Hitting a fade, or a slice, is not a challenge for most amateur golfers. A controlled power fade with distance is another story altogether. Hitting a slice is common for amateurs because they come over the top and use their upper body and arms way too much. More on coming over the top here. If you hit a fade and you want to learn to hit a draw there are a few major changes that must be made in your swing. Unfortunately, this can completely ruin your entire game. Ask Johnny Miller or Martin Kaymer.
To hit a draw you must come inside out, rather than outside in. This means the swing path is a different feel for most. I like to describe it as throwing your back arm to the right of the target. If your right arm, for right handed golfers, goes to the right of the target when you follow through there is no way your swing cannot be inside out.
If you struggle hitting a draw you can strengthen your grip, which will close the club face. You can also make 100% certain your back elbow is tucked into your ribs at impact. Once again, this is not very easy for someone that has been fading the ball their entire life.
As a fader of the ball, I can tell you that I have no desire to learn how to hit a draw. I can do it every now and then but most of the time it is when the ball is well above my feet and I have a wood or long iron in my hand. If I am hitting a driver it is quite the challenge for me to draw the ball. In fact, I am more likely to toe the ball and hit it dead straight which gets me a little more distance.
There is no argument to be made that you can hit the ball further if you hit a draw. That said, it is also much easier to lose control of the draw; it tends to turn into a snap hook or a long push right. If you have played with someone that has lost control of the draw with their driver you have likely seen them crush the ball dead straight but about 30 to 40 yards right. Unfortunately, this is a terrible miss because it is out of play or out of bounds on many golf courses. Even if you are playing wide open courses or links courses you are going to be completely out of sorts if you block your “draw drive” to the right.
When drawers of the ball start to miss left it is going to be a very long day. The two misses tend to be a snap hook or a push right. With a push right, at least there will be plenty of distance. With a snap hook, the ball will go anywhere from 50 to 150 yards and will take off to the left. It is almost difficult to watch when a golfer starts to snap hook. The will lose 10 balls a round.
As a fader of the ball your miss will likely be a double cross pull left or a huge slice to the right. It is the exact opposite of someone drawing the ball. Fortunately, this misses for a fader are still findable. In fact, as a golfer that fades the driver, I can go through multiple rounds of golf without losing a single ball. One of my golfing buddies that draws the ball can outdrive me by about 40 or 50 yards but he tends to lose at least three or four balls a round.
If you hit a fade, or even a slice, with your driver, sometimes it is best to learn how to hit a controlled fade and live with that. For me, I hit a controlled fade and play to my strength of my wedge game. I can hit wedges very well so if I can just get to 100 yards I am good to go. I am also very good with chipping which keeps me in the 80s even when I am not driving the ball well. When I am hitting a driver power fade that is hit well I can easily score in the low 80s and sometimes in the high 70s.
All that said, if you are a fader that is looking to learn to draw the ball I would suggest proceeding with caution. It took both Martin Kaymer and Johnny Miller several years to recover after thinking they needed to turn their fade into a draw. Both won multiple major championships with a fade so do not feel as if you must learn how to draw the ball to be a great golfer.
