WATCH: Nick Faldo shares brilliant tip to set up to fade or draw

James Richardson
October 15, 2023

Nick Faldo shared a great tip on how to set up to shape your shots more efficiently.

Controlling the shape of your shots is key to gaining greater versatility on the course.

A fade causes your golf ball to curve from the left to the right, while a draw curves from the right to the left for consistent launch and distance.

An open clubface at impact and an inside club path is needed to cut across the ball and induce a fade.

Golfers use a fade and a draw as two well-controlled shot patterns to avoid hazards like trees and to improve control from the tee to the green. A fade begins to curve right closer towards the desired landing zone from left of the intended target.

A draw, on the other hand, produces the opposite shape, with your ball starting right of the goal and slowly sloping left. Golfers may hit a draw to avoid difficulties or to round a dogleg hole, allowing a simpler approach to the green.

For golfers who are right-handed, a fade shot is a controlled curving from left to right. The ability to fade shots gives a golfer greater consistency in their game

For instance, on a dogleg right hole, one could use ball shape to make savings and shorten the hole, which is where it adds the greatest value.

When a tree is directly in your line of sight or you want to remove the right side of the hole from play, a fade is the best option.

Additionally, by playing a fade on a right-shaping dogleg, you may make a hole shorter. You may clip the corner and give yourself a quick approach shot by exploiting the curve.

In contrast to a fade, a controlled draw in golf is a shot that bends from right to left. For amateur golfers, a draw is a sought-after form.

If you are right-handed, dogleg left holes are great for a draw which allows you to reduce the hole by clipping the corner. When a tree is blocking your path and you can’t launch the ball left of it or make a fade, you can also employ a draw.

To create a draw shot, close your stance in relation to the landing area you want to use. For right-handers, a closed stance implies your feet and shoulders are oriented to the right of your target, and for left-handed shooters, to the left.

You do this to allow leeway for the ball to draw back to your target by taking into consideration the ball’s right-to-left curve. The ball will curve left away from the mark if you direct a draw while aiming parallel to your objective.