Describe your process for changing your ball flight.

Easier swing with more club, finish low.

^^ This is for flighting the ball. For hitting fades or draws I change my intention and adjust club path, thinking about my right shoulder position, either more in or out, as the control. As long as I keep the face square, I can usually pull off the shape. I can also use my wrists to get slappy fades or pull draws. But having the ability to curve the ball both ways is easier than controlling how much. I have a lot of work before I am at the point where working the ball for pin placement, etc. is viable. But this is part of the game I enjoy. Shaping shots is fun.
 
^^ This is for flighting the ball. For hitting fades or draws I change my intention and adjust club path, thinking about my right shoulder position, either more in or out, as the control. As long as I keep the face square, I can usually pull off the shape. I can also use my wrists to get slappy fades or pull draws. But having the ability to curve the ball both ways is easier than controlling how much. I have a lot of work before I am at the point where working the ball for pin placement, etc. is viable. But this is part of the game I enjoy. Shaping shots is fun.
I shape iron shots around trouble, like when I put myself in a bad position off the tee. However, I am not skilled enough to shape gentle shots either way into pins with irons. I can with a driver, but not irons. I do flight irons frequently, which is much easier to pull off.
 
I will try to change trajectory but I generally don’t try to draw the ball. I can fade the ball. To fade I will set up open and swing along my foot line. I don’t seem to be able to turn the ball over that well. I can do it with a 3 wood or an iron if I have to but generally I play the shot shape I brought that day.
 
Not that I do it very often, but a ball back in my stance will fly lower. Farther forward in my stance the ball will fly the ball higher.

Another thing I might do is keep my hands farther forward at impact for a lower ball flight. Less forward for a higher ball flight.

All that said, 95% of the time, I just swing the club into the back of the ball without regards to how high the ball flies. Most of that 5% exception is when I hit flop shots with various clubs.

I need to add that I don't hit draws, or fades at will. I can't do that. My stock shot off my clubs is some what straight, that tails off right, or left towards the end of the ball's flight.
 
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I've played both shot shapes over the course of time as a go to, and have some accumulated body feels on what each shape "feels" like. I will hold off a little for a fade, stock shot is straight to a draw, and I can turn up the hand & arm action to move the ball more left. I combine these thought with a change in starting alignment, and a healthy dose of visualization.

High shot I will move maybe a ball width forward and sweep hard. Low shot ball back a little and trap it.
 
I'm not good enough to make it happen instinctively. I have to adjust my stance, the face of the club, play it forward or back, etc...based on the shot I'm TRYING to hit. Then hope it comes off the way I want. That's all I've got right now.
This
 
I'm not good at working the ball, so me trying to change my ball flight usually looks something like this:

 
Once in a rare while...
 
it’s all about face for me. i can’t seem to manipulate path much. so just a little extra face rotation, or holding it off a touch, is how i add some shape to the shot.
 
Hitting a draw or fade on command sometimes, and i say that depending on the player, can be done with subtle changes to the swing and grip. sometimes, depending on the SIZE or trac of the fade or draw can be just a small tweek of the clubhead adjustment . If you want a slight draw on a dogleg 200 years out, do you need to make a set up, grip and open or close the clubhead?

If you have been playing shots all your life, drawing or fading on command, those changes to YOU, are slight or negligible. If you are older and still play those shots, you started with Blades that are crazy hard to hit, and have most likely progressed to clubs that are newer, more technology and are easier to manipulate. you muscles are trained to make small adjustments you no longer realize you are actually doing half the time, to make that drop fade or drop 5 yards to the left. Sometimes just visualizing the shot, your muscle memory handles the changes, and you mail and wipe the club, and stroll to the green. Then there are the times you try to make the adjustment at it flies off the face of the earth and you look up and wonder, "WHO HIT THANK SKANKED SHOT?" shake your head and reach for a new ball and take a drop cause that one went 20 yards out into the lake 20 yards short of the green....lol, and thats why we love this game.....days when this things work like a pro, even if its only one round in ten these days....
 
I’m always trying to hit a straight ball. I don’t want a fade or a draw. A dead straight ball. So for me at least, if I want to draw it I aim right of my target (tee it a little higher) and then still try and get the face to make contact at the target line. Same with a fade. Aim left (tee it down a bit) but still try to hit that target line. No clue why it works but it normally does. If I start to try to manipulate the face with my hands the ball will start going all over or I’ll have a miss hit.
I have intentionally not tried to video this to see why it works but if I had to guess I’m probably coming more inside on the draw and over the top on the fade. So for me it all about my aim and tee height on tee shots.
 
I'm not good enough to design shots. I just swing the club and hang on for the ride and hope my ball goes mostly straight.
 
I agree that when I was younger and much better at golf it was easier to shape shots. Now, after a year of being back in the groove, I have some confidence to do it again. However, my swing is very upright so I need to learn new ways to do that.

I used to be able to change grip or address, or swing path to create shots.
 
With driver, I think fade, visualize the flight and where I will make contact with the ball - outside of ball.

For draw, I do the same and think center of ball and stock shot. I don't hit a hard draw yet.

For irons, I do the same for fade. My stock shot is a slight draw, so I go with that. For a hard draw, haven't tried one in a year since I've been retooling the swing. I've been working on owning the new swing.:unsure:
 
Manipulating ball flight requires conscious and deliberate action for me, and is something I’ve just recently started to learn through lessons. My natural swing produces anything from a strong fade to a slice.

People talk about “swinging to right field” to produce a draw. For me, I have to do what feels like swinging to the first base dugout just to get a straight shot. On a good day I might get a little draw about 10% of the time. Club path numbers indicate that’s not actually what is happening, but that’s sure what it feels like. Getting a club path that’s even 2* to the right feels like I’m swinging almost perpendicular ulnar to my target line.

If I need the ball to move left to right I just swing in a way that feels natural. I can dial up a giant slice at will by intentionally cutting across the ball, but I haven’t found a situation where that is useful to me other than messing around on the range.
 
I fear hitting a hard draw because Haney did the swing to right field to have peeps eliminate their slice ... and I had a draw - but my club path eventually was 8-10 degrees in to out. Disaster for me. No swing to right field for me.

It's taken a couple of years and a new instructor to cut that down to an acceptable +3 degrees at most to get a slight draw. I like a little fade to a slight draw.
 
I fear hitting a hard draw because Haney did the swing to right field to have peeps eliminate their slice ... and I had a draw - but my club path eventually was 8-10 degrees in to out. Disaster for me. No swing to right field for me.

It's taken a couple of years and a new instructor to cut that down to an acceptable +3 degrees at most to get a slight draw. I like a little fade to a slight draw.
Yep, that's what happens with advocates of the "swing to the right" - they become chronic hookers of the ball.
 
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