Changing Your Stock Shot/Ball Flight

dacatalyst41

#ReptheG #RocktheChev
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Jun 22, 2016
Messages
11,880
Reaction score
13,155
Location
Shreveport, LA
Handicap
13
After seeing some real issues with snap hooks a few times this year, I set out to change my stock shot shape to a cut/fade. The draw (and the snap hook for that matter) have been fairly easy for me to play but increasingly harder to control. Some of that was grip...ball placement...path. Okay okay it was me, but I digress. Thus far it has been quite a challenge. For one thing, work has been absolutely INSANE this year so I don’t see the course often. Today, I had a morning and an afternoon range session. Gotta make the moments/off days count. Some really beautiful cuts littered my range sessions but no real breakthroughs as of yet.

Have any of you changed your stock shot shape and what was the journey like for you? Feel free to post any tips or drills you used in the process.
 
I fight the hooks as well. I have also been trying to work on moving the ball left to right. You're right it's very hard. But, I feel like I really need to do it as that over draw/ snap hook really kill me especially off the tee.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
As I got older, i set out to play a draw. Seemed like a solid plan until I figured out I can now miss left and right with impunity.
 
After seeing some real issues with snap hooks a few times this year, I set out to change my stock shot shape to a cut/fade. The draw (and the snap hook for that matter) have been fairly easy for me to play but increasingly harder to control. Some of that was grip...ball placement...path. Okay okay it was me, but I digress. Thus far it has been quite a challenge. For one thing, work has been absolutely INSANE this year so I don’t see the course often. Today, I had a morning and an afternoon range session. Gotta make the moments/off days count. Some really beautiful cuts littered my range sessions but no real breakthroughs as of yet.

Have any of you changed your stock shot shape and what was the journey like for you? Feel free to post any tips or drills you used in the process.

i recently did this with my irons. I was fighting a bad slice. So I went to work and tried to flatten out my swing and I strengthened my grip. It’s been tough at times but now I’ve got a straight ball flight or a slight draw. I can pull hook a few but I know it’s an easier correction than a slice that loses distance.
 
As I got older, i set out to play a draw. Seemed like a solid plan until I figured out I can now miss left and right with impunity.
Golf is hard.
 
Can't help you here. We have the same miss and playing a cut has crossed my mind. Just never committed to it. The thought of intentionally working a ball to the right seems impossible. If I ever miss right something has gone very wrong. I'm happy with my "generally" one way miss.
 
Can't help you here. We have the same miss and playing a cut has crossed my mind. Just never committed to it. The thought of intentionally working a ball to the right seems impossible. If I ever miss right something has gone very wrong. I'm happy with my "generally" one way miss.

The possibility of gaining a two way miss does scare me.
 
I changed my stock shots again a couple months ago.

When I lived in NE I worked really hard to learn a lower flight, boring, draw as my stock shot to combat the wind. Wasn't easy with my irons especially, which were naturally a high cut. I had to completely change my takeaway, flatten out my swing, and cut off my follow through a little. I had really kind of set it in stone and was comfortable with it, and then a couple months ago I moved here to AR.

So now in the land of velcro bermuda fairways and rough, torrential downpours, jungle level dew, and no wind, that ball flight was a no go. Had to immediately change my weight, ball, and hand positions, add some loft, get a little more upright, etc. Basically reversed everything I'd been doing. It's been 2 months and I've been mostly successful with it, but it still doesn't feel natural. And when I get confused mid swing I end up hitting a wipey fade or sailing my driver way right. Just takes time. I'm a big fan of taking video to break down the good and bad, and match up flights with looks and feels though. It helps me a lot. There are a lot of things I don't realize I'm doing or not doing until I see it.

I think the hardest part for me has been the weight transfer during my limited rotation. Feels completely different.
 
Last edited:
Yep been down that road. I took up the quest when I retired and had plenty of time on my hands to learn a new swing. It took me five years to get to the stage of thinking I might own it and another five years of actually owning it. It doesn't stop there either, it is never ending.
The problem is that we never lose our old swing, it is right there in the background just waiting to reappear in pressure situations or when we get lazy.
 
I used to hit a huge, banana ball slice. By strengthening my grip and working on a more inside-to-out swing path, I turned it into a baby draw. But now my bad miss is a hook/pull hook. Now I'm working on correcting that, but it seems more difficult to cure than the slice was!
 
I like you hit a draw for most of my golfing career and some of that time I hit a 30-40 yard hook. Over the last couple years, I have started working the ball left to right and can hit a cut on command when I need it.

I rarely hit it a snap hook anymore. Keep working on it @dacatalyst4, you will kill it soon!
 
I changed my stock shots again a couple months ago.

When I lived in NE I worked really hard to learn a lower flight, boring, draw as my stock shot to combat the wind. Wasn't easy with my irons especially, which were naturally a high cut. I had to completely change my takeaway, flatten out my swing, and cut off my follow through a little. I had really kind of set it in stone and was comfortable with it, and then a couple months ago I moved here to AR.

So now in the land of velcro bermuda fairways and rough, torrential downpours, jungle level dew, and no wind, that ball flight was a no go. Had to immediately change my weight, ball, and hand positions, add some loft, get a little more upright, etc. Basically reversed everything I'd been doing. It's been 2 months and I've been mostly successful with it, but it still doesn't feel natural. And when I get confused mid swing I end up hitting a wipey fade or sailing my driver way right. Just takes time. I'm a big fan of taking video to break down the good and bad, and match up flights with looks and feels though. It helps me a lot. There are a lot of things I don't realize I'm doing or not doing until I see it.

