Tiger Woods Fade ShotTiger Woods Fade Shot: If you ask Tiger Woods how to fade a golf ball you will get a different answer than you would from Jack Nicklaus. Nonetheless, both answers would be correct. Speaking specifically of Tiger’s fade shot method; it involves a change in your stance, grip, swing path and release to pull the shot off correctly. The instructions below apply to both right handed and left hand golfers.
This swing path is achieved because on the downswing, Woods swing path follows his open foot alignment, which is outside to in. This swing path naturally starts your golf ball flying to the left (if you are a right handed golfer) or to the right (if you are a left handed golfer. Further, the outside to in swing path also puts outside to in spin on the ball. This spin is what fades the ball back to the middle of the fairway. Third, Tiger holds on to the release of the club for a split second through impact to prevent the club face from closing at impact. If the clubface closes too soon, the outside to in spin will be countered and your ball will never come back to the middle of the fairway. Finally, in addition to the late release, open stance and swing path change, Tiger also grips down on his club to give additional control over his swing. This added touch is important if you what to fade the ball like Tiger. Why? Because gripping down gives you the extra control you need to hold the release of your clubface while still taking an aggressive swing. My opinion is that Tiger Woods fade method is great for those who are feel players and who have a lot of time to practice. However, for most amateur golfer this method would be too difficult to pull off on a consistent basis. After all, figuring out how open your stance should be, how long to hold your release and how much you should grip down on the club takes practice, feel and a good memory.
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