having trouble hitting fairway woods

Hey guys,

I have been practicing a lot more lately and usually break up my practice sessions on the range into different club types. I have been able to hit my irons from 4-pitch (and the higher lofted wedges) straight and with consistency for the most part. Today I tried just hitting my fairway woods off the mat and had a miserable time--nothing but shanks, slices and the feeling of hitting the turf really hard but not the ball.

I've heard the swing is supposed to be more of a sweep than going for compression like with irons, but after hitting 30 or so balls I was getting absolutely nowhere. I tried adjusting my stance width, ball placement and longevity of my back swing but nothing really helped.  I thought maybe it was a bad day so I picked up my irons to finish off my bucket and was hitting them as per usual with consistency.

So onto my questions: Is there a fundamental key I'm missing when using a fairway wood compared to an iron, and if so what would that be? Is it a different tempo, different plane on the back swing or something else?

Also, to throw in another curve ball, the last round I played I was hitting my fairway woods excellent off the tee, but when I hit one off the turf I had the same results as at the range.

Golfers are experts at making all kinds of moves to compensate for a bad swing. The problem is that the compensating move for a short iron does not work for a long club. The endless application of compensating moves changes every day all day.

So yes there are fundamental keys that you should go over again. There is not just one fundamental but many so I will leave it at that.

2 excellent resources are

Jim Hardy1 and  2 swing planes approach to the golf swing http://www.amazon.com/The-Plane-Truth-Golfers-One-plane/dp/0071432450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid;=1344627633&sr;=8-1&keywords;=plane+truth+jim+hardy

and the LAW's of golf system of understanding the golf swing. https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/pasdirtz/web/golf/GOLF_LAWs_Chart.html

There are others such as the small muscle, large muscle, mixed muscle and the multi swing systems but the two I list are the most enlightening and CLARIFYING.

If you're hitting 4i-PW well, you may have a tendency to tighten up with fairway woods off the turf. A 4i is not easy to hit well. Then again, lower lofted clubs tend to show our bad golf habits. So if the advice below does not help, go back to the basics of your swing.

You may be tense - I am with fairway woods. Especially when I'm learning a new swing, or putting a new element into the swing. And my performance with these clubs is putrid until I relax and loosen up.

Without seeing your swing, I'd loosen up a little but take it easy on your tempo - don't hurry. Let the swing happen in a relaxed fashion. The fact that you're fatting it off the turf with these clubs but not others indicate this tension and your weight shift may not be happening sufficiently because of it.

So relax, loosen, up, but keep your fundamentals and a steady tempo, you might even keep your back to the ball more on the downswing, and just let it happen.

I have the same problem. My HS Golf coach advised that I should bring it around my shoulder instead of above. Irons 5-Lob Wedge are my best suits. I can hit my 5 hybrid well though, which I don't understand why I can't hit a wood.