This guide entails the things that make fairway woods special, what they do and can do, and what’s the right pick for you. Take a look.
What Is a Fairway Wood?
Fairway wood is a category of golf clubs that, as the name suggests, come with smaller heads as compared to drivers. They have characters quite similar to drivers but fairway woods have clubheads that range from 140 to 180 cc in size while drivers are usually around 440 ccs.
Moreover, fairway woods have a shallow face to keep the center of gravity low to get the ball airborne. Fairway wood soles are also specially designed for heavier roughs or divots.
Fairway woods are better at getting airborne and easier to hit, thus making them far more desirable than long irons. They are ideal for long approach shots with their size and shape. If you’re someone who requires more height to make shots or wants a club that will hit from rough and replace your 3 irons then fairway wood is the answer.
Things to Consider Before Buying Fairway Woods
With the rising number of options and the recent rise in popularity of hybrid, it has not only become more difficult to clearly define the line between hybrid and fairway but also tougher to select the right one. Here are some features of fairway woods that you must keep into consideration:
Shafts
Fairway woods are equipped with graphite shafts that are lightweight and help in increasing the swing speed. If you’re not really worried about the distance and looking for more accuracy, go for steel shafts. Whereas if you want to stay on the safer side, get graphite.
For flex, there’s a direct relation between your clubhead speed and flex stiffness. The faster the speed, the stiffer the flex should be.
Loft
The loft is basically the club face’s angle that affects distance and controls trajectory. The more the loft, the higher the trajectory and the shorter the ball travels. Your loft goes higher with the golf club number. For instance, A 3 wood loft is in the 15 to 18-degrees range whereas a 5 wood has a 20 to 22-degree loft.
You’ll often see high lofted woods (the 7, 9, 11) referred to as utility wood. Fairways also offer an adjustability feature where you can control weights and hosels.
Size and Material
Most fairway woods are made of stainless steel, which is strong, inexpensive, and long-lasting. Titanium fairway woods are often large and used to hit from the tee. Its light weightiness helps in getting the ball airborne quickly and easily by keeping the center of gravity in the clubhead.
Some fairway woods are also made from a multi-material composite that creates ultra-lightweight clubs. They reduce twisting on off-center hits because the weight in these fairways is concentrated on the head.
Length
There’s a simple rule with length, the higher the club number is, the shorter its shaft length will be. A 3 wood fairway wood is around 43” which is perhaps the longest. Whereas 5 wood and 7 wood fairway wood is around 41” to 40” respectively.
Tips for Using Fairway Woods
Fairway woods golf clubs are versatile and are meant to cover long distances. Here are some helpful tips on hitting fairway woods the right way:
Adjust Your Ball Position and Stance
You must keep your stance wider when using fairway woods to approach the ball at an appropriate angle. With fairway wood, this angle should be more at level than the driver. Move the ball back in stance, and if you’re a right-handed player, you must place the ball at least 4 inches inside the left heel.
Sweep, Don’t Strike
You need to think and picture a sweeping motion rather than striking it down on it like it’s done with iron sticks. Make a swing that is encouraged by a wide stance, and is more rounded.
Relaxed Swing
If you hurry your swing, or over swing it, to produce more power and speed for the clubhead, don’t!
A steady tempo and full, relaxed extension will give you the required power. Make sure that you have a rhythm and steady balance throughout your swing.
Bounce the club
Fairway wood sole is rounded and designed to bounce off the ground in impact. It is unlikely that a club will dig into the ground so when you address the shot, make sure you strike it aggressively but firmly. Strike the ground instead of hanging back to lift the ball in the air. When you hit the ground, the loft will most likely lift the ball.
What Is the Difference Between Fairway Wood and Hybrid?
It’s inevitable to avoid the fairway wood vs hybrid debate if you’re a golf player. There are very small differences between the two. Fairway woods offer forgiveness and more distances.
Hybrids play just like golf irons. The hybrids have iron-like faces and small cub heads which make them more versatile. Fairway woods tend to fly higher and spin more than hybrid of the same loft as a hybrid.
High handicap golfers tend to prefer hybrid over fairway woods as they would need a lot of training to play with them.
Conclusion
Golf fairway woods help you achieve your long approach shots and tee shots with much more fun. Getting the right tools can make any job easier. So does the right kind of fairway wood.
Control how you play and master the art of swinging smoothly with the right fairway wood in hand.
Best Fairway Wood FAQs
Some of the commonly asked questions are as follows:
What’s better? 3 wood or 5 wood?
A 5 wood is better for fairway club as it has increased loft but a 3 wood can be a great alternative for the tee too.
What is the best fairway wood for high-handicappers?
The best kind for high-handicappers is one that has a low center of gravity, more loft, and wider sole to increase the inertia.
Is it easier to use a fairway wood than hybrid?
Yes. But if you prefer short shafts, go for hybrid.