Do You Manipulate Ball Flight?

I'm no where good enough to have total command of it. I can get it to turn over, but not as precise as I'd like that it for sure.
 
Only if I need to get around, over or above a tree or something.
 
I can work the ball low usually punching out from under a tree.
 
As most comments reveal, this is not a simple yes or no question. There are lots of layers to this. Most of us do quite well hitting the high slice. Step #1 for most of us was learning how to hit the ball somewhat straight and consistently get it in the air. Along the way we usually get a lot of practice learning to hit the ball low under the trees. That's where most of us are/were when we start playing this game. Consistent, solid ball striking is what we usually seek early on. Until then as at least one person said working the ball isn't "on purpose".

If or when we reach that milestone (consistent, solid ball striking) then we can start learning how to work the ball in a full swing situation. Again the typical situation is that we find some shot shapes easier to do than others. IMO lessons help here. So does applying oneself to learning what makes a ball go one direction or the other. There is more than one way to get there. Bubba Watson and Lee Trevino are great example of players who mostly got there learning on his own. Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy are great examples of players who got a lot of help doing the former.

...and of course there are lots of little steps in between.

As for me, I've gone through most of those steps and currently find myself able to shape shots and vary ball flight, but not always with the consistency or accuracy I'd like. High fades and piercing draws I have more success with than high draws (off the deck) or long hooks. I can also hit the ball really straight most of the time, but my miss there is a late fade.
 
Probably more than I should. Sometimes I make it harder than I need to. I'm a kind of go for broke kinda guy and that doesn't always work out.
 
What I mean by that, is do you work the ball? Not just left and right, but high and low?

Not intentionally....lol. But that is the next phase of development for me. I'd like to be able to. For now, I'm just working on hitting it straight and controlling distance. I have learned how to fly it low...just a touch. And I can intentionally launch it higher with short irons....but not with driver.
 
A little bit left to right or right to left. Only high or low if trouble demands it, trees etc.
 
I can flight it down with irons decently, and occ I manage to manipulate the ball to go straight. Usually when I least expect it.
 
I've got them all, but if you mean do I know which one is coming, no.
 
Sure, if the situation calls for it I'll work the ball. Actually enjoy doing it.

Low/High/Left are relatively easy. Working it right not a problem with D/3W/hybrids - sometimes a little challenging with 6I and up.
 
I definitely try to work the ball up/down and right/left, but due to my lack of talent I quite often fail at the execution. I'm really struggling to get the ball turning left so I don't even try lately.
 
Low and thin on accident quite a bit, but I do club up move ball position back and take a 3/4 action to keep the ball low in the wind.
 
Somewhat yes. I haven't perfected it , I do know how to do it, but just not consistently yet. I have had to hit it high or low to get over or under trees on occasion and that sometimes calls for a combination of both H/L and L/R
 
I do work the ball, when it's required. This isn't an every shot thing but it's an every round thing. It's odd for me to get the perfect yardage and perfect conditions.
 
not usually high, sometimes low or flatter. right to left, yes. left to right i do try but less frequently because my fade/cut swing is really short and usually poor contact. i had a playing lesson earlier this year, and every time i told my instructor i was going to hit a cut i either shanked the ball or hit an otherwise poor shot. at the end he said to just embrace the draw.
 
I can work the ball decently high or low depending on what's needed. Hitting a fade with an iron is an issue for me. My normal iron ball flight is a baby draw and just hitting it straight to a slight fade is about the most I can get out of it. Driver is a different story... straight to slight fade is my normal driver ball flight, but I can turn on it a little to hit a draw when needed.

I've been working alot on contact and slowing down my swing to keep from making big swing mistakes. It's helped a great deal with consistency, and with that has helped me to shape the shots a little more.
 
Only when I really have to. I'm able to work it better high/low than left/right. I can hit a draw/hook well, but not as good at hitting a fade on command when I need to.
 
Can hit a low right-left on command with my mid to long irons, anything else is a crap shoot as to whether or not I pull it off, but it doesn't stop me from trying

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I can move it left and right fairly easily. I can hit it lower than my standard flight, but hitting it higher while keeping it online is not easy for me.
 
If the situation requires it (trees etc), I can hit an escape hook or a slice and flight the ball high or low, but I don't shape the ball off the tee or on an approach shots. My stock shot is fairly high and usually fades a bit so I just roll with that.
 
too often. I will be hitting it nice and straight and run into a situation that calls for a draw. More often than not I will execute the shot...and become so enamored of the joy in having done so I start manufacturing excuses to try draws or fades and then I cannot hit it straight and struggle with direction for the rest of the round...
 
as terribly inconsistent as I am with simply trying to maintain consistent good ball striking (something that just prevents me from getting better at this game) I can however manipulate flight when I am swinging well. When I am striking the ball good that day or through a couple rounds where consistency is better I can and will only when I feel I need to. Perhaps a recovery from under a tree canopy or perhaps a very windy condition, or a dogleg, etc. I am no more or less consistent at it (relatively speaking) than I am with my normal ball striking. When my swing is working well it has worked well for me when needed and when its not nothing matters anyway.
 
Only if it's necessary, but yes I can do it if called upon.
 
Some but not as much as I would like. Don't have enough skills!!
 
I can manipulate ball flight, but only in a few instances. One would be for punch shots where I need to keep the ball low. The other would be for wedge shots.

As far as left/right goes, I just try to keep it straight and simple if I can.
 
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