I can’t hit fairway woods off the deck

[John1974]

Hey guys I need some help. I've recently started playing more golf more often as of late. I have issues with hitting fairway woods off the deck,always been my Achilles heel. I've recently been considering going just with driver and irons only. I hit my driver fairly consistent,not perfect with it by no means. I play with Ping Eye 2 2-lw. Do you think it's a wise move. Thank you for your help

[JonMA1]

Welcome to the site @John1974.

I'm not a good player so take my opinion for what it's worth. Hopefully, some of the better players here will give some actual useful advice.

I think giving up on those clubs it is not a wise move. I believe making good contact with a fairway wood from a decent lie is something most everyone can develop. The extra distance these clubs offer would be valuable to your game.

If you cannot take lessons, continue to work on your own. Try to learn where the low point of the swing should be, the angle of attack (not sure if that's the correct term), and swing easy at first. I believe you'll develop a feel for how to hit these. That feel may be a bit different than your iron swing.

Good luck.

[saevel25]

9 hours ago, John1974 said:

Hey guys I need some help. I've recently started playing more golf more often as of late. I have issues with hitting fairway woods off the deck,always been my Achilles heel. I've recently been considering going just with driver and irons only. I hit my driver fairly consistent,not perfect with it by no means. I play with Ping Eye 2 2-lw. Do you think it's a wise move. Thank you for your help

If you recently just started, hit what gets you consistently closer to the hole on your 2nd shot. If you can not hit your 3-wood off the deck, then look at a hybrid, if not that then a long iron. Even if your 3-wood has a max distance. If half the time you top it, now you decreased your average distance. Maybe an iron would average closer to the hole.

[klineka]

First of all, welcome to The Sand Trap!

A couple things I try to keep in mind when hitting fairway woods off the deck is to make sure the ball is basically as far forward in my stance as it is for a driver (Just off the inside of my front heel). Doing this helps me make sure that I am hitting the ball on the way up, with a positive (or what feels positive) angle of attack.

Second, I like to feel as if I am sweeping the ball off the turf, compared to an iron where you might feel like you are hitting more down on the ball, with fairway woods I try to take minimal divots and just brush the top of the grass as I am making my swing.

You could always try posting some videos of your swing in the Member Swings forum on this site

 

 

[MarvChamp]

Good advice so far! I, too, play the club forward. But I do that on most all clubs ala Harmon, Nicklaus. But I finally decided I was getting my best results from my Mizuno 3 and 4 DLR hybrid irons, with an occassional 5FW thrown in.  Good luck! What an exciting game of mind and body! -Marv

[Groucho Valentine]

Without seeing you swing, id just advise playing around with ball position and set up on the range. I disagree with @klineka in that you should place the ball way forward. I like to have it at two balls width inside my instep. Kinda in a similar position where i would play a long iron or hybrid. You want to hit down on a fairway wood just as you would any other club except driver. I think its harder to do that if the ball is too far forward. Hands and the handle of the club slightly ahead of the ball at address, with whatever posture and arm hang you usually use. See if it helps any. 

Edited November 14, 2017 by Groucho Valentine

[Patch]

Are you hitting them fat, or are you topping them? Hooking? Slicing? Shanking? What's the problem? 

Whatever the problem is, read up on the various causes of that problem. Asking other golfers works quite well too.

I have always thought the better the understanding of the problem, the easier, and more thorough the fix can be. 

Get yourself a pocket note book, so that you can record important club, and swing information. Write down what works, and what doesn't for future reference. 

I use a couple of those yellow surveyor note books. Most office/business outlets have them. 

[mcanadiens]

Not sure if you are mainly hitting a 3W or a 5W, both or something else, but the shorter woods may be easier to hit than the longer ones.

Personally, 5W is as much as I hit off the deck. Actually, I just got a 7W to try out. We'll see how that goes.

Edited November 14, 2017 by mcanadiens

[rehmwa]

Have you tried swinging harder?

If not, that's all I got.