I think the hardest part for me has been the weight transfer during my limited rotation. Feels completely different.

Interesting thing is that while trying to find a cut today, I was hitting amazing baby draws and now I’m torn between grinding my way into the cut or continuing with what I’m seeing now. I feel like I need to stay the course but it’s definitely a grind.
 
Interesting thing is that while trying to find a cut today, I was hitting amazing baby draws and now I’m torn between grinding my way into the cut or continuing with what I’m seeing now. I feel like I need to stay the course but it’s definitely a grind.
So what did you change, working on the cut, that gave you sweet little baby draw?? That's the question.
 
So what did you change, working on the cut, that gave you sweet little baby draw?? That's the question.
Funny store. My right pinky started getting sore so I decided to give it a break for a few swings by going to the overlap grip. Didn’t think I’d even make contact. First swing, the ball carried the 150yd flag with my 9i. I even checked the sole to make sure it was my nine. The grip changed nullified my right hand for the most part. The rest was weight placement but in the end, it was a lot of fun.
 
Ultimately, I think its your path that needs to change in order to make permanent change.
I'm fighting to get more neutral in an effort to eliminate the lefts.
 
Had to immediately change my weight, ball, and hand positions, add some loft, get a little more upright, etc. Basically reversed everything I'd been doing.
Curious as to what weight did you change? Club weight, swing weight, which club, weight position change on driver, etc.?
 
The possibility of gaining a two way miss does scare me.
In your range sessions try some simple things like moving the ball back and forth in your stance one inch at a time and see how that affects ball flight. Then try some things like weakening and strengthening your grip (moving the left hand position around not changing grip pressure). I generally think the difference between a draw and a pull hook is just ball position creeping too far toward the left foot and the release starting before impact. Trying these things may help you understand how to avoid that and even where to put the ball and how to grip the club for a fade if you want it without making wholesale swing changes.
 
Began changing my swing a week ago when I jumped on Trackman and my path was more than +5. So instructor and I focused on the symmetry between back and downswing. He put a water bottle down and then put a ball behind and to side of bottle. To avoid bottle, I had to hit a hard cut. Started hitting up to -2 again. We are exagerating the cut, with the objective for a slight draw but a path of not more than +2. Was on the range 5X this week, hitting that dang water bottle at the end of the range. Finally, things got better. Another week or two, and I may be able to get to the course. But with 100+ temps and high humidity, not much course time right now.
 
As someone who was a huge slicer for over a decade, I've gotta say, being able to miss right or left off a tight tee box has made life more interesting........
 
Curious as to what weight did you change? Club weight, swing weight, which club, weight position change on driver, etc.?
How I position my own weight, and the way I transfer it. Some of those things you mentioned would work though. Weight further back on driver head, lighter iron shafts, etc would all increase my launch and flight, but have other trade offs.
 
I don’t know about setting out to change ball flight. I had a bad slice for quite a while. I have constantly worked to change my swing. With that my ball flight has changed. I’ll still slice one now and than, but it’s more of a once a round or less. Changing a swing it tough, and takes a lot of commitment. Most of the swing work I’ve been doing is off course, and small motion based. Trying to retrain my body with new paths for the back swing and down swing. I had one of my best driving days on Thursday as my body was doing some of the motions I’ve been working on. Now I’m hitting more of a slight draw most of the time. I will snap hook on occasion but it’s easy for me to correct.
 
When my swing is on my path is 1-2 out to in. I love hitting little fades. Taking the left side out (in general) is nice. My biggest miss is still a rushed swing with an OTT move. Path blows up and hands try to save the shot, which gets nuts. Pull hook or slappy slice is likely. Patience and tempo keep me on track from that miss.

Every now and then I spend time toying with a an in to out path, and I could make that change but it would take a lot of work to entrain and then I will likely find a new set of misses to battle. I decided awhile back not to fight my swing. That sense of a proper shape is a draw is something I try to keep out of my thinking. So instead I work on keeping my path consistent and minimizing my main miss. I can hit draws when needed with extra focus and emphasis. Anyway, my takeaway is to stick with my base swing and refine versus go for a big plane/path change. YMMV
 
I fall into a bad over draw / hook. I just changed to JumboMax grips. This dramatically altered my grip and really neutralized my hands. I have a strop game lead hand and weak trail hand. With Midsized By going to the large JM grips my hands are virtually neutral with both.

iveonly had one range session but I saw dramatic change to curb the hook / over draw. From that being nearly every swing, now 80% are nice and straight!
I’m excited continue to get adjusted to grips and how they impact my golf scores.
 
I fall into a bad over draw / hook. I just changed to JumboMax grips. This dramatically altered my grip and really neutralized my hands. I have a strop game lead hand and weak trail hand. With Midsized By going to the large JM grips my hands are virtually neutral with both.

iveonly had one range session but I saw dramatic change to curb the hook / over draw. From that being nearly every swing, now 80% are nice and straight!
I’m excited continue to get adjusted to grips and how they impact my golf scores.
Any noticeable change to your trajectories?
 
Back
Top