Should I hit a Fade or a Draw?

I have never taken a golf lesson in my life.  I grew up watching Arnold and Jack going at it (dating myself here).  Golf swing analysis was much simpler then, at least from my remembrance of those TV days.  To me it was -  straight left arm, weight shift, shift weight comes back thru, finish high.  This worked pretty well for me;  although I never approached pro level, I did manage to drive my handicap down to a 7 at my peak.  I was pretty proud of my sojourns into the 70s (score, not decade), but it always bothered me that my natural shot was a fade and my big mistake was a slice.  To me, the "manly" shot was a draw and if you swing badly, it should result in a disastrous hook that bores its way thru rough and bush, not some sissy slice that falls softly in the woods or a water hazard.

Problem was, I struggled to hit draws and hooks.  When playing my best, I could hit some draws and hooks, but if I was playing on the "marginal" level, I would always revert to my natural left-to-right ball flight. So at some point I discarded Watson's advice (keep your swing long) and tried to shorten my backswing in order to produce an inside-to-out swing path that would result in a draw.  What followed was not pretty: picture Charles Barkley's ugly hitch-infested swing.  Yes, I was plagued with a horrible, unconquerable, mentally-paralyzing hitch that killed my enjoyment of golf for about 3 years.  Thankfully, I found my way out of that golf nightmare and arrived at a point where I could work on technical aspects of my swing.  After some effort, I now find I can produce draws quite often and my big miss is indeed a disastrous hook.  Now I fall back on the draw/hook when I'm not sure what to do.  This played out yesterday at the Queens Harbour course in Jacksonville, Florida, a Mark McCumber design.  I'd have to say draws really didn't help me that much on that water-laden course so I am now wondering if I should have just stuck with my old swing. Let me think........  Ah, screw it, I want to be a manly golfer with all the ills that come with that approach   ----  let the draws rule!!!!!!!

(this post was done with tongue somewhat planted in cheek.  Truth is if my short game was even close to my peak, I would've scored around 80.)  Gotta love hitting those sweeping right-to-left shots.