3 Wood vs Driver off the tee box...

For me, it just depends on the hole. If a solid 3-wood leaves me with more than a 6-iron into the green, I'd just hit driver.

Amen. I struggle with the driver immensely, Then I grab the 5 wood out of the bag and rip a nice baby cut down the middle of the fairway, pick up the tee and start walking

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbillinoc 
...snip...Their drives go left, right, up, down, then they pull out the 'ol 3 wood and nail it straight down the middle!...snip...

Not me. I pull out the 3 wood and 'nail' another ballooning slice through the treeline...

On many par 4 holes i will play the 3. On longer holes, the driver. I could go only with the 3 but then i would never gain any ability or confidence to hit the driver. If you are afraid of it, you will always avoid. I have found that building ability and confidence in the driver is taking me more time than i had anticipated but i am improving. Sure, for everyone, pros too,  the driver is the most difficult because of the shaft length and loft angle.

The driver is the most forgiving club in the bag, the biggest face, and it's on a tee. For me, I have a much easier time with it and I've been hating fairway woods and hybrids lately. Better for me to take a big rip as long as there's no big trouble. If I choose to make a safer (shorter) tee shot, I'd hit a long iron. If I can't hit my driver, no club will go straight. Unless there's OB or a place to lose balls, I usually just hit it and play trouble shot roulette. I usually hit fairways, but on the occasions the course architect wants me to lay up I sometimes hit it even harder. I only listen to the caddy in my head if it costs me money, time, or actual strokes, and am less concerned about positioning and bad lies. No point in neglecting my trouble play, plenty of golfers are great from the fairway but crumble when they miss it.

On the other hand, the 3 wood is more workable at times, especially high and low, and there are some fairways that just aren't deep enough for a full drive. Part of it is that I need to regrip my current 3 wood, as I hate the Winn grip, it feels like it's made of Nerf. My 44.5" driver feels short and light and has a really big looking head, as well as a cord grip; this fills me with confidence. On the other hand, my 3 is 43.5", has a normal head and a winnlite soft grip that slips and lets me feel the shaft under it. Add that to the fact that it feels super long when soled, and my main problem is fat/thin contact, I don't feel particularly confident off the tee box with it. With the driver, I can just swing hard and not hit the ground, and I have 4in^2 of forgiveness. 

I feel my swing is a lot more repeating when I use some force/athleticism, and I can feel what I'm doing better when I need to commit to it. If I make a softer swing, I really get lazy, especially with my footwork and release. Many people have the opposite problem, and using a club that's not the big stick helps them make a more correct swing without trying to get power from improper mechanics. I also drive well because I know it doesn't matter much; I'll blade my 50 yard pitch to hit the green anyway, so why not get as close as I can? (My wedge game isn't too bad on its own, but I really seem to screw up every time I hit a good drive. The golf Gods don't appreciate my hubris.)

Whatever makes you focus on your swing the most is the correct shot. In the end, 20 yards between the 2 clubs is little difference to one's score, so either can be a good play. I'm convinced that it's not the clubs or the swing that make a golfer great; it's the focus they have on the moment. It's true in any sport, you could send Justin Tuck around the side of the tee box, and a guy like Hogan or Greg Norman or Nicklaus will still be focused on the shot. Mind you, that's a situation where it might be smarter to move... On the other hand, once any player loses his mental focus on his round, all hell breaks loose. His focus goes to the prize money, the other players, the fans chanting his name, and he shoots an 82 on Sunday. There's a reason many people would rather make a charge than hold a lead, and the fact is that with a lead you have a lot more pressure on you, while making a charge is a determined, shot by shot effort.

For us amateurs, often this sort of focus gets in the way of enjoying the round, or we simply don't care. But adding in the factor of an uncomfortable club isn't helping either way.

Couple things for me. One, if I'm swinging the driver well that day, I go with that unless its a shorter par 4 (less than 375) or I have to carry something crazy. Also, for some reason I can hook my driver "better" than my 3 wood so on a dogleg left I usually go driver. And the course itself comes into play as well. I play a course in my area that is HEAVILY tree lined and narrow fairways, so I go with 3 wood or even 3 hybrid. 

But yeah, had a period last year where I left the driver in the bag for a month or more. Just could not do anything with it. Amazing.

It's true for some players that they'd do much better with a 3W more often off the tee.  But Lucius' first point is valid, that modern drivers have HUGE heads and faces and are very forgiving, so I don't think it's a given that everyone would hit 3W better.

That said, another problem is the one Larry mentioned.  If the hole is a distance where if you hit the fairway with a driver you'll have 7i, but if you hit the fairway with a 3W you'll have 4i, it's not super tempting to hit 3W.  Not to shill for a golf company, but I recently bought a used Tour Edge Exotics XCG 15˚ 3W with a Pro Force V2 shaft that solved this problem for me.  My drives usually finish rolling in the 280-290 range.  Other 3Ws I've hit usually in the 250-260 range.  This new one I hit easily 265, usually 270, and sometimes 280+.  It's much less of a cost in terms of difficulty of approach shot now to choose 3W over driver, and I'm making that choice much more often!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbillinoc 

 

Just a thought...if you only get out every once in a while to play try leaving your driver (and your ego) in the garage and hit your 3 wood off the 

Another of the great myths of the modern game.

The average player is no more accurate with a 3 wood than with a driver.

Or, to put it another way, is just as inaccurate with a 3 wood as with a driver

There are guys in my normal group that hit driver every hole no matter what, and that leads to them getting into trouble more than they should. But when they do hit the perfect shot on the short par 4 and are up close to the green and I'm 120 out hitting wedge, it gives them the advantage for winning the hole (and the carry-overs that my be going).

