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3 wood vs driver

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jdtox

jdtox

Lord Tox
Albatross 2024 Club
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How often do you hit 3 wood over driver? Do you at all?

I am starting to think the driver, for me at least, should be kept in the bag unless its a wide open fairway or a par 5. For some reason I am just completely inconsistent with the driver. Some right, some left, some dead nuts straight.

Before my 3 wood snapped 2 years ago I used to hit it consistently 260-280 and much straighter than my driver. Maybe because the driver is the most expensive club in the bag we want to hit it more, but at what cost?

I currently am swinging a ping G15 serrano S shaft. I am thinking of returning it for a good 3 wood and just getting last years burner superfast to hit on the long holes. Thoughts? Am I crazy?
 
I use my Mashie M3 far more than I do my driver or 3w from the tee. Much rather be in the fairway with a shot than having to recover
 
Generally speaking I agree with you as my driver swing has not been up to snuff lately. It has actually bled into my 3 wood swing so much that I am now hitting the Mashie M3 off the tee more. Can still get 225-230 out of it and can keep it in play. All about course management.
 
I can hit 3w about 250, so if the hole is less than 400 yards I will use 3w to give myself a 7 iron or shorter into the green. In other situations like tight fairways, doglegs, or hazards, I will also use 3w.
 
Since I got my new 3 wood, I barely need to play my driver as I hit my 3 wood basically as far and more consistently. I think I need to get fitted for a driver as I must be losing distance with it somehow due to the shaft etc. I do enjoy playing my driver though, possibly just for the noise it makes compared to the 3 wood!


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You guys and those Yardages .. I'm happy hitting my Driver 240+ jt hitting his 3w that far. I almost threw up......lol I agree with Mcook course management key
 
wcueb923 said:
You guys and those Yardages .. I'm happy hitting my Driver 240+ jt hitting his 3w that far. I almost threw up......lol I agree with Mcook course management key
Click to expand...

In my league I used to hear a lot of "he just hit 3w farther my driver" under people's breath. Of course that's no longer the case given my current bag situation, but it is fun hitting it long. keeping it straight is another problem....
 
My 3w is roughly 250 and my driver is 275 to 285 on average. While I agree that on short par 4's, it is nice to hit 3W, hitting a driver 285 gets you into your wedges versus a 7 iron. If you can't stay in the fairway, that is one thing, but if you can figure out how to keep your driver in the fairway... you'll have many more birdie opportunities.
 
I don't really hit my 3W off the tee and I only seem to use it when my drives are short on par 5's to catch up. I also seem to be miss hitting it more and more as i'm not really used to hitting a 3W.
 
With my driver swing being in the crapper I've been almost entirely relying on my M3 mashie for teeing off these days. I don't have a 3w in my bag because I never got around to buying a new one when I bought new clubs last year. I don't really miss not having one that much because I could never hit one worth a squat off the deck, only using it for tee shots when I wanted something a little different than my driver.
 
The best birdie opportunities at the weekend came from when I took 3w from the tee. My approaches were from better distances. Not that I wasn't keeping my driver on the fairway, I just need to convince myself I don't need it.
 
There are a couple holes at my home course that will get the 3 wood treatment, if I am unsure about my driver.

That said, if you're thinking about closing out the driver, why not grab a lesson to see if you can iron things out? I feel like the driver is an awfully important club to just throw into solitary!
 
I've owned my 3w for a while now, and actually am just now starting to hit it pretty consistently. I'm loving it.

It isn't at the point where I feel more confident off the tee with it than my driver yet, but I think is quickly getting there.

If you hit it far enough to get to most par 4s with a short/mid iron, and straighter than a driver, then why not?
 
jdtox said:
How often do you hit 3 wood over driver? Do you at all?

I am starting to think the driver, for me at least, should be kept in the bag unless its a wide open fairway or a par 5. For some reason I am just completely inconsistent with the driver. Some right, some left, some dead nuts straight.

Before my 3 wood snapped 2 years ago I used to hit it consistently 260-280 and much straighter than my driver. Maybe because the driver is the most expensive club in the bag we want to hit it more, but at what cost?

I currently am swinging a ping G15 serrano S shaft. I am thinking of returning it for a good 3 wood and just getting last years burner superfast to hit on the long holes. Thoughts? Am I crazy?
Click to expand...

You are where I was once. Ask yourself why is it possible to hit your 3 wood straighter and further than your driver? You don't state your driver loft? I'm guessing your 3 wood is either 15, 15.5 or maybe 16 degrees?

What I discovered was that I needed more loft in my driver. I hit a 3 wood straight for years but often sliced or over faded the driver. In working with my PGA Pro (highly recommended) and hitting on a monitor that my launch angle was pretty low as I was playing a 10 degree driver. It was recommended that I switch to a higher lofted driver, so I switched to a 13 degree and started hitting it further and straighter than ever before. Today I play a 12 degree driver and often hit it as far if not farther than the guys I play with using a lower loft.

