How to Hit a Draw and a Fade: Ball, Clubface, and Path
In golf, there’s no such thing as a perfectly straight shot. According to Renaud Poupard of coursdegolf.net, it’s better to control your shot’s spin than to let it happen by chance. From a course overlooking the Rock of Gibraltar, he explains the principles of ball flight and demonstrates how to adjust your swing for a draw and then a fade.
To be continued
What the lesson shows
Five mechanical factors determine the trajectory at impact: the point of contact, speed, angle of attack, clubface orientation, and club path. The last two create the effect. For the draw—a shot that starts to the right and curves back—we’ve long taught players to keep the clubface square with an in-to-out path. Renaud Poupard corrects this: you have to a face slightly to the right of the target and an in-to-out path. Its settings: shoot a little behind In the stance, with your feet pointed slightly to the right, use a motion similar to a tennis lift—swinging your hands outward—with a smooth, full finish. The draw comes out a little lower and a little more powerful.
Fade is the opposite: shift your weight a little more onto your front leg, with your face and feet slightly to the left, and you hit the ball from the outside in, like a slice in tennis, with a finish further inside and your hands staying open. In his demonstration, his first draw goes too far to the left: a sign, he says, that the clubface is pointing toward the target rather than to the right. He advises alternating between the two at the driving range: knowing how to hit different shots is also rather than endure them.
The Exercise, Step by Step
- For a draw, move the ball back slightly in your stance.
- Aim the front of the body very slightly to the right of the target, and position your feet slightly to the right.
- Swing from the inside out, as if you were lifting a tennis ball, with your hands moving outward and a rounded finish.
- For a fade, move the ball toward your front leg.
- Turn your face and feet slightly to the left.
- Cut through the ball from the outside toward the inside, finish further inside, keeping your hands open.
- At the driving range, alternate between the two shots.
Key Takeaways
Mistakes to Avoid
- Trying to hit a draw with the clubface pointing directly at the target: the ball goes too far to the left.
- Focus on the clubface angle rather than on creating the effect.
- Keep the ball in the same spot for both shots.
- To endure their effects rather than choose them.
Driving Range Mode
Keep it in plain sight, on the rug.
- Series of draws: ball back, feet to the right
- Series of fades: ball forward, feet to the left
- Then alternate between a draw and a fade shot by shot
- Watch the finish: round for a draw, inward for a fade
Your Questions
For a draw shot, does the clubface have to be aimed at the target?
No, according to Renaud Poupard. For a long time, players were taught to square up to the target, but the clubface should be slightly to the right of the target, with an in-to-out path, so that the ball starts to the right and curves back.
Why change the ball's position depending on the spin?
If the ball is behind you, it becomes instinctive to reach for it from the inside out. If the ball is further ahead, you naturally reach across to catch it.
My draw goes straight to the left—why?
In his demonstration, he explains that this happens because the clubface is pointing toward the target instead of slightly to the right: the ball curves too far to the left.
Why does the draw go a little further?
With the ball positioned further back, it comes out a little lower, and her body moves more directly into the ball.
Learn More
Video posted on YouTube by its creator (Renaud Poupard). Best Golf Tips selects and summarizes the best free lessons, without hosting them.