Scrolling through social media recently, I came across a mesmerizing video of Rory McIlroy hitting a fairway wood off the deck. The ball comes out high and with a tight draw, soars through the air and drops on the green 275 yards away. It’s the kind of shot that most of us can only dream of hitting.
If you’re anything like me, you know that hitting an approach shot like that will never happen. But that doesn’t mean I can’t hit some great shots with that type of club in my hand. All it takes is fine-tuning the technique a bit.
Most recreational golfers struggle in this regard. They grab the fairway wood out of the bag and have no idea what they’re doing — which you can tell by the way they hit it.
Luckily, hitting a fairway wood pure is not nearly as hard as it looks. All you need to do is focus on a few keys, which GOLFTEC Director of Teaching Quality Josh Troyer explains below.
You’ve got to have a consistent low point in your swing if you want to learn how to properly hit a fairway wood, and the easiest way to achieve this is by maintaining the proper ball position. With a fairway wood in your hand, Troyer says this should be one clubhead inside the instep of your lead foot.
“I see so many amateur golfers move the fairway wood ball position up to where they have a driver,” Troyer says. “As you move that ball further forward in your stance, your swing direction shifts more to the left. So even if you do catch it solid, you’re probably going to slice it.”
You want your ball position to be near the front of your stance, but don’t overdo it. A clubhead length inside your lead foot will do just fine.
Your stance width will vary depending on the club and shot type you’re trying to hit. For the fairway wood, you want your feet to be just outside shoulder width apart. This is achieved by simply moving the trail foot slightly back, while keeping the ball position the same relative to your lead foot. This maintains a proper setup without changing your swing arc.
“You just move your trail foot, maybe a quarter step further out,” Troyer says. “So now effectively, what you’ve done is you’ve moved the ball slightly forward in your stance, but you haven’t changed where it is positionally relative to your lead foot.”
GOLFTEC has analyzed millions of shots with their OptiMotion Technology, and they’ve noticed that all pros swing slightly down on the ball when hitting a fairway wood. This can be difficult for recreational golfers to commit to, as they try to help the ball up in the air. When they do this, though, it only makes their contact suffer.
“Basically, just let the club do its job,” Troyer says. “Essentially, you’re setting your swing arc and your path and your angle of attack with your setup, where you’re putting the ball — now just swing. If you take a tiny divot, that’s fine.”
A shallow angle of attack is still ok, but don’t forget to take a tiny divot. When you do, you’ll hit your fairway woods much better.
If you want to get some expert insights into your swing — and learn how how pure your fairway woods — book a swing evaluation with GOLFTEC below.
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