A well struck fairway wood should always feel solid at the point of impact. Many players struggle to hit their fairway woods solidly. They make the mistake of trying to “sweep” the ball off the ground, sometimes even trying to lift the ball with the club; this results in a thin or “skulled” shot.
Although you are playing the ball forward in your stance and attempting to make a flatter swing, you still need to hit slightly downward on the ball. The driver is the only club hit with an upward swing, and this is because the ball sits up on a tee.
A lot of golfers struggle with trying with the 3 wood off the deck because they don't hit down on the ball enough. Hitting down on the ball slightly allows you to generate backspin and lift, keeping your ball in the air.
Your swing is too slow to use a 3 wood. If your driver clubhead speed is less than 82 mph then forget about a 3 wood. It simply is not fast enough to get the ball consistently flighted with such a low loft without the assistance of a tee peg.
You can drop a ball in the fairway within two club-lengths of that fairway edge point, or anywhere between there and the estimated spot where your ball is lost or went out of bounds. If you think that your ball might be out bounds or that you might not find it, you can play a provisional ball to save time.
I COULDN'T Hit My 3 Wood Correctly Until I knew This
Why is 3 wood so hard to hit?
Last but not least, a 3-wood is the next longest club after the driver, and longer club clubs are harder to square up at impact. When all these factors collide, it's easy to see why so many golfers have a hard time with this club. But there are solutions!