Hitting a Draw

There are several different ways to curve the golf ball, but they are predicated by having your hands and wrists in the correct positions at impact. This means that your left wrist should be flat or slightly bowed, and that your right wrist should be cupped – bent back slightly towards your right forearm.
If one wrist position is correct at impact, the other wrist will also be correct.

Most players need to practice either keeping their left wrist flat or their right wrist cupped through impact.  Pick one thought and see which works best for you, but know that these positions are imperative for good ball striking.

To find out which thought you need to plant in your brain, try this drill with each hand separately: place the club on the ground and drag it on the ground for three inches past the bottom of your swing arc.  If it tends to flip forward with one hand more than the other as you reach the end of the three inches past impact point, that’s the wrist you need to work on for positional integrity through impact.

For most right handed players, it’s the right wrist position.

Simply repeating this “drag through” drill and holding the position correctly is a great corrective drill.

BALL FLIGHT CURVATURE

Weather conditions notwithstanding, golf balls curve in flight relative to clubface position, swingpath and aimline.

Here is how to hit a draw relative to clubface position, swingpath, and aimline presuming that the swing is on plane.  One caveat here – off plane swings – too steep or too flat, change the dynamics at impact.  As a result, the
amount of curvature – or even the direction of curvature could change with an erroneous swing plane.

If you understand the concept explained below, you will be years ahead of most of the golfing population in understanding why the ball curves.

It’s also very important to understand that the initial direction that a ball starts is caused by the direction that the clubface is pointing.

HITTING A DRAW

INSIDE OUT SWINGPATH METHOD (MOST PREDICTABLE)

– To hit a gentle draw, set up in a square stance, which we will define as as parallel left to your aimline, with each foot slightly open.

– Position the ball slightly behind the bottom point of your swing, which will naturally produce a slightly inside to outside swingpath because you will strike the ball slightly prior to the full outward extension of your swing.

– Align your clubface square to your aimline

– Swing normally and hold your body angles in relation to the ground and you will hit a gentle draw.

– To hit a stronger draw, swing more inside out and open the clubface more at address.

– There is a ratio involved in getting the ball to draw only back to your aimline and not beyond it (overdrawing).  For example, if you swing inside out at a 4 degree horizontal outward angle, and if your clubface is closed 2 degrees to your swingpath, the draw will be just right.  Note that setting up with a clubface square to your aimline, then swinging inside out produces a clubface that is effectively closed to your swingpath.

– Do not try to close the clubface during impact, a natural release works best with this gentle draw.

You can fine tune angles on a simulator, which will give you precise degrees of swingpath and clubface angles at impact, and you can also get a real good feel on the range by observing your ball flight..

OTHER METHODS TO INTENTIONALLY CAUSE CURVATURE

CLOSED STANCE DRAW

Some players have a hard time feeling an inside to outside swing path into the ball from a square stance, so here’s another option.

– Set up with a closed stance to the ball, your rear foot should be withdrawn from parallel to the aimline to about an inch away, and slightly open.

– Your front foot should be square to the aimline.

– Position the ball slightly behind the bottom point of your swing

– Align your clubface square to your aimline, which will look closed to your body line.

– Swing along your body lines, which will produce an inside to outside path in relation to your aimline with a closed clubface, and hold your body angles in relation to the ground.

– Do not try to close the clubface during impact.

ACTIVE HANDS DRAW

– Set up with a square stance, which we will define as parallel left to your aimline, with each foot slightly open.

– Position the ball slightly behind the bottom point of your swing, which will naturally produce a slightly inside to outside swingpath because you will strike the ball slightly prior to the full outward extension of your swing.

– Align your clubface square to your aimline

– Swing normally, but at impact, close the clubface intentionally with hand rotation, maintaining your impact wrist angles.

– Hold your body angles in relation to the ground.

– Make sure that you execute an inside to outside swingpath with this technique or the ball will either start straight and curve left, or start left and curve left.

– It’s also IMPERATIVE that you retain the integrity of your wrist positions at impact or your swing results will be unpredictable.

In golf there’s more than one way to skin a cat, so concentrate on what works best for you.

Enjoy your golf,

Tom