Annika's Keys for Fairway Woods

While many of you can't get out and play right now (much of the US is dealing with near-arctic temperatures), that doesn't mean you can't gather tips that might help when the weather gets better. Here are the five keys Annika Sorenstam gives for hitting your fairway woods better from page 107 in her book Golf Annika's Way.

• Start with the shaft nearly vertical at address, and position your hands under your chin to promote a wider, more circular swing arc.
• The first 18 inches of your swing should resemble the last few inches prior to impact, with the clubhead sweeping along the ground.
• Don't think about hitting the ball; just let it get in the way of your swing.
• Make more of a "U"-shaped swing versus a "V"; do not take a divot.
• From uneven lies, align your hips and shoulders parallel to the slope.

Here are a couple of extra observations from Annika's book.

When she says the shafts of your fairway woods should be nearly vertical, she means when viewed from face on, not down the line. (That's probably obvious to most of you, but I'll mention it anyway.) That also means, although she doesn't say it outright in these tips, that she positions the ball ahead of the center of her stance at address.

When she says that she positions her hands directly under her chin at address, that doesn't apply to her driver (her hands are farther from her body) or her irons (her hands are closer to her body). That's a tip specific to her fairway woods.

And all of those things -- vertical shaft, forward ball position, hands under chin at address -- are what create that sweeping motion during the takeaway and just before impact. This also influences her fourth tip. If the clubhead is sweeping along the ground, you won't take a divot.

The other two tips are pretty good advice when hitting any club in your bag, not just fairway woods.

And there's one other interesting note about Annika's book which I had never really noticed before. There's no section on hitting hybrids. The reason why is pretty clear when you read the fairway woods section -- Annika LOVED her 7-wood. She hit it about the same distance as her 3-iron and was also a strong long iron player, so she didn't really need to use a hybrid.

I love my 7-wood too. And if you try Annika's tips, you may find that your fairway woods become favorites as well.

Brady Riggs on Hitting a Stinger

Here are Brady Rigg's tips on how to hit a stinger off the tee, from golf.com. Click this link and you can see a video of how to do it. Unfortunately, the site won't let me embed the video.



Brady says you can use a fairway wood, hybrid or long iron for this shot.

• Stand a half-step closer to the ball. This will help you trap the ball better.
• Grip down on your club. That shortens the club and makes it easier to control.
• Set your stance so your feet are just wider than your hips, not your shoulders.
• Position the ball about an inch back of the center of your stance. Just look at the photo above.
• Tee the ball really low, even level with the ground if you're comfortable doing so. Brady says you can hit it off the ground or even kick up a little mound like Laura Davies does. But I'd go with the low tee, simply because you might as well get the best lie you can get.
• This is the first time I've seen this particular tip, and I'm glad someone finally included it: Instead of gripping the club with the last two or three fingers of your lead hand, grip more tightly with the thumb and forefinger of your trailing hand. When Brady says this is "old school", he means it comes from the days of hickory shafts. He says this will help you square up the clubface, and I agree with that. Just bear in mind that you probably won't be able to hit the ball quite as far, as this is a soft-shaft technique and, unless you're incredibly strong, even a regular flex shaft is much stiffer than they used to use. But since the idea is to hit the fairway and you've already done some things that will reduce your distance, it doesn't matter.
• Finally, cut off the followthrough to help keep the shot low.

The whole point of the stinger is to make sure you hit the fairway on a tight hole, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or not. It's a worthwhile shot to add to your repertoire.

How J.B. Holmes Hits Fairway Woods

Now that you've watched J.B. Holmes murdering golf balls for a few matches at the Presidents Cup, here's his most recent video tip on how to do that from Golf Digest. He does it with a 3-wood in this video but it's the same for any fairway wood.

Watch this video on The Scene.

Note that J.B. says this is more of a sweeping swing but he's trying to hit down on the ball. The reason for the apparent contradiction? If you make a full swing with a fairway wood, the longer shafts force your swing plane to be slightly flatter than an iron swing -- it's not something you try to do, it just happens -- so the angle of attack on the ball is shallower and therefore more of a sweeping motion. But that happens automatically; you're still thinking about hitting down on the ball.

Remember: don't try to help the ball up in the air with a fairway wood. Hit down on it, like you're swinging an iron, and the sweeping part of the swing will take care of itself.