[Lihu]

13 hours ago, John1974 said:

Hey guys I need some help. I've recently started playing more golf more often as of late. I have issues with hitting fairway woods off the deck,always been my Achilles heel. I've recently been considering going just with driver and irons only. I hit my driver fairly consistent,not perfect with it by no means. I play with Ping Eye 2 2-lw. Do you think it's a wise move. Thank you for your help

What do you mean by "having issues hitting off the deck"?

3W is pretty hard to hit well, just like any other long club. I consider myself terrible with the 3W, but average about 231 yards and have hit it over 300 yards before, so I think it would help to know what you mean by "issues".

[John1974]

Guys I appreciate all the advice. I've worked on stance,my swing,ball placement etc. I know I hit irons fairly decent,I don't want to give up on fairway woods,just up in the air of whether I should take them out of the bag for now. I'm confident with my irons,not so much with woods. I have considered trying to replace woods with hybrids. 

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, John1974 said:

Guys I appreciate all the advice. I've worked on stance,my swing,ball placement etc. I know I hit irons fairly decent,I don't want to give up on fairway woods,just up in the air of whether I should take them out of the bag for now. I'm confident with my irons,not so much with woods. I have considered trying to replace woods with hybrids. 

A lot of people take out woods for the same reasons. Woods are just hard to hit off the deck.

[Groucho Valentine]

I think fairway woods are easier to hit than long irons are. Especially modern fairway woods. I think a lot of problems arise because players try to kill the things like they're drivers and try to lift them into the air. Leads to alot of toppers and dribblers. 

[Lihu]

16 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I think fairway woods are easier to hit than long irons are. Especially modern fairway woods. I think a lot of problems arise because players try to kill the things like they're drivers and try to lift them into the air. Leads to alot of toppers and dribblers. 

Agree, long irons are harder to hit. I was thinking that the OP was going to try a hybrid?

The other possibility is lessons?

[Groucho Valentine]

16 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Agree, long irons are harder to hit. I was thinking that the OP was going to try a hybrid?

The other possibility is lessons?

Yeah, that too. If you hit an iron well but not a fairway wood theres probably some kind of swing thing going on. 

[WUTiger]

Try out a 4W or a 5W.

A Golf Digest report from a couple of years ago said the average player can hit a 4W more reliably - and sometimes longer - than a 3W. To launch a 3W off the turf, you need fairly good swingspeed and more of a sweep swing.

A 3W is hard to hit if you...

• have lower clubhead speed; and/or
• come into the ball at a steep angle and deloft an already lower loft wood.

A 3W is often 15° loft, while a 4W is often 16.5° and a 5W 18° or 19°. A little extra loft really helps you get the ball airborne, as the right amount of ball height is critical for getting carry distance.

Also, make sure the shaft isn't too stiff or heavy for you.

[rehmwa]

7 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

 To launch a 3W off the turf, you need fairly good swingspeed

I've heard that too.  Never sure if it made sense or not though.  I've always thought contact is priority.  But the video noted the same thing.  skeptical here

when I'm hitting it, it's one of my best clubs in the bag.  the converse is true though - the bad days is goofy bad (hooks and thins, I think the bad days I'm mostly out of plane bad, to the point I'm catching the heel or something......).  So  feast or famine.  This last year I was hitting it really nicely though much more than the bad days.

I wouldn't give up on it.  It's a great club once you figure it out.

Edited November 14, 2017 by rehmwa

[WUTiger]

1 minute ago, rehmwa said:

I wouldn't give up on it.  It's a great club once you figure it out.

If by great club you mean a useful FW, I would agree. If it must be a 3W, I disagree. Not everyone, however, gets the best from a 3W.

A few demo days ago, the Tour Edge rep had all seekers of THE long club hit the new Exotics 3W and 4W. Most of us did better with the 4W, including some big hitters who carried their driver shots 270 yards or so.

It depends in part on how you come into the ball. Life is short... so go with what works.

At the weekend golf sale, the pros were pushing beginners towards 4W or 5W (or 3W.HL, a TM club that all other manufacturers call a 4W). Reasons the pros gave: clubhead speed, benefits of extra loft.