Pull-Fade
Also known as: pull fade
A pull-fade leaves left of the flag and bends back to the right. This means the mirror image of the push-draw. The working shape a great many club golfers actually own.
The ball leaves left of the target line and bends back to the right in the air. The head travels leftward across the ball. This sets the start line. At the same time, the face sits open to that travel. This means enough to bend the ball right. This means yet still closed to the target line. This is why it leaves left rather than straight or right. Plenty of accomplished players carry a controlled version as their stock shape. This is. This is because it repeats once the relationship is dialled in and it holds its line in wind.
The difference between a playable shape and a problem is degree and control. A stock one leaves a modest, predictable distance left and finishes at or near the flag. A problem version leaves well left with too much bend to return reliably, or bends by a different amount every time. This means usually. This is because the delivery itself is uneven rather than repeatably moderate.
Slicers often arrive here as an intermediate improvement. This means the delivery is still cutting across. But the face has closed enough relative to the target that the ball now leaves left instead of straight or right. This caps the total curve. This is progress, but the path itself — the more distance-costing part of the pattern — often still needs work.
Example
Her approach shots leave ten yards left of the flag and drift back to finish just right of it. This means a deliberate, repeatable shape played into a left pin.
Why it matters
Telling a controlled shape from a slice-in-progress decides what to practise next. This means a repeatable, modest bend is worth keeping. At the same time, a wide and variable one still has a delivery problem underneath it. SwingVantage's path and face reporting shows which situation a player is actually in.
How it shows up on video
From down the line, the head is travelling left of target through impact. From face on, the face is open to that travel. This means which supplies the curve. This means. At the same time, staying closed enough to the target to keep the start line left.
Common mistakes
- Aiming at the target rather than the intended start line, which finishes every shot left of where it was meant to.
- Calling a wide, variable pattern a stock shape — if the bend changes by 15 yards between shots, the delivery needs work rather than acceptance.
- Steepening the swing to add curve, which worsens the delivery faster than it adds usable spin and widens the miss rather than tightening it.
Related terms
- FadeA fade is a small, controllable left-to-right bend for a right-hander. This means the tame, repeatable cousin of a slice. The shape many pro players play as their stock ball.
- Out-to-InOut-to-in describes a clubhead cutting leftward across the target line as it meets the ball, for a right-hander. This means the over-the-top delivery underneath fades, pulls and slices.
- Fade BiasA fade bias is a golfer's repeatable tendency to curve shots left-to-right (for a right-hander). This many better players prefer for its consistency and control even though it typically sacrifices some distance compared to a draw.
- PullA pull is struck cleanly and flies straight. It just leaves on the wrong line, heading left of your aim for a right-hander with nothing bending it back.
- Face-to-PathFace-to-path is the difference between face angle and club path at impact. It is the single number that determines how much, and which way, the ball curves.
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