I would first locate a PGA teaching professional in your area, and work with this person on your swing, and then through his/her recommendation, go through a proper fitting to get a look at your numbers.

Everyone automatically thinks more loft means loss of distance and in most cases, this is not true. If your hitting a higher lofted 3 wood straighter and further than a lower lofted driver, it is time to find out why.
 
Recently I've started to hit a slider with my 3w and have become very consistent with it. Where as my driver could be bombed down the middle or snap hooked in to the pond. Due to this it stays in the bag unless I'm feeling confident or there is a lot of open fairway!

It does help that I can hit my 3w around 260 as I don't lose out all that much on most courses in my area. I guess it all depends on the length of the course and how well you can hit your 3w!
 
I'm in the same boat. I really am not very consistent with my driver and it's become a driving range club only. That is mostly because I just got a new Taylor Made Burner Superfast and have been using that off the tee with a lot more consistency. I'm ok with being 150-170 yards out on the par 4s because I have pretty good control of my 9-7 irons.

I think you also have to consider what you are trying to do. I'm not a guy that's trying to play birdie, or even par, golf. If you set your expectations to what you're trying to accomplish then you can make decisions on which club is best for you off the tee.

My goal is to get control of the 3W before moving back to the driver.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
You are where I was once. Ask yourself why is it possible to hit your 3 wood straighter and further than your driver? You don't state your driver loft? I'm guessing your 3 wood is either 15, 15.5 or maybe 16 degrees?

What I discovered was that I needed more loft in my driver. I hit a 3 wood straight for years but often sliced or over faded the driver. In working with my PGA Pro (highly recommended) and hitting on a monitor that my launch angle was pretty low as I was playing a 10 degree driver. It was recommended that I switch to a higher lofted driver, so I switched to a 13 degree and started hitting it further and straighter than ever before. Today I play a 12 degree driver and often hit it as far if not farther than the guys I play with using a lower loft.

I would first locate a PGA teaching professional in your area, and work with this person on your swing, and then through his/her recommendation, go through a proper fitting to get a look at your numbers.

Everyone automatically thinks more loft means loss of distance and in most cases, this is not true. If your hitting a higher lofted 3 wood straighter and further than a lower lofted driver, it is time to find out why.
Click to expand...

Interesting.

My driver is a 10.5 degree loft. I have never really considered a much higher loft than that for driver.

When I was on the launch monitor at golfsmith, my launch angle was very low with almost every driver I was hitting. I thought there was something wrong with it cause I've never really had an issue with hitting the ball low. I am actually going to golfTEC on thursday for an iron fitting (been waiting almost 3 weeks). I am going to try and get them to tell me what I should be hitting for the driver as well. :) hopefully the guy won't mind.
 
For me, it depends on the length of the hole and what I could get in by hitting the driver.

The 3 wood should be more consistent. You always hear how the pros dont want to change out their 3 wood because its the club they can always trust. I'm trying to get to that with my 3 wood.

Distance is not my issue, so its really a matter of how much trouble I could get into with the driver.
 
I always try to determine the risk of hitting a driver vs. a 3 wood. If I can hit my driver and not get in too much trouble with a shot that is slightly off line, I'll do it. I'm pretty consistent with it so I don't mind hitting it on most holes. There are a few holes on my home course where it just doesn't pay off to hit the driver over the 3 wood or even a hybrid. However, if I'm having a day where my driver is just dead on every time (those days where you are nailing your target every time) I'll pull it out on even those holes that have a little more risk involved. Overall though, my short irons and wedges are my best clubs, so if it's too risky, I'll just hit whatever club I need to to put myself in at least 160 yards are closer so I can hit one of those clubs.
 
I should prob use my 3 wood on every tee because i hit it just about as far as my driver and straight almost every time. I think its a mind thing that you want to hit the big dog on every drive. I hit my 3 wood around 250 to 275, and really only hit my driver around 280 or so. Geez after typing that, do i really need a driver?
 
This is something I need to do a little more often. There is one hole at my home course in particular that would benefit with a little more control. Off to the right and you are behind a row of trees (and in the driving range) and too far left and you have to lay-up or be able to play a strong hook to get around the woods. The smart play is the 3wood. Unfortunately, mine has a regular shaft and I sometimes lose control a bit with it.
 
j.ikert said:
I should prob use my 3 wood on every tee because i hit it just about as far as my driver and straight almost every time. I think its a mind thing that you want to hit the big dog on every drive. I hit my 3 wood around 250 to 275, and really only hit my driver around 280 or so. Geez after typing that, do i really need a driver?
Click to expand...

Like everyone else in this boat, you need to figure out why you don't hit the driver further.
 
It just depends on the day for me. Some days, the driver is on and I don't hesitate to pull it out and other days it's misbehaving and I'll go with the 3wood a bit more often. I have no problem playing to the 150 marker off the tee and I typically let that number dictate what I hit.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Like everyone else in this boat, you need to figure out why you don't hit the driver further.
Click to expand...

+1

The gap between a driver and 3 wood should not be 5 yards.
 
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