Instruction "Fairway Finder" - What are the ingredients for the "fairway finder" setup and swing? *Matthew Wolff video inclosed...

[Joe Duffer]

 

Here's Matt Wolff hitting his "fairway finder" driver tee shot. There's so very little written in this forum regarding this shot.

I want to know what people do when they're "under the gun" and/or facing an extremely narrow fairway and you still need to hit it reasonably long?  

[pinhigh27]

He's swinging 127 that's his normal swing, I don't really see anything "Fairway finding" about it besides he hit a good shot.

 

You just make a good swing. Should try to reduce variables as much as possible. You could maybe tee it up a touch low to lower impact point, lower launch and raise spin a touch to sacrifice some distance for reduced curve. 

[N0rs3man]

Fairway finder for me is setting up like a 7i and pretending I'm just hitting a 7i. That is usually a really smooth swing, even if its 15 yards shorter than one I go after its usually in fairway 

[Joe Duffer]

1 hour ago, pinhigh27 said:

He's swinging 127 that's his normal swing, I don't really see anything "Fairway finding" about it besides he hit a good shot.

 

You just make a good swing. Should try to reduce variables as much as possible. You could maybe tee it up a touch low to lower impact point, lower launch and raise spin a touch to sacrifice some distance for reduced curve. 

I understand what you're saying, but do you necessarily have to swing slower for it to be considered a "fairway finder"?

The height of this particular drive was only 112 feet. Usually his drives are 30 to 40 feet higher. I guess my question could have been: How do you hit a hard, low, controlled fade?

[Zitlow]

Tee the ball a little lower. 

[llewol007]

Fairway finder is different for every player. Just means you can repeat that under pressure and is your normal shot. 

[Joe Duffer]

14 hours ago, llewol007 said:

Fairway finder is different for every player. Just means you can repeat that under pressure and is your normal shot. 

Yeah, I got that, thx! - But what are some of your thoughts/keys that YOU rely on?  

[llewol007]

1 hour ago, Joe Duffer said:

Yeah, I got that, thx! - But what are some of your thoughts/keys that YOU rely on?  

Swing thought never changes. For me, this is the importance of a preshot routine. I picture the shot in my mind which for me is a slight fade and pick where I want the ball to start and end up. Then from there, my only swing thought is hands to my ear which has kept me from a long swing tendency and I fire through. 

[tthomasgolfer605]

Mathew Wolff hits fairways? 

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Tee it lower mainly, I don't play a fade personally but lower to the ground is generally going to be easier to control. I guess he would call this a 'squeeze fade' or similar. 

[Joe Duffer]

1 minute ago, TLUBulldogGolf said:

Tee it lower mainly, I don't play a fade personally but lower to the ground is generally going to be easier to control. I guess he would call this a 'squeeze fade' or similar. 

Thanks! 🙂

Curious:

Do you choke down on the grip as well and how much?

How about ball position? - Do you play it back a bit?

Do you purposely adjust your posture at address? Stance width? etc...

Do you limit/hold off the follow-through?

Do you purposely try to change your swing plane?

 

Sorry for the extra questions, but I'm just trying to pin down what good/elite players do. Thx 🙂

[Joe Duffer]

28 minutes ago, tthomasgolfer605 said:

Mathew Wolff hits fairways? 

He seems to hit more fairways when he plays THIS type of shot.

[TLUBulldogGolf]

46 minutes ago, Joe Duffer said:

Thanks! 🙂

Curious:

Do you choke down on the grip as well and how much?

How about ball position? - Do you play it back a bit?

Do you purposely adjust your posture at address? Stance width? etc...

Do you limit/hold off the follow-through?

Do you purposely try to change your swing plane?

 

Sorry for the extra questions, but I'm just trying to pin down what good/elite players do. Thx 🙂

Maybe stand a bit closer, main difference is I’m not trying to launch it as I don’t care as much about distance, so I may hit slightly more down on it.

[shanx]

Face this often, been working on a few things.

 

If I need to hit driver, I just want a smooth swing and hit it solid. Definitely choke up a little, maybe favor a fade.

 

If I just want to get something in play, I pull a 5wood or hybrid and swing aggressively.

 

My only thought is to keep the club moving and don't hold back through the ball.

[Valtiel]

Only this video is calling it a "fairway finder", it is still 112ft in the air and LONG, nothing smooth or held back there. 

In general I think the high level concept is just to make a very level, long iron-esque swing in terms of AoA and release as opposed to the big "swing up on it" bomb. Teeing the ball low encourages a very neutral delivery which can help tighten misses, and it tends to increase spin lowering your strike on average. However the OG SIM plays a role here in that it is both very low CG and shallow faced, making this type of shot far more practical and efficient from a launch and spin standpoint than a deeper faced driver. 

[jholz]

I find that prayer helps. I direct mine towards a small squirrel totem I picked up in the North-West during my time on a logging crew. 

[Fairway14]

23 hours ago, Joe Duffer said:

Yeah, I got that, thx! - But what are some of your thoughts/keys that YOU rely on?  

 

As someone wrote earlier, teeing the ball low is good. Choking down a touch on the grip does not hurt anything and helps with accuracy. Being very aware of the target is helpful, including visualizing the shot hitting the target. Most reliable  of all is probably swinging a 3-wood or other club less than driver, but few players have the discipline to do that.

[EDT501]

My go to on very, very tight holes is to aim up the left side of the fairway, tee it low, but keep ball position roughly the same, then swing easy but not lazily. I'm looking to deliver the club with a little forward press and feel like Im holding the face open a little. Generates a lower launch, higher spin shot from impact low on the face and the face to path creates a controlled cut. At least that is the idea haha