Need a drill for a pronounced draw.

[The Saint]

I have been missing the greens with my irons anywhere from 130-180 yrds out. My ball will be headed for the green and gradually keep drifting left. This is really getting frustrating as it happens 70% of the time, otherwise I would just play the draw. I end up missing the greens by 10-15 yrds.

Does any one have any drills for me to straighten this out?

[Chieflongtee]

Make your lies flatter Seriously I have been fighting the same thing as of late. I have been fooling with moving my hands to the left,opening the blade ,not come over the top etc..Not an easy thing to fix when an instructor is not watching you.

[jvincent]

As a noted drawer of the ball try the following.

Is your follow through low and around your body? If yes, try and follow through with your hand high and towards the target.

[BC MIST]

I have been missing the greens with my irons anywhere from 130-180 yrds out. My ball will be headed for the green and gradually keep drifting left. This is really getting frustrating as it happens 70% of the time, otherwise I would just play the draw. I end up missing the greens by 10-15 yrds.

1. You are not drawing the ball, you are HOOKING it.
2. If you ball starts at your target, your club head path is fine. Don't change your swing.
3. By curving left your club face is closed. Weaken your grip gradually until the curvature is reduced. Working on keeping you left wrist FLAT and your right wrist BENT, should eliminate your HOOK.

[The Saint]

Thanks.. pronounced draw sounded better. I didn't want to admit I was was a hooker. especially with this crew.

1. You are not drawing the ball, you are HOOKING it.
2. If you ball starts at your target, your club head path is fine. Don't change your swing.
3. By curving left your club face is closed. Weaken your grip gradually until the curvature is reduced. Working on keeping you left wrist FLAT and your right wrist BENT, should eliminate your HOOK.

[Started2k3]

I have been missing the greens with my irons anywhere from 130-180 yrds out. My ball will be headed for the green and gradually keep drifting left. This is really getting frustrating as it happens 70% of the time, otherwise I would just play the draw. I end up missing the greens by 10-15 yrds.

Does any one have any drills for me to straighten this out?

1. You are not drawing the ball, you are HOOKING it.
2. If you ball starts at your target, your club head path is fine. Don't change your swing.
3. By curving left your club face is closed. Weaken your grip gradually until the curvature is reduced. Working on keeping you left wrist FLAT and your right wrist BENT, should eliminate your HOOK.

BC - Isn't this just suggesting exactly what Chris doesn't want?

If his swing results in a "power draw" 70% of the time and the other 30% are on target. Wouldn't your solution result in a hard push or even a "power fade" 30% of the time?

Chas

[The Saint]

The ball flight is fine, nice trajectory coming in, just drifting to the left. I will try changing my grip slightly and note the results. I will also observe my hands at impact as this may be the culprit.
But drills are good.

Just an added note. Driver and fairway woods fly straight.

[Indio]

Just an added note. Driver and fairway woods fly straight.

Then you better hold onto them a bit tighter, especially if you are playing behind me this weekend

[Rapture Man]

I had the same issue for two years, from pronounced draws to hooks and duck hooks.

I recently started with the same approach suggested by Chieflongtee. Stuck to my basics, turned my hands very slightly to the left while keeping the front edge of my club's blade or bottom edge perpendicular to the target line. Then I lay down the club head behind the ball with my hands looking like there holding the club with a strong grip yet the blade is now open slightly no more than 10 deg. For me this creates an illusion that I am set up to fade or slice the ball, yet by maintaining my usual posture, I am now hitting once again, solid straight shots or controlled fades which you may call a power fade. All I can say is I now have the feeling of control back in my shots and lost the fear of hitting out of control hooks or pronounced draws. Switching to this approach I am now hitting 70% of fairways on average and shot an 82 and 83 in the last three weeks, which I had not been able to do in the last two and a half years.

[habsfan]

i had same problem, the way i fixed mine and was very efficient, i would keep too much of my weight on my front foot, i would not transfer enough weight to the back, the reason for that my left shoulder was in front of the ball, iwasnt rotating my shoulders enough, basically now i make sure my left shoulder is behind the ball when im at the top of my swing before downsing, this allows my weight to go from balanced to back foot and transition to front foot in a balanced motion, i always found that i was balancing my finish with my front foot which is not the case anymore, hope it helps.

[BC MIST]

BC - Isn't this just suggesting exactly what Chris doesn't want?

If his swing results in a "power draw" 70% of the time and the other 30% are on target. Wouldn't your solution result in a hard push or even a "power fade" 30% of the time?

Chas

A pure draw starts right of the target line and curves back to the target line. The club head path is slightly from the inside and the face is slightly open AT SEPARATION. Chris' ball starts straight and then curves left so the face is slightly closed at separation. Therefore, if the grip is weakened slightly, the left curve should disappear.

The confusing part of the above is that the woods go straight, but the irons go left. The issue may NOT be the face position at separation, but the iron's lie angles, an OTT move with the shorter, more upright irons or something else. Would have to see to confirm

If you accept the description above of a draw, then what is a power draw?

Some golfers think that if they aim up the right side of the fairway and the ball curves back to the middle, they have hit a draw. Not. It's a hook and the aim is just a compensation.