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I am starting to hit better drives by applying the fundamentals for settng up for a driver. Arm more straight up and down and aligned with shaft, ball off front heel, tilt back, head behind ball, hands even or even slightly behind ball at impact. All geared to hit to sweep the ball off the tee. It has really helped.

However, I have somehow lost my ability to hit consistent shots off the tee with my 3 and 5 wood. That used to be my bread and butter when I was having a lot of problems with driver. What kind of different approach do I need to tee off with these clubs? Should I simply just move the ball back in the stand a bit? Do I need a slightly descending blow on the ball? It used to be easy to hit these clubs off the tee but now I am struggling.

Can you still hit them off the fairway just fine? Because if you can, just tee them up so that the ball sits right at the top of the grass line -- i.e. a perfect, pristine lie in the fairway, then just hit it off the 'fairway'.

With your fairways, make sure you are hitting down a little bit vs the sweeping hit of the driver..

I have found I need to concentrate on tempo a great deal especially from the Driver to 3 and 5 wood. The shorter shaft changes the dynamics of the swing and it is easy to try to use the same force as the driver causing you to bee too whippy with the woods

Today I played it safe on a par 5 I never make in 2 and tend to drive OB by using my 3 wood. I had had two very good drives on the previous holes and subsequenlty over swung the 3 wood. Luckily I was set up for a draw so the pull stayed on the edge of the fairway. I just felt stupid knowing that I was swinging as if it was the longer club.

You might also set up with your weight more centered on the woods than the driver. While you still sweep these woods off of the tee leaning back will make your 3 and 5 bottom out too soon and you will be inclined to close the club too soon as well. This is a recipe for a snap hook or even worse the dreaded dead hit (the contact sounds empty, the ball spins up in the air and then plumets to the ground 30 yards in front and left).

Personally I use the same "force" with the 3 wood as driver...a big problem I used to have with driver was considering it an "unlimited" distance club...since I have started to view it as the rest of my clubs with a repeatable distance ceiling that can be reached without swinging out of my shoes, my driving has improved...

Leaning back too far could be part of it. I am probably putting the same lean back now on my 3 and 5 wood as I do my driver.

That's key #1 to hitting 3-woods and 5-woods well off the tee. You'll never put another idiot mark on a fairway wood by doing this. Not only will your tee game improve, but you're reinforcing correct mechanics for fairway shots with woods as well.

As for the driver, the way the clubhead approaches impact is the complete opposite. Although theories of level or even descending blows with the driver are surfacing, you can't go wrong hitting it on the "up" swing, slightly of course.

Thanks for the tips. I think I have a good strategy now. As you mentioned it, I realized I used to tee the ball up really low with those clubs and got away from it while tinkering with my driver swing.