Secret To Shaping Shots



Learning how to shape golf shots will help you get around the course much easier. Using a hybrid golf club is a great way to teach yourself how to shape shots. Because these clubs are easy to hit, it takes much of the frustration out of the process.

Start off with the easiest way to shape shots, trajectory control. Trajectory control is as simple as moving the ball around in your stance. To hit a low golf shot simply play the ball back towards your back foot. To hit a high golf shot play the ball more off your front foot.

When shaping the trajectory of your golf shots you also want to make sure you are paying attention to your hands. You don’t need to scoop the ball to hit it high. Your hands should still be in front of the ball at impact, but with as little forward shaft lean as possible (depending on how high you want to hit it).

For a low golf shot you will want a lot of forward shaft lean. This takes loft away from the club keeping the ball lower.

Now for the fun part, hitting fades and draws. As Bill McKinney shows in the video above hitting a hook or draw is simply a matter of swinging inside-out and “wrapping the toe around the golf ball.” You will also want to line up your stance to the right of your target. This type of swing is much like curving a table tennis shot. Cut across the ball to the right and the ball goes left, and visa versa.

To hit a fade golf shot or a slice you do the opposite. Align your stance to the left of the target and swing from the outside-in cutting across the ball. Also remember to keep the club face square into your follow through, closing the club face will take some of the spin off the ball. By doing these three things you will cause the ball to curve to the right.

The last segment of the video shows you the practical ways you can use these techniques on the golf course. Imagine the green was directly behind the tree in the video. Without being able to shape golf shots (or have pinpoint accuracy and hit between the branches) you would have to hit left or right of the green and take another shot to get on. Knowing how to shape shots would allow you to go for the green saving you a stroke.

Hybrid clubs make shaping shots much easier because they are so forgiving. If you don’t own any already I would recommend picking up a set. They will change your game, and you will find yourself pulling off shots you never thought you could, and miss-hits will virtually go away. For more information on Hybrid Golf Clubs Click Here.

How To Shape Your Golf Shots and Save Par

Learning how to shape your golf shots (hit a draw or fade when you want to) is crucial if you want to take your golf game to the next level.

Shaping shots takes you from ‘decent amateur golfer’ to ‘guy who makes his buddies jealous with his incredible par saving shots.’

Being able to shape your golf shots will enable you to recover from a sliced tee shot with a beautiful fade out of the rough, and on to the fairway or green. Mastering these shots will enable you to miss-hit the occasional tee shot and still beat your buddies on that hole.

In this short video Golf Professional Mike Gorton will show you the secrets to shaping your shots without changing how you swing.

As you can see from this video once you know the tricks shaping your shots is really pretty simple.

The key is understanding the two key variables that affect where the golf ball goes. The first variable is the way the club approaches the ball (inside out, outside in, or square). The diagram to the right shows these angles in case you are having trouble visualizing this (note: the diagram on the right is for a right handed golfer, it would be opposite for lefties).

The second variable is the position of the club head (open, closed, or square).

In order to shape your shots you simply need to change your stance. Changing your stance (opening up or closing up your stance) will cause you to chance your swing path without even having to think about it.

Hitting a Fade:

As Mike explains in the video all you need to do is open your stance while still aiming at your target.

By opening your stance you force yourself to make an outside in swing which puts right hand spin on the ball resulting in a fade.

Hitting a Draw:

To hit a draw you need to close your stance while still aiming at the target. This will force you to have an inside out swing path.

This swing path will put left hand spin on the ball causing your golf shot to draw to the left.

Practice these shots on the range to get a feel for how much you need to open and close your stance to get the amount of movement you are looking for.

These shots are actually a lot of fun to practice so grab a bucket of balls and hit the range.

For more tips from 3 time Long Drive World Champ Mike Gorton check out his Bombing it Long Package.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf