There are many ways you can hit a golf ball and a fade is one of those tricks that can at times, make or break your game.
When is a fade needed?
You will need to hit a fade when you are trying to get through a hazard. In other cases, you do this when you want to reduce the distance or when you want to follow the ball around the hole. It can also be done when you want to get a soft landing of the ball. You can try to do this at the driving range before the actual game. What happens during a fade is that the ball will curve to the right (for right-handed golfers) and vice-versa. During a fade, the sidespin on the ball will increase. This means that the ball in a fade shot travels lesser than a draw.
Getting the fade shot right
What must you do to get the right fade shot when it matters? Follow the pointers below:
- The clubface – You have to open the clubface where you turn the club to a position where the club’s toe is not pointing at your lead foot. With this position, it will create a strong impact that will create the sidespin. What makes this move so good is that you can fade the ball even if you do not change anything else in your swing and only open the clubface. The rule of thumb is that the fade is more depending on how much you open the face.
- The stance – To do the fade shot, you need to open your stance. This is done where you move your lead foot to the back where you will be moving away from the ball just by a few inches. When you do this, you open your hips and shoulders a bit to the target. This will inadvertently put the fade spin when you hit it where it causes an outside-in path on your swing plane. Ensure that you use this stance with an open clubface.
- The grip – You want to apply a weak grip here. Rotate your hands counter-clockwise slightly if you are a right-handed golfer which means your knuckles are more visible. Then, hit with your normal swing. With a weaker grip, the wrist rotation is lesser and plus that with an open clubhead, the fade becomes more.
