One of the most useful shots in golf is the draw. But it also happens to be one of the most difficult shots to hit.
Mastering the draw shot in golf can help you have the confidence to shape the ball on dogleg fairways and attack pins tucked in the corner of greens. Getting your ball to pin high as often as you can.
However, it’s not uncommon to find yourself asking, why can’t I hit a draw?
If you can’t hit a draw, it’s probably due to one of 5 reasons:
- Your stance is too open.
- Improper alignment.
- Too much lateral forward bend.
- Open clubface at impact.
- Over-the-top swing path.
In this post, we’ll take an in-depth look at each of these issues!
Note: If you’re looking for an in-depth resource to help transform your slice into a draw, this course provides a step-by-step guide to help you do that!
Table of Contents
- What is A Draw In Golf?
- 5 Common Reasons Why You Can’t Hit a Draw
- The Takeaway – 5 Reasons Why You Can’t Hit A Draw
What is A Draw In Golf?
The draw shot in golf refers to a shot that starts to the right of the target line before curving back to the left (for right-handed players).
Many professional golfers favor this type of shot because it allows them to maximize distance while maintaining control. In fact, distance and control are two of the main benefits of hitting the draw shot.
Hitting a draw is especially helpful when the fairway curves to the left from the tee or when the pin is tucked on the far left side of the green (again, this is for right-handed players. If you’re left-handed, consider the opposite).
5 Common Reasons Why You Can’t Hit a Draw
Open Stance
The first issue most people have with hitting a draw takes place well before they even swing the club back. Often, their stance will be too open, causing them to cut across the ball on an out-to-in path:
This setup will put a left-to-right spin on the ball, causing it to slice.
Instead, the easiest way to set up for a draw is to have a slightly closed stance, meaning your front foot is slightly ahead of your back foot:
This will force you to swing on an in-to-out path and make contact with the inside portion of the ball, an essential factor when hitting a draw. Doing so will put right-to-left spin on the golf ball.
Improper Alignment
Another reason why players can’t hit a draw is that their alignment is off. When drawing the golf ball, you want to make sure your body is aimed slightly to the right of the target while your clubface remains square to the target.
A good rule of thumb is to line your body up in line with the path you want the golf ball to start on while keeping the clubhead square to where you want the ball to finish.
This will result in a slightly closed clubface at address and an in-out swing path, helping you to draw the golf ball.
Too Much Forward Lateral Bend
If you’re struggling to hit a draw, it might be because you have too much forward lateral bend. This simply means that your upper body is leaning too far forward in your setup and throughout your swing.
When your upper body leans too far forward, it’s difficult to make a full turn and you’ll likely cut across the golf ball, leading to a slice.
Instead, try to get into the “reverse-K” position. This is where your upper body leans slightly back from your lower body and stays behind the ball.
Matin Hall discusses the reverse-k position more below:
A good swing thought to help you get into this position is to feel like your left ear (right ear for lefty’s) stays behind the golf ball at all times.
This will help you keep your upper body tilted back and prevent that cutting across or over-the-top swing path.
You’ll be to stay underneath the ball more on your downswing, helping you to make contact with the inside of the ball which is ideal for a draw.
Open Clubface at Impact
Even if you have the proper stance and alignment, and are in the reverse-k position, you might find that you still can’t hit a draw. This is often a result of an open clubface.
Believe it or not, you can actually hit a draw with an open clubface. That’s if your path is more severe than the angle of your club.
For example, if you swing in-to-out by 4° and your clubface is 2° open, you will still hit a draw.
However, if you were to take that same swing path (+4°) and combine it with a clubface that’s 6° open, you will hit a slice.
To sum up, your swing path must be more degrees in-to-out than your clubface is open.
Over-The-Top Swing Path
The last and perhaps most common reason you can’t hit a draw is that you have an over-the-top swing path.
If you’re swinging over-the-top (on an out-to-in path), it’s impossible to hit a draw. This is because an over-the-top swing will result in a shot that starts to the left of your target line. Remember from before that a draw needs to start off to the right of your target line.
So if you’re swinging to the left, and the ball is starting to the left of your target line, there are only two possible results.
- You leave the clubface open and you slice the ball.
- You shut the clubface and hit a pull.
In order to fix your swing plane and swing on an in-to-out path, try to make contact with the inside portion of the ball.
One thing I’ll often do to help me with this is to draw a dot with a marker on my ball to make sure I contact the inner side of the ball. Doing so helps you remember to shallow your swing and maintain the proper path through the ball.
The Takeaway – 5 Reasons Why You Can’t Hit A Draw
If you’ve ever asked yourself, why can’t I hit a draw? it’s likely due to one of the following reasons.
- Open Stance
- Improper Alignment
- Too Much Forward Lateral Bend
- Open Clubface at Impact
- Over-The-Top Swing Path
Read through the sections above and see if you recognize any of these issues cropping up in your golf swing.
If you want to transform your slice into a draw, I would recommend checking out this course which lays out a step-by-step guide to show you how to get rid of your slice and start hitting draws.
Hopefully, this article gets you one step closer to hitting a perfect draw every time!
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