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3W vs Driver question. Yes, it's stoopid

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Scorp

Scorp

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I know I spelled stupid wrong in the title. It's a stupid question worthy of mocking.:ROFLMAO:

Question: Is my 3W that good that it went as far as or further than my driver?

3W - Mizuno ST-190. Stock shaft, grip, no adjustments.
Driver - TM RBZ. 10.5* stock shaft, lofted up 1 setting on the hosel.

With both clubs, I used the same swing. My Shot Scope V3 showed my driver with a longest tee shot of 187 yards or so. Yes, I hit it short.

I also used my 3W to tee off on a few holes. The longest shot with it was 193 yards.

The yardages are approximate and from memory. I was surprised that my 3W looked to have gone the same distance or even a slight bit further than my driver.
Is my 3W that much better than my driver because it's modern or is my driver that sucky it's being beaten by a lowly 3W?

All things considered and not counting roll out... is my 3W better than my driver?
 
Generally speaking without more info, it would come down to two things.
1. Contact being different.
2. Fit being better or worse.
 
Depending on swing speed it is very possible that your distance with the 3 w could be longer than your driver particularly given that your driver is older. You may get better launch conditions with the 3W than your driver.
 
For us shorter hitters, loft and spin is our friend.
 
JB said:
Generally speaking without more info, it would come down to two things.
1. Contact being different.
2. Fit being better or worse.
Click to expand...
Could it be launch angle?
 
DataDude said:
Could it be launch angle?
Click to expand...

Possible. Could be launch, spin or a few other things. Including speed, which would be more contact related as loft goes up, speed normally doesn't.
 
I played with a guy late last year who only played a 3w, he said that it performed better for him then his driver. He said it was newer and better and his driver was old and he hit it better and further. Maybe he swung it better, maybe it was better technology or maybe he just preferred it but it worked well for him. You may be the same way.
 
Scorpion12 said:
I know I spelled stupid wrong in the title. It's a stupid question worthy of mocking.:ROFLMAO:

Question: Is my 3W that good that it went as far as or further than my driver?

...
Click to expand...

not a stupid question...i have wondered this many times myself.
 
Scorpion12 said:
The yardages are approximate and from memory. I was surprised that my 3W looked to have gone the same distance or even a slight bit further than my driver.
Click to expand...

I think lots of players, including some Tour players, strike 3-wood shots from the tee box essentially the same distance as they do driver tee shots. On Tour it's common for players to hit 3-wood with a right-to-left flight and medium height trajectory that gets bounce and roll producing driver-like distance.
One of the reasons some Tour players carry 5-wood or 7-wood (instead of a 3-wood) is because their 3-wood tee shot distance is similar to driver distance, making the 3-wood a duplication and not needed.
 
It’s very possible. Up until I switched drivers I always would hit my 3 wood and driver around the same distance. One of the reasons getting fitted is so important
 
This is definitely not a stupid question.
 
What is the loft on the 3W? If it's like a 13 degree, that difference between it and the driver's 11.5 is negligible.
 
If you are using the same swing for each and that swing works better with the 3w it may be that the swing just doesn't work as well with the driver. Driver is going to maximize with a positive angle of attack.
 
Maybe you put a better swing on the ball with the (assumedly) shorter shaft on the 3W. Also as others have noted, loft will help you with slower swing speeds.
 
Loft of my 3W I think is 15* so... it's maybe 4.5* more than my driver.

I wouldn't think it's a different swing speed... my swing is pretty slow.

I'd always carried a 3W to gap with my driver... maybe 20 yards between them. but if I'm hitting my 3W the same distance as my driver I've got a gap issue. I'll need a few more rounds hitting driver and 3W to determine that.
 
Scorpion12 said:
Loft of my 3W I think is 15* so... it's maybe 4.5* more than my driver.

I wouldn't think it's a different swing speed... my swing is pretty slow.

I'd always carried a 3W to gap with my driver... maybe 20 yards between them. but if I'm hitting my 3W the same distance as my driver I've got a gap issue. I'll need a few more rounds hitting driver and 3W to determine that.
Click to expand...

