How To Hit A 3-Wood Off The Tee

how to hit a 3-wood off the tee with Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Ben Emerson — These top tips from Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Ben Emerson will help you master the 3-wood off the tee

(Image credit: Tom Miles)

last updated 29 April 2024

Learning how to hit a 3-wood off the tee could provide you with a great alternative to driver, especially on those holes where strategy is at a premium. Even with the best golf tips, the 3-wood remains one of the hardest clubs in the bag to hit, but mastering it will help you to play consistently better golf.

The benefits of hitting the best drivers is well documented, but on the odd occasion where something less is required, this reliable option could help you to keep the ball in-play and lower your scores.

One thing I consistently see amateurs do incorrectly when they try to hit a 3-wood is tee the ball up too high. This is often because they are trying to mimic what they do with the driver, but while it seems that would make it easier to hit, the reality is very different.

Teeing the ball up too high encourages you to shift your weight distribution heavily to your trail side in an attempt to sweep the ball. When this happens, weight stays on the back foot which alters your spine angle, making it hard to strike the ball with any consistency.

It's important to realise that you don't need to do this when hitting a 3-wood, as you have enough static loft on the club to get the ball in the air. All you need to do is trust it!

PGA pro Ben Emerson demonstrating the perfect tee height for hitting a 3-wood — Ben demonstrating the perfect tee height (left) versus one that will lead to a loss of distance and accuracy (right)

Ideally, you want to imagine you’re setting it up in the perfect lie from the fairway, with the ball on a very small tee.

From there, I want you to feel like you’re not trying to hit up on it as you would with a driver. Instead, with the way that fairway woods are designed, you actually want to hit it with a slight descending blow to get the ball to go into the air.

To do that, many of you will have to alter your ball position. When it comes to the 3-wood vs the driver, instead of the ball being in line with your lead heel, move it back roughly two golf balls towards the middle of your stance.

PGA pro Ben Emerson demonstrating the difference in address positions between a driver and a 3-wood — Move the ball further back in your stance with a 3-wood compared to a driver, as Ben demonstrates above

Assuming you've mastered how wide your stance should be, you also want to split your weight evenly between your left and right side. Some of you would even benefit from feeling like there is a little more weight on your lead side to start with.

But far more important than that, if you are going to go onto your back foot at the top of the backswing, you have got to make sure you get your weight off your trail side coming through impact to get energy going towards the target. A really simple way to work on this is to focus on swinging through to the finish with a nice tempo and holding the pose.

What if you are STILL struggling to flight your 3-wood?

If you are happy that you're following the technical pointers we have set out here, including finding the right ball position, but are still struggling to flight your 3-wood, you need to take a look at your equipment.

For slower swingers there comes a point of diminishing returns with regards to loft. Quite simply, if you are unable to generate the clubhead speed you need to create enough spin to provide a stable flight, then you may well need more loft. A 4 or 5-wood could well be your best option.

Of course, we'd recommend going for a fitting. Perhaps there is a lighter head/shaft combination out there that will help increase your clubhead speed... A good fitter will immediately see the issue and should be able to help find a solution.