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Driver vs 3W, the long and short

Tadashi70

Tadashi70

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I am curious if you hit you driver longer and more consistent than your 3W. Or do you hit your 3W longer and more consistent than the Driver.
Early in my career I did hit my 3W more consistent then the driver until I learned how to hit the big stick. But now it seems I am hitting my RBZ 3W straight and longer then my driver on a consistent basis. At least this was the case on Friday. Don't get me wrong I'll take 275-290 off the tee with the driver all day but the 3W is just as long and on Friday it was more consistent. Anyone else have this issue?
 
Tadashi70 said:
I am curious if you hit you driver longer and more consistent than your 3W. Or do you hit your 3W longer and more consistent than the Driver.
Early in my career I did hit my 3W more consistent then the driver until I learned how to hit the big stick. But now it seems I am hitting my RBZ 3W straight and longer then my driver on a consistent basis. At least this was the case on Friday. Don't get me wrong I'll take 275-290 off the tee with the driver all day but the 3W is just as long and on Friday it was more consistent. Anyone else have this issue?
Click to expand...

Yep. I could hit my RAZR Hawk 3w just as far as my driver but for some reason about every 4th shot I would top it. (See Morgan Cup inaugural tee shot.) I never top the ball so I have no idea where it came from. I could bomb that bad boy though.
 
TD,
Normally, for someone with your game, if you are hitting a higher lofted club longer than a lower lofted club (in this case driver vs 3 wood), it comes down to fitting and launch numbers. Somewhere you are losing distance with the lower lofted club and in this case I would bet its too much spin. If you dropped the spin without losing too much of your launch (which looks perfect), I have a feeling that your driver will return to being the longest club in your bag. You hit both well, however if one of them is getting proper launch angles and the other is not, you will see a major difference.

We can get that sorted out at the range at the THP demo day if you would like.
 
Tadashi, up until recently this was definitely the case for me but I believe that it was directly attributed to fitting & launch as JB mentioned. I can safely say that with my J40 now this is no longer the case. The J40/PX combo has definitely lowered my launch angle and reduced spin off the tee.
 
I suspect it comes down to fitting and maximizing my launch & spin. Side by side I preferred my 3w all day. Glad we'll have the launch monitor at demo day.
 
I am struggling with my driver right now, but I am hitting my 3W very well. But my damn ego makes my pull out the big stick anyways....hence my bad scores the last week or so.
 
Sometimes. It really just depends on the day and the course. Some courses around here just don't suit your eye with a driver in hand.
 
I used to hit a 2W that I could control and hit further than driver. My best round scoring wise came without using driver. After a few lessons and a lot of range time driver found its way back into the bag. I just recently bought the Mashie 3W but have only hit it a handful of times and can say driver kills it. Not to happy with 3W now which surprises me, I find I can control my driver better than the 3W. Neither were fit, well driver I cut down to 45" but stock shaft.
 
Can you take your current driver to get fit?
 
I always hit my driver longer but the difference in distance isn't vast to be honest. The one thing I get with my 3 wood is on a bad day it reduce the amount of sidespin I stick on the ball. The driver always makes my misses worse. The only thing with the 3 wood of the tee is it doesn't inspire the confidence you get of having a big face driver behind the ball. On recent occasions I have hit a few fat and thin shots off the tee with my 3 wood!
 
Tadashi70 said:
I am curious if you hit you driver longer and more consistent than your 3W. Or do you hit your 3W longer and more consistent than the Driver.
Early in my career I did hit my 3W more consistent then the driver until I learned how to hit the big stick. But now it seems I am hitting my RBZ 3W straight and longer then my driver on a consistent basis. At least this was the case on Friday. Don't get me wrong I'll take 275-290 off the tee with the driver all day but the 3W is just as long and on Friday it was more consistent. Anyone else have this issue?
Click to expand...

