Okay, so I’ve been trying to nail down this “Sam Burns fade” shot I keep hearing about. You know, the one he uses so effectively? I figured I’d give it a shot (pun intended) and document my struggles, triumphs, and everything in between.
First Attempts – Total Disaster
I started out by just trying to feel it out. I watched a few videos of Burns hitting the shot, weakened my grip a little, aimed a bit left, and… well, let’s just say the ball didn’t exactly cooperate. I sliced a few so bad they ended up in the next fairway. Then I overcorrected and hooked a couple. It was messy.
Breaking it Down
Alright, time for a more systematic approach. I focused on the following:
- Grip: I read that Burns weakens his grip, so I tried that. Rotated my left hand (I’m a righty) a bit counter-clockwise. Felt weird at first.
- Stance: from the videos his stance seem like slightly open, so i tried to copy.
- Aim: Aimed a little left of the target, since I was expecting the ball to curve right.
- Swing: This is where it got tricky. I tried to swing “out-to-in,” meaning my club path should go from outside the target line to inside. Easy to say, hard to do.
Practice, Practice, Practice
I spent a good hour at the range just hitting fades. I started with my short irons, just trying to get a feel for the swing path. Slowly but surely, I started seeing some results. The ball was starting to curve right, although it wasn’t always pretty. Some were weak, some were high, some were just plain ugly. But hey, progress!
Then I moved on to my longer irons and woods. This was even harder. The longer the club, the more amplified the mistakes. But I kept at it, focusing on that out-to-in swing and trying to keep my grip light.
Finally… A Decent Fade!
After what felt like a million swings, I finally hit a few that I would actually consider “good” fades. The ball started left, curved gently to the right, and landed pretty close to where I was aiming. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a heck of a lot better than those first few slices.
Takeaways
I learned, It is not easy job. It takes a lot of practice and a good understanding of the mechanics. I’m definitely not going to be hitting Sam Burns-level fades anytime soon, but I’m making progress. It’s a fun shot to work on, and it definitely adds another tool to my golf bag. Next time, I want to really focus on getting the swing path more consistent, and to try to keep the ball flight a bit lower.