I've got several drivers and the one's that produce the consistently straightest shots travel about the same total distance as my 3-wood tee ball shots.
So, if I have in the bag one of my short-straight drivers I don't carry a 3-wood that day.
I have a couple of drivers that produce my longest yardage , but not consistently straight tee shots. When one of those drivers is in the bag I usually end up swinging it off only 4 or 5 tee boxes and the other 8 or 9 par 4-par 5 holes I swing 3-wood from the tee box.
I've yet to find a super long-supper accurate driver club. It's usually one or the other.
 
Scorpion12 said:
All things considered and not counting roll out... is my 3W better than my driver?
Click to expand...

Not stupid & not crazy. Many THP’ers that I’ve played w/ over the years have asked me the same question cause I’m really close w/ both.

My smash factor for my 3W is better. I believe I end up slightly hooding the face of my 3W at impact which gets it further.

It’s possible!
 
Some days at the range I can hit my driver 280+, but on the course it's rare that I hit it further than 220. I've been hitting my 4W 230+ consistently. I think it probably comes down to my flawed driver swing or setup, where my drive is slicing or hooking and my 4W is going straight.
 
Well thank you all for the answers. I'm not going to chalk anything up right now as there's not enough information to actually draw a conclusion that my 3W is as long as my driver... although I am suspicious that it is. That's not a bad thing. It gives me hope that I might gain some length from a more modern driver with a hotter face...

I was looking at drivers on ebay yesterday... I was totally suspicious of the Mavrik Max head only that was $20. There were a few of those... how can they sell it at that price? It's got to be counterfeit right?:unsure:
 
JB said:
Generally speaking without more info, it would come down to two things.
1. Contact being different.
2. Fit being better or worse.
Click to expand...
This was what I was about to post in reply to the OP. It’s absolutely spot on as usual! (y)
 
Up till last year I hit 3w off the tee almost exclusively but then I got a driver that I could hit.
the extra 40-50 yards off the tee is nice but there is nothing wrong with being in the middle of the fairway with the 3w.
 
I am one of those guys that my smash factor with the driver usually runs 1.45 to 1.51 constantly. So I am hitting the ball pretty much square. The reason I don't often get the distance is because my ball is turning late in the drive and in some cases slicing really bad.

There was a guy called Trackman Maestro about 8 years ago and dealt with this opposite to what most teach today about the fade or slice.

Here is the video

What I found most interesting is that this fits my issue better than most of what I have heard say is the issue. Whether he is right or wrong I am not sure, but I plan to utlilize a few of his points just to answer some questions I have in my driver swing.

I don't have an out to in swing path or a weak grip like most say. If anything my biggest issue is turning my body out a bit left at impact instead of getting through the ball then turning out which I think causes the majority of issues with the driver. For an older guy I can hit my driver consistently around 225 to as much as 260 at times if I don't have the fade/slice thing going on. There is no way I can pump my 3w out to 250/260. My best 3w might go 240 when I hit it pure.

The last time I did a video I found I rarely hit an open club face, I have a decent stance (maybe compensate too much for the fade by aiming a bit left) and I don't have a weak grip. If anything my grip is too strong, my stance is too far left to play the fade.

The things I have worked with simply have not helped me at all. I have worked with ball position, stance, grip, closing the club face, right foot back, right foot square, left foot out, left foot square, you name it, etc. My sub conscience does something when I swing as I think it attempting to correct something at the last minute.

Most of the time I find that if I slightly raise my club/arms position more like Moe Norman my hits are so much better so that indicates to me my swing path changes slightly. That is not my regular swing so that is harder to maintain.

Oh, one final thing I found about myself. A lot of my driver hits are somewhat close to the hosel instead of center driver. That is affecting me too. I must be a tad too close to the ball, but don't feel like it when I swing.

Golf the ever challenging game :cool:
 
DG_1234 said:
I've yet to find a super long-supper accurate driver club. It's usually one or the other.
Click to expand...
Because of the carry over from the giving up on driver thread, I have a question on this:

What would you define as a "super accurate" driver? How about 3w?
 
I think I'd be tickled pink if I could find a driver I could hit to 220 consistently straight. Then I'd have the gapping I want at the top of my bag.
 
captaincaution said:
Because of the carry over from the giving up on driver thread, I have a question on this:

What would you define as a "super accurate" driver? How about 3w?
Click to expand...

12 of 14 fairways is a super accurate driver.
12 of 14 fairways is a super accurate 3 wood.
 
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