I can't hit my 3 wood off the deck :(

[laquintaboy82]

I hate to say it man but beleive me its the club you can buy equipment for a quick fix people give bad advice on here!!!!! Buy a new 3wood!!!! That 909 you have was an excellent choice i love them too

[Shanks A Million]

I tell you what, I was the worst fairway wood player known to man up to about a month ago. I tried everything, and nothing worked.

Well, the thing people won't tell you is this:

You can hit a 3 wood just fine. Your problem is that when you tee it up, you have confidence. That's normal. Then, when you take it off the tee, you don't. All you need to do, is to tee a few up and hit them. Not having confidence is as bad, maybe worse than not having any skill. A confident hacker can beat an unconfident single digit, any day.

All you need to do is tee a few balls up and hit them. Tee them fairly low, and just keep swinging. Then, after a while, take the ball off the tee. Now, make the exact... same... swing . You can thank me later.

[Chas]

I'm gonna take the advice of some people in this thread and hit ever-so-slightly down on the ball next time I play a 3W off the fairway instead of trying to pick it off clean. I've been doing that (hitting down a bit) with great success with my 4-hybrid, which really sucked the wazoo before I did that - got the tip off of this very forum as well. So maybe it'll work with the 3W too. I basically gave up in disgust on fairway 3W shots around a year ago but what the hey I'll give it another whirl .....

Funny thing tho', my 5W is one of my more confident clubs (par 5s mostly of course) and I basically pick the ball off the deck with that puppy - what's going on with that? Because the 5W is that much shorter I keep things together better on the backswing I suppose. At any rate I feel much more confident with it, and it goes (for me) a respectable distance. Courses I play I prolly shouldn't be hitting a lot of fairway 3Ws anyway - where's the percentage unless you can reach the green in 2 (par 5)?

My worst and best 3W experiences were on the same hole (part 5) while my wife was watching (very very rare). After a decent drive I totally chunked the 3W second shot (maybe 30 yards), then hit a career 3W (draw) that ran up onto the green. Two-putted for par. My wife said she didn't see any of it after the chunk for some reason - ayyyyyyy!

[DocParty]

Originally Posted by kurtwainwright

It seems to me that the folks chiming in are low-handicap golfers giving advice on equipment replacement, swing tips, etc. But I'm going to touch on something else.

As a 24-handicapper, I see nothing at all wrong with using a hybrid off the deck. I have the same problem that you do. So what if I can't hit a 3-wood on the fairway... I can hit my 17* hybrid iron off the deck and send the ball 190 yds downrange. Granted, this is not as far as a properly swung 3-wood, but it is forward progress.

There are so many things to think about out there -- why not just go with the club that you can hit the best in the given situation?

I'm a bogie golfer and that's on a good day, PGA course, playing by the rules. I hit anything that works. I don't care if everyone else is hitting Big Bertha or another large headed driver. If my 3 wood or hybrid is knocking the snot out of it for me (and I said for me) I'm using it. I lost my ego years ago when I retired so I have nothing to prove. I can't hit the ball like Bubba, but I can hit my 3 wood off a tee or off the grass (makes no difference to me) just fine. I'm not a long hitter but I have never been. I have a good game around the green, where is when I pick up those shots that the others don't make. So, no matter scratch golfer or if you are playing double bogie golf. For Gods sake, play the club that works for you, no matter what it is. Some days I'm so good at pitch and run that my chipper/wedge never see the light of day around the green. I just pull my 7 and use it. Some days I feel good with the chipper/wedge and can drop the ball like a lawn dart. Enjoy the game, that's what it is. Use what works for you. My son can knock the ball 300 yards regularly and pretty darn straight. I can't. I never feel less or intimidated playing with him or anyone else. Let your shots speak for you. It's a game.

[spkgolfer]

well one reason for this can be that maybe your taking your backswing with a close club face..stop midway through  your practice swing  and see in what position its your club face..if you use your wrists in your swing so try opening your club face on the backswing using ur wrists and secondly the club you are using can be a factor..i switched from a r9 3 wood to a rocketballz 3 wood and now i am a totally different player with my 3 wood

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by spkgolfer

well one reason for this can be that maybe your taking your backswing with a close club face..stop midway through  your practice swing  and see in what position its your club face..if you use your wrists in your swing so try opening your club face on the backswing using ur wrists and secondly the club you are using can be a factor..i switched from a r9 3 wood to a rocketballz 3 wood and now i am a totally different player with my 3 wood

This thread is almost 6 yrs old. The guy above you revived it for some reason. Personally, I think he's effin' with us. I don't think it's the first time.

:-)

[seanmactavish]

I was hitting my Sonartec 3 wood inconsistently, so I tried a used Adams Tight Lies 3 and I am hitting it very well. I bought it at Play It Again Sports cheap. I also have a Ping G2 5 wood that I hit well. I agree with the other members who suggest standing tall and playing the ball forward in your stance.

[Chanceman]

I began to use my 3 wood properly when I went back to basics and told myself to keep my head still, watch the back of the ball, and keep watching it through the stroke. I also stiffened my arms a little and told myself to be a wheel for the club. As a basic hacker I began to hit it 190 yards. These days if it goes off I tend to take it out of the bag and go with the 5 wood which is basically easier because of the extra loft. Once I get the feel back I go to the 3 wood again.

[ks8829]

Have you ever played blocks on the tee box?  try playing blocks with your 3 wood and if you can hit the ball solid hitting your 3 wood off the ground playing blocks this will help you with your take away for your 3 wood and even with your driver.

[DocParty]

On 9/3/2007 at 3:03 AM, supercow said:

Normally, I find that I have one of either two problems when this is occuring. First, is if I start 'picking the club up'. Basically, I start using my hands/wrists to move the club back instead of my shoulders. This means that there is little time spent sweeping through the contact area and I have to use my hands in the contact area to make reasonable contact. A good thought about to counteract this is to think about the clubface compressing the ball down the target line for about 5 inches from behind to in front of the ball.

Other possibility is that I just take the club back too far inside on the takeaway. Once again, this is often due to use the hands at the beginning of the takeaway instead of my larger muscles such as the shoulders.

Well my problem is the opposite. I can hit my 3-5-7 woods out of the thick rough or the good rough or any thick grass or long fairway grass. Flies like a bullet, goes straight, and looks great. I can even stick a greet from 180 with my 5 wood.

But I cannot for the life of me hit any of these off of a tee. I have tried every height known to man. From down even with the ground to as much as an inch higher than the ground. I just can't do it.

I toss the ball in the thick grass around the tee box, give it as swat and it flies right and for my age I get adequate distance. I stuck a green from @ 160 today with my 5 wood.

Anyone ever have this problem, not being able to hit a 3-5-7 wood off a tee?

[Mike Boatright]

Swing very easy until you get it down. Most likely your toe hooking it and are just making poor contact. Off the fairway a 15 deg needs to have a good lie place it of your left heel and nip it clean. Easier said then done but that's about it this takes some skills.  

 

This is one of the best shots I have ever hit with a fairway wood. It was a 13 deg callaway octane 275 yard shot. I had a great lie and just stayed in balance.

 

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by Mike Boatright