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3 Easy Ways to Hit More Fairways

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Hit More Fairways

Golf is a game that was meant to be played from the fairway.  Sure, it’s possible to hit some good shots from the rough, but sooner or later playing from the long grass is going to catch up with you.

Shooting good scores requires consistency from the first hole to the last, and the only way to play consistent golf is to get your ball in the fairway as often as possible.  An approach shot played from the fairway can usually take dead aim at the flag – while an approach played from the rough will be considered a success if it just stays on the putting surface.

Okay – so we have established that playing from the fairway is a good thing (no kidding right?).  That probably isn’t breaking news to you.  The real issue at hand here is how to hit more fairways so that you can enjoy the rewards that the short grass has to offer.

If you have a plan in place that you can use to position your ball successfully off the tee on most of the par fours and par fives, you should have little trouble posting a good score.

Ball Striking, Obviously

Below you will find three methods that you can use to hit more fairways.  There is one notable exception to that list that you will likely notice right away – ball striking.  Why isn’t ball striking considered an important component to hitting more fairways?  Well, it is, but that’s obvious.

You already know that you would benefit from hitting the ball cleanly off the tee, so restating that in this article isn’t going to help you lower your scores (if you’r looking to improve your ball striking be sure to read our recent article on training with impact tape).  Instead, the three points below are strategic ideas that you can use to maximize the results you are getting from your current swing.

You should absolutely continue to work on improving your swing over the long-term, but this article is meant to help you hit more fairways right now.

#1 – Club Down!

This concept is so obvious, yet many amateur golfers refuse to do it very often.  If you watch golf on TV, you will regularly see the professionals using something less than driver in order to put the ball in the fairway.  If this strategy is good enough for the pros, why isn’t it good enough for you?

Often, amateur golfers will cite the fact that they don’t hit the ball as far as the professionals as an excuse for not being willing to club down from the tee.  This is a poor excuse, and it’s one that doesn’t hold up at all under just a little bit of scrutiny.

Let’s imagine for a moment that you are an average player who is capable of hitting your driver about 240 yards off the tee.  Since you play the middle tees most of the time, you encounter a lot of par fours which are around 380 yards or so in length.  That means that with a good drive, you can put the ball within 140 yards of the green.  However, it also means that you could hit a three wood from the tee and easily be within 180 yards of the target, if not closer.

Hit More Fairways 3

Photo by Andy Simonds via Flickr

Most players will only have a gap of 20 or 30 yards between the distances that they can achieve with a driver as compared to a three wood.  20 or 30 yards only translates to about two clubs in terms of what iron you would be hitting into the green.  Therefore, when faced with a particularly tight fairway you can back down from a driver to the three wood and only have to hit a six iron into the green instead of an eight (for example).  The gain in extra distance simply isn’t worth the risk of having to play your next shot from the rough—which by the way will take distance off your approach shot thus forcing you to often club-up anyway!

#2 – Don’t Fight the Wind

Wind plays a big role in the game of golf, both on tee shots and approach shots.  When you are standing on the tee getting ready to hit a drive, be sure to consider the wind when you are picking out your target line.

You might feel like you can ignore the wind when you are hitting a driver, but you would be wrong.  A well-struck driver shot will hang in the air for several seconds, giving the wind plenty of time to affect the outcome of your shot.  In windy conditions, work on hitting lower shots off the tee in order to place the ball safely in the fairway.

#3 – Trust, Trust, Trust

The most powerful tool you will ever have in your bag is confidence.  When you can pull confidence from the bag on each and every swing, you will see good results on the vast majority of your shots.

Confidence comes from positive experience, however, so you have to find a way to see good shots in order to grow the belief in yourself.  The best place to build confidence in your game is on the driving range.  If you can refine your mechanics to the point where they consistently produce great shots on the range, you will then be able to walk to the first tee feeling like you are up to the challenge that the course is going to throw at you.

Hit More Fairways 2

Photo by Neville Wootton via Flickr

So what does this have to do with hitting fairways?  Everything.  When you stand on the tee, you will be looking down the fairway – and you will probably notice just about everything but the short grass.  You will see the rough, the bunkers, perhaps a water hazard, and maybe some out of bounds stakes.  There is plenty to worry about when you stand on the tee, and it can all get in your head quite easily if you don’t have confidence to rely on.

[easy-tweet tweet=”A confident player only sees the fairway on the tee – a doubtful golfer sees everything else.” user=”golficity” url=”http://golficity.com/3-easy-ways-to-hit-more-fairways/”]

Let that quote sink in again: A confident player only sees the fairway when they stand on the tee – a doubtful golfer sees everything else.  If you really want to hit more fairways, the process starts by working hard on the range so that you can have complete trust in yourself when you face those challenging shots on the course.

Suggested Further Reading

Want to dive even deeper into the key fundamentals you need to master if you want to hit more fairways?  If so, be sure to check out these staff favorites for further reading on this topic:

Now get out there with the single-minded goal of hitting more fairways and watch your scores start to drop as a result.


Cover Photo by Sergeant Bacon on Flickr

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