3W Off the Deck?

[cooke119]

20 hours ago, lastings said:

apologies, I meant I typically hit the hybrid 225 but occasion bomb one 245.  My mistake on the typo.

And I meant to say with your low handicap I wouldn't change anything, sorry.

How well do you hit a 3W off the deck?

I use mine a lot because I don't drive the ball that far, (I'm 68 and have had 3 back surgeries). Plus my 3W goes straighter then my driver, I use it off the tee as well.

A 3W may work well for you.

[lastings]

11 minutes ago, cooke119 said:

How well do you hit a 3W off the deck?

This is actually the crux of my question.   I have no clue how well I hit 3W off the deck.  haven't carried a fairway wood in my bag for over 15 years.   

While understanding that everyone is different, I'm just trying to get a general understanding if hitting 3W off the deck is more difficult or similar to hitting hybrid off the deck.  for the general public, anyways..  

[Missouri Swede]

26 minutes ago, lastings said:

This is actually the crux of my question.   I have no clue how well I hit 3W off the deck.  haven't carried a fairway wood in my bag for over 15 years.

So head on over to Golf Galaxy and mess around with a few.  I know that hitting off a mat isn't the same as real turf, but hey, it's winter.  When I stopped by the Roseville GG a couple months ago, I was the only customer in the store; they were happy to help me, did a quick repair of a club, let me hit in one of the bays, etc.

[cooke119]

5 hours ago, lastings said:

This is actually the crux of my question.   I have no clue how well I hit 3W off the deck.  haven't carried a fairway wood in my bag for over 15 years.   

While understanding that everyone is different, I'm just trying to get a general understanding if hitting 3W off the deck is more difficult or similar to hitting hybrid off the deck.  for the general public, anyways..  

IMHO, hitting a 3W off the deck is a little harder then a hybrid. I know plenty of guys who can't or won't hit a 3W, or a 5W, off the deck. I however find my 3W to be my go to club, I love it, (although sometimes that relationship breaks down, LOL).

As suggested above I would head to a store and take some time with the 3W and see how you do. My favorite woods/metals are Cobra but that is just me. I play Cleveland irons but my woods have been in the bag for years, will not change them out.

Good luck in your search, report back please. 

[Darkfrog]

36 minutes ago, cooke119 said:

IMHO, hitting a 3W off the deck is a little harder then a hybrid. I know plenty of guys who can't or won't hit a 3W, or a 5W, off the deck. I however find my 3W to be my go to club, I love it, (although sometimes that relationship breaks down, LOL).

I definitely feel that a hybrid off the deck is easier to hit compared to a 3-wood. Aside from my psychological issues with the 3-wood, my guess is that the shorter shaft on the hybrid provides slightly better control of the club. I assume for the same reason I don't struggle at all hitting 5-wood off the deck.

I don't carry a 3-wood anymore, and have replaced it with a 19.5 degree 5-wood. When I make a flush strike with the 3-wood it goes further than the 5-wood, however when averaging out all of the strikes, my 3-wood and 5-wood travel about the same distance, so I decided to only carry what I hit best. I rarely need a well struck 3-wood distance for the course I play most often, so I'm not compromising anything.

Maybe as I continue lessons, I'll get comfortable with a 3-wood again.

[JGH65]

7 hours ago, lastings said:

This is actually the crux of my question.   I have no clue how well I hit 3W off the deck.  haven't carried a fairway wood in my bag for over 15 years.   

While understanding that everyone is different, I'm just trying to get a general understanding if hitting 3W off the deck is more difficult or similar to hitting hybrid off the deck.  for the general public, anyways..  

I’ve always found hitting a hybrid off the deck to be a lot easier personally, maybe it’s all in my head but that’s just my experience. I play a 17* hybrid on the low loft setting (I think that makes it 16.25*) instead of a 3W. I know it’s not a perfect substitute but that’s what has worked better for me.

[ncates00]

On 1/13/2020 at 1:25 PM, lastings said:

The title here doesn't necessarily encapsle my entire question...   but, anyways..  

Currently I play a Driver and my next longest club is my 19 degree hybrid.  

