How to fade the golf ball by Basic Steps to Perfect Golf

The ability to create a fade shot is a big advantage when you are required make the ball bend with a gradual curve to the right, for example if you need to bend the ball around the corner of a dog leg hole or if you need to bend the ball around a tree that is directly in line to the target point.

To make a golf ball bend to the right, it requires the ball to leave the tee peg with a very fast clockwise spinning motion.

Therefore to impart any sideways spin on the golf ball you need to alter the swing path of the golf swing so that the club head cuts across surface of the ball and therefore using the grooves of the clubface to dig into the ball and cause it to spin.

However you do not need to alter the basic swing action in order to make the ball spin in an clockwise motion, you simply have to alter your stance so that the club head swings through the contact area with a cutting action.

Therefore the swing action that is required to create a fade shot is identical to the swing that is required to hit the ball straight. --The only difference is the way that you set up your body at the address position and the adjustment that you need to make to realign the club face.

The set up that the golfer has to adopt in order to play a fade shot is identical to playing a straight shot, the only adjustment you have to make is to alter your stance so that the shoulders and the feet are aligned to a point that is to the left of the actual target point - this is called an open address position.
(The target point is where you want the ball to stop.)

Because of the "open" set up at the address position, most high handicapped golfers find it easier to fade the ball.
This is because the golfer is actually facing towards the target area, although only by a few degrees, but this psychologically affects the golfer,as the golfer can see where the ball is going.

Therefore to fade the ball, set up your body with the feet, the hips and the shoulders"Parallel to the Target Line" (The direction that you initially aim the ball.) As if you are to play a golf shot that you intend to go straight.

Look down at the area where your feet are placed and also look at the position of the ball on the tee peg you will notice that if you draw a line between your feet and then draw a line from the the ball to each of the feet, you will see that the three lines form a triangle.

Using the ball position as the pivotal point of the triangle and whilst strictly maintaining the distance between the feet and also the angles between the feet and the ball, shuffle the feet around the pivotal point of the ball to your right, until your whole stance is aligned to the left of the target point.
( ( Imagine that you are standing on a revolving platform large enough to accommodate the ball and you- so to adjust your stance in order to fade the ball, you would need to rotate the whole platform in an anti clockwise motion for a few degrees until your feet were aligned to the left of the target point.)

Your body position at this point will indicate that the feet, the hips and the shoulders are now aligned in the direction that is slightly to the left of the target area.

If you carried out your normal swing with out any adjustment to the club face, the ball would fly in the direction that your whole body is aligned, which is to the left of the actual target area.

Therefore as I have stated, the actual mechanics of the golf swing required to create a fade shot is exactly the same as if you were to hit the ball in a straight line - you do not have to make any adjustment to your swing.

The only adjustment that you need to make after you have adjusted your stance to create an open position, is to open the club face a few degrees so that clubface is aiming at a point that is in between the line that your feet, the hips and the shoulders aligned, which in this situation is to the left of the actual target point, and the actual target point you want the ball to land..

Because you have set up your body so that the feet, the hips and the shoulders are aligned to a point that is the left of the actual target, this means that the revised swing path of "out to in" will cause the club face to be cutting across the ball at the point of impact.

The whole swing process must be focused on swinging the club head through the contact area whilst the whole body is aligned "Parallel to the Target Line" which is this situation is to the left of the actual spot you wish the ball to finish.

(It is important to note that the target line is where you aim the ball initially, not the actual target area that you intend the ball to finish.)

The other point to consider when fading the ball is that when you select a golf club in order to play a fade shot you must allow for the fact that the clubface of the club that you would normally choose to hit a ball a given distance will effectively be slightly lofted -- this means that the lofted club face will cause the ball to fly on a higher trajectory and therefore the ball will not run so far upon landing.

Therefore in order to compensate for the shorter distance that the ball will travel you will need to use a club face that has a lower degree of loft.

So remember, the swing action that is required to "fade" the ball is identical to that as described in Lessons 4,5,6.

The only difference is that you must set up your body at the address position in order to alter the swing path, so that the swing path cuts across the "Straight to the Target line" and imparts a sideways spin on the golf ball.

2) Keep the head slightly behind the ball and also in the "Fixed Frontal" condition"

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