Fairway Woods help for a beginner

[ElvisG]

I just started playing golf last year. I played about 4 times total last year. I started playing more earlier this year. I was averaging 105 with my Wal-mart clubs. I have a wicked slice to the right that I can't fix. The only thing I've found to work is placing the ball 3 to 4 inches in-front of the driver. Then I bought a King Cobra offset. My wrist isn't hurting any longer after 18 holes. The Cobra has decreased my slices to 6 / 10. Anyway, I bought a iron set (Adams IDEA) and a Odyssy 2-ball putter from 3balls.com. Now my average score is around 90.

I think I'm going to put the Cobra driver up and just practice with it at the driving range. The reason for this is 1) I'm still having slice issues 2) I can really hit the 3 and 5-wood perfect 9 / 10 times.

I need some advice on what 3-wood and 5-wood I would need. Price isn't a issue. Do I need a 7-wood? I'm also having issues with the pitching wedge. I can hit the bump-and-run very good but I can't just use the PW and make the ball stop once it hits the green. Do I need a lob wedge?

My current step-up is this...

Cobra Offset Driver
Wal-mart 3 / 5 Wood
Adams IDEA 3 / 4 Hybird 5 - PW
Odyssy 2-ball putter

[FlopShotArtist]

If you can hit the 3W perfectly 9/10 times, I strongly suggest the Sasquatch2, as it seems to hit the ball further than any other 3W to me.

[Gerry18]

I recomend any of the Callaway woods. The big Bertha are so easy to hit, or the new square ones.

But I do recomend to go and spend $25 to get analized in Golfsmith, or any other machine that can give you wich are the best for you swing

[ElvisG]

I live in the middle of no-where New Mexico. The closet city is Lubbock, Tx 120 miles away. I'm sorta restricted to just buying on the net and hope for the best.

[ElTigre]

I've been to new mexico.
I drove through Gallup.
It was extremely boring.
But the people were nice.
They knew right away that I was from California.

[ElTigre]

But to answer the question.
You don't need a 7-wood, a nice improvement fairway wood would probably the burner. Its a year older now and cheaper. So it should be a good price range.
And all you need to complete the set is SW and LW. And a better ball to stop it on the green. Try a NXT-Tour. They are good and don't cost as much as a Pro-V.

(I like Spin milled Vokey wedges.) They help me get the spin I need on short chip shots that you need to be creative on.

[Snake]

Try this for your slice: Practice swinging while keeping a spare glove tucked under your right arm. Alot of things can contribute to a slice, but an outside-in swing path seems to be the biggest. Keeping a glove tucked under my arm helped straighten out my swing path alot.
If you can't try before you buy, I would say just do your homework first. THIS will give you some general info about new clubs (there are many other similar links too). Decide which one sounds like it suits your needs and then buy a used or year old club. That way if doesn't work for you, you can sell it on ebay with out losing much.

[1chaos52]

You may want to look at Adams for the fairway woods too. They have some excellent woods that are easy to hit and can launch the ball a long way. I am playing Adams RPM Low Profile woods right now and I will not be switching anytime soon. I can hit them far and I can work them a bit if needed.

[mellojoe]

I'm a beginner and I just discovered the joy of a hybrid.

I hit my 3-Wood off the tee. (like you, I have very little control or consistancy with the Driver right now).

Instead of hitting a fairway wood (which I pretty much suck at), I have found that a hybrid is great for any lie in the fairway or rough on long 2nd shots.

My bag looks like this:

3-wood
3-hybrid (my new club, on its way hopefully)
5-hybrid
5-iron
6-iron
7-iron
8-iron
9-iron
PW
SW
60*W
Putter

It works for me, but then again, I'm just a beginner. But the hybrids are the easiest to hit "fairway woods" I have found. I have actually GAINED distance with them, since I used to try to just get my 4-iron to go far, and I struggled to hit that one solidly all the time. And I couldn't hit the woods except from a tee, and that does nothing when you are in the fairway or rough.

[ElvisG]

Thanks for the advice and the link, Snake. I'll try that whenever I get another glove.

I like the hybrids but I just can't hit them like I do the woods off the tee. I'm going to practice the hybrids off the short tee today.

Yeah, I see no sense in buying new clubs at my skill level. 3balls.com has the 3 and 5-wood burner for sell . Is $109 a deal for this?