This has typically worked well for me, as I only Drove the Ball about 245, so there was very rarely a reason for me to club down off the tee.  
Over the last couple years, I've made some very significant improvements in swing speed and now rolling out to 265-275.   This can find me a bit more trouble, occasionally.  

I typically hit my hybrid about 255.  but.. very occasionally I'll smoke it and it will touch 245.  (I can't really explain why or how when it happens..  )

 

My question is, would y'all recommend me adding a 3W to my bag?  

pros/cons/questions

-This would involve me removing a club from my bag.   wouldn't be too hard though as I have a taylor made GAPR driving iron and my 3H which I hit a similar distance.   I just hit the Iron much better off the tee and the hybrid much better off the ground.  

-To those of you that play both a hybrid and a 3W, is your consistency similar when hitting off the deck?   This is a very important question to me, as I'm not too interested in adding a 3W just for the couple occasions per month that my driver goes to far and my hybrid/DI goes too short.   

-if the answer to the above question is yes, do you find yourself opting to use 3W to try to get home in two on par 5's and whatnot?  or is your Hybrid still preferred in that situation?

-Anything else I may not be considering or thinking about?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I play 3w off the deck (Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero 15*, replaced my trusty Adams Tight Lies Titanium 13.5* to get more launch but keep the spin low).  I also play a 19* gapr hi, 23* 4h, and a 26* 5h.  Love all these clubs.

I'm probably a little more consistent with the hybrids due to having more loft.  It makes sense because typically the shorter the club, the easier it is to control for many people.  Loft helps a lot.

With respect to hitting par 5's in two, I don't pick the hybrid over the 3w.  I make my choices based upon the yardage I need and the circumstances at hand, e.g., pin location, trouble short/long, etc.  I think what you're trying to ask is whether my 3w sits in the bag and I avoid using it--the answer is no.  I use my 3w and I am happy to do so.  In fact, I use it off the deck on some tee boxes when driver will fly too far.  For me, the key is make sure I do relatively the same golf swing as with any other club--a downward strike.  Trying to pick it with a 3w for just leads to low strikes/thin strikes and the ball spins too much and ball speed suffers.  That's actually why I changed out my trusty 3w for a new one.  The new one has a bit better ball speed and more loft, yet lower spin.  This allows me to hit with a downward blow like a hybrid or longer iron and get a good launch angle, descent angle, and carry. 

3w is a great club and once you find the right one, they stay in the bag a long time!

[Buckeyebowman]

I think one of the problems with hitting 3W off the deck is simply the size of the clubhead these days! Back when I was learning the game, with persimmon and maple wood heads, the size of the 3W head was really small. More like a hybrid head these days! I have TM Rescue Hybrids approximating 3,4, and 5 irons that have heads that are darnn near the size of my old, custom made, 3 wood! I used to have an Orlimar Tri-Metal 3 wood that I could get no higher than the gutters on a ranch house! 

I found a TM RBZ 3W and it works better, but I had to learn to use it! I could just launch the thing off of a low tee immediately, but, off the deck was another matter. But, the 3W is supposed to be a fairway club, so I guess you had better learn to hit it off the grass! Like I did.I seriously love that club now!

[lastings]

13 hours ago, ncates00 said:

I think what you're trying to ask is whether my 3w sits in the bag and I avoid using it--the answer is no.  

Correct, this is what I was asking.  And, excellent info.   Thanks. 

[Cantankerish]

Sorry if this is off topic.
 I find that just by reading the words on this thread, I have lots of memories sparked.  3-wood seems like a very important tool to rescue a screw up, and I screw up plenty.  Or just to make the big gain on an open par 5.

 

I can’t see ditching a club that can send the ball 240 or whatever.  There is no substitute.

Don’t you feel that you are absent a critical tool in the bag?

[lastings]

:::UPDATE:::: 

Went over to 2nd swing golf today to swing some 3 woods.  

First, brought in my hybrid to get a good baseline.   hit 15 off the deck, threw out a pull hook and a duff outliers and got a dispersion circle.   

