I have off the tee. I like the ball curving in either a draw or a fade, so am good with this shot when necessary. Some times that means I carry an extra driver if I know there are tight fairways, as insurance if my current driver isn't showing up. I also have to tell everyone how I'm about to hit my "patented" fade shot. If I don't tell them, it doesn't work.
 
You would think I was....I was hitting 70% of my fairways with a nice predictable fade.....now I am working on changing my swing trying to hit a draw to find a few extra yards....go figure.
 
I hit a reliable fade for years. It was great while I could still move the ball out there, but I've tried to develop a draw during the last few years to regain a bit of the lost distance.
So I now have an unreliable 2 way miss. Duck hook, banana slice, dead straight....it's all up for grabs every tee shot.

I WISH I had my reliable fade again.
 
Right now I reliably hit a massive slice. If I could do anything else besides that reliably, I would be ecstatic. Even giving up 20-30 yds, so I normally tee off with 3-woods and hybrids anyway just to straighten my shots out
 
In the OP situation, I would be absolutely happy with a baby fade. The slight movement right is not going to hinder you, especially at the rate you are finding the fairway. Play your natural swing that is proving to be effective!

I would say that my swing is similar, just with a slight draw. My goal is a straight shot and I tend to move it slightly right to left. If it were the opposite I would be equally happy, simply because I know where its going.
 
As long as it's reliable, sure. I used to hit a fade off the tee and it takes the left side out of play which is great. I've been hitting pretty straight though lately. One day I'll learn to aim down the middle... :bulgy-eyes:
 
Somewhat content with hitting a fade with my driver and 3 wood from the tee. I can usually straighten it out for a few weeks at the time and really enjoy my rounds when I can. If I need to hit a draw or must play a straight shot from the tee then I reach for my 3 mashie!
 
If it's reliable, I don't care what the ball flight does.
 
I have been hitting fades with my driver in the past and I was pretty happy with it.
 
I've been hitting a fade for decades and there are days its totally reliable.......then there are those days I leave the driver in the bag.
 
i'd be happier with a reliable ball flight...regardless of fade, draw, straight, low, high...
 
No. I cannot stand to see the ball go left to right unless I am trying to hit a fade into a green for a soft landing.
 
Some of my best golf came when I hit the power fade off of the tee. Now I am somehow drawing the ball.

What I would give to have ol' faithful back... Now I have no idea where my tee shot is going.
 
If i could hit a reliable fade, i'd definitely be happy with it. As of now, its a small draw, sometimes a hook. Gotta aim way right to be safe though.. Its driving me crazy..
 
Yes I am super happy with it, it's predictable, useful and I know I can get. Good 250 yard drive consistently. I think when I release the club properly, I hit a draw anyways but I prefer my fade

But this is the Internet so my response should be, I don't hit a fade, I always hit a 300 yard straight drive
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I play the fade with my driver as my primary shot and have been happy with it ever since the day I decided to go with it. So much more control than the draw (for me). Like War Eagle and some others have said already, I play the left side of the fairway and play for a little come back to the center. If it ends up going straight then I'm on the left side of the fairway. If I over cut it a bit then I'm on the left but am ok with that (depending on the hole situation). I tried to play the draw for years and years and was just too quick (or not quick enough) with my hands. This resulted in many snap hooks and I just could not live with that. It was quite easy switching to the fade/cut but I do still get moments in the year when the draw tried to sneak back in.

But to answer your question, I have very happy playing the cut/fade with my driver for the accuracy and control, without a doubt.
 
Ole Gray said:
I have learned through taking myself to the woodshed, that it's best to play your natural tendencies. Trust me on this one folks :banghead:
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There's some wisdom here. My uncle is a pretty solid golfer and he always says "play the game you've got, not the game you wish you had." Only in the last year have I really embraced that, and I've started enjoying the game a lot more.

In my younger days I was so caught up in trying to "do it right" that the game was just a miserable experience. I hated the slice and wanted nothing more than to hit the draw (for that extra yardage and roll out). Now I've accepted that I'm only going to be but so good given my limited practice time and resources and I'm fine with that.

The reality for me is that my natural ball path is left to right. I've taken lessons, adjusted my grip, tried a bunch of little tips, etc., but all that really seems to do is make me mechanical and make less solid ball contact. The more tweaking that I do (guided or unguided), the worse I get overall and the more frustrated I become.

The other reality for me is that the lower the loft of the club, the more the ball moves left to right. Wedges through the 8 iron are pretty straight and a miss moves about 10 yards right. The driver can have the dreaded banana slice when I miss and can end up OB or in a hazard. I correct accordingly with my aim based on the club and some days the driver just stays in the bag for something that I can hit down the middle.

The only exception to that is the Trilogy fairway wood off of the deck or rough. Something about the way I hit down on it and how it interacts with the turf squares it up a bit more. I still have left to right ball flight, but it is a power fade that is actually less movement than my 4-7 irons. I'm not saying that if you have bad ball flight, get a Mashie, Trilogy or some other Ginty based design and your problem is solved. It's obviously not. It's just an odd curiosity that I've noted. Unfortunately, I can slice it like any other club when teed up.

Back to the original question, give me consistent ball flight because that's something that I can adjust for. It beats the heck out of aiming down the middle, but having no clue where it is going to ultimately end up (and playing Army golf).
 
I'd take a reliable anything no matter what the ball flight was. A 0-5 yard fade ain't much of a fade and off the tee unless your playing ridiculously tight fairways. I'd personally be happy.
 
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