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I got into a somewhat heated debate with a friend on whether most tour players tend to hit a fade or a draw. I said that the draw is what most pros strive for because of distance and he said no, today, most pros are going to the fade for better control. We both certainly agree that a pro can shape it either direction, but I was wondering what the opinion is here?

The way I understood thing was that many years ago, lots of the older pro's from the 1950's & before fadedthe ball. Then when everyone started going distance mad, lots of pro's put draw spin on the ball & in some cases lots of it. Tothe degree, sometimes it looks as if the player is going to be 30degrees right of target, only for the ball to land bang on the pin from that right hand side...... Amazing.

But there seems recently to have been a resurgence of players trying to promote a fade for a softer landing ball on some chalenging greens.

Or at leastthats the way I understand it.....

I went to a Euro tour event here and all but one of the guys hit draw off a tee that favors a fade if anything that I stood next to for a couple of hours...I walked down to where the second shot was (par 5) and most players hit 3 wood or hybrid fades into the green...I went to another tee and it was all draw...then onto a second shot that most were hitting 180 or so into a green and they hit the ball straight as they could...hints of draws or fades were small alliterations as most were dropping it right down the pipe...

when i was at wachovia, i saw alot of players hit draws off the tee and their approach shot they fade it for that soft landing

i was at the john deere classic just yesterday and the pro am, and most of them were drawing.

A draw does cut through the wind better. I think thats why more players hit a draw.

A lot of players fade or draw depending on the requirements of the shot. I've played a long time in fairly good competition and observed that many players use what works best for them. A lot of very good players fade their drives for control and then fight a hook for their other shots as their dominant hand tries to overpower their guiding hand. Then the controlled draw becomes a hook. And Lee Trevino once said, "You can talk to a fade, but a hook don't listen."

a draw gets more distance but the tour pros already have enough so most hit a fade but some, like john Daly, love distance so they hit draws i hit a draw with my woods but a fade w? my irons

From my experience photographing the pga tour for 15 years, players will shape their shots as needed although most have a natural "preferred" ball flight. If I remember correctly, Nicklaus began as someone who preferred to draw the ball but then switched to a fade to control approach shots better.

Also, I remember when Curtis Strange won his second Open at Oak Hill, he was struggling with his drive. He said that he just started to hit power fades to keep control of the ball. He credits it to winning.

And if you watch Jimenez, you'll see him hit a shot normally that looks as if its going nowhere near the hole, its more like a big fat hook, its going that far right to begin with.. Then somehow manages to get it right on the pin Though looking at hs play in Scotland on the box & he seems to have calmed that down & its a lot straighter, even some shots now with fade.