I can’t hit fairway woods off the deck

[rehmwa]

Just now, WUTiger said:

Reasons the pros gave: clubhead speed, benefits of extra loft.

we keep coming back to clubhead speed to enable benefits from a typical 3W.....must be something true in there then

that consideration has to help the OP...

 

[John1974]

@Groucho Valentine that may be my issue,I try to kill it every time. Thanks everyone for welcoming me as well,I forgot my manners. I will try to work on everything you have brought to my attention. I like the idea of keeping a notebook,never thought of that @Patch

[billchao]

3 hours ago, rehmwa said:

we keep coming back to clubhead speed to enable benefits from a typical 3W.....must be something true in there then

That's generally true regardless of the type of club. The lower the loft, the higher the ball speed is required to get it airborne and keep it in the air for long carries.

That's why fitters will tell average players to play higher lofts in their drivers, drop their 3W for a 4W, and switch their long irons for hybrids.

[JonMA1]

I've never had much in the way of swing speed so I must have been doing something right because I'd often get good height from my 3wood from off the fairway. Dispersion not so much.

But I agree that the 5wood is an easier club to hit. I miss having the confidence the last two years with those clubs that I had before. I recently gave my 3w to my son and kept the 5w, but I may end up replacing it. The extra yardage is nice on the second shots of longer par 5's. Even with less than ideal contact, I usually get the distance of my 4i. It's just so hard to pull that club when my target doesn't have a lot of room left to right.

[Lihu]

15 hours ago, John1974 said:

@Groucho Valentine that may be my issue,I try to kill it every time. Thanks everyone for welcoming me as well,I forgot my manners. I will try to work on everything you have brought to my attention. I like the idea of keeping a notebook,never thought of that @Patch

I had this same problem yesterday. It doesn't help to be on a funny lie either. It's not an easy club to hit at all, but I'm still keeping it in my bag. Some days it works pretty well, and I tee off with it a lot more now as well.

 

18 hours ago, WUTiger said:

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.

Not sure if it's a swing speed issue or not, if it required much more than a 92 mph (94 being the average swing speed for a driver) I doubt they'd sell many 3W, and it's still a popular club. I also see a lot of seniors, ladies and senior ladies hit 3W pretty well. >400 yard par 4 are reachable by many seniors with driver and a 3W.

 

14 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

I've never had much in the way of swing speed so I must have been doing something right because I'd often get good height from my 3wood from off the fairway. Dispersion not so much.

I don't think swing speed has a lot to do with this. Very few golfers can hit a 3W like a pro, they mostly just hit is somewhat shorter than their driver from the fairway.

 

14 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

But I agree that the 5wood is an easier club to hit. I miss having the confidence the last two years with those clubs that I had before. I recently gave my 3w to my son and kept the 5w, but I may end up replacing it. The extra yardage is nice on the second shots of longer par 5's. Even with less than ideal contact, I usually get the distance of my 4i. It's just so hard to pull that club when my target doesn't have a lot of room left to right.

More loft makes 5W launch easier, so it will be easier to hit off the ground. Also a shorter shaft makes it more controllable.

[Jackal1966]

I only  hit  my 3 wood off of a tee or good lies.

My 16° 4 wood and 19°  wood get most of the action.

 I can hit my 4 wood 230-245.

My position is : 1 ball width left of center

 Then hit  like  I'm  trying  to push  the ball into  the ground. <(This  is  advice I read  from Lee Trevino).

Before  this,  I couldn't  hit a fwy wood. If I put  it forward, it made me sway instead of shifting my weight. 

[WUTiger]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

... Not sure if it's a swing speed issue or not, if it required much more than a 92 mph (94 being the average swing speed for a driver) I doubt they'd sell many 3W, and it's still a popular club. I also see a lot of seniors, ladies and senior ladies hit 3W pretty well. >400 yard par 4 are reachable by many seniors with driver and a 3W. ...

20 hours ago, WUTiger said:

... 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. ...

If you change to a 3W with a shaft that has a lower kickpoint and a lighter weight, this will help you launch the ball higher. This is easy to do these days with so many shaft varieties available with little or no upcharge.

[Jacktgolf]

On 11/14/2017 at 6:45 AM, klineka said:

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

 

 

I call BS on the swing with an upward angle of attack. I'm a very good wood player, and personally if I hit up on them I'd top it. Backspin makes the ball fly. You need to trust the backspin to get the ball airborne, which means a slightly descending angle. I take a shallow divot with my woods, and the ball gets good height. I'm a high spin player anyway, but that's only because I hit a 10 yard fade, and the loft is higher because of it. But never hit up on fairway woods, it's a recipe to top the ball or hit behind it. Anything off the ground needs to be hit down.

 

Coming from experience with woods, because I usually need them to reach 460 yard holes from the tips. I play the back tees consistently.

 

 

[iacas]

16 minutes ago, Jacktgolf said:

I call BS on the swing with an upward angle of attack. I'm a very good wood player, and personally if I hit up on them I'd top it.

1. He didn't say he swings up on it. He said he swings level, brushes the top of the grass, and "sweeps" it.
2. A lot of PGA Tour players actually hit up a degree or two with their 3W. Yeah, they hit the ball a tiny bit fat, the clubhead catches and ten snaps/releases off the grass through the ball, and they hit a towering 3W. This has been measured many, many times. (I'm not suggesting you try to hit up 2°, just pointing out that i can be done, and is done.)

15 minutes ago, Jacktgolf said:

Backspin makes the ball fly.

Drivers hit up 5° still have backspin. Long drivers who hit up 8-10° with drivers that have 4-6° of loft still get backspin.

15 minutes ago, Jacktgolf said:

Backspin makes the ball fly. You need to trust the backspin to get the ball airborne, which means a slightly descending angle.

