Get the Most Out of Your Fairway Woods!

January 23, 2018

What good is a fairway wood if you can’t hit it properly when you’re in the fairway? The fairway wood is one of the toughest clubs in the bag. The club is long with minimal loft, and without the proper set up, technique, and execution it is very difficult to ensure that you have consistent success. I get a lot of questions from students about why they can’t hit their fairway woods. So let’s jump into it and help you get the most out of the club!

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SET UP:

Ball position and weight distribution are huge when it comes to the fairway woods.

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-Position the ball slightly further back in your stance than you would your driver.
-You want to feel your weight distributed evenly underneath the balls of your feet.
•60% weight on your left foot / 40% on your right! (Opposite for lefty’s!)

-Raise your left shoulder up slightly higher toward the sky than your right shoulder. (Opposite for lefty’s!)
•This will help you to create a strong spine angle and help with balance against the longer club.

TECHNIQUE:

-Swing the club more like an iron and less like a driver.
•Most difficulties that people have when trying to hit their fairway woods are from trying to “sweep” it off the ground like their driver. The club then bounces off the ground too soon and the desired shot is not achieved.

-It is important to think of yourself as hitting down INTO the ball. You want to make a small divot or “bruise” the grass with a fairway wood.

-At impact it is ideal that you have your hands ahead of the golf ball. This will help avoid an early release!

DRILL:

-Place a golf ball on a tee. Push the tee into the ground far enough that it is level with the ground and swing away. You want to hit down into the ball enough that you make contact with the tee. If you do not move the tee or hit the tee out of the ground you did not hit down into the ball properly.


Fairway woods are built like drivers and meant to be swung like irons. Difficult as they may be, they are not impossible! And when performed properly, they will be a huge help to your golf game!

Note: To those of you who keep the fairway woods in “time out” in the garage. Take a deep breath, grab them, tell yourself that you can do it, and give it a try! When it comes to the fairway woods, patience is absolutely key!


-Briana Sweeny

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