Last fall I started a series of golf lessons to move me beyond my self-imposed limits. The instructor told me to do a nine-shot drill: learn to hit each combination of trajectories, high, medium, and low, and combine that with three shot shapes, fade, straight, and draw. That’s nine different shots.
The reason? To unlock my mind from the technical aspects of making a swing and learn instead to visualize a shot and let that visualization be the mental basis of my swing.
Since I’m a high-ball hitter, and fade easily, those shots were pretty simple. But any shot that had to fly lower than normal, or any intentional draw, that was tough.
So I worked on what I knew, and figured out what I didn’t. I came up with four different ways to fade, to find the one that was the most reliable. I knew how to hit a low shot, but didn’t know that I knew. I just didn’t know what a low shot is supposed to look like.
Then there’s the draw. A draw can turn into an ugly hook without notice. It’s here that I would get my double-cross–setting up for a draw and hitting a fade–because deep down I was nervous about it. Until I figured out how.
“Tell me how,” I hear you cry. All right. Here’s how it works for me.
Fade: Set up left of target, clubface aimed halfway between stance and target, swing along stance line.
Draw: Set up at target, aim clubface right of target, swing inside-out to the right of that.
High: Set up with the ball more forward, weight more on the right. Transfer less weight than usual to the left on the downswing. Tends to go left.
Low: Set up with the ball more to the back of center. Use normal weight transfer and follow through low. Also called a knockdown shot. Tends to go right.
If you want to try this drill, you’ll have to experiment with just how big all these adjustments need to be. Hint: less than you think.
There’s no reason anyone who makes solid contact 3 out of 5 times can’t learn to do this, and your everyday straight shot will improve immeasurably, too.
Go ahead. Open up a new world of golf for yourself.