Distance vs Accuracy 'fairway woods'

AmberLamps

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When shopping for a new 3 wood, would you buy the one that has the least amount of shot dispersion or the one you can hit the furthest. Lets say the difference in distance is 10-15 yards.
 
I don't think the two always need to conflict. I play a 17* at 3 wood length and don't really lose any distance but it is still an accurate and forgiving club for me.
 
When shopping for a new 3 wood, would you buy the one that has the least amount of shot dispersion or the one you can hit the furthest. Lets say the difference in distance is 10-15 yards.
Depends how far you miss with the longer/less accurate club. If it's 15 yards and a shankopotamus, put it back on the rack.

But really I think you can find both. There are a *lot* of fairway woods out there.
 
Are you planning on using it off the tee or the turf?

I'd probably look at distance more if it was a tee club and my accuracy related to driver.
Off the turf it would be exlusively how easy it is for me to hit.
 
A fairway wood is predominantly an accuracy off the tee club for me, since I often take it on tighter holes when I want to play safer than driver. So I'd probably take the accuracy.

That being said, I found both in my BB fairway, so if you look hard enough you can probably find the right fit that isn't much of a compromise.
 
Are you planning on using it off the tee or the turf?

I'd probably look at distance more if it was a tee club and my accuracy related to driver.
Off the turf it would be exlusively how easy it is for me to hit.

#hawkanswerFTW


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i don't want to sacrifice either with my 3w. i look for something that setups to my eye well and is easy to hit. in my experiences i am not seeing a big difference between 3w during demo days lately with the exception of the callaway 3deep. but if i had to choose between the two i want more accuracy as i will use the 3w off the tee when driver brings trouble into play.
 
Both factors are important. I may go with a 3 wood that carries a little less but the dispersion is better. But the most important factor for me is how easy to hit it off the deck.
 
Are you planning on using it off the tee or the turf?

I'd probably look at distance more if it was a tee club and my accuracy related to driver.
Off the turf it would be exlusively how easy it is for me to hit.

I'm on the Hawkboat here as well. Mostly using 3w off the tee and looking for a club that will put me out there about 240 max and stays in play. One thing I noticed when getting fit a few weeks ago was that with the same shaft most of the fairway woods performed similarly in terms of distance and dispersion. Feel of the club through the swing and at impact play a huge part for me. I really liked the R15 3w at impact, but it felt very head heavy and it didn't make the cut.
 
I'm probably focusing more on where I want the 3 wood to fit between the driver and 3h for gapping purposes. But to answer your question, if I hit the fairway with both off the tee, I take distance. If I miss the fairway, I'm taking accuracy. I want my 3w to be a goto club off the tee.

~Rock
 
For a fairway wood, I will almost always take distance. My bad swings are simply bad in too many ways to think a club is going to fix it.
 
When shopping for a new 3 wood, would you buy the one that has the least amount of shot dispersion or the one you can hit the furthest. Lets say the difference in distance is 10-15 yards.

All accuracy for me. I have three 3 woods from the past two years sitting in the closet right now, and have gone back to a 14 degree 1 hybrid for accuracy. I'm giving up 10 to 15 yards, but I'd rather have the accuracy over the lost distance.
 
I used to go for accuracy but am finding that there are several benefits to the distance game, I think that there are no COR regulations on 3 woods so they are getting longer and longer, as others have said you can get both but Id settle for a bit more distance over accuracy, you'll know when to take the risk or not.
 
I'm hitting a 3 wood off the tee because it's a tight driving hole. To me accuracy is key as opposed to ten yards of distance. Same thing from the fairway. I'd rather be 5 yards short of the green lying two on a par five than in the woods lying two.
 
Unless the distance gains are big (> 15 yards), I am goung to opt for accuracy and ease of hitting off the deck.
 
Yeah definitely accuracy and ease of hitting off turf. The sole reason I would have for pulling a 3 wood on a tee box would be to hit for a spot within reach. That would most likely be be case on a short narrow par 4, or a long par 5 where it's a 3 shot hole anyway. It would be a rare occasion that a par 3 would call for it. So distance is not as important as accuracy for me. The playability factor from fairways is crucial too and although I would rarely do it, hitting it from the rough needs to be an option as well.

So in order of importance:

Accuracy from tee
Playability from turf
Distance off tee
Distance off fairways



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I carry a very long 12.5 degree 2 wood that's great off the tee and a 16* 4 wood with a shallow face that's easy to hit off the fairway. Accuracy is great on both - for me the shaft plays the biggest part in how accurate a club is.
 
With the new xr 4wood I am finding length and forgiveness both off the tee and deck. There has to be a club that provides both
 
thanks for all teh input guys, I have the Nike VRS Covers in a 70 X-stiff shaft right now, I hit this club pretty well and am accurate but i was hitting the X2 Hot Deep in the shop and was hitting it longer than my Nike, however i wasn't as accurate, I'm not sure if its the longer shaft or what, also i only hit it in stiff and not X. They didn't have X-stiff there, maybe ill go to a diff shop that does and try it there. I did like the way the X2 Hot felt.
 
When shopping for a new 3 wood, would you buy the one that has the least amount of shot dispersion or the one you can hit the furthest. Lets say the difference in distance is 10-15 yards.
I like better dispersion....But I'm struggling with this Exact dilemma right now....
 
Slightly different answer. Give me consistency over either distance or accuracy.

Here's why I say that.... Which would you prefer?
1) Club that 80% of the time you hit 185 yards, but 20% of the time you hit 150, and that you hit right down the middle.
2) Club that 80% of the time you hit it 210 yards pretty much on line, but 20% of the time you are 40 yards laterally different both ways.
3) Club that 80% of the time you hit 185 yards and 10 yards to the right of target. Twenty percent you hit 180 to 190 within 15 yards to the right.

Number 1 to me is going for accuracy. Number 2 for me is going for distance. Number 3 is going for consistency.

I'm going with #3 every time. I contend both 1 and 2 are going to leave you in trouble about 20% of the time. It's hard to plan around that.
 
I don't think the two always need to conflict. I play a 17* at 3 wood length and don't really lose any distance but it is still an accurate and forgiving club for me.


Agreed, I think a person can have both.
 
When shopping for a new 3 wood, would you buy the one that has the least amount of shot dispersion or the one you can hit the furthest. Lets say the difference in distance is 10-15 yards.

For me it's always been about dispersion, so I would tend towards one that has the least amount of it.
 
For me it's always been about dispersion, so I would tend towards one that has the least amount of it.

This.

I love the idea of just more distance but if you're accurate chances are that means you can probably also control angle of attack and stop it where you want. No point hitting a massively long one off the deck that skims and wont stop without a trap or tree.
 
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