Beginner's Q about my 3-Wood

So long story short I have had this club forever- a ProKennex something, as part of a set of really flexible graphite shafted clubs I got when I was like 12. Since I've picked up golf again in the last few months, I snapped a few heads off the irons just because they weren't very nice and I have a pretty fast swing. I love my stiff shaft irons and 3-hybrid, and I hit them well (as well as can be expected for a high handicapper). But I hit this old 3-wood horribly, and used to hit it well.

My question for the all-knowing forum is do you think the club is the problem? I know I have plenty of swing issues, but I am hitting basically everything else well. It's only the 3-wood where I will hit it super fat, then slice it, then thin it, It's maybe 1/10 that I hit well. All I can think of is that the shaft is flexing too much and causing lots of problems for me.

I would love your input. Thanks!

Honestly, I am not sure. My gut feeling is that it is a combination of swing and shaft, with more emphasis on swing. Hitting a shot heavy (fat) and slicing it is almost always a swing issue, especially as clubs get longer.

Beyond getting fit for a new 3 wood, I'd say do the same thing my instructor told me to do with my driver. On the range, take your 3 wood and with a full swing try to hit 10 balls 100 yards. This forces you to slow way down and get a feel for what your swing is doing at a pace that you can easily see flaws. Then when you are making good contact and getting a consistent ball flight, speed up your swing just a little and keep working in increments like that until you can take a normal swing and make good contact. That is a drill he learned from Davis Love III. Also with lighter shaft a smother swing will produce better results. You can still have a high swing speed but the smoother tempo will help.

I don't think that shaft can handle the faster swing you have developed. So what happens is that on bad swings you will of course hit a bad shot. But now on good swings you are still hitting bad shots because the shaft is not a good fit for you.

Quick way to find out: find a local golf store that has a simulator and hit some other 3-woods. Or, there's a really good chance that whatever course you play has some rental / lost&found clubs in the back and will let you hit one on the range.

wluker17 said:

On the range, take your 3 wood and with a full swing try to hit 10 balls 100 yards. This forces you to slow way down and get a feel for what your swing is doing at a pace that you can easily see flaws. Then when you are making good contact and getting a consistent ball flight, speed up your swing just a little and keep working in increments like that until you can take a normal swing and make good contact.

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Great tip, thanks!

wadesworld said:

Quick way to find out: find a local golf store that has a simulator and hit some other 3-woods. Or, there's a really good chance that whatever course you play has some rental / lost&found clubs in the back and will let you hit one on the range.

Click to expand...

I have been meaning to head over to Golf Galaxy, just haven't had the time recently.

No prob. Hope it helps you out!