You step up to a narrow tee box. Your hands are sweating. There are trees down both sides and you have no idea where this one is going.

Every golfer knows that feeling — and it is one of the most damaging moments in a round. One bad tee shot can cost you two or three shots before you even reach the green.

In January 2025, YouTube golf star Grant Horvat sat down with Tiger Woods for a full lesson on hitting woods straight, finding fairways under pressure, and stopping the slice for good. In this breakdown, you will get every key tip Tiger shared — explained clearly so you can take them straight to the course.

How to Hit a Fairway Wood Off the Ground Without Chunking It

Here is why this works. Most amateur golfers treat a fairway wood like a short iron and try to punch down on the ball. But a fairway wood has very little loft compared to an iron, so attacking steeply just drives the leading edge into the ground before it ever reaches the ball.

Tiger’s sweeping motion keeps the club moving along the ground rather than into it. Think of it like a broom brushing across a floor — you want contact across the surface, not a stab down into it.

Try this on the range: Place a tee in the ground just in front of your ball. Your goal on every swing is to clip that second tee after you make contact. If you are chunking, you will miss it completely. If you sweep it correctly, the tee will fly forward. Do this for 20 balls before your next round and your fairway wood strike will feel completely different.

Tiger’s Low Tee Driver Setup for Tight Fairways

Here is the reason Tiger’s low tee works so well. When you tee the ball high, your brain automatically tries to hit up on it. Your swing gets longer, your hands flip through impact, and your club path swings wildly from inside to outside or outside to inside. The result is a massive miss left or right.

When the ball sits low, your body instinctively stays on top of it. Your swing flattens out naturally. You stop trying to scoop the ball into the air and start trusting the club to do its job.

Tiger confirmed in the Grant Horvat lesson that he accepts less distance on these shots without hesitation. A drive in the fairway from 260 yards beats a drive in the trees from 290 yards every single time. Play the shot the hole demands, not the shot your ego wants.

On the course: Next time you face a hole with trees or water on both sides, push your tee so only a centimetre of it sits above the ground. Take your normal swing. You will be surprised how straight and controlled the ball flies.

Why You Keep Slicing Your Driver — And How Tiger Fixes It

The slice is the most common shot problem for amateur golfers worldwide, and almost every slice comes from the same root cause — an over-the-top swing path. Your club comes from outside the target line and cuts across the ball at impact, putting left-to-right spin on it. The ball starts left and curves hard to the right.

Tiger’s approach to fixing this is not to tell you to swing more inside-out. Instead, he removes the conditions that cause the over-the-top move in the first place. A high tee encourages you to hit up, which tilts your shoulder angle and throws the club over the top. A low tee forces a more neutral shoulder tilt and a shallower attack angle.

The heel contact Tiger recommends for tight holes also helps here. Striking slightly off the heel reduces the gear effect that amplifies left-to-right spin. The result is a controlled cut that starts just right of your target and finishes in the middle of the fairway — predictable, repeatable, and safe.

How to Hit a Stinger Wood Shot Into the Wind

This shot is one of the most useful in golf and almost nobody outside of tour players uses it. When the wind is blowing hard into your face, a high ball flight is your enemy. The ball balloons, loses momentum, and drops short. A low, piercing ball flight cuts through the wind and stays on a straight line to your target.

To execute Tiger’s wind wood shot properly, follow these steps in order:

Step 1: Play the ball slightly further back in your stance than normal — about one ball width back from your usual fairway wood position.

Step 2: Lean the shaft forward so your hands are ahead of the ball at address. This delofts the club before you even swing.

Step 3: Feel like you are hitting down and through the ball, not sweeping it. You want a small divot in front of the ball — this is correct for this specific shot.

Step 4: Finish low. Do not let the club follow through high over your shoulder. Keep your finish compact and low to the ground.

The result will be a low, boring ball flight that holds its line in the wind far better than any high shot could.

How to Adjust Your Setup When a New Golf Club Wants to Hook

This principle applies to any club in your bag, not just new ones. Every club you own has a natural shot shape built into it — some want to draw, some want to fade. Learning what your club naturally does gives you a massive advantage over golfers who fight their equipment.

Before every round, take three warm-up swings with each club you plan to use and notice where the ball wants to go. If your three wood consistently goes left, open the face slightly at address. If your driver fades right, close it slightly. These small pre-round adjustments take 10 minutes and can save you five or six shots without changing anything about your swing.

Tiger controls his shot shape by controlling his setup — not by making mid-swing corrections. That is a key difference between how tour players and amateur golfers approach the same problem.

The Fairway Finder Comparison

Play the Percentages — How Tiger Thinks on Tight Holes

The most important mindset shift you can make as a golfer is to stop judging shots by how far they go and start judging them by where they finish.

Tiger’s entire approach on difficult driving holes is built around one idea: keep the ball in play at all costs. A ball in the light rough 250 yards out leaves you with a manageable second shot. A ball in the trees 280 yards out leaves you punching sideways and taking a bogey or worse before you have even had a chance to attack the green.

Next time you play a difficult driving hole, ask yourself one question before you swing: “What is the worst place I can miss on this hole?” Then build your tee shot around avoiding that place — not chasing the ideal landing spot. This is how Tiger approaches every driving hole, and it is the single biggest reason his worst shots so rarely cost him more than one stroke.

When to Hit Driver vs Three Wood Off the Tee

One of the most underused decisions in amateur golf is leaving the driver in the bag. Most golfers reach for the driver on every par 4 and par 5 out of habit, but Tiger’s approach is far more calculated.

