3 Wood Shafts

[rod7515]

Im struggling to hit a 3 wood any distance. Im 67 now and used to use a 3 wood all the time. My swing speed with the 3 woods is between 80-84. I am only 5'5" tall. I currently have 4- 3 woods in my used club selection. I have an old Titliest 910FD, a Taylormade Sim2, a PXG gen 4 and a Ping G430. None of these can i hit more than 180 yards and often much shorter. My driver which is a Ping G430 I hit about 210-225. Heres the crazy thing, I carry a Taylormade Sim2- 7 wood that I hit 175-185. I carry an older titliest H1 Hybrid 23* that i hit 165-175. All yardages are with carry. When i hit both the Hybrid and the 7 wood they feel like very solid strikes yet I never feel like i hit any of these 3 woods solid. All of these clubs have regular shafts of different manufacturers. I would like to be able to hit a 3 wood 200 yards. Im thinking I need to start playing with shafts, Maybe even shorten them some. I have equipment to pull shafts and set swingweights and reglue. I have a bunch of reg flex old driver shafts that i could shorten. My driver, 7 wood and Hybrid are all D3 Swingweight. The 3 woods are D3 as well.  Where would you start?

Thanks Rod

 

[Clemsonfan]

Without seeing your ballflight or swing, and those are big gaps!, Sounds like you need more loft on your 3W. If any of your 3Ws are adjustable, add more loft and see what happens. Without enough swing speed, a 15* 3W may not carry very far. You might need 17-19* to expand that from your 7W. I’m not a fitter, but have sat in on plenty of fittings. Finding a head that works, then fine-tuning the shaft will yield the most benefits in my opinion. 
 

Good luck!

[saevel25]

13 hours ago, rod7515 said:

I would like to be able to hit a 3 wood 200 yards. Im thinking I need to start playing with shafts, Maybe even shorten them some. I have equipment to pull shafts and set swingweights and reglue. I have a bunch of reg flex old driver shafts that i could shorten. My driver, 7 wood and Hybrid are all D3 Swingweight. The 3 woods are D3 as well.  Where would you start?

You are probably doing the right thing in having more fairway woods or hybrids in your bag than irons. Just easier to maximize ball speed for you swing speed to get the proper gaps. 

13 hours ago, rod7515 said:

My driver which is a Ping G430 I hit about 210-225. Heres the crazy thing, I carry a Taylormade Sim2- 7 wood that I hit 175-185. I carry an older titliest H1 Hybrid 23* that i hit 165-175. All yardages are with carry. When i hit both the Hybrid and the 7 wood they feel like very solid strikes yet I never feel like i hit any of these 3 woods solid.

A driver is teed up, so you have more leeway there. The 7-wood is probably more optimized for carry for you. A slower swing speed needs higher launch and spin to keep the ball in the air. With the 3-wood, it probably launches too low with not enough spin to keep it in the air. 

If you are not going to go get lessons, or do some sort of swing speed training, go get fitted for clubs. Clearly your mix-match of equipment is not optimized. 

[Ty_Webb]

On 3/18/2026 at 9:20 AM, saevel25 said:

You are probably doing the right thing in having more fairway woods or hybrids in your bag than irons. Just easier to maximize ball speed for you swing speed to get the proper gaps. 

A driver is teed up, so you have more leeway there. The 7-wood is probably more optimized for carry for you. A slower swing speed needs higher launch and spin to keep the ball in the air. With the 3-wood, it probably launches too low with not enough spin to keep it in the air. 

If you are not going to go get lessons, or do some sort of swing speed training, go get fitted for clubs. Clearly your mix-match of equipment is not optimized. 

This is very much what I was thinking when I first read it through, but then he mentioned that he feels like he hits the hybrid and 7W solidly, but not the 3W.

Last time I got fit, the fitter explained to me that the main thing with the shaft is to get you into a shaft that you can return the club to the ball accurately with. That makes me wonder if it really is a shaft issue and not just insufficient loft (it could be both too). @rod7515 - I would say look at what shaft you have in your 7W and try to match that in your 3W. It might want to be a little bit lighter and a little longer than the 7W shaft. When I say match, I mean brand, model, flex, etc. All of it except maybe a half inch longer and 10 grams lighter.