Jump to content
IGNORED

Fairway Wood Help


Note: This thread is 3850 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

Haven't posted on here in a while. Work, school, and fiancee have been taking up alot of my time. I have been working really hard on my swing for the last few months, and I finally broke 80 for the first time this season this weekend, and I shot a really easy 37 this morning. If I hadn't missed a few easy birdie opportunites I would have been in the red. But here's my question.

I have been taking lessons, joined a club, and am playing a whole whole bunch. I have the driver under control. I have the irons under control (except for 3-4 but I don't think many people ever really dial those in.) But I cannot hit a fairway wood.

I have flattened my swing and am playing a draw and it works great on irons and driver, but I don't know if its the way they are weighted or the shaft in them or what but fairway woods seem to magnify my flat inside out swing to the extreme. Driver I aim right edge of the fairway and draw it back in. Irons I aim a certain amount right depending on the loft of the club and how much I can turn it. 3 Wood I might as well aim 40 yards into the right woods because it turns left really really hard.

I wouldn't classify it as a snap hook, because it still goes 250-260 and it's got a nice trajectory, but it just turns sooo much I can't control it.

I have tried weakening my grip some, even to the point of a hogan style right forearm above the left style, and tried combining with a steeper backswing and more down the line or even across the ball type of path, and it just doesn't work.

When I try to make it not hook I either push it or hit it straight left. I would prefer to hit it straight or hit a baby draw but I can't find any sort of middle ground with it. It's either a 75 yard hook, or a completely unpredictable push or pull.

It doesn't make sense because even at some of my worst ball striking periods I was always fairly confident with the 3 wood. Now I am hitting the ball as good as I have in my adult life probably and it's the worst club in the bag for me. I'd rather have to try to fly a 3 iron to a small green with water in front and ob behind it than to have to try to hit a 3 wood into a 250 yard wide fairway.

And here's my scorecard from this morning which I wanna show off just because I am excited to see all my hard work paying off. Played from the silvers.

And as always any advice is appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I started to do this very same thing at the beginning of the season. It was pointed out to me at address I was pressing the shaft, which in effect made me shut the face down at contact and created this large draw or hook. Once I addressed the ball properly it corrected itself. Just something to consider.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I started to do this very same thing at the beginning of the season. It was pointed out to me at address I was pressing the shaft, which in effect made me shut the face down at contact and created this large draw or hook. Once I addressed the ball properly it corrected itself. Just something to consider.

Thanks for the tip. I tweaked my back today playing and I can barely walk or I'd go back out the range and try it. Def hoping its something simple like that. Ball position or forward press or something easily fixable. I'll try it and report back. Thanks again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Moderator

Is contact in the center of the face or off the toe?

Mike McLoughlin

Check out my friends on Evolvr!
Follow The Sand Trap on Twitter!  and on Facebook
Golf Terminology -  Analyzr  -  My FacebookTwitter and Instagram 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Part of me thinks moving the ball back or forward in my stance might do the trick. Maybe its too far back and I am coming at it really hard from the inside. It starts on my target line for like 75-100 yards then exits stage left hard
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I play my driver like a half a ball off the inside of my left foot but i put the three wood a ball or so in front of the center of my stance. I hit a baby draw with my driver but my 3 wood looks like a reverse image of a a banana slice
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Moderator

I play my driver like a half a ball off the inside of my left foot but i put the three wood a ball or so in front of the center of my stance. I hit a baby draw with my driver but my 3 wood looks like a reverse image of a a banana slice

I would recommend playing the fairway woods further forward than you do now, half a ball inside the left heel.  Without see your swing, here's my advice.  Aim the clubface where you want the ball to start, right of the intended target, aim the body at the target and extend the legs, squeeze the thighs together into the followthrough.

  • Upvote 1

Mike McLoughlin

Check out my friends on Evolvr!
Follow The Sand Trap on Twitter!  and on Facebook
Golf Terminology -  Analyzr  -  My FacebookTwitter and Instagram 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

So I gave it the old college try and I must admit it worked pretty well. I also got a lesson at the same time and told him about the advice you gave me and he agree. He also tried to address the root cause as well to try to fix it. We dabbled with ball placement some, we tried steepening my swing (but that made just hit really bad shots,) and then he noticed my hips weren't clearing and I was kind of swinging around my body. I have mixed a slightly open face with focusing on the hips and it is a much better result. Still a draw but a much more controllable one. Thanks for the advice mac.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Moderator
So I gave it the old college try and I must admit it worked pretty well.

I get lucky sometimes ;-)

  • Upvote 1

Mike McLoughlin

Check out my friends on Evolvr!
Follow The Sand Trap on Twitter!  and on Facebook
Golf Terminology -  Analyzr  -  My FacebookTwitter and Instagram 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Note: This thread is 3850 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-15%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope.
  • Popular Now

  • Posts

    • He shot -5 with a bogey on the last hole. Those Monday Q events are seriously tough to get through. Lots of very very good players play in those, including normally a fair few tour players who've lost their cards, including past winners. It is a small sample size, but he also just broke one of Tiger's records (youngest ever to be ranked one in AJGA if memory serves). He's the best 15 year old in the world at the moment. He's also pretty small and skinny - if he grows and fills out a bit and gets stronger, he could be a serious force to be reckoned with. He may of course also go off the boil and struggle or his swing may not last his growth or something, so it's not like he's odds on to make it or anything like that. I think it will be interesting to see how he progresses and if (big if granted) he progresses well, then he will be quite the prospect.
    • At a basic level, you can take those strokes gained numbers and if you know what the baseline strokes to hole out is from each distance, you can figure out how many strokes on average you will take to hole out from any given spot on the golf course. Then you can take that shot zone thing from shotscope and put it down there and see what the average is for each club and each target you choose. That's not exactly trivial to do though even with a computer, so the strategy guides (like LSW) use rules of thumb to make those decisions easier for you to make on the fly. Most of the time you'll come up with the optimal strategy and on the odd occasion when you don't, the strategy you come up with will be pretty darn close to optimal. If you're anything like me, then you'll probably wind up being a little too conservative with both club choice and target. Fear of penalty strokes can make you play suboptimally. Basically it's a bad idea to base your strategy on a shot that might pop up less than 1 in 20 times. If you happen to hit that shot, then today just isn't your day, but the 19 times you don't, you'll be in that much better of a spot.
    • That sounds like a small sample size issue. What if the PGA tour event he was trying to get into just happened to fit his game perfectly? Also, he could just be playing hot right now. I’ll put this in the wait-and-see category.
    • I've used a construction laser for years. Far less expensive than the PuttAim laser.
    • True, but as 15 year olds go, he has a much better chance of getting there than any of the rest of them. Kid can flat out play. He almost Monday'd into a PGA tour event a few weeks ago too. Missed in a playoff. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...