How to Hit a Fairway Wood
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Sean is the co-founder of My Golf Tutor, the top golf instructional blog helping weekend golfers play better golf. He played on the Irish National team that produced major champions like Rory Mcllroy, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington, and Darren Clarke before playing professionally for 5 years around the world.
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How to Hit a Fairway Wood Perfectly Every Time
Have you ever wondered how to become more consistent when hitting your your fairway woods off the ground?
The three-wood off the ground is one of the more difficult shots for amateur golfers to master. By making a few simple adjustments at setup, this club can be a whole lot easier to hit.
Claude, one of our readers, wrote in and had a similar problem:
Hi Sean, I’ve been having a lot of trouble hitting my three-wood, especially off the fairway. Do you have any tips or suggestions that will help me become more consistent?
How to Hit a Fairway Wood – Ball Position
One key ingredient to becoming more consistent with this shot is the correct ball position.
I would like you to use two alignment rods to help ensure that you are placing the golf ball in the correct position in your stance
The first alignment rod is going to be placed on the ground and aiming down the target line. The second alignment rode will be placed perpendicular to the one on the ground, and opposite of the golf ball.
Now, if you have a driver, I want your left heel touching the alignment rod at address.
If you’re using a seven iron, for example, I would place the rod in the middle of your stance, with both feet equi-distant from the alignment rod on the ground. This helps ensure that you establish the correct ball position in practice.
Now for the three-wood, I want you to set up with your left heel an inch from the alignment rod.
How to Hit a Fairway Wood – Weight Distribution
We want our weight to be evenly distributed in our stance, so fifty(50%) left, and fifty(50%) right.
Because the ball is up in our stance, there is going to be a slight little tilt in our spine (This is also known as side bend).
This slight tilt will help increase our chances of having a shallower angle of attack and we will be able to strike the ball as the club is leveling out.
How to Hit a Fairway Wood – Use the Loft
One last thing I would like for you to do is to make sure you are allowing the loft of the club to get the ball into the air.
I don’t want to see you hanging back on your trail leg in an effort to help the ball up into the air. When you hang back, this leads to a lot of inconsistency and you won’t get that quality strike that you’re trying to produce.
Do you know someone who struggles with their three-wood everytime they hit the club?
Forward them this blog post to show them that with a couple of setup adjustments, they can begin hitting more consistent fairway woods of the ground.
Of the fairway woods in your bag, what’s your favorite one to hit? Let me know in the comment section below.
