A pro’s 3 secrets to shaping shots with your driver
Min Woo Lee, one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, shares his three tips to improve your distance and shot types with your driver.
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Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series in which we’re sharing improvements, learnings and takeaways from amateur golfers just like you — including some of the speed bumps and challenges they faced along the way.
At just 25 years old, Australian Min Woo Lee is an emerging star in the game of golf. Not only can he crush the ball off the tee (7th in driving distance at 309 yards), but he’s proven to have serious chops on the biggest stages as well.
Although Lee has yet to win on the PGA Tour, he has T20 finishes in three of the four majors, with his best coming at the 2023 U.S Open, where he was fifth.
Who is Min Woo Lee? 5 things to know about the Players Championship contender
Given his growing popularity and unique ability to bomb his driver, Lee recently revealed some driver tips on Callaway Golf’s YouTube channel, explaining how to shape shots like a pro.
If you’re truly going to shave strokes and see the scores you want, having the ability to hit various types of shots is critical, and Lee reveals his secrets to hitting a draw, a fade and a fairway finder (or a low fade). Take a look below to see his tips!
Min Woo Lee shares his shot-shaping tips
Stock shot (fade)
Lee says his preferred stock shot with driver is a simple little fade, which requires having a club path from in-to-out, as well as a bit of an open clubface. But he says he used to be much more accustomed to hitting a draw prior to turning pro.
“I used to hit a draw as an amateur [for my stock shot], and when I got out onto the Tour, I needed to hit it a bit straighter,” he said. “So you can see a lot of guys on Tour hit fades, and I developed a pretty decent one over the past couple of years. But the first three years of being pro was tough to get a really natural fade.”
As for his tips for hitting a bigger fade, compared to his typical stock shot fade?
“If I wanted to hit a little more of a fade [compared to just my stock shot fade], I would aim the club where I want to start it,” he said. “So if I aim towards the left side of the fairway, we want to fade it off to the right side.
Draw
Lee says hitting a draw with his driver isn’t something he often trusts on the course, despite his success with it.
“It’s a shot that I actually hit really well, but I don’t trust it as much on the golf course,” he said. “If there’s a fairway that’s a bit wider, it’s definitely the shot I go to. My draws don’t draw too much. So I aim towards the right, definitely [take it back] a bit wider, but I also want to come from out-to-in on an inward path.
“I definitely stand a bit more closed. For a right-hander, closed means having the right foot back. So my line’s aiming further right of where I want to start it. And then you kind of want to have a bit of a closed face when you hit the ball.”
Lee was then asked how much longer his draw is compared to his traditional stock shot.
“We’re talking 310 yards with a fade, and then closer to 330 yards with a draw,” he said. “Yes, it’s nice hitting it long, but we want to hit fairways, especially at my length. For shorter hitters, it’s very beneficial for you guys to hit a draw.”
Low fade (fairway finder)
Finally, Lee says a safer shot off the tee is a simple low fade, otherwise known as a fairway finder. The best players in the world have this in their back pocket as a tool to use when needed.
“Similar to the fade shot, we’re going to tee the ball up a little bit lower. The lower you hit it, there’s going to be less of a chance for it to go off-line,” he said. “Same thing [as the other shots], I want to be aiming at the left side of the fairway, choke up on the grip just a little bit, and hit more of a punch shot. Use a similar backswing [as the draw], and just cut it.”
He’s then asked about what differences he feels in the backswing on the low fade compared to the other shots.
“My backswing is quite normal on the way back with a fade, and then it’s coming down in front of me,” he said. “That’s not like the draw, where it’s a bit behind me and the shaft is a bit further back.
“The draw is a funny feeling, because it’s a long and laggy swing, and it comes from the inside a lot more. You’re sweeping [the club] from right to left rather than having it be in front of you and cutting it. So there’s a big difference.”
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