More loft and a shorter shaft is often more accurate for many players. Even the professionals hit a 3 wood when they have a must hit fairway. I'm pretty accurate with both clubs and my driver is much longer.
 
My 3w is always more consistent than the driver. I don't hit it nearly as far, but can count on it to crank out there pretty far and very straight. I have good day's and bad bads with the driver, depends on which Due show's up!
 
I am longer with the driver but way more accurate with my 4 wood. Now to be accurate with both would be something!
 
Can't help much here. I pulled my 3W out of the bag and only have the 3 rescue in at this time.
So far me it's Driver only and no were near your numbers down the fairway. hehe
 
My driver is about 30 yards longer than my 3W, but when I'm struggling to hit the driver straight, the 3W can put me in a better place on the course. I think JB nailed it for you...might need to figure something out to get the driver working a bit better.

Now, if I hit my 3W 275-290, I'd have no real need for a driver....:D
 
i struggle on and off with my driver accuracy but am definitely longer by 30-40 yds with it than my 5wd which is normally very consistent for me. I should have a bigger gap in distance but I cant get the ball to go straight when I swing my driver like I swing the 5wd.
 
Something prevents me from hitting a good shot off the tee with my 3 wood, I've tried time and time again to save a bad driving round with taking 3 wood off the tee but I'll hit it just as bad as I will my driver, I can step down to the mashie 2 off the tee but the yardage difference between it and the driver/3wood makes that very hard to do on long par 4's. That said if I knew I could hit my 3 wood consistently better off the tee then the driver and get decent distance then I would do that on any hole that really punishes a bad drive.
 
On good strikes, my driver is longer than my 3 wood. Recently, I have found that I'm more consistent with the 3 wood as compared to the driver. I think that it's more of a swing issue than a club issue, as I'm more likely to try to "kill it" with the driver and not swing within myself, whereas with the 3 wood I usually take a more controlled swing. I guess I need to work on making the same swing with the driver as with the 3 wood, but I have it in my head that it's a different swing because I'm trying to hit up on the driver as opposed to hitting slightly down with the 3 wood.
 
No driver in the bag ATM, as I'm just much more accurate & consistent with my 16.5* TEE. Hoping to get on the launch monitor at the outing & get proper fit for a driver :)
 
2 months ago....
I was hitting my Adams 9032ti 14.5* 3w more accurately and sometimes longer than my Ping G10 9*

After a 30min lesson with a pro friday....
I was still hitting the 9032ti a but longer (all out swing) but this new grip has my G10 deadly accurate and in the ball flight I love. I'm slowly getting comfy adding speed to the driver and I can see it being much longer in the future.
 
I hit my driver pretty consistently 250+ these days. 3 wood can be a beautiful 240 or a top. Very inconsistent club for me.
 
Recently brought an RBZ 3 wood, and have barely taken my driver out of the bag for the last 4 or 5 weeks because of it. There's no doubt I am 10-15 yards shorter with the 3 wood off the tee, but the accuracy it gives me over the driver is too much to ignore at the moment.

I too need to get a proper fitting done on a driver that suites me. Currently using a TM Superfast 2.0 which in all honsesty I have never been 100% comfortable with. I've had great days with it but equally had some real shockers as well - consistency is always an issue for me. I cut the shaft down to 45" to see if that would provide some added stability but it no longer "feels" right.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I suspect it comes down to fitting and maximizing my launch & spin. Side by side I preferred my 3w all day. Glad we'll have the launch monitor at demo day.
Click to expand...
I was shocked at how well you were hitting the 3 wood that day. You hit it really well.

It's a just a matter of fitting like JB said. You get that sorted out and you'll get the trust back in your driver. That said, it sure is nice to know you have that 3 wood in your arsenal.
 
I have the opposite problem, I can mash a driver 300+ and can't hit a 3W to save my life. Guess you win some and lose some.
 
3W not as long as my driver, but is more consistent (way more consistent last year, not as much this year)
 
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