Keys to Jordan's 3-Wood at the 18th

It seems like everybody is trying to explain the keys to hitting that 280-yard 3-wood that Jordan hit onto the 18th green Sunday. Golf Digest is no different; they talked to teacher Michael Jacobs and did a post about it.

What I like about this article is that it gives general advice that will help you with all of your swings, not just some magic key to hit a heroic shot like Jordan.



Matthew Rudy (author of the article) points out that Jordan isn't a power hitter -- hasn't everybody been marveling about that? -- and that he gets himself into contention by:

• hitting greens and
• focusing on hitting the best shot he can at the moment (that's all "determination" really is)

But there's an overall key Jacobs points out in Jordan's swing that I've actually mentioned on this blog and in my books before.:

"When he makes the transition into his downswing, he goes into a squat and his body lowers, but the center of his hips and the center of his upper body are still at 90 degrees to the ball."

Teachers often refer to the "Snead Squat" because that was the most prominent move in Snead's downswing. It's the basic lower body move in what we traditionally call "the modern swing," which was the way great players like Snead and Byron Nelson -- and yes, Tom Watson -- start their downswings with their lower bodies. They moved downward more than forward, and they rarely ever "got stuck."

Hogan's swing (which I guess I'll start calling "the postmodern swing" now) turned that move into an exaggerated forward move because he wanted to counteract a hook. As Jacobs notes, by making a downward move Jordan gets a more consistent swing. (And, we should note, Jordan's miss is a hook, the very move Hogan wanted to prevent!)

A downward, somewhat squatty move to start your downswing is a simpler and more consistent way to swing. It eliminates excess body movement that causes you to mis-hit the ball. If you want to try it, it feels almost as if you're falling from the top of your swing but it loads the club shaft just as effectively as that Hogan-style forward drive that causes you to slice.

And if you need proof that it still works, just look at Jordan Spieth.

Butch Harmon Ditches the 3-Wood... Sometimes

Found this new article at Golf Digest by Butch Harmon about 3-woods. Butch says that you should avoid using your 3-wood from the fairway most of the time and stick with shorter fairway woods unless you're positive you can reach the green with the big lumber.



The article details exactly how to get the best results from any fairway wood -- lower body action, ball position, address position, etc. It's short, simple and to-the-point. Here's the video from the article:


Got that? Be choosy about when you use your 3-wood -- Butch's orders. Read the article and obey! You'll get better results from the fairway.

Justin Rose and Brady Riggs Help You Hit Your 3-Wood

From the January issue of Golf Digest comes this video starring Justin Rose. This is his primary tip to help you Rip Your 3-Wood from the fairway:



Remember how I've said your first move down from the top of your backswing actually feels like you're going DOWN rather than TOWARD the target? That's basically what Justin is suggesting here. Just watch his practice move. He's planting both feet flat on the ground and "squatting" ever so slightly to keep himself steady over the ball.

And here's an additional 3-wood tip I discovered from instructor Brady Riggs: Last week he did an online Q&A at Golf Magazine's Top100 Teachers blog and someone asked him about hitting 3-woods:

I have a problem with consistency in hitting my three wood off the fairway. It is actually a 17 degree three wood or 4 wood. I hit my 3 hybrid very consistently (200 yard club)and typically use that club on long par 4's or par 5's. I can get a gentle draw with that club. I can get an extra 20+ yards when I hit the 3 wood well,but I usually push fade it right, so I have stayed away from it and just used the 3 hybrid. Any suggestions for getting more consistent with the fairway metal?

Riggs posted the following response:

This is a very difficult time of year to hit the 3-wood well from the ground. The fairways are very tight in the winter which makes the ball sit down more so than during the summer. As a result, it is very difficult to get the center of the space on the ball with the 3-wood. The only time I would recommend using the 3-wood during the winter is if the risk of playing the shot is worth the reward. In other words, if you can get the ball to the putting surface with the 3-wood and no other club then it is a good choice. If it is just for a second shot on a par five where you won't be reaching the green I would stick with the hybrid.

This is something we don't often think about when choosing a club. We don't always pay attention to the ground conditions under normal conditions -- especially from the fairway since we automatically consider that a "good lie" -- but normal seasonal conditions can make even a good lie less appropriate for some shots. That's something worth remembering.

Hopefully these two tips will help you hit better fairway shots, especially with your 3-wood.

