How to Choose Golf Clubs, What Should I Assess When On The Fairway (Video) - by Pete Styles
How to Choose Golf Clubs, What Should I Assess When On The Fairway (Video) - by Pete Styles

Playing a 3-wood shot from the fairway can be a great asset to somebody’s game, it gives you a great opportunity to pump the ball down there as far as you can, gain maximum distance from the fairway, try and make the golf course play shorter, get near or even on to the green. But before you chose the 3-wood for every fairway shot that you ever get, there’s a couple of decisions that you need to make in the sort of course management process before you actually chose the club. I guess the first thing to decide on is, is the shot needed. If you’re 150 yards out, and you’re 3-wood go on to 180 yards, it’s simply not needed it’s the wrong club for the shot. But if its 250 yard shot and this goes 180 to 200 yards, perfect. To take your 3-wood out bang it down there as far as you can, leave your approach shot a little bit shorter.

The other thing to consider before you even look at the, the ball is where is the danger, where are the hazards, if there’s a lot of hazards in the region, of where my 3-wood would come down, it’s probably not the right club. If it’s very narrow with bunkers and ponds and out of bounds in that 180 to 200 region, 3-wood is not the right shot for you I’m afraid but it’s a lay out shots of those hazards and then knock it on to the green from further out. If it’s beautiful and wide and there’s a big expounds of fairway down there were 200, brilliant, 3-wood is still the right club. The next consideration has to be this, the lie of the golf ball. How the ball is sitting. So in playing 3-wood, is a relatively big head compared to some of you’re other clubs, and it’s relatively little lofted. It’s only 14, 15 maybe 16 degrees of angle on the club face. So unless the ball is sitting quite nicely in a good lie, you will struggle to get that club underneath the ball and get that ball up and flying nicely. So you’ve got to consider is the shot needed, where are the hazards, and what does the lie look like; then I can go ahead and approach the ball. I would probably take a little stance to the side of the ball, a couple of practice swings and just scheme down into the ground. Now, if the ball isn’t on the fairway and it’s in the semi rough I would try and swing at a patch of grass that is similar to the lie of the ball. So if it’s a nice thick lush lye, I’d find an area of thick lush grass similar, a couple of practice swings there just give me the feeling of how high I need to make my swing, how low I need to make my swing and what the club would feel like through impact. Then when I’m ready, I approach my ball. And if you consider those different options, is it needed, where are the hazards, what is the lie like, then I think you’d be the best to hit the best 3-wood shots for your game. 2014-11-05

Playing a 3-wood shot from the fairway can be a great asset to somebody’s game, it gives you a great opportunity to pump the ball down there as far as you can, gain maximum distance from the fairway, try and make the golf course play shorter, get near or even on to the green. But before you chose the 3-wood for every fairway shot that you ever get, there’s a couple of decisions that you need to make in the sort of course management process before you actually chose the club.

I guess the first thing to decide on is, is the shot needed. If you’re 150 yards out, and you’re 3-wood go on to 180 yards, it’s simply not needed it’s the wrong club for the shot. But if its 250 yard shot and this goes 180 to 200 yards, perfect. To take your 3-wood out bang it down there as far as you can, leave your approach shot a little bit shorter.

The other thing to consider before you even look at the, the ball is where is the danger, where are the hazards, if there’s a lot of hazards in the region, of where my 3-wood would come down, it’s probably not the right club. If it’s very narrow with bunkers and ponds and out of bounds in that 180 to 200 region, 3-wood is not the right shot for you I’m afraid but it’s a lay out shots of those hazards and then knock it on to the green from further out. If it’s beautiful and wide and there’s a big expounds of fairway down there were 200, brilliant, 3-wood is still the right club.

The next consideration has to be this, the lie of the golf ball. How the ball is sitting. So in playing 3-wood, is a relatively big head compared to some of you’re other clubs, and it’s relatively little lofted. It’s only 14, 15 maybe 16 degrees of angle on the club face. So unless the ball is sitting quite nicely in a good lie, you will struggle to get that club underneath the ball and get that ball up and flying nicely.

So you’ve got to consider is the shot needed, where are the hazards, and what does the lie look like; then I can go ahead and approach the ball. I would probably take a little stance to the side of the ball, a couple of practice swings and just scheme down into the ground. Now, if the ball isn’t on the fairway and it’s in the semi rough I would try and swing at a patch of grass that is similar to the lie of the ball.

So if it’s a nice thick lush lye, I’d find an area of thick lush grass similar, a couple of practice swings there just give me the feeling of how high I need to make my swing, how low I need to make my swing and what the club would feel like through impact. Then when I’m ready, I approach my ball.

And if you consider those different options, is it needed, where are the hazards, what is the lie like, then I think you’d be the best to hit the best 3-wood shots for your game.