Most amateur golfers want to hit a draw. Many pros do, too—it seems to be something of a trend on tour recently.
The difference is that pros try to hit a very specific kind of draw. The ball moves right-to-left in the air, but it's more of a gentle lean than a pronounced curve. It never veers into "it's more of a controlled hook" territory.
I call it a Tour Draw, and it's the subject of our most recent Golf Digest YouTube video, which you can watch right here...
There are a few key elements. Let's break them down.
1. Create a 'spin buffer'
The average draw player on tour has a spin rate of 2,500 RPMs on their good shots, which is slightly higher than what's considered optimal for maximum distance.
That's on purpose. Draws by nature tend to produce less spin, and when you mis-hit one off the toe, it can come off with so little spin that it struggles to stay in the air. That's when you get the quick divebomb to the left—the dreaded duck hook.
By taking a hair more spin than they need on good shots, these players turn their bad toe shots into knucklebombs that travel forever, instead of dive bombs that go out of play. A good clubfitter can dial this in quickly and easily.
2. Limit the height and curve
Two essentials for the tour draw. The average tour draw player has an apex height at or under the tour average of ~100 feet, with a spin axis between -2 and -6 degrees.
If your eyes just glazed over, remember this: beware too much height and too much curve. If you can't hit a gentle draw no matter how hard you try, it's probably not the shot for you.
3. Tilt more than you turn
This is an essential one. It's a formula that a Golf Digest Top 50 coach derived using Sportsbox AI.
In a nutshell, turning is good—but too much turn without enough tilt is a classic slicer mistake. You want a combination of tilt and turn, and draw players tilt more than they turn. It gives their body that gentle reverse-C shape.
4. Open the clubface...so you can release it
This one's a common trend among draw players: many get the clubface open at certain points in their backswing to incentivize a harder hand release later on. Michael Kim even talked about it here.
It's slightly counterintuitive, but the idea is that if you get the face slightly open early, you can make a more aggressive release later without the draw turning into too much.
5. Create a wall
This is more of a feel, but it keeps popping up when draw players describe their move. You want a full release, but also something that prevents you from releasing too much. Bryson calls his left arm a "governor." Moe Norman said the same about his left knee.
What you're after is a feel—something that lets you release hard through the ball without your entire swing falling apart.