Shape your shots – The Fade

I’m going to show you how to hit a controlled fade with your iron shots. There has been a change over the past few years in our understanding of what creates the various ball flights in golf. It was previously believed that to hit a fade, you should aim your clubface where you want the ball to finish (the pin), and aim your body and swing where you want the ball to start (to the left of target). This is now known to be wrong, and although your ball would fade, it would start straight and then fade away from your target.

To hit a fade that finishes on target, your clubface must aim left (where you want ball to start), then you must make sure that you swing more to the left than the face points, this will create the curve. We now understand that the clubface controls initial direction of the ball, and the swing path creates the curve, which is the opposite of our previous beliefs.

To play this shot, position the ball a bit further forward in your stance, aim your body to the left and make sure that you make quite an upright feeling backswing. This will set you up to attack the ball from the correct angles to hit the left to right fade ball flight.

Niall McGill

PGA Professional