Why try to hit the straight ball?

[emart2173]

Granted the current tech in both balls and clubs makes it easier to hit it straight compared to even just a few years ago. But with all the variables like AoA, path, face to path and soleing the club perfectly and getting all that to match up, why is there an obsession or emphasis by amateurs to hit one of ig not the hardest shot in golf?

To me this limits the margin of error an can even make going at some pins pretty hard to do. I like the fade because if I execute my shot I get a small fade that hits intended target, if I miss a little I get a push fade that ends up right of target and instead of optimizing carry and total it will fall out if the sky a little, and worse case a slice that’s off target and shorter and a large majority of time still in play. I used to prefer a draw but the amount of potential bad shots compared to the fade got me to switch back.

So for everyone trying to hit the straight ball, what’s the mindset?

 

[jdtox]

I ask myself this all the time. I always line up (or think I do) straight to my target line with the intent of hitting the ball straight. When I'm swinging well..BIG WHEN lately... my natural ball flight is straight and if I play for the fade or draw it usually ends up somewhere I don't want it to be. I do think the technology in clubs wants the ball to go straight so that plays a role as well.

 

[Snickerdog]

I think if one can hit a straight ball, you can eliminate some variables. When playing a fade or draw, you might not have as good of control (left/right) of how far it may travel.

 

[golfinnut]

I just let my natural tendency of the day dictate where the ball goes.
I aim at the target line, it fades ... fine .... it hooks, that's fine too. But notice I said target line and not the actual target. Meaning I'm not going to aim at a sucker pin on the right if my tendency of the day is a fade. I will aim at the middle of the green and let it fade back. If it draws, its still on the green just further from the hole.
Simple right?

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[TrapGodEvan]

I feel like in order to improve my game it is best to learn how to hit it straight first and then worry about a fade or draw. That way I can expand out from the straight shot to shot shaping and have more control of my game.


Also if I played my draw I would be aiming ninety degrees left because my banana slice can be that bad.

 

[Hamfist]

since I (try to) aim at the middle of the fairway, straight gives the the most margin for error on both sides. I'd say my natural ball flight is probably a fade, but I don't have the skilz to really control the left to right movement.

 

[emart2173]

I think if one can hit a straight ball, you can eliminate some variables. When playing a fade or draw, you might not have as good of control (left/right) of how far it may travel.

I can see how a straight ball would be more controllable from a distance perspective but imo it’s not as controllable as a fade. And by playing a straight ball you introduce the need for more variables to be perfect than if playing a fade or draw.

since I (try to) aim at the middle of the fairway, straight gives the the most margin for error on both sides. I'd say my natural ball flight is probably a fade, but I don't have the skilz to really control the left to right movement.

If you aim down the middle imo you are reducing your effective landing area. If you play a fade and aim down the left side of the fairway you have the entire fairway plus the rough on both sides to miss and vice versa with a draw? Aiming down the middle if you miss right or left you only have 1/2 the fairway and rough to miss in with the chances of being in the rough greater than by using the entire width of the course

 

[OITW]

Depends on the swing if I’m hitting on cylinders take the line to the flag - if the fade is in play line up with that line

Straight is the quickest way to get from A - B

 

[MrMom]

I played an inconsistent draw for a number of years with a two-way miss. My teacher has recently insisted I go to a fade for most shots to be able to manage the misses better. His opinion is that to play very good golf you need to work the ball into the pins from either direction, and that nobody on tour plays a consistent straight ball. I suppose a straight ball might be the right play for a lot of people. I'd like to hear Panda's thoughts on this.

The straightest hitting pro I remember watching was probably Annika Sorenstam. She was truly amazing, but I also remember her saying in a post-round interview once that her shots were too straight sometimes.

 

[OGputtnfool]

I think chasing the straight ball is a fool's errand. The old sayin' about straight being a miracle is no joke. Even in his heyday, Tiger was quoted to have played a "1 yard draw".

I have to agree with emart above. If you pick a shape and play to the opposite side of the fairway and let you shot shape bring it back to the fairway, you introduce much more margin for error.

