Golf Myths: Draw vs Fade

Settling a twitter debate

I have spent my golf life doing two things: trying to hit the ball farther and consistently playing a fade. Whenever I hear that “A draw goes farther” it hurts my feelings. I saw it again recently on Twitter, but a quick dive into the subject lead to more questions than answers. The only logical solution is for me to dive down a rabbit hole and see what answers we can find. 

Let’s start with basic physics. The direction of the spin clearly does not matter, if it did a fade would go farther for a left handed golfer. A left handed fade moves the same way a right handed draw does. People argue that a draw goes farther, not that a ball spinning to the left goes farther. This is a silly point, but we need to eliminate variables. A draw also does not put topspin on the ball. If the ball was spinning forward, it would fall to the ground significantly faster. If both swings put backspin on the ball, and the lateral spin does not matter, we need to dig into the swings to figure out where added distance might come from. 

We need to venture down a quick side rabbit hole to discuss a draw vs a fade. I’m defining them as follows:

Fade: An out to in swing path, with a face open to the path. 

Draw: An in to out swing path with a face closed to the path.

A basic fade will start left of the target and work it’s way back right (for a right handed golfer) and a draw will start right of target and work it’s way back left. We are not going to dig too deep here, but you can hit a ball that starts left and then keeps going left (a pull draw) but generally, when we talk about fades and draws, those are the match ups in the swing. 

So if we know the mechanics of both shots, and that the ball does not care which direction it is spinning, our next step is to analyze the mechanics themselves and see if they have any bearing on distance. 

Let’s start with the club face. Most of us have toyed with wedges, opening up the face for a flop shot, and closing it down for a bump and run. With a driver, opening up the face will add spin and launch, while closing the face down decreases both launch and spin. The closed face has a tendency to hit a ball that goes farther. Whenever I hit a 200 yard 7 iron, it’s because I closed the face and hit a low rocket that does not stop (and usually ends up out of play)

This holds true with a driver as well, the draw will come out lower with lower spin, but it does not necessarily mean the ball will end up traveling farther. You still need enough loft and spin to keep the ball in the air, and in the “pro draw” articles I read, they will even agree a fade can carry as far or farther than a draw. 

There is more to this, though. When getting fit for a driver, we can adjust it to optimize launch for our swing. This means someone who plays a fade can choose a lower launching and spinning driver and have similar ball flight characteristics to that of a draw. The same can be said of a draw.

If we were considering which is better for irons, one could argue that a fade comes in steeper and with more spin, but a draw player can play a high lofted club and get similar results. The angle of the club face is important, but we can work around it with equipment. 

So that leads to the question: Does our swing path matter in terms of club head speed?

I started down a rabbit hole on the mechanics of path, and which swing type was more efficient. Then I realized Sasho Mackenzie probably knew the answer and would be happy to share it with me. His response to “Is one type of swing more efficient?” actually surprised me. 

“Negligible.  For most single digit players chs increases when hitting a fade. Ball speed also higher when hitting fade. In general” (Sasho Mackenzie, noted golf luminary)

Interesting. Ball speed is a big part of distance, so the fade has a negligible advantage here. I did not find any other good research on this topic, but will note that a number of professional long drivers hit a fade. Dustin Johnson famously switched to only hitting a fade, but Bryson DeChambeau switched to a draw in his quest for more distance. 

There is probably some generic truth to a draw going farther. Generically, golfers need less spin with their driver, and it is easier to add loft to a club to offset the closed face. If we build out a club for a fade in mind, though, we can easily catch up to a draw. Any advantage a draw has can be overcome by getting properly fit equipment. This is not to advocate for a fade. Commit to your shot shape!

There is not an actionable conclusion to this. I found the topic interesting and wanted to dig a little deeper into it. Personally, I only ever try to hit a fade. I will occasionally try to draw my 3 wood by changing where it is in my stance, and I practice hitting draws on the range as a form of differential practice. Trying to draw my driver on the course usually ends left and poorly. I do find it interesting that the myth of a draw goes longer persists to this day. If your driver is setup to hit a fade properly, it will go just as far as a draw!