How to Hit Fairway Woods and Achieve Maximum Distance

Use your fairway woods to obtain maximum distance down the fairway. When you are just beginning to play golf, fairway woods can be more tricky to control than irons, but you should learn how to use them as soon as possible. The ability to hit fairway woods will help you lower your scores as you will be able to hit longer distances. An excellent fairway wood shot will get you off to a great start for the rest of the hole.

The most commonly used woods are the 1, 3 and 5. The general idea of the woods is to increase your power and distance without any added effort.

Even though the size and shape of the club head is a great deal different from the irons, the extra distance is achieved through the longer length of the shafts.

Because of the longer shaft the club head has a greater distance to travel and a wider arc. When you swing a wood with the same rhythm and tempo as an iron, the club head travels around the arc in the same time, but has to cover much more distance, and this raises the speed. The increase in club head speed provides you with the added power to hit the ball longer distances. You will achieve faster club head speed without needing to speed up your swing. Your tempo should be the same for every full shot from driving to pitching.

The longer shaft of the fairway wood does lead to changes in your address including stance, posture and ball position.

First of all you stand further away from the ball than you would for an iron because of the longer shaft length. Your stance should be wider so you can maintain your balance. Your back is more upright when you address the ball and the ball position is opposite the inside of your left heel. Take the club away slowly, keeping the club head low to the ground.

Your upper body should rotate freely as your left arm swings the club back. Your weight should have transferred from the central position at address to the inside of the right foot by the time you are at the two-thirds point in your backswing.

Your shoulders should have rotated 90 degrees and your hips 45 degrees at the top of your backswing. Make sure you don't start the downswing before you have completed the backswing. A very minor pause at the top of the backswing before you start the downswing helps.

Rotate your left hip to the left when you start the downswing. This pulls your arms and hands into an ideal striking position.

Your swing plane is flatter so the club head approaches the ball at a shallower angle. You sweep through the ball, which is struck at a later point in your swing. This is the reason for the ball being placed inside your left heel.

After impact allow your weight to move across to the outside of your left foot. Let the momentum of your club pull your right shoulder and your head to face the target. Your whole body should face the target. Most of your weight should be on your left foot and you should be balanced when you finish.

Spend some time practicing at the driving range with your fairway woods and in no time you will be hitting a lot further and your handicap will start to drop.