 

[Stemmy66]

I just let my natural tendency of the day dictate where the ball goes.
I aim at the target line, it fades ... fine .... it hooks, that's fine too. But notice I said target line and not the actual target. Meaning I'm not going to aim at a sucker pin on the right if my tendency of the day is a fade. I will aim at the middle of the green and let it fade back. If it draws, its still on the green just further from the hole.
Simple right?

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You... or the strategy?

I’m a fader with driver and FW metals mostly.... I pick a target on the left that will not put me in trouble if I hit it straight..... lately I’ve moved my target with driver to left of center because I’ve been driving the ball pretty well


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[Golf 'N Gator]

I play my natural fade because I never have to worry about the left side. If a must, I can hit draw, but it takes a different gripe, stance and ball position. A fade is good!

 

[WMac19]

My definition of straight varies greatly from others, I guess. I won't really call say a 3 yard fade or draw, a fade or draw. In my mind, generally straight equals straight.

When I played a fade for years, I never tried to fade. When I played a draw for even longer, same holds true, just a fairly consistent happenstance.

Now that I'm generally straight, it all just happens on it's own too. LOL, Tiger's one yard draw is not a draw at all in my book. We're too caught up in the literal sense, if someone were to hit say a 160 yard iron shot that veered 12" or even 3' off the target line in either direction, are we really gonna call that something other than straight?

 

[OGputtnfool]

We're too caught up in the literal sense, if someone were to hit say a 160 yard iron shot that veered 12" or even 3' off the target line in either direction, are we really gonna call that something other than straight?

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then... well, you know.

 

[LouMoo]

Just left to their own devices my hands will tend to hit a draw, with the bad miss being that hard running hook that immediately adds two strokes to my score.

Like the poster above, I had a wise instructor teach me to hit a fade and a fade has been my go-to tee shot ever since (many years now). My pull-miss tends to work its way back towards target, while an over-cooked faded (aka a slice) tends to not run too badly to the right - most tend to die softly and run out of steam. I won't say I never hit OB anymore, but since making a "forced fade" my regular shot, it's a far smaller concern.

Mid & short irons are generally straight, though. I can move those shots either way, but will only try to do so if the shot really demands it.

 

[Chisag]

... While I agree it is better to work the ball one way which increases the effective area of your target, I think it is much more important to swing your swing. I played a natural draw for many year with balata balls, persimmon woods and MB irons. As the ball began to spin less and less, and perimeter weighting in clubs began to produce straighter and straighter shots I began to play a much straighter shot that only draws if I miss it a little. Knowing which way I are gonna miss also opens up the fairway so while I do not play the edge of the right side of the fairway, I do play right center. If it goes straight I am in good position and if it draws a little, I am still in good position.

... Now the irony is I can fade the ball if needed but hitting a draw on purpose can turn into a hook. It is just much easier to hold on to my release than it is to actively rotate thru impact. With the old balata balls it was much easier to hit a big draw because a slight adjustment made the ball move to the left, where todays balls and clubs needs an exaggerated motion to get it to move, and for me it is easy to over do it. After teaching for 5 years, I learned most never fully change their natural tendencies. It can be done with a lot of practice and repetition of corse, but most will almost always revert to what they naturally want to do. So going with that natural tendency is paramount to playing consistent golf and for some that means a straight ball, a draw and fade. But for many it means they can miss both ways but trying to change their swing for a one way miss is only going to make them go against their natural tendencies and that is never a good idea. Unless you are willing to put in the many, many hours of work it takes to facilitate the change.

 

[Hamfist]

I can see how a straight ball would be more controllable from a distance perspective but imo it’s not as controllable as a fade. And by playing a straight ball you introduce the need for more variables to be perfect than if playing a fade or draw.



If you aim down the middle imo you are reducing your effective landing area. If you play a fade and aim down the left side of the fairway you have the entire fairway plus the rough on both sides to miss and vice versa with a draw? Aiming down the middle if you miss right or left you only have 1/2 the fairway and rough to miss in with the chances of being in the rough greater than by using the entire width of the course

“Aye, and, there’s the rub”, to quote the Bard. Since I miss both right and left, with equal randomness, trying to play a fade consistently could easily end up in another fairway from either a straight shot, or a pull/hook.

 

[rocullen]

When I played years ago, I hit mostly a straight shot, it'd fall of on a fade(sometimes a big fade:beauty. When I started playing again, I was determined to learn to draw the ball. Not I get nasty hooks. As MR. Trevino said, "you can't talk to a hook".

