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Can’t hit a fairway wood! So what is your setup?

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jin_xianjun

jin_xianjun

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I can’t hit a fairway wood. Never been comfortable with one on the tee nor from the fairway. So I don’t have any.

Sound familiar? So what is your set up between your driver and the longest iron? What yardage gaps do you play to?
 
I used to hate fairway woods, too. But I finally found a 7 wood that I can hit consistently, so my bag goes from driver to 7 wood, and then to a 4 hybrid. It took a lot of trying, to be sure.
 
jin_xianjun said:
I can’t hit a fairway wood. Never been comfortable with one on the tee nor from the fairway. So I don’t have any.

Sound familiar? So what is your set up between your driver and the longest iron? What yardage gaps do you play to?
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What’s wrong with them? Two completely different issues. One a high lofted wood may help, the other it won’t.
 
2 hybrid & 3i. If I don't carry a FW, that's likely what I have. Or a second driver and only one of those two. Doesn't get me the same distance but a 3W gets used rarely because it's not that useful of a distance to begin with. 2h, 3i covers a lot of ground and situations though. Can mash the 2h off the tee a little forward, draw it around things into position with near zero effort, great for up in bermuda, etc. 3i/3UT can fill between the 4i and hybo, love a cut off the tee into a par 3, or a running one into a par 5. Easy to work the other way of the hybrid and just for different fights and lies. Basically the same reason I'd carry to drivers, just at a different spot in the bag.
 
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Misinterpreted the title. Thought you were asking my setup for hitting a fairway metal. I'll go away now.
 
Using a shorter shaft will help.

Right now - Driver, 5 wd, 17 deg, 4H....

Looking to use a second driver or 3 wd at 42.5 inches.
 
I'm with you. Once in a while I will break out a 5 wood and have limited success, but eventually it goes back in the garage.
Currently I'm filling the gap between driver and my Ping #4 crossover iron with an old TaylorMade Fairway Rescue #5. I think they were produced around 2005. As the name implies its a cross between a FW and rescue.
 
In 2020 I could not hit a fairway wood worth a dang. I went to work and now they are becoming my strongest clubs in the bag. 3 wood is still not very consistent but it is getting better. My 5 wood is simply rock solid a high percentage of the time.

Now I have the driver, the 3w, 5w, and a 19 degree hybrid (switch back and forth with an iron sometimes) at the top of the bag.
 
I've found I'm more consistant with my hybrids. I carry a 3 and 4h then go to 5i. My driver is so forgiving that it is always driver from the tee for me unless I'm playing a short dog leg of some type.

I certainly own some fairway woods and I try them on the course from time to time. For me, I rarely to never have an epic shot with my FW yet I have a lot of hooks and fat shots. By contract I've holed out with a 3h once in history.

Only in the summer on baked out fairways can I reach par 5's in two with driver and 3h but I'm OK with that.
 
I haven't had much success with 3 woods either. I currently have my driver then a 19° hybrid and 4 iron

I did hit the RadSpeed 3 wood well when we cut it down 1", so hoping that's a good club for me when it arrives
 
I go driver, 3W, 3h then 4i

While I cannot hit driver off the deck, to save my life, I can hit the 3W from the fairway pretty well from both fairway and first cut. Have considered trying a 5w or 7w, but haven’t gotten to it as yet.
 
Driver, 17* Rogue 4wd, 20* G410 hybrid
I have a rocket Xhot 3wd that I just can't hit consistently anymore, so I moved to the 4wd.
 
I haven't been able to hit a fairway wood in over 2 years. Until last week my line up was driver, 19* 3h, 22* 4h, & 26* 6h. The 6h because 5i doesn't cooperate either which is strange since the 6i is most dependable iron in my set.
 
I have the same problem: I can hit driver dead straight, baby draw or butter cut. Put a three wood in my hands and it's slice city. I've been through a three wood every year for the last four years with no difference in the results.

In my case I don't think it's the club - it's the hands holding it.
 
I had no issues with a TEE 42.5 inch shaft 4 wood (16.5 deg). But other fairways are not as easy to elevate and not as consistent. I will grip down on my 43 inch 3 woods and see what happens ...
 
Play a 3w and 3hy. Irons start at 4i. For gapping, a 4w would likely be better. But I also like the 3w off the tee for some holes. It is like a mini driver, with more spin for control. I avoid using 3w out of the rough but have mostly good success off the deck with a good lie.
 
I carry 3, 5, & 7 woods in my bag, in addition to my 10.5 driver. I've played fairway woods since day one.

Several years ago, I switched to square, low profile model woods. I found the low profile face of these clubs helped me to get the ball off the turf, and into the air easier. I even gained a few extra mph in my swing.
 
WLG1952 said:
I carry 3, 5, & 7 woods in my bag, in addition to my 10.5 driver. I've played fairway woods since day one.

Several years ago, I switched to square, low profile model woods. I found the low profile face of these clubs helped me to get the ball off the turf, and into the air easier. I even gained a few extra mph in my swing.
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Agree. My TEE EXS 220 is a shallow face at 16.5 - don't know whether to give it to my teen son or put another shaft in it. The TEE have always worked for me in 15-16.5. I had the 16.5 so high that I thought I was ready for a big boy club like the 15. Decisions.
 
leftshot said:
Misinterpreted the title. Thought you were asking my setup for hitting a fairway metal. I'll go away now.
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Well I’d still like to know! I need ideas!
 
Junkyard said:
I have the same problem: I can hit driver dead straight, baby draw or butter cut. Put a three wood in my hands and it's slice city. I've been through a three wood every year for the last four years with no difference in the results.

In my case I don't think it's the club - it's the hands holding it.
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Yeah this sounds like me. Only I keep thinning the ball or hooking it.
 
i like the ideas of a 4W, 5W, 7W and even 2H.
 
I go driver to B21 3H. I can’t hit a 3 wood either but that hybrid is a bomber and I can get 265 out of it. Ends up gapping pretty well for me but learning how to hit 3 wood is high on my list this year.
 
jin_xianjun said:
I can’t hit a fairway wood. Never been comfortable with one on the tee nor from the fairway.
Click to expand...
I couldn't, either, so I didn't play them. Then I read all the comments in the Callaway Mavrik Max fairway woods and hybrids thread along the lines of "these things are so easy to get the ball off the deck it feels like cheating" and "I never could get the ball off the deck with fairway woods, until my Mav Max." So I decided to give them a try.

It's too early to say, yet, because I only had my 5w and 7w out once, late last year, to a range, off a mat, but I was hitting both my 5w and 7w, especially the 7w, better and more easily than I'd ever hit with a wood before.
 
Driver, 3w, 3h for me, with 3w used as more of a mini driver. I mainly use the 3w on the tee when there are narrow fairways or I'm struggling with driver. It's my safe club off the tee. Using the 3w off the deck in the fairway or rough is a bit hit and miss for me, so I usually use 3h instead.
 
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