Yardage gap between 3 & 5 woods?

[GaryH]

How much further do you guys and gals hit your 3W?

I've got a Ping G15  5W that i'm hitting well.  Thinking of adding the 3W.  Just checking the specs and i see the 3W is only half an inch longer and 3 degrees of loft stronger.  How much extra distance should that translate to?  Only about 10 yards?

[Mr3Wiggle]

Off the tee maybe 20 yards.  Off the ground maybe the same distance.  Depends on how well you strike the ball and what your clubhead speed is.

[socks and shoes]

Should play to 15 or 20 yard difference. If you want more distance there are a few clubs that are known to make the ball really fly. The adams super xtd fairway wood and TM RBZ. Both are long hitters and will increase the gap if thats what you need.

[GaryH]

Originally Posted by socks and shoes

Should play to 15 or 20 yard difference. If you want more distance there are a few clubs that are known to make the ball really fly. The adams super xtd fairway wood and TM RBZ. Both are long hitters and will increase the gap if thats what you need.

Good suggestions.  Though the white head on the TM puts me off!

[Timothy Voyles]

If it helps you with distance, I play a 19* Sonartec hybrid instead of a 5w. It is my go to for 185-220 depending on lie/wind/randomness. My i3 Ping 3w I'll use anywhere from 215-260 based on same set of randomness.

I dropped my 5w years ago in favor of the hybrid due to more flexible as far as lie and being more workable.

[GaryH]

I won't be switching the 5W for a hybrid, i've only just bought it!  And i like it, lovely club.

[GreenFlag]

The difference between my 5W and 3W is 25 yards.

[GaryH]

What are their respective lofts, GreenFlag?

[WUTiger]

I just switched fairway woods, and here's what