Guys just want to hit the big stick.  They'll trade off the 4 crappy drives for the 1 really good one now and then.  The lowest score I ever posted was a round in which I used nothing but irons for 18 holes.  That should tell me something...but I still have woods in my bag.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BugDude 

The lowest score I ever posted was a round in which I used nothing but irons for 18 holes.  That should tell me something...but I still have woods in my bag.

That's funny--I did that once as well.  Visiting my Dad, about 10 years ago, and didn't have my clubs so I played an old set of irons that I had in his garage.  We played a shorter course, but shot a 72--and was pretty surprised at how easy it was without any woods in the bag.  I think the 2 and 3 irons become easier to hit if you hit them more often (obviously), but we usually don't hit them that often.  I might hit a 3-iron on average once a round, maybe less.

As far as the proper club to hit on any given tee, it really just depends on the hole:  where's the trouble, where's the fat part of the fairway, how long to the dogleg, how long is the hole (really not even in the first 3 or 4 considerations for me), how narrow is the hole, which way do I need to shape the shot, how far do I need to hit the tee shot.  Certainly you're not always hitting driver, but I dispute that the 3-wood is inherently more accurate. 

Just to illustrate that length of the hole really isn't the primary consideration, Ko'olau golf club is one of the longest courses that I play on a regular basis (7200 yds), and I hit driver only about 5 or 6 times on that course.  Klipper is 6600 yards, and I hit driver on 10 holes at that course.

I think it just has to do with confidence in the club.  I have as about as much confidence in my 3w as I do my driver, so if I'm hitting bad, my 3 wood will be just as bad, and if I'm hitting well, then why would I want to short the distance?  I think I hit my 3-wood on the course maybe twice last year?  I can hit my 3-iron around 240 off the tee and it's perfectly controlled, so if I am laying up off the tee I will go with a 3i instead of a 3w.

For me its playability. If i feel the need to work the ball a bit more i will play the 3-wood, its a bit less forgiving, even though it is a higher loft. I can hit that club high, low, left, right, it is one of my favorite clubs to hit. If your all looking for a new 3-wood, i recommend the Titleist 910Fd. Its more of a 3-wood that you hit off the tee, but it works pretty well off the ground.. But its just a sweet sweet club.

Back when I was playing a lot (2007) I played 1 round per week at my home course with irons only to work on my ball striking (I was playing 3 to 4 rounds per week then).  I learned new ways to play some of the holes more effectively and stuck with some of those irons off of some tees on a regular basis.  At the time my handicap was a 1 and one Saturday I shot a -3 69 with irons only.  It was also the ONLY bogey free round I have ever shot.  I kept that card and have it to this day.  I played with a set of Ram FX Pro Set irons, 2i - sw (the sand wedge was a Titleist Vokey 54*) with Regular flex graphite shafts and Ping Zing putter.  The course was a somewhat short mountain course with tight fairways and small greens.  I usually only hit driver on 1 hole on the front nine anyway, so the distance difference between 3 wood and 2i wasn't that much.  The back nine it made a significant difference on the club selection for approach shots.  Chipping and putting saved a lot of pars.
 

I went on a 2 year stretch (2009 and 2010) where I only played 12 times each year.  2011 I was getting back into it and had to have major knee surgery in March.  About the time I was getting over that I broke my opposite side foot.  Needless to say, 2011 was all about rehab and starting over again.  I have since moved to a warmer climate and I've been playing once per week the last few months.  It is coming back together, but got to get more time on the course and range.  I'm shooting upper 70s now with an occasional low round and occasional balloon round.  Not quite ready for irons only again, but realistically the three year stretch of 2009 - 2011 I only played maybe 40 rounds of golf.  When daylight savings time rolls around, I hope to get out to the course several times per week again.  Being able to play all winter has helped a ton already.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by k-troop 

That's funny--I did that once as well.  Visiting my Dad, about 10 years ago, and didn't have my clubs so I played an old set of irons that I had in his garage.  We played a shorter course, but shot a 72--and was pretty surprised at how easy it was without any woods in the bag.  I think the 2 and 3 irons become easier to hit if you hit them more often (obviously), but we usually don't hit them that often.  I might hit a 3-iron on average once a round, maybe less.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbillinoc 

I love this game! I play 3 to 4 times a week and usually play as a single so I get put with a twosome or a threesome. Been lucky 'cause in over 20 years I've met some great friends and only met 2 or 3 guys that were a "pain" to play with.

 

One thing I always find interesting is this...probably a good 70% of all the guys I play with would have MORE fun and score MUCH better if they used a 3 Wood vs Driver off the tee box. Their drives go left, right, up, down, then they pull out the 'ol 3 wood and nail it straight down the middle!

 

Just a thought...if you only get out every once in a while to play try leaving your driver (and your ego) in the garage and hit your 3 wood off the tee. Make the game FUN again!

For me its the opposite. Fairway woods are the only club I can't hit in my bag. Even off the tee i think i hit my 3 out to in and slice, where my driver is straight down the ol'fairway every time.

Odd!

Unless my driver is really misbehaving, I usually go with a drive off the tee. Modern drivers have a rather high MOI - moment of inertia - meaning it is fairly easy to hit if it fits you. (I had a driver fitting for my current big stick).

I use a 3W if a less than perfect drive will go through a dogleg, or carry into the 83-yd. or 68-yd. range where I need a 9/16 PW or an 11/16 SW to get home. I think Long Ball Larry's 6-iron rule has merit.