How to set up your driver to hit a controlled fade

Here’s a question I hear every now and again: “What’s the best fade-biased driver setup?”

Let’s start with what it’s not.

For one, it does not require you setting your driver in -2 with an open face, Fujikura Ventus Black TX shaft, tipped 2 inches, etc. That’s not how this is done. That’s more of a “I never wanna hit it left” set-up, which out on Tour is not really the miss that freaks guys out. The best players are more worried about the wide-right, no-spin foul ball.

The modern, Trackman-informed swing path — think shallow instead of more down the line or on top — has brought with it a modern miss: the wipey floater to the right for right-handed golfers or a no-spin block. Players with an aggressive left path or “negative path” for the Trackman dorks (Akshay Bhatia or Collin Morikawa, for example) have a miss that either over-cuts or results in a slight pull that, if the driver is properly tuned, should stay on the original line and not dive into the ground.

So…what is the proper driver build for a fader?

There are many factors that need to be considered, including angle of attack, path, face to path and spin, etc. So again, for the 1,000th time, working with a qualified fitter (like one from our friends at True Spec Golf) is the best way to getting dialed. But if you are a degenerate gear junkie like myself and seek council from people like me, here is how you actually set up your driver for a proper fade.

How to set up your driver for a fade

A proper fade can be defined in two ways:

(1) A shot that starts left of the target line and falls (not slices) back to the center, i.e., a pull fade. Think Fred Couples, Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka.

(2) The ball flight of a player who aims down the left side of the fairway with the ball starting on the target line and moving back to the right, i.e., DJ, Jon Rahm and Morikawa.

Funny thing is, these players all have very similar set-ups regardless of how they fade it. If you set down their drivers, you’ll see two main things: (1) Plenty of loft, and (2) the face being neutral/square or pointing to their left shoulder, i.e., “closed.”

Dustin Johnson has said numerous times that the key to hitting a fade is…making sure it fades. Preach, DJ.

Gear junkie forum members may argue that a left-pointing face will encourage a hook for players who don’t control the face — yeah, sure…maybe. But it also ensures a proper fade start line. You also will see some players with an upright lie on the driver. Same rules apply here. Upright lie equals left or center start line. The miss here, if the driver is set up correctly, is a slight pull that stays on that line or a slight over-cut which is just fine — way better than the alternative.

Let’s use Morikawa — who finished runner-up Sunday at Bay Hill — as our test subject. These are his driver specs:

Head: TaylorMade Qi35 IS 9@9.5 (1.5 sleeve set at standard, 8G front, 8G heel, 8G toe)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 60TX (Tipped 1, 45.25 EOG, D3)
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58R

Collin hits what I like to call a “flat fade” — or a fade that starts on the target line, falls right with spin numbers that live from 2,200 to 2,600 RPMs, depending on the shot he’s hitting, at 11 or 12 degree launch. His driver is neutrally weighted for the most part but he’s in a low CG head with a stiff tipped, stable shaft, and his face angle points left. This setup harmonizes with his left swing path to produce a hard penetrating cut.

That’s where spin management and having enough loft come into play. A well fit driver will always ensure efficiency, plenty of spin relative to the launch and all but eliminates a crazy miss, even at the Tour level. That’s the beauty of how good these Tour reps are. Collin has been working with TaylorMade’s Ryan Ressa since Collin’s college days at Cal, and also Todd Chew, who is Collin’s guy out on Tour. I know they worked hard this past off-season to land Collin in a driver that answered all the questions his trusty SIM gave him (he has been known to go back to that from time to time) along with the Qi10 head he used last year. With the Qi35, they have succeeded.

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Everything that happens on Tour ranges and in trucks provides a ton of learnings for you and me. At the end of the day, the search for optimization and efficiency is what all players are after. Even Tour players will give up some ball speed to guarantee an optimized shot shape. If they get longer with a new driver, great. But if the preferred shot shape is clean and the miss is friendlier, that’s always the priority. These guys all know how to add yards in the gym, anyway.

In Collin’s case, the fitting process started at home in Vegas last fall, continued at a TaylorMade content shoot around Thanksgiving and concluded at Kapalua.

Every golfer can find efficiency if they accept their natural shot shape. I remember Rocco Mediate telling me that he felt it was an advantage that he hits only draws. “It’s too much to manage trying to be an expert at it all,” he said. “I have always been a one-shape-all-the-time guy. Trying to do everything is too confusing.” Whether you’re more comfortable hitting a draw or fade, the same fitting principle still applies. Rocco’s driver is set up to hit a draw. All the time.

The lesson for you: build your clubs to maximize your swing’s natural pattern. I’ve seen it happen a bunch where players think that hitting a certain shot will make the ball go farther. But if you’re trying to hit a shot that doesn’t come naturally to you, you’re working against yourself for no reason. So if you are a fader, work with a fitter and optimize that fade.

Golf is hard enough if you’re guessing what ball flight is coming next. The best players in the world don’t guess — they know. You can know, too. You just have to pay attention to what the ball is telling you.

Find your perfect driver set-up by scheduling a fitting at True Spec Golf.