When hitting a fairway wood...

When i'm playing it off the tee, do I aim to hit the ball with a descending blow. If so would that mean i'd tee the ball up just left off centre in my stance?

Ideally you want to brush the ball off the turf, so the answer would be; no you do not want a decending blow with your fairway woods. In other words you do not want to take a divot (even though modern fairway woods are pretty forgiving when you do).

Try teeing your ball around 3 inches inside your front heel and open your trail foot to a comfortable width.

I would suggest that you hit down with a shallow descending blow when using fairway woods off the tee but hit horizontal with the 3 wood. When hitting off the ground hit down with a shallow strike even with the 3 wood.

hi
as Brian has said but i would add when playing woods you sweep the ball of the fairway more than hit down and it the same when tee'd up it a sweeping shot.
cheers
bill

To clarify: I am of the 3skills school on this one and find that the ball should be hit down with a shallow approach angle with fairway woods. The only exception is where the 3 wood is used off a tee where the blow should be horizontal.

I do not believe the term sweeping the ball off the ground is correct as that gives the impression that the ball should be struck with a horizontal blow which IMO is incorrect. I suggest a shallow divot is taken when a fairway wood is hit off the deck.

hi Brian
i think of it more shaving the tops of the grass than taking a divot with a wood but i still see the result left in whats left of the cut grass, like you say we have very diffrent styles but i think we have similar results,
i think i must play my fairway woods a bit more forward than you do or it my movement of my hips that move me towards the target an inch more and that why i maybe play the ball more forward than you do as you have very little hip sway i would think.
cheers
bill

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This video shows what I mean and he is hitting from a tee:

Jake,

Every club in the bag should be leaning forward at impact (hands ahead of the ball). As a result, a 3 wood will be hit properly off a tee or the ground with a decending blow.

Not true! Many pros and their instructors advocate hitting long irons, fairway woods, and drivers with a level sweeping blow (and sometimes ascending blow with the driver). Not a decending blow!
You do not hear a good instructors advocating a decending blow with the driver (or the putter), and for that matter many instructors (including Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter, Jim Mclean, and Rick Smith) recommend hitting those shots with an ascending blow.

Here is a picture of Nick Faldo at impact showing that the hands and the clubhead are even with one another, and the ball is being brushed (swept) off the ground (not decended into).

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/1...dimpactke7.jpg