My 7 Wood is much bigger than my 5 Wood

[JamesAA]

My friend gave me a 7 wood as a gift.  The head is significantly bigger than that of my 5 wood.  Does that mean I could hit the ball further with the 7 wood?  And why would a 7 wood be so much bigger than a 5 wood?  They are from different manufacturers but the discrepancy in size is overwhelming.  The 5 wood head size is really quite small.

23 degree loft on 7, 22 degree on the 5.

[boogielicious]

My friend gave me a 7 wood as a gift.  The head is significantly bigger than that of my 5 wood.  Does that mean I could hit the ball further with the 7 wood?  And why would a 7 wood be so much bigger than a 5 wood?  They are from different manufacturers but the discrepancy in size is overwhelming.  The 5 wood head size is really quite small.

23 degree loft on 7, 22 degree on the 5.

It is probably just a design difference between each manufacturer.  The 7-wood may have different launch characteristics, i.e. different center of gravity and a bit better MOI, which may help off center hits.

[inthehole]

Is your 5 wood fairly new or an older model ?       I played with a guy this week who played an older steel 5 wood that was absolutely tiny compared to modern fairway woods.

[JamesAA]

Is your 5 wood fairly new or an older model ?       I played with a guy this week who played an older steel 5 wood that was absolutely tiny compared to modern fairway woods.

Good question.  I honestly don't know.   I bought the 5 wood used, 6 years ago.  So I'm guessing it's older.  I can launch balls with the 7 pretty far.  I can't hit nearly as far with my 5.  In general does bigger head = more distance?

[PirateJim]

Good question.  I honestly don't know.   I bought the 5 wood used, 6 years ago.  So I'm guessing it's older.  I can launch balls with the 7 pretty far.  I can't hit nearly as far with my 5.  In general does bigger head = more distance?

I don't think "bigger head = longer distance" but as was said above, it may mean more forgiving.  However, newer club designs are often able to hit the ball (particularly modern balls that the new clubs are designed to use) farther than older fairway clubs.  I would bet that if you found a 5 that matched your newer 7 you would find it to have the same size or maybe larger head.

[dchoye]

I seen players hit there "smaller head " 3wood further than their "bigger head" driver

[Ernest Jones]

Just a different design is all. 5w should still be longer assuming similar quality contact.

I have a Wilson FatBoy 3wood that looks exactly like my Nickent 3H. I wouldn't even know it's a FW if it wasn't written right on the head. I think the line between FW and Hybrids is just going to keep blurring but I guess that's drifting slightly OT.

[acerimusdux]

They are so close in loft that I'm not surprised the newer 7 wood is longer. Are they similar in club length? A longer club CAN give you more distance, but it depends on your swing. It's possible you hit the 7 wood better due to shaft length, club & shaft weight, swingweight, flex, etc. Things that really depend on what is best for your swing.

Typically I would think a 5-wood would have a loft around 18 degrees. Initially I thought it might be smaller because it's really a hybrid, but I think that would have even more than 22 degrees of loft. If it's at 22 degrees, that's closer to what I would expect in a 7-wood or 4-hybrid.