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How to Hit a 5 Wood
Tiger Wood once talked about how he hit his 5 wood. He mentioned 4 key points.
1. Position the ball few inches inside left heel
2. Make sure your right shoulder is lower than left at address
3. Keep your chin up at address and during the golf swing
4. It’s ok to take thin divot with a slightly descending blow
You might wonder whether you should sweep the ball or hit it with a descending blow with your 5 wood. But Tiger Woods said it's ok to hit it with a descending blow.
If you have a good lie, then you can go ahead and sweep the ball. But if the ball is sitting down in the grass or in the rough, you should hit it with a descending blow.
Ball Position
Tiger mentioned that you should play the ball few inches inside your left heel. You need to find the right position for your golf swing.
If you draw the ball, you might want to move it little more to the right. If you fade the ball, you might want to move it little more to the left.
When we grab the club with longer shaft and less loft like 5 wood, we tend to play the ball more toward the left foot because it makes us feel like we have more time to accelerate the clubhead before impact, or it might make us feel like we can hit the ball higher.
But playing the ball too much left will make your shoulders align left. This means you are open to the target. You will easily hit slice from this position.
If you try to hit the draw from this position, you will hit a duck hook or push it to the right with a slice spin on the ball.
Try to Hit it Low to Avoid Fat and Thin Shots
When hitting 5 wood or 3 wood, players tend to try and help the ball up in the air in order to get more distance.
But this is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when hitting fairway woods.
If you think you are making this mistake and not hitting the ball well, try to feel like you are trying to hit it low with your fairway woods.
This will help you to sweep the ball for better contact with the ball.
Trying to help the ball up in the air will likely to cause fat and this shots. Instead, trust your loft (on the club) and sweep the ball.
When You Want More Distance
When players grab their fairway woods, they might start to think they need to hit it hard.
But this usually causes them to tense up their muscles. Tense muscles won't move as fast as relaxed muscles. So you might end up losing distance.
So instead of trying to swing hard, try to turn more on the backswing when you need more distance.
To do that, try to turn your chest to the right on the backswing. (for left-handed players, try to turn your chest to the left)
When I ask players to take bigger swing, they tend to try and swing further back with their hands and arms.
But this won't give you extra clubhead speed. Instead, this will likely to cause them to come over the top on the downswing.
So next time you want extra distance, try to turn your chest to the right.