Open Audio Article Player The secret to hitting your fairway woods
BY TOM STICKNEY
FLORIDA WEEKLY CORRESPONDENT
TOM STICKNEY / COURTESY PHOTOS
Everyone who plays golf knows that the fairway woods are some of the hardest clubs to hit in the bag because they have a deep face and tend to sit up higher than the golf ball at address. This illusion of the head being so big makes the player feel like they have to help the ball into the air, and this is where the problems begin. For most players, the fairway woods tend to go reasonably straight, but it’s coupled with poor contact, so they don’t get the height or distance necessary to hit these clubs effectively. In this article, I will give you my secret hack that will help you “lift” those fairway woods off the ground and into the air so you can hit the ball like a pro with the longer clubs in the bag.
When hitting irons, people naturally understand that they can drive the club into the ground, and the club’s loft will help shoot the ball into the air, but with the flatter lie angle of the fairway woods, this is harder to do. Thus, you must be more sweepy through the ball. Now, this does not mean that you will be hitting up on the golf ball with the fairway woods, because any ball on the ground necessitates a downward angle of attack to get the ball into the air. So, to be successful with the fairway woods, you need to hit slightly down on the golf ball but still keep the “sweeping it” feeling through the ball.
Tom Stickney
The simplest way I can accomplish this with a player is to place a penny a few inches in front of the ball on its target line and hit the shot, trying to hit the ball first, then sweep the penny off the ground after the ball is gone. This simple drill will make you hit more down on the ball but not dig a trench with your fairway woods so the ball will lift into the air due to the downward angle of attack and the effective loft of the fairway wood at impact. This sweeping motion of the fairway wood will help even the most challenged players improve with these types of clubs. Remember, if you try to hit “up” on the ball, you will bottom out too early and hit too much upwards through the ball, hitting the ball in the equator and missing the penny entirely, which is less than optimal. Try my penny drill and see how much better you can become…
Tom Stickney is a full-time golf instructor with over thirty years experience. He’s been selected as one of the “Best Teachers in Florida” by Golf Digest Magazine, is the proud recipient of Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 Instructors in America” award, and is ranked as one of the “Best Instructors in Florida” by Golf Digest. toms@jonathanslanding.com.
