Considerations when Playing the Shot in the Fairway

You've just struck your tee golf shot, and it comes to rest perfectly in the center of the fairway having an ideal lie.  You're set up for an ideal next shot, but if you hit it fat or thin, these benefits of your ideal drive are wasted.  Striking the ball from the fairway must not be complicated when easy swing principles are followed, but if they are not it's going to merely add to the lack of confidence in the shot.

Most of the concerns we have playing this shot from the fairway start with our practice periods.  At the driving range we spend a great deal of time with the driver, and sometimes a pitching wedge gets plenty of use.  Then we head to the pitching area along with the putting green and put our work in there.  Your nine iron and up get insignificant use, and often this is the failing of the course supervision with the driving area.  Hitting from matts is a waste of time, and if the turf is in horrible condition it most definitely will not be the same shot as from the plush fairway.

So devote as much time practicing your golf irons as you do your other golf club.  But there are several additional constants in fairway shots that must be observed.  Here are a few:

1.    Swing tempo.  Swinging your golf club smoothly might be more critical with this shot compared to any other.  Off the tee there is a little more margin for error, so even if there is a modest fault with your swing you still might be able to hit a decent shot.  With the shorter shots you are not utilizing a full swing, so less may go wrong.  With the full iron shot just being a little off can lead to a miss-hit.  A fluid swing will result in far less body motion and consequently bring about fewer margins for error.

2.    Keep the weight stable.  If your weight sways, your head moves.  Keeping the head immobile will keep the eyes still, which allows you to see the ball better.  I've always maintained that your ability to focus on the ball and not just merely looking at it will make for a consistent contact on the ball.

3.    By no means attempt to lift your shot.  A few years back I played with a near-scratch golfer that was an old collegiate golfer.  I noticed just how far in front of his ball he took his divot, which appeared to be one inch or two.  Obviously he had to be striking down and through the ball in order to safely hit it and hit the ground with the club that far to the fore.  It demonstrated the value of the correct descending angle with the swing-path through the ball.