Adjust your ball position and tee height for optimisation.
The versatility and ease of use of the newest fairway woods make them a popular – and wise – choice if getting the ball in play is more important than maxing out your distance with a driver. The thing to remember, however, is that these clubs are designed to get the ball up in the air when it’s resting on the ground. Knowing that, you have to make a couple of adjustments if you’re going with a 5-wood or similar off the tee.
The first is to check your ball position. The big mistake is to play it like you’re swinging a driver. If you address the ball up by the heel of your lead foot, you make it much harder to catch it on the centre of the face. Instead, play it a couple of ball-widths behind your lead heel like I am. The other issue is tee height. Fairway woods have a shallow face to promote a higher flight, so if your tee is too high, you risk contact towards the top of the club, and you will pop up your shot. Adjust your tee so just a sliver of the ball is above the clubface. These adjustments will prompt a level or slightly downward angle into the ball, and you will catch it clean – rewarding your prudent choice to keep the driver in the bag. – Megan Padua Buzza, Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, Buzza Golf Coaching, Frisco, Texas