Backspin is created from a difference between the clubface and the AoA. Unless you swing up 15° with a 3W (or de-loft the heck out of your 3W at impact), it's gonna have some spin loft and thus backspin.

Also, backspin helps keep the ball in the air a bit, but it's the loft of the club that primarily gets it airborne to begin with.

15 minutes ago, Jacktgolf said:

I'm a high spin player anyway, but that's only because I hit a 10 yard fade, and the loft is higher because of it.

Your shot shape doesn't really determine whether you hit the club with more loft than someone else. I can hit a draw high with an "open" (pointing right of the target) clubface that has more loft on the face than a slight pull-fade.

15 minutes ago, Jacktgolf said:

Anything off the ground needs to be hit down.

That's not entirely true. Even if you don't want to concede that PGA Tour players can hit up 2°, you can hit a 3W with a level AoA (neither up nor down).

Hope you can take that as just information.

[Jacktgolf]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

1. He didn't say he swings up on it. He said he swings level, brushes the top of the grass, and "sweeps" it.
2. A lot of PGA Tour players actually hit up a degree or two with their 3W. Yeah, they hit the ball a tiny bit fat, the clubhead catches and ten snaps/releases off the grass through the ball, and they hit a towering 3W. This has been measured many, many times. (I'm not suggesting you try to hit up 2°, just pointing out that i can be done, and is done.)

Drivers hit up 5° still have backspin. Long drivers who hit up 8-10° with drivers that have 4-6° of loft still get backspin.

Backspin is created from a difference between the clubface and the AoA. Unless you swing up 15° with a 3W (or de-loft the heck out of your 3W at impact), it's gonna have some spin loft and thus backspin.

Also, backspin helps keep the ball in the air a bit, but it's the loft of the club that primarily gets it airborne to begin with.

Your shot shape doesn't really determine whether you hit the club with more loft than someone else. I can hit a draw high with an "open" (pointing right of the target) clubface that has more loft on the face than a slight pull-fade.

That's not entirely true. Even if you don't want to concede that PGA Tour players can hit up 2°, you can hit a 3W with a level AoA (neither up nor down).

Hope you can take that as just information.

You make good points. I can understand that.

[Lihu]

18 hours ago, WUTiger said:

If you change to a 3W with a shaft that has a lower kickpoint and a lighter weight, this will help you launch the ball higher. This is easy to do these days with so many shaft varieties available with little or no upcharge.

My instructor just told me you need a 100mph swing to hit 3W, then everything else has to happen well. Not easy to hit for many reasons. I was surprised by this, because so many of these clubs are sold?

[Binh Nguyen]

Can not hit my 3W and rescue at all recently  although my Driver and irons dont have any big problems. 

Changing the ball position helps, like A LOTS. Move the ball back in my stance and suddenly everything going well again. 

 

[Marty2019]

I have hit my fairway woods very well recently.  What I do is try to keep my head very still and focus on just making solid contact, swinging at what feels like 80%.   It's been working very well for me lately.   God knows how it will be next week, but for the last few weeks, as Larry David would say, pret-ty pret-ty good. 

[Piz]

I only resort to a 3 wood, off the deck, if the lie is perfect.  For me that means slightly uphill and perched atop fluffy grass.  In any other circumstances I'll go with a 5 wood instead.  The urge to smash the ball intrudes more often with the longer club and, as we all know, seldom results in a desirable outcome.  Point being:  I have to rein in the impulse to hit the ball a long way, with a 3 wood, in order to hit the ball a long way with a three wood.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

My instructor just told me you need a 100mph swing to hit 3W, then everything else has to happen well.

That's not true.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

That's not true.

That surprised me too. He must have meant to hit it like a PGA player.

[WUTiger]

5 hours ago, Lihu said:

My instructor just told me you need a 100mph swing to hit 3W, then everything else has to happen well. Not easy to hit for many reasons. I was surprised by this, because so many of these clubs are sold?

Not sure where the instructor got this idea. Maybe he was exaggerating to steer players towards 4W and 5W?

Basically, what do we mean by to hit 3W? Hit it far? Hit it consistently?

I own an older Callaway stiff-shafted 3W that I can hit consistently about 180 yards. But, it doesn't go very high; plus, I can match that yardage with my 4H.

For FWs, you want to optimize the combination of loft/head design and shaft which best matches your swing. A session on the launch monitor can help you determine this.

[Lihu]

28 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

Not sure where the instructor got this idea. Maybe he was exaggerating to steer players towards 4W and 5W?

Basically, what do we mean by to hit 3W? Hit it far? Hit it consistently?

He pretty much said the exact same thing Bill Chao stated that lower lofts require more swing speed to get a decent flight. Why he picked 100mph is another question? I have no idea how he came up with that number? But he was referring to a standard 3W with 15 degree loft or less.

He also said that even with a higher swing speed, that 3W is very hard to hit well. He demonstrated first with a nice sweeping 3W. Then he just adjusted his weight a little bit forward and then back demonstrating horrible shots with only a tiny amount of adjustment.

 

28 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

I own an older Callaway stiff-shafted 3W that I can hit consistently about 180 yards. But, it doesn't go very high; plus, I can match that yardage with my 4H.

This is one of the bad flights he demonstrated. I suppose if you went to a lighter and more flexible shaft, you might be able to optimize your flights better? I just played a senior guy who could put his driver/3W combination about 460 yards. I noticed he was using senior flex clubs. He wasn't that big either, I'd guess 5'6" 140 pounds?

 

28 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

For FWs, you want to optimize the combination of loft/head design and shaft which best matches your swing. A session on the launch monitor can help you determine this.

I suppose one of the things is getting a higher lofted wood?