Then hit 10 shots each with Taylor Made M6, Callaway epic flash, Cobra F9, and Titleist 917 F3.    
Tossed out the Cobra and Titleist pretty quickly.   

Then hit 15 more with the Callaway and 15 with the Taylor Made.    My opinion on these was that the heads were equal.   a good center face shot produced pretty much the same result.  But the dispersion circle was way tighter with the Taylor Made.   most likely because the 60g Fujikara Atmos shaft is very similar to my current Driver Shaft (which I was fitted for) and, thus, fits my swing. 

In the end, though...   The dispersion circle was quite a bit tighter than even my hybrid dispersion circle.   The distance gap on the hybrid was 221-238 yards (17 yds).    The distance gap with the 3w was 248-261 yds (13 yds).   and the left to right was the same, except I did not hit a single pull hook with the 3w, like I occasionally do with the hybrid.   

 

 

so...   long story short, a trip to the store to see if a 3W might be a club that is beneficial to my game ended with me owning a new 3w.   hooray me.,   
Best part about it is that 2nd swing has a play happy guarantee.  so have up to a month after golf season starts in Minnesota to test in on the course and return it at no cost if I don't like it.   

[Double Mocha Man]

9 minutes ago, lastings said:

So...   long story short, a trip to the store to see if a 3W might be a club that is beneficial to my game ended with me owning a new 3w.   hooray me.,   
Best part about it is that 2nd swing has a play happy guarantee.  so have up to a month after golf season starts in Minnesota to test in on the course and return it at no cost if I don't like it.   

Nice to see that the new 3W made it into your WITB already... even before you hit it on the course.  Now that is confidence.

[rehmwa]

29 minutes ago, lastings said:

:::UPDATE:::: 

Went over to 2nd swing golf today to swing some 3 woods.  

 

Minnetonka?  They added a lot of bays.  hopefully can hit in them soon.

Glad you got a 3w that works.  I use mine every round.

[lastings]

22 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Nice to see that the new 3W made it into your WITB already... even before you hit it on the course.  Now that is confidence.

I'm Impulsive.   And, my clubs are in my trunk (always) and, thus, said 3w is in my bag. 

3 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

Minnetonka?  They added a lot of bays.  hopefully can hit in them soon.

Glad you got a 3w that works.  I use mine every round.

yep, Minnetonka.   Didn't just add a lot of bays.  doubled the size of the entire store and they have 6 tackman bays as well now (and like 10 of their regular bays).   I had no idea they did that until I got there today.   now it's for sure the best golf store around.   gotta check it out.  

[Missouri Swede]

30 minutes ago, lastings said:

And, my clubs are in my trunk (always) and, thus, said 3w is in my bag. 

I do the same thing.  From time to time I think "what if I'm driving around town and there I was driving past a GOLF EMERGENCY"?! 

I mean, I'm not a pro or even a low handicapper, but I would hate to be near such an emergency, and be unable to help just because I didn't have my clubs with me.

I haven't figured out what a golf emergency might be.  But this way, it's one less thing I worry about in life.

[lastings]

6 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

I haven't figured out what a golf emergency might be.  

These types of emergencies happen all the time.   I can't imagine the level of depression I would slide into if my boss walked into my office one day as asked if i wanted to dip out early and hit the links for the afternoon, and I had to say "sorry, my clubs are at home".     It's self preservations really.   

I haven't figured out what that emergency would consist of in the middle of the winter, but...   better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them, I suppose.  

 

[Cantankerish]

14 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

I do the same thing.  From time to time I think "what if I'm driving around town and there I was driving past a GOLF EMERGENCY"?! 

I mean, I'm not a pro or even a low handicapper, but I would hate to be near such an emergency, and be unable to help just because I didn't have my clubs with me.

I haven't figured out what a golf emergency might be.  But this way, it's one less thing I worry about in life.

Exactly!

 

I thought I was the only one. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by Cantankerish

[Double Mocha Man]

Yep... clubs and push cart are always in my trunk.  I can't tell you how many golf courses or driving ranges I've almost driven past except that 911 golf emergency reached out to me and I had to fulfill my obligation.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Double Mocha Man