Hitting 3 wood off the fairway

You could be falling back on your heels on the backswing. I do this sometimes and I usuall hit it thin. Best of luck to you.

Simon,

With regards to how high to tee the ball up, I suggest no more than half the ball should be above the top of the club head.

On the fairway, would you be able to get half a ball on top of say a 5 wood clubhead? I know for the driver we are advised to tee with half a ball showing on top of the clubhead, but with the other woods, I am actually more comfortable just teeing it slightly up so that it's not sitting on the ground. Still not quite sure how to sweep it up if you're on the fairway with the ball sitting on the ground (I'll try to check this the next time I'm on the course). Would you the be taking a divot before the ball?

Simon,

With regards to teeing it up - do what you're comfortable with.

My set up for using woods off the deck and from the tee is exactly the same. The only difference is that I don't try and rip it.

Trust your club Simon! Just swing and think of finishing, ie, your follow through.

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Yes, it's more of a sweep off the tee and more down off of the fairway. And by hitting down, I'm not trying to say you should be steep like a wedge. It's more of a down sweep. Do not scoop it. For that matter, you should not scoop it for any shot whether it's off of the tee or fairway. Hitting off of a tee is always a little easier so don't feel too discouraged if you don't hit a great shot everytime off of the fairway because no one does. How high you should tee it up depends on the size of your 4 wood and a little experimentation. However, I think 1/2" should be about right. Try and figure out where you are making contact off of the club face at 1/2" and if you are hitting it too high on the club face, you should tee it down. If you are hitting too low on the club face, it might be because the tee is too low or you are swinging too high off of the ground. Hope this helps.

can someone explain scooping in detail to me? i am imagining coming down with the club then some how just at impact trying to drop the arms and handle low enought go pry up the ball while the club is hiting it?

I think its a fine line. It is more of a sweep off the tee, but because off the ground is lower its the same action only your hitting off the ground so in a sense your hitting down through the ball. Also whe you tee it up, it should be just off the ground no more than 1cm.. so you have the same action, your only benefit is that youll get a cleaner connection.. by teeing it up high youll only hit it higher therefore losing distance and more chance of a slice.

Scooping
This is caused by trying to get the ball in the air by hitting up on it instead of down. The upward motion results in the clubhead passing the hands before impact. This bottoms the club out before it reaches the ball, resulting in either a fat or a thin shot.

For me, I like to have the ball a little back from where I would have it when teeing off, I also like to bend at the knees a little more to be lower on the swing as I find this avoids topping. I try to sweep the ball of the turf while trying not to overhit.