3 wood issues hitting off short grass

orchard53

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Hitting with grass under ball so it's sitting up, or off a 1/2 inch tee I can hit the ball well and even have a slight draw. But off mostly dormant bermuda or no grass, I really struggle to get clean contact, either a little fat or hitting with the sole. I struggle off the range mats so I do have a place to practice (range mats are pretty worn out. Suggestions or drills?
 
I had much the same issues, but then really worked on hitting it a bit more like an iron and getting the feeling of a slight descending blow and ball first. When you're hitting off a tee or popped up on grass you can lean back and hit up on it slightly whereas on the ground you can't do that otherwise you'll top it. Try a bit more weight on your lead foot and try to keep that weight forward a bit more. There will be better players and coaches wincing at the advice I'm sure but is the feeling that I go for.
 
I ran into somewhat similar issues with woods and thick grass too. I still cannot get anything worthwhile out of a 3 wood, but I can hit my 5 wood pretty good now. I was ready to give up on woods completely, but stuck with it. When hitting the wood what works best for me is to keep pressure on left side and sweep through the ball as if I am hitting way out front of it and sweeping along the ground. I have really put in a lot of practice with my woods which has helped tremendously.
 
Experiment - move ball back a little until you have decent contact. You may need to shallow out the swing a bit more in transition when in the dirt. It's a balance - find yours.

And as posted above, you need to move your weight to the front foot in the transition and open up the lower body and chest.
 
Three wood off the deck is one of the toughest shots in golf... for me. I only attempt it if I have a nearly perfect lie, level ground, and like you mentioned... if the ball is up a little and fluffy.

I read some 3W tips awhile back that encouraged solid contact by keeping your spine angle absolutely perfect, and setup and swing it like a long iron. Mentally keeping my spine angle frozen during the swing has helped me a lot, but I still don’t attempt the 3W off the deck unless it’s the perfect setup.
 
I had the same problem. Now I'm fixed. I could hit it fine off a tee no worries. May not be what you're doing but I would get so worried about making good contact I'd grip tighter with my right hand. Killed my swing. Also wasn't keeping my head down through the swing because I was too worried about where the ball was going. Just dumb stuff for me.
 
I practice hitting driver off the deck from tight lies or even out of slight divots (extremely frustrating at times) which makes the 3W seem much easier to hit. The primary issue is low point control.
 
One thing that worked for me was adding a little cup in my left wrist at the top, and then making sure to just swing fast with no time to think. Just gas it and go.
 
Hit it like an iron, with forward shaft lean even with a little divot. Work back from that until you're comfortable sweeping it.
 
Hit it like an iron, with forward shaft lean even with a little divot. Work back from that until you're comfortable sweeping it.
I could just picture the size of the beaver pelt I would get from trying that swing. 😳
 
I could just picture the size of the beaver pelt I would get from trying that swing. 😳
Actually, the shape of the club and wide sole will keep you from taking much of a divot. But speaking of beaver pelts, a wedge from a sopping wet Houston fairway can produce a might pelt indeed! lol
 
If you have any early release, 3 woods and longer irons off the deck will be big time challenge. As mentioned, moving the ball back (closer to where iron setup is), may be a quick answer, but not necessarily a long term solution
 
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I had that problem with my strong 3 wood from Adams and finally gave it up and got a different club which now works fine. Maybe try a different make or model.
 
Hitting a 3 wood from the deck is tough, even tougher if you don’t have some decent club head speed. I gave up and no longer carry a 3 wood. I find the heavenwood a much more potent weapon off the deck.
 
If you have any early release, 3 woods and longer irons off the deck will be big time challenge. As mentioned, moving the ball back (closer to where iron setup is), may be a quick answer, but not necessarily a long term solution
Yep. I play with some guys who struggle with 3W and favor a hybrid, like a 17*, and also use 21-24-28* hybrids vs. irons. While they do hit the hybrids better in terms of getting the ball in the air, the end result is very little accuracy and very low ball flights that have no chance of stopping on a green.
 
Next to the 50 yard bunker shot, I think hitting a perfect 3W from the deck is right behind it in terms of difficulty. Like some posts have pointed out already, a lot less manipulation is needed off the tee than off the deck. For this very reason, I'm moving to a 4W this year. 2 1/2 degrees more loft which I'm hoping will help. We shall see!
 
The majority of golfers I see hitting 3W/5W off the deck are those that are playing tee boxes that are too long for their game. I can see hitting a 3W second shot on a par 5, but that's about it, but even then the differential in distance between a 17* hybrid and a 13-14* 3W is not enough to hit the 3W. I hit the 3W so rarely that upon seeing this thread I will pull from the bag and replace with a wedge.
 
I can "kill" the 5W off the deck but have my troubles with the 3W as well. I think part of my problem is the mental aspect. Knowing I have an issue and expecting the worst I grip tighter, swing quicker, fail to complete the backswing......By contrast, I am much more "relaxed" when hitting the 5W; I just have to transfer that over.
 
The answer is a 4 wood, maybe at 3wd length.
Worked for me quite well.
 
Just like with anything else in golf, it takes practice & then practice some more. And the fact that you hit the 3W so infrequently, makes it that much more difficult.
Move the ball back in your stance (maybe 1 or 2 balls) from where you have the driver. Try to keep weight about 60 - 40 favoring the left side & swing around your spine angle. (the barrel drill) What tends to happen is you come up out at or around impact trying to lift it in the air, not trusting the loft to get it up. Then you end up either topping it or catching the bottom edge of the club … what I like to call "a dimple & a groove." Trust the swing & take a slight divot … find where your swing bottoms out. (y)
Good luck! :drinks:
 
I hit my 3w off the deck quite a bit. I just move the ball back in my stance a little more than off the tee. Same with my 5w, & 7w.

I even practice my driver off the deck from time to time. Ball back in my stance, and aim left of my targeted landing area.
 
Get a 4 or 5 wood. I never hit my 3 wood off a tight lie. Thinking of taking it out of the bag this year
 
When I struggle with my fairway wood, it is invariably one of two things:

Too close at address
Failure to rotate
 
I had much the same issues, but then really worked on hitting it a bit more like an iron and getting the feeling of a slight descending blow and ball first. When you're hitting off a tee or popped up on grass you can lean back and hit up on it slightly whereas on the ground you can't do that otherwise you'll top it. Try a bit more weight on your lead foot and try to keep that weight forward a bit more. There will be better players and coaches wincing at the advice I'm sure but is the feeling that I go for.

Beat me to it! I was going to ask him the same thing, is he hitting it like a fairway club? Is he hitting down on it? I remember watching a video of Moe Norman hitting 3 woods. He had quite a divot dug in the tee. He'd roll a ball in there and then hammer it down into the dirt with his 3 wood. Then he'd proceed to hit laser beam 3 woods out of that divot by hitting down on the ball.

If you are playing a ball off of grass, whether closely mown or not, you MUST hit down on it.
 
One thing that worked for me was adding a little cup in my left wrist at the top, and then making sure to just swing fast with no time to think. Just gas it and go.

dude YES. a little cup at the top is so good for fairway off the deck. it’s been something i’ve been working on lately and the results have been surprisingly good.
 
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