If you have a stick in your hands, you are likely to visualize the distance. But there’s nothing worse than taking a powerful swing, only to land the club inches behind the ball. Oops. Not far. Healthy! These mistakes cost you strokes and rob you of your confidence when using the fairway woods. If you want to stop hitting ball fat with your fairway woods, here are some common reasons why it happens—and some quick tricks to fix it.
Ball too far forward
Placement of the ball too far forward in your stance (as long as you have the driver) is one of the most likely causes of hitting behind the ball. You will find that the bottom of the swing bow for the fairway wood is not as far inside the heel of the lead.
Try moving the ball slightly back so that it is just in front of the center. You will hit the ball cleanly at the bottom of your bow without making any extra adjustments.
Staying too close to the ball
Have you ever carried your fairway wood along with your 7-iron? It is a few centimeters longer. If you don’t accommodate this extra length in the fairway wood, you can hit your fat.
The next time you hit the range, experiment with how far you’re standing from the ball to create a flatter swing arc that matches your fairway wood. Use the tips and extension sticks on the ground to reinforce the perfect ball position.
Lack of body rotation
If you’re using your arms too much in your golf swing instead of rotating your body, it can create problems with your angle of attack and swing plane. Although you can get a good shot here and there (when your timing is perfect), it’s hard to be consistent.
Learn to start your swing with some lower body rotations. Starting with a little lower body rotation also helps you avoid hanging back on the trail leg as you move through the stroke.
Misalignment of the spine
When you decide to hit a driver, it’s best to put your head behind the ball with a slight tilt of your spine to the side of the fairway. This position encourages a higher shot.
With fairway wood, this is not the case. You’ll want to have more head on the ball in the setup. This will induce a downstroke in which you will get the golf ball first and make your separation behind the ball.
Get a video of a fairway wood shot versus a driver strike and see if that could be the root cause of your problem. In addition to sometimes hitting the ground in front of the ball, you’ll probably hit some shots if you don’t adjust your spine angle.
Excessive bending of the knee
Amateur golfers like to talk about bending their knees as they set up to hit a golf shot. If you watch the pros, do you ever see them bend their knees before a shot?
The best players have perfect posture where they are not hunched over and have a slight bend in the hips.
If you have problems with unstable contact, make sure you don’t bend your knees too much.
Problems with the pace of movement
If your swing tempo is too fast, it can make it more difficult to hit good shots in the woods. Focus on reducing excessive grip pressure and tension and maintain a smooth backswing and controlled landing. Here are some great tempo workouts to try.
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