Thinking of dropping my woods - carry only irons and driver

I am pretty much dependant on my 3 wood but have never gotten in to the hybrids.In both the set in my sig and my more modern set I carry driver and 3 wood.  I used to carry a Taylor Raylor 16*  which is kind of the forerunner of the hybrids, but it was redundant since by Titleist DCI 1 iron was also 16* and gave about the same distance.

if it is a short course, I dont need the woods as much. if I play a long course, the woods are essential. so, depending on the kind of course you are playing, you could get away without the woods.

Shelving the woods just masks the real problem, a bad swing.  Don't get me wrong, if using them adds strokes to your score and causes you grief, then yes, take them out for the short-term.  However, you should address your swing flaw(s) and work on improving your overall swing.  Once your swing gets better, put them back in the bag.

I would drop them for now but work on them when you are on the range. Woods really are important in a number of situations but when you are on the course, you do what you need to do to score well and if woods cost you strokes, ditch them till you can get them worked out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ash1974 

Cheers guys, don't get me wrong I know I have swing issues that are causing this and I don't blame the clubs, I think I have a reverse pivot that I need to work on big time (weight shifting) so until I sort this out I am dropping the clubs I am having the biggest issue with.

I will carry either a 3 wood or hybrid again, but not for now 

 

On the reverse pivot I have all the symptoms, snap hooks, low pulls, tops and low shanks (even creaping into the irons when my head goes) I also hit the ball high and have pain in lower right back (from sliding hips instead of rotating) so going to get looked at by a Pro to confirm this before working on the weight shift.

You should read Iacas' thread,  http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/29616/the-biggest-secret-slide-your-hips, and this thread,  http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/36669/maintaining-the-flying-wedge.

While I can't speak for everyone, I will say that the information in these two threads helped me understand the swing (cause and effect) more than 6 different instructors and countless lessons over my 15 year golf "career". 
 

I tried this last year a couple times. Both times I shot average rounds for my handicap but never really felt like it added that much to my score. There were times when I would have loved to hit a driver or 3w (Down 100 feet, 400 years to the back), making it 3-4 shots to get on the green on a par 5.

I realize in my earlier reply I just said what I did without answering your question.

I think its fine and really common sense to lay off a couple clubs til you find what's causing the problem. I am pretty much of the one swing camp, modifiying only slightly from short irons, mid irons, long irons, woods, and feel the length and lie of the club does most of the adjusting for you. One drill that helps me sometimes on the range is to hit a few shots with one of my go to mid irons ie 5-6 or 7 and if they are flying correctly, pick up my "problem child" and try to make the same swing with it the only adjustment being the setup for the club length. I will hit a couple with it, then go back to my go to's regardless of the result with the problem club. After hitting 3-4 good ones with the mid iron, I try the problem child again and usually a few reps of this helps. This seems to help me more than pounding away with the problem club. This is also assuming the go to clubs are flying properly.

My problem last couple of rounds is my problem children are behaving better than my go tos!

One time I was just terrible with my driver it was dangerous I couldnt keep a ball in play with it for like 3 rounds.

So I took it completely out of my bag and played at pretty long course using my 4i off the tee the whole time. (For some reason I can only hit a 3w on the fairway).

I sure realized how important a driver was after that round and was able to focus on i mproving it and being less frustrated because I saw how difficult golf can be without it. IMO  never a problem to remove a club from your bag, just to show you what it does in fact mean for your game.

Your listed handicap is 14.2, and I am assuming you listed your distance in meters?  It really sounds like a lesson or two is in order.  You would probably be able to address this quickly with some assistance, at 14 you don't want to go backwards, not carrying woods at all unless you can hit an iron over 200 yards in the air takes away most birdie chances.  As a fourteen you are getting to the point where you can start making some birdies, and that really makes the game fun.

I used to carry Driver, 2 - sand wedge, putter, thats it.  But for somewhat different reasons, driver was very good, long and straight, 2 iron 230 yards.  Took the 3 wood out of the bag because I would tend to go for par 5's in 2 with the 3 wood in my bag, resulted in 2 many bogies as far as I was concerned.  Removed the 3 wood and the temptation, I found I could make the same number of birdies and litteraly no bogies on par 5's by laying up and using the wedge.  Use the club's that work for you, don't worry about what other people think

You might try out a 4W. These days, 3Ws tend to be 14 - 15º, and 4Ws 16-17º.

A couple of extra degrees in loft often makes a difference. Golf Digest had a column a couple years back which said the 4W is easier to hit for most golfers than the 3W.

Let your lesson take for a few days, and then try the 3W. If it's still a problem, test out a 4W.

Quote:

Originally Posted by allin 

Your listed handicap is 14.2, and I am assuming you listed your distance in meters?  It really sounds like a lesson or two is in order.  You would probably be able to address this quickly with some assistance, at 14 you don't want to go backwards, not carrying woods at all unless you can hit an iron over 200 yards in the air takes away most birdie chances.  As a fourteen you are getting to the point where you can start making some birdies, and that really makes the game fun.

I was an 8-10 index in the 90s with a persimmon driver and my next longest club was a 2iron. There are many paths to the way.

I love the sand trap. get great ideas all the time from reading different threads. anyways, I am going to play my local golf course on monday without any of my woods. I will use my driver of course. but no 3-wood or the hybrid. I want to see how much more difficult or easier it might be to have to lay up on par 5's. or short par 4's.