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How to Hit a 3-Wood
When I was in college, lots of golfers carried long irons. But nowadays, most golfers have 5-wood, 7-wood, and utility/hybrid clubs instead.
Some golfers are good at hitting them. But when you give them 3-wood, they can't hit them so well.
If you do well with 5-wood but not with 3-wood, you must be doing something different with your 3-wood.
6 Tips to hit it
1. Ball Position
3-wood has less loft, so you might think you need to do something to get the ball up in the air.
Many of the golfers start to position the ball too much to the left to help the ball in the air. Some golfers put the ball off the left heel like a driver.
But this is too far forward for a 3-wood. You will pull it left or hit it thin if you try to avoid a pull.
Unless you tee it up, you should position your ball a ball-length or two right of your heel. You should experiment with it and find the correct position for you.
If you pull it, hit it thin or slice the ball, check to see if your ball position is too far left.
2. Fast Tempo
Golfers have a tempo that's too fast when they grab a 3-wood.
They swing too hard trying to hit it far. But I bet you will hit it further with 60% of your power.
So before swinging it with more power, try to hit it on the sweet spot first. If you think you can hit it on the sweet spot every time, start increasing your swing speed.
3. Distance Control
When you grab your 3-wood, you might start thinking about hitting it as far as you can. But this approach usually won't give you the good results.
So think about your distance for 3-wood. If you hit it 200 yards, don't try to hit it 200 yards.
Pick a point that's 190 yards away.
You will have much better chance of hitting it well this way.
4. Check your 3-wood
Check your loft of your 3-wood. You should have 15 degree of loft or more.
Also, 3-wood with a shallow face will be easier to hit the ball high than a deep face 3-wood.
But if you use your 3-wood only on the tee shot, the deep face 3-wood might be easier to hit. In that case, don't worry about switching it to shallow face 3-wood.
5. It's OK to Take a Little Divot
In general, you should sweep the ball with your fairway woods. But lots of good players take a small divot with their 3 woods like Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan.
So it's ok to take a small divot.
But try not to help the ball in the air by trying to lift the ball with your 3-wood. This will cause you to hit it thin or fat.
You just need to trust your loft to get the ball airborne.
6. Fixing Your Slice
With longer clubs, you will slice more because longer clubs has less loft. Less loft will take ball spin off the ball. But when your clubface angle is off at impact, clubs with less loft will create more side spin.
So it's easier to slice it with your 3-wood. To fix your slice with 3-wood, try to the following.
1) Lower your right shoulder at address
2) Grip a club after lowering your right shoulder
3) Rotate your hand to the right until you see 3 knuckles of your left hand at address
If you slice, you might place your hands right on top of your grip (weak grip).
For your right hand, instead of placing it on top of the grip, try to grip it from the right side of your grip (club).
This will give you stronger grip that helps you turn the clubface over through impact for a draw.
7. Try to Sweep the Ball
When hitting fairway woods, players tend to swing up on the ball and end up topping the ball or hitting it fat. The tendency to scope the ball will also cause slice.
So instead of trying to scope the ball, feel like you are going to sweep the ball off the turf.
Because the fairway woods have a lager sole than your irons, you should try to slide your fairway woods through the grass.
Also, check the position of your hands at address. If your hands are positioned in front of your zipper, that's too far right. This will cause lots of slice.
So make sure that your hands are positioned toward the inside of your left thigh.