Shape your shots: here's how to add these two secret weapons to your game

Golf Digest, August, 2004 by Jeff Ritter, Ron Kaspriske

ADVANCED PLAYERS ARE ALWAYS LOOKING for that special shot, something that will give them an edge in their next match. Here are two of my favorite secret shots that you can try.

When you have to hit a low left-to-right shot, the kind you might need to curve under a branch and around a tree, you can't simply open the face of the club and make a normal swing. The ball will slice or fade, but by opening the clubface you are adding loft to the club, which will produce a higher-trajectory ball flight. Conversely, when you need to hit a high hook that goes right to left, maybe to navigate a narrow dogleg, you can't simply close the clubface. It will deloft the club, and the shot will fly too low to carry the obstacle.

Instead, I'll show you the correct way to play these shots and work the ball. To make it more fun, I like to play a game called "hitting for the cycle." At the end of a practice session, I sometimes try to hit a low, medium and high hook followed by a low, medium and high slice.

LOW FADE

The low fade: Great for playing out from under branches or carving an approach to a tight-right pin.

The high draw: Ideal for working it around tall trees guarding a dogleg or firing at a back-left pin.

FULL SWING

Low Fade

The low fade should be played like a knockdown shot on a windy day. It's a three-quarter swing in pace and length, with the clubface going from closed at address to open at impact.

Play the ball back

When you set up to the ball, play it back in your stance, aligned almost with your back foot. Your shoulders should be nearly level and your weight should favor the front foot.

Close the face

To keep the shot low, the clubface has to start in a closed position and rotate open through impact.

Finish flat

As you rotate the clubface open through impact, the left wrist will flatten and the right wrist bends up toward the sky.

High Draw

The high draw works the opposite way of the low fade: The clubface is open at address and closes through impact. The ball position is forward, and you need a bigger swing in terms of pace and length.

Forward setup

Play the ball closer to the left foot than to your right. This adds loft to the shot. Tilt the shoulders back.

Open the face

Start the swing with an open clubface but shut it through impact. It will give you a high, right-to-left trajectory.

Finish full

Make an aggressive swing, keeping the right wrist flat and the left wrist cupped into a full finish position.

'I tried it'

STEVE RICHESSON

HANDICAP: 10

KANSAS CITY, MO.

I found this method to be difficult in the beginning, but as I continued to practice I really learned a lot about how my setup and hand rotation can dramatically alter my flight. It was cool to have that much control over my ball. I'm sure I'll use some aspects of this lesson in my game.

Jeff Ritter is director of instruction at the Arizona State University Karsten Golf Academy in Tempe.