I played a reliable fade for years and it served me well. Of course, I had holes that didn't fit my eye off the tee sometimes, but even in those moments I knew that I could produce a fade on command. So then it was about choosing the right club off the tee (instead of driver sometimes) that would allow me to fit my preferred shot-shape to the side of the fairway opposite the dogleg. Yes I gave up some distance and sometimes it was 20-30 yards difference between hitting driver and maybe 3wood or 5wood. But a ball in play is better 100% of the time than a ball that isn't.
And for what it's worth - the hardest shot to hit is the straight shot. I doubt that many people here can pull that off better than 20-30% of the time. But a soft fade was doable for me 80% of the time or better.
One afternoon I decided to get a lesson to learn how to draw the ball. I spent an hour on the range with a teaching pro who strongly encouraged me to leave well enough alone, reminding me that Nicklaus won 18 majors playing a fade. But I insisted that he teach me how to draw the ball. "You're opening a can of worms," he said.
And he was right. I fought with my swing season after season in the following years. If I had only left well enough alone, like he said.
The most unnerving feeling for a golfer is to stand on a tee box on a hole with a narrow fairway, trouble on both sides, and have no idea where the ball is going to end up.
If you have a natural shot shape that takes one side of the golf course out of play, then that's one less thing you have to worry about.
PS - the same shot that gets you INTO trouble is the same shot required most times to get you OUT OF trouble. So even if you may miss the fairway on those tighter holes, you at least have something to your advantage with the next shot.
$.02