Ask yourself these three questions before every tee shot:

1. Can I reach trouble with my driver? If there is a bunker, water, or thick rough at 270 yards and you hit your driver 265 yards on average, you are gambling on every swing. A three wood that goes 240 yards leaves the trouble completely out of play.

2. Does a shorter tee shot leave me a better angle into the green? On dogleg holes, hitting driver sometimes leaves you with a blocked approach. A shorter, straighter tee shot can open up the entire green.

3. How is my driver working today? If your driver has been misfiring all round, there is zero shame in hitting three wood for the rest of the day. Tour professionals make this decision constantly — it is smart golf, not weak golf.

Tiger made this point clearly in his lesson with Grant Horvat. The goal is not to hit the driver. The goal is to score. Whatever club gives you the best chance of doing that is the right club.

Two Range Drills That Will Make Tiger’s Tips Click Immediately

Reading about technique is one thing. Building it into your swing is another. Here are two simple practice drills that will turn Tiger’s concepts into real, repeatable results.

Drill 1 — The Low Tee Challenge Push 10 tees into the ground at the same height as Tiger recommends — so only a sliver of tee is visible above the grass. Hit 10 driver shots from this height. Your only goal is to make clean contact. Do not worry about distance. After 10 shots, you will notice your swing has naturally flattened and your contact has become more consistent. You are now swinging like Tiger on a tight hole.

Drill 2 — The Broom Sweep Drill for Fairway Woods Take your three wood and address a ball on a flat piece of grass — no tee. Place a second ball about 30 centimetres in front of your ball. Your goal is to brush the grass through both positions — where your ball is and where the second ball sits. If you are chopping down, you will dig before you reach the first position. If you sweep correctly, the club will glide through both positions smoothly. This drill trains the sweeping motion Tiger uses instinctively on all fairway wood shots.

Do each drill for 15 minutes before your next round. The improvement in your ball striking will be immediate and obvious.

How to Fix Your Grip Pressure for Straighter Shots

One thing Tiger touched on — and that most amateur golfers completely overlook — is grip pressure. Squeezing the club too tightly is one of the most common causes of a slice, a hook, or a pulled shot.

When you grip the club too hard, your forearms tense up. Tense forearms cannot rotate freely through the ball. The clubface stays open at impact and the ball flies right. Alternatively, if you overcorrect and try to force your forearms to rotate, the face snaps shut and the ball flies hard left.

Tiger uses a medium grip pressure — firm enough to control the club, loose enough to let the clubhead release naturally through the ball. A simple way to find this pressure is the 1–10 scale. One is barely holding the club. Ten is squeezing as hard as you can. Tiger plays at around a 5 or 6. Most amateur golfers grip at an 8 or 9 without realising it.

Before your next swing, consciously loosen your grip until it feels almost too light. Then tighten it by one or two notches. That is your ideal pressure. Hold it throughout the entire swing — do not tighten up at the top of your backswing, which is another very common fault.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Tiger Woods tee the ball so low with his driver?

Tiger tees the ball low when he needs to keep the ball in play on a tight hole. A low tee flattens his swing path naturally, reduces the chance of an over-the-top move, and promotes a controlled cut shot that lands in a smaller, more predictable area. He accepts less distance in exchange for a much tighter shot pattern.

Should I hit up or down on my driver?

Most teaching professionals recommend hitting up on the driver to launch the ball high with low spin for maximum distance. Tiger’s approach is slightly different — he hits slightly down or level on control shots to keep the ball in play. For your regular driving, hitting slightly up is still correct. For tight holes, try Tiger’s level-to-slightly-down approach with a low tee.

How do I stop hitting fat fairway wood shots off the ground?

The most common cause of fat fairway wood shots is a steep, chopping attack angle. Tiger’s fix is to treat the fairway wood like a long iron with a sweeping motion — brushing the grass rather than digging into it. Turn your lead foot slightly open, aim slightly right of your target, and pull your lead hip back through impact to create room for your hands. This flattens the club path and produces clean contact.

What is a stinger shot and when should I use it?

A stinger is a low, piercing shot played into the wind or under tree branches. To hit it with a fairway wood, lean the shaft forward at address, play the ball slightly back in your stance, hit down on the ball to take a small divot, and finish low. The ball will come out with reduced height and cut through the wind rather than ballooning up and losing distance.

How do I hit a controlled fade like Tiger on a narrow hole?

Set up with your tee pushed almost completely into the ground. Aim your body slightly left of the target. Strike the ball slightly off the heel of the clubface. This combination produces a gentle left-to-right shot that starts safely left and finishes in the middle of the fairway. It will cost you 10 to 20 yards compared to your normal drive, but the accuracy gain far outweighs the distance loss on tight holes.

CONCLUSION

Tiger Woods has spent 30 years engineering a game built around one simple idea — keep the ball in play, and let your short game do the rest. The tips he shared with Grant Horvat are not complicated. Tee it low. Strike it off the heel. Sweep the fairway wood. Hit the stinger when the wind is against you. Adjust your setup when the club wants to fight you.

None of these moves require a perfect swing. They require smart decisions before you ever take the club back.

Take two or three of these ideas to the range this week. Start with the low tee drill and the broom sweep drill. Give them 20 balls each. By the time you play your next round, you will already have a go-to shot for tight fairways — and that is worth more than any extra 10 yards off the tee.

Want to keep improving? Read our complete guide to fixing your slice and our breakdown of the best fairway wood tips for mid-handicappers here on Madknows.