How about a 3 wood video?

[Matt 4-L]

I went out and played nine tonight and struck the ball fabulous with all my clubs except the 3 wood. Driver great, short irons great, mid to long irons great, 3 wood junk. I don't know what it is about this club but I either hit low hooking shrimps or skanked cutters. I would love to see a youtube video by Brian, I would even pay the $19.99 for one of his downloads like NSA or Flipper, anybody else struggle with the spoon off the deck?

 

[dashfan87]

where is your ball position off the deck with a 3 wood? I usually like to put it about a half inch to a full inch off the front foots heal (to the left if your a lefty, and the right if your a righty.). and I hit all my fairway woods great off the deck.

 

[joeparr]

I`m a hacker and I too always have trouble with the 3 wood untill I got an offset one ,that mite help you....

 

[Chris Sturgess]

If I were you I would:

1) make sure my 3 wood is at least a decently made club, not an old piece of crap. I've seen some really bad 3 woods...

2) practice with the 3 wood on the range a little bit just to get the feel of it so it isn't weird and foreign, 20 balls or so.

3) realize the 3 wood swing is the same as a long iron swing, if you can hit a long iron you can hit a 3 wood, just make the same swing, a slightly descending blow, almost a level sweep.

 

[Matt 4-L]

My three wood is a Nike ignite. I was messing around tonight and think my alignment has been a bit off with the 3 wood, I seem to want to aim way right, and it is such an optical allusion for me with the longer clubs. I solved this same problem with my driver by aligning up my black line that I draw on the ball with my target line. Obviously I cannot do that with the 3 wood. So by laying down some sticks I straightened my ball out (the severely closed stance explains the low duck hooks). I still wasn't hitting the ball very high though; my club head speed with the driver is between 105-110 mph, so I should not have any problems getting a high ball flight. I have been playing the ball about 2" back from my heel...I just have so many different swing thoughts for my 3 wood running through my head, sweep the ball, take a shallow divot, low and slow take away, complete my shoulder turn ect. that I am having a hard time just hitting the ball....Now that I have spotted the closed stance I can start to work on getting lined up correctly and play with the ball position and slowly figure out what’s going wrong. As for the offset club, I really don't like them, I am kind of a traditionalist when it comes to my clubs, I have played Hogan apex pc's for years and finally switched to a set of combo irons the ftx cavity back long irons and blade short irons. I like thin toplines and minimal offset.

 

[Chris Sturgess]

It's good that you realized you were aiming right, that is so common. If you hit a 3 wood off a low tee what happens? The Nike Ignite I'm sure is a good enough club. How much loft is on it? How stiff is the shaft?

 

[Matt 4-L]

The club is 15° and a stiff shaft. I went out and hit a few off a low tee and hit the ball low but fairly straight. I actually hit the ball fairly low with my driver but last year at a session on the launch monitor I went with a 10.5° stiff driver but I tee the ball higher than most to get my higher launch angle, my carry for the driver averages about 260 yards...What are some keys to launch a 3 wood higher?

 

[Chris Sturgess]

You probably are coming into the ball with a little too much of a descending blow which would cause a lower launch. This is often caused by how a person sets up. Make sure you have some spine tilt away from the target, meaning your hip are a little closer to the target than your sternum, and your shoulders should be tilted like that as well, left shoulder higher than right. That will help you sweep it more and hit it higher, also just try to sweep it rather than hit down on it while you're swinging. Put the ball somewhere around your left heel. This should help you get a higher launch angle on both a 3 wood and your driver.

 

[Matt 4-L]

Chris, thanks for the help I really appreciate it. I know I tend to get my hips level instead of the "k" position. I was trying today to keep my axis tilt and was struggling keeping it and I think my old nemisis has snuck back in and that's a tendency to sway off the ball with my woods and come up out of my posture. For some reason I think I need to get my whole body into the swing to create distance, when in actuality if I just make a nice quiet turn with very little leg movement I hit it so much better. To me it "feels" like I am just swinging my arms but in reality I am making a full shoulder turn. Thanks again for the help, Matt.