Choosing Between Fairway Woods and Hybrids

Josh Blagden of golfbidder.co.uk was kind enough to provide me with this article on whether to choose a hybrid or a fairway wood for various kinds of shots. I thought you guys might find it helpful.

Golfers of all levels have long struggled with the long-iron conundrum. For many players, long irons are difficult to hit well even with modern clubfaces, because of their very small club faces and their equally small sweet spots. The extremely low trajectory of a long iron, caused by its low loft, as well as the longer club length makes it unsuitable for tighter lies, ‘punching’ out from underneath trees and playing from the rough.

Consequently, players tend to avoid having these clubs in their golf bag and favour fairway woods with a larger sweet spot. The extra mass in the head makes it easier to get the ball airborne and travel greater distances than long irons.

Fairway woods were the only alternative to long irons for decades, until the demand for hybrids exploded from 2004. The hybrid was designed to combine the accuracy and versatility of a long iron with the distance and forgiveness of a fairway wood.

In terms of design, a hybrid head is very similar to a fairway wood with a shallow, slightly convex face, but the loft of the hybrid head is generally higher than either the wood or the iron. Hybrid clubs can be a great option for a variety of different shots, and can even make great chippers near the edge of the green.

Many tour pros started including hybrids in their bags, as did golfers of all levels. The advantages of using hybrids became clear, in terms of their versatility and effectiveness out the rough. However, their weaknesses were exposed too. Fewer hybrids appear in tour bags nowadays as the more powerful pros have come to recognise they are not as effective in windy conditions, nor do they offer the ability to work the ball nearly as well as long iron replacements.

But recreational golfers generally find these long iron replacements as hard to use as standard long irons. They will use hybrids and fairway woods and, in most cases, they will find hybrids easier to swing than fairway woods. The key is in knowing which club is more effective for the situation.

How does a player choose which club between a fairway wood and hybrid?

The type of shot you can play is often determined by your lie, and the lie can dictate which type of club you should use.

• From the fairway, both woods and hybrids have their places. Hybrids launch the ball higher and straighter, helping it stop more quickly on the green, while fairway woods make it easier to curve the ball and get some roll for a little extra distance.
• In light rough, a fairway wood such as a 3-wood may be a better choice, as its flat bottom skims the low grass easily, yet a hybrid may be a better choice in thicker rough as the heavier but more compact clubhead can cut better through the longer grass.
• From a fairway bunker, the hybrid’s lofting ability makes it a better selection than a wood.

It is important to make the right club choice as it can vastly improve your game and lower your score. You need to look no further than Chinese teenage golf sensation Guan Tianglang, who made history at the 2013 Masters as the youngest ever player to compete at a major, aged just fourteen. Whilst the majority of his competitors were using a combination of long irons and fairway woods on the uncompromising 7435 yard course at Augusta, Guan opted to hit his fairway shots on the long par-4s and par-5s using fairway woods in order to compensate for the distance he lacked. As a result of his club choices, he successfully became the youngest player ever to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.

But unlike Guan, the majority of us are not afforded the luxury of changing clubs depending on conditions. That makes it even more important to make the right decision when choosing between a fairway wood and hybrid as a long iron replacement.

Matteo Manassero on Fairway Woods

Matteo Manassero has won 3 times on the European Tour, yet he isn't a big hitter -- at least, not by Tour standards. He hits his driver around 275 yards. When I found this little video from Golf Monthly (shot just a couple of months ago) on fairway woods -- especially the 3-wood -- I knew it was worth passing along.

Some of the info is more a matter of curiosity -- what clubs he uses and their lofts, for instance -- but he gets a bit more into technique as he goes along. He even compares his 3-wood distance to his driver distance.



A couple of things from the video worth mentioning:

Although driver technique (off the tee) is typically different from the way you play your other shots, Matteo says he doesn't play his 3-wood any differently off the tee than he does when hitting it off the fairway. This is why I often recommend that players working on their swings use their 3-woods instead of a driver. You can use the same swing all the time, so you make progress faster.

Note that Matteo hits his 3-wood with a slightly in-to-out path when he wants to hit the ball lower and farther. Don't make the mistake of thinking that this is a huge path change. Essentially he's just trying to flatten out the bottom of his swing, so he doesn't hit down on the ball as much. This makes the ball fly lower and roll more when it hits the ground.

Learning to hit your 3-wood well can certainly help you overcome a lack of distance on the holes where length is a problem. Matteo is proof that you don't have to be a bomber to play this game well.