[kafka01]

I play the standard Burner FW - its soooooo easy to play its not even funny (i can hit that thing out of semirough/bunker you name it) - if you get it cheap, buy it, if you still have problems visit a pro. I also have the Burner TP 13° - and thats a complete different category, way more difficult to hit imo, but standard burner, easy...

Regarding your PW-problem - if you catch the ball clean there shouldnt be any problem stopping a PW under normal conditions at all. But to catch it clean as a beginner all the time aint that easy - it will develop just naturally over time when you practice it.

[GaijinGolfer]

Instead of a 7-wood, Id go with a hybrid. Hybrids give you just as much distance as a wood, but they are much easier to hit off of the fairway and out of the rough.
As for what 3-wood to get, Im personally biased towards Titleist, but really as long as you get anything from the more well-known brands (Titleist, Callaway, Taylormade and Nike, etc...), you really cant go wrong.
If you have problems getting your PW to stop on the green, Id suggest trying a sand wedge (52*, 56* or 60*).
Dont get too frustrated about not being able to hit the driver well. A lot of us struggle with that club. Its a difficult club to hit well because of how long the shaft is. Im working at getting better with my driver too, but a lot of the time when the driver is misbehaving, I will just leave it in the bag for the rest of the day and hit 3-wood instead. I dont get the same distance, but a 230-yard 3-wood shot is better that a 50-yard wormburner of a driver shot.

[kafka01]

Personally i disagree with the saying that a rescue is easier than a fairway wood to hit. Of course i own rescues (all of them around 18-19° - Callaway X and Burner Rescue) but i like neither of them. I dont need this distances alot anyways but if i am in such a spot then i honestly prefer iron (2 or 3) or a short 3wood over rescue. For me a rescue is just a different club i would need to practice and making it more complicated for me.

[ElvisG]

Snakes advice works about correcting the slice if you put a glove under your right arm. It was sorta awkward hitting at first but after a couple of swings I could hit the ball well and straight.

So I have decided to purchase the 3-wood and 5-wood TaylorMade Burner. After reading up on the clubs and seeing the review at golfdigest, I'm really happy about the decision.

As for the short game around the green, I have decided to purchase a Cleveland CG 12. I'm a little concern about the degrees part though. I don't know what type of degrees to get. I just want a club that I can just hit the ball in the rough around the green and make the ball stick. Like I said earlier, I know how to hit the pitching wedge and do the bump-and-run good but that's it. No matter how I try to hit the PW I just can't make the ball stick once it lands.

Thanks Again for everyone's help.

PS: I see that 3balls.com has already sold the 3 and 5-wood TM Burner. Any other website that sells used good condition clubs?

As for the hybrids, I have the 3 and 4 hybrids that came with my Adams IDEA iron set. I can hit them OK but not as long as my fairway woods. I just use them whenever I hit in the rough.

To be honest though, I was really excited prior to hitting them because of all the hype of having a hybrid. Now after owning them, I hit the ball out of the rough the same distance as a regular iron. The only difference I see in having a hybrid is hitting the ball with a little more consistence then a regular iron.

[Snake]

Cool. I'm glad the glove-under-the-arm trick worked for you.
Global Golf is another good online used club seller. Also, check out 3balls' and global golf's ebay stores. Sometimes they have stuff on ebay that they don't have on their websites.

[bobbydacron]

My son and I have been playing for a year. I bought myself the cobra offset LD 3 wood and 5 woods. They are really forgiving and I can get a nice jump on the ball. Golfsmith sell them for $129, they just lowered the price by $50. My son, who doesn't have the awful slice I have, treated himself to the Taylor Burner woods - Golfsmith $159. He gets a little more distance. If you need the forgiveness then definitely look at the cobra's. There is no magic club, and this is a really humbling sport, but the cobra does certainly help. Definitely try them out at a driving range first

[jrode]

I don't own them, but I have had a chance to hit them and the Callaway Squareway woods are absolutely amazing. I'd recommend checking them out. They're pretty pricey, but maybe you can find a used one or maybe you're not strapped for cash like me and can buy one.

[Magnus]

I recomend any of the Callaway woods. The big Bertha are so easy to hit, or the new square ones.

I'd recommend getting analyzed....not analized? ouch!!! LOL couldn't let that typo get by....