I'm retooling and trying to hit my straight/sometime fade again. I'm tired of long right.

 

[emart2173]

“Aye, and, there’s the rub”, to quote the Bard. Since I miss both right and left, with equal randomness, trying to play a fade consistently could easily end up in another fairway from either a straight shot, or a pull/hook.

And IMO the reason you have the two way miss is because there are so many things that have to line up to hit the straight shot which again why it's considered the hardest shot in golf. It's interesting to me that most amateurs try to hit a **** shape that the large majority of top level amateurs and the pros don't try to hit...even if it is just a slight movement either left to right or right to left.

 

[rocullen]

And IMO the reason you have the two way miss is because there are so many things that have to line up to hit the straight shot which again why it's considered the hardest shot in golf. It's interesting to me that most amateurs try to hit a **** shape that the large majority of top level amateurs and the pros don't try to hit...even if it is just a slight movement either left to right or right to left.

because it seems to me, just a degree or two of club face angle off with an angled approach induces much more spin one way or the other hence a greater degree of curve along with the pull or push. with a straighter approach a degree or two is not as amplified in the spin so it doesn't curve as much offline. It seems to me.

Now a pro, as rollin stated, is so much better, he/she has a lot better clubface control and path control the misses aren't as amplified, and that's what they grew up with. Most of mere mortals, didn't grow up playing golf. I'd almost be willing to bet that 65-70% of golfers, maybe more, don't even know the ball flight rules.

Just my take. I've tried the last 8 months to hit a draw and I'm tired of hooking. I don't have 15 years to invest in the draw. I'm going back to a straighter approach path.

 

[emart2173]

because it seems to me, just a degree or two of club face angle off with an angled approach induces much more spin one way or the other hence a greater degree of curve along with the pull or push. with a straighter approach a degree or two is not as amplified in the spin so it doesn't curve as much offline. It seems to me.

Now a pro, as rollin stated, is so much better, he/she has a lot better clubface control and path control the misses aren't as amplified, and that's what they grew up with. Most of mere mortals, didn't grow up playing golf. I'd almost be willing to bet that 65-70% of golfers, maybe more, don't even know the ball flight rules.

Just my take. I've tried the last 8 months to hit a draw and I'm tired of hooking. I don't have 15 years to invest in the draw. I'm going back to a straighter approach path.

The draw is a shot that is going to be more uncontrollable and have the tendency to be more penal. A good shot with a draw will be similar to a good shot with a fade and move a littlte. A bad shot with a draw becomes a pull and will go further offline than a push will and the worse case scenario is it becomes a hook which will have disastrous results, where most slices especially when using the full width of the fairway will normally be in play because they won’t go as far.

Imo amateurs have less face control because the fundamentals are lacking and instead of working on engraining them amateurs are either not practicing with a purpose or practicing at all, aren’t raking lessons or are focused on trying to hit a straight shot that requires more facets of the swing, path and face to match up to hit the ball straight. On an iron when it doesn’t happen the ball misses the green to either side. If playing a fade or draw one can have the intended finish target be the middle of the green and if the miss the still have one side open if the ball doesn’t move off the start line or they have the whole green if it moves too much.

 

[McLovin]

interestingly, i hit the ball pretty darn straight. yet i always try to work it a little bit.


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[Barberakb]

I try to hit it straight because I have a 2 way miss...

 

[DG_1234]

I've never known anyone trying to play a "straight ball" . Most every player has a tendency to either move the ball right-to-left or left-to-right.

 

[emart2173]

I try to hit it straight because I have a 2 way miss...

I used to have a two way miss and it mostly started when I tried to play a straight ball or draw instead of the fade that was natural to me because the draw goes further. Once I moved back to a fade the two way miss is nowhere near as prevalent because my goal is to eliminate one side of the course. My left miss now is more of a pull when I get more upper body swinging than using my legs.

As I've mentioned Imo when one tries to hit the ball straight the ball straight you've 1) reduced the amount of the course you can miss 2) you've brought both sides if the course into your miss. Having to get your path to zero out to target, face to be square to path and target and thus sole the club squarely all at the same time time to hit the ball straight is a lot to accomplish on a couple seconds.