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The fairway wood is a club which is difficult enough to hit from off the ground with the correct ball position. It is made even harder if you do not have the golf ball in the correct position at address.

The golf balls position for a fairway wood shot should not be as far forward as with a driver nor should it be as far back as an irons ball position. The golf balls position for a fairway wood should be just inside the front foot. Another good check point for this is for the ball to be level with your left arm pit for the right handed golfer.

The ball position being forward promotes a level attack angle which enables you to be able to sweep the ball off the ground cleanly on a nice level hit. This level hit along with the loft of the fairway wood helps to achieve the optimal launch and trajectory on the golf ball. Fairway woods are normally used from off the fairway where the grass is shorter as this is where a clean contact can be achieved.

A good drill for getting the ball in the correct position for a fairway wood is to stand with your feet together level with the ball, move your left foot two inches left of the ball and then your right foot to your normal stance width (for a right handed golfer).

If you can repeat this every time you hit a fairway wood, you will achieve the correct ball position and start to develop a consistent strike. You need to do this as you could make a good golf swing yet not produce the desired shot because the ball position was incorrect at set up. It is important to get the ball in the same position every time for a fairway wood as the correct angle of attack is essential.

Fairway wood shots require a sweeping, level hit and having the ball position too far back will promote too steep an angle of attack. Fairway woods have fairly low lofts so this steep attack angle will de-loft the club head and the ball will launch too low. You could also be prone to taking too large a divot with the ball too far back in your stance.

If you position the golf ball too far forward you will find it difficult to contact the bottom of the ball. As a result, the ball will likely be topped or skimmed along the ground or compensations will have to be made with your swing to achieve any kind of solid contact. A too far forward ball position is likely to produce a slice across the ball.

Good fairway wood shots can be hit from the middle of the stance but the ball flight will not be optimal. Having the ball more towards the middle of the stance will steepen the angle of attack and therefore promote a lower than desired ball flight and you will possibly take too much of a divot.