Toughest Golf Shots: how to fade your driver

Fading the ball can make a dog's dinner of a dogleg but how do you hit it accurately? PGA professional Sam Quirke walks us through his top tips

Ed Greenland's picture
Tue, 9 Jul 2013
Toughest Golf Shots: how to fade your driver
Step 1: Handle back of clubhead

The driver fade shot is a guide for right-handed golfers and is our third driving article in the Golf's Toughest Drives series.

More often than not you're likely to get a dogleg right off the tee which requires a smooth fade into the fairway but many amateurs feel the need to dramatically change their swing; this doesn't need to be the case.

PGA professional Sam Quirke gives us the simple physics behind the shot for a consistent fade.

As seen in the photograph, at set up you would put the ball forward of your left heel and the handle would be as far back as feels comfortable, rather than pushing it forward for the draw shot.

With the ball being forward in your stance, you'll create a natural out-to-in swing path, which is when you start your swing out to the right and bring it inwards to the left. While you're still hitting the centre of the ball, due to the fact the driver is finishing left, you'll put right-hand spin on the ball, making it curve from left to right

Click the next slide to see how Sam plays the fade shot on the downswing.