Wednesday, April 6, 2011

How to Hit Fairway Woods - An Overview

By Jenette M Jensen


Fairway woods is probably one of the most challenging and frustrating shots in golf because it can either result in a mishit or the ball would fall somewhere undesirable or even if it is on the right track then it would fall short of the intended landing spot. In order to achieve this shot, one has to establish contact, cultivate consistency and identify the weakness in the shot.

When is it that a golfer makes up his mind about hitting to the fairway woods? It is usually while covering up for an earlier committed error or in an attempt to wriggle out of a pressure situation. Under these circumstances, the golfer either tries to hit a par 5 in 2 shots, makes an attempt to get the ball as close to the green from the fairway wood on a Par 5 or is making up for a poorly hit drive.

All these are merely desperate attempts to correct the situation, and hence in such cases the golfer might land himself in further trouble, just like jumping from a frying pan into the fire! Hence it is necessary to learn how to hit fairway woods correctly because this could be a saving grace during emergency situations and hence it would help make the golfer a better player who can bloom under pressure.

Failure to hit to fairway woods is usually attributed to three reasons namely buckling arms, also known as chicken wings, raising up and hanging back on the right side. When the golfer tries to put too much strength into his shot, his forearm muscles contract and buckle thus causing the shaft of the club to lag behind the clubface. Another possible consequence is the lifting of the club off the ground.

Raising up is believed to be a fall-out of human psychology due to which a golfer who hits the ball too hard also tends to look up earlier than required. Likewise, hitting the ball without involving the lower body and only the arms causes the golfer to hang on his right foot and causes the ball to ascend more than the need of the situation.

As a result of both the mistakes, the ball would remain in the air for a much longer period. This can be corrected by stretching out one's arms when hitting to shot so that a wide arc would be formed by the club and it would not lean behind the ball.

In order to learn how to hit fairway woods perfectly a lot of practice is required. By practicing regularly at home, the golfer can allow his arms to stretch out properly and hence one would be able to get the hang of the shot. It is also recommended that the golfer should try a few swings before making the actual fairway woods shot just to prepare one beforehand.

Once there is an improvement at making contact, hitting fairway woods shots does not seem to be as intimidating provided the arms are relaxed, the body turns a little faster and the swing traces a wider arc.




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