Tom Stickney on Hitting Fairway Woods

Golf Tips Magazine posted an article by Tom Stickney on several shots you never practice but should, and they devoted a single page to each. Today I want to focus on his advice for hitting fairway woods, simply because Stickney's instruction is so clear and the drill so easy.

Fairway wood and ball

First, Stickney says that maximum players don't play fairway woods well and need to remember playing not anything longer than a 5-wooden. That may additionally sound condescending but there's sincerely some top logic in the back of this. The 5-wood has greater loft and a shorter shaft than a three-wooden -- characteristics that make it a whole lot less difficult to hit. It's the identical purpose that a wedge is easier to hit than a five-iron.

He says the most essential a part of hitting a fairway timber is understanding how the lie affects the shot. You need to choose the club AFTER you look at the lie due to the fact the more serious your lie is, the greater loft you may need. (Not to harp on it, but you will hit an awesome 5- or 7-wood extra frequently than an awesome three-timber for that very motive. By doing away with the 3-wooden off the golf green, you're less probable to mismatch the lie.)

Finally he stresses the want for a easy alternate of path on the top of your backswing. Too many players jerk the membership from the pinnacle due to the fact they need to hit the ball difficult. When you jerk the membership from the pinnacle, you exchange your swing plane, change your swing direction and simply commonly make it harder to return the membership to squarely contact the ball.

And that's where the drill comes in. Swing your fairway wood like you swing your wedge. Practice that smooth change of direction by making full swings at half speed, then slowly speed up your downswing until you can make that change of direction smoothly while swinging fast.

Why turned into I so glad to look this? Because there may be not anything in those instructions that an average player can't do! There's no rerouting the membership or changing your movement, simply paying attention to your lie and swinging within your self.

And after you get excellent together with your 5-wood, that 3-wooden won't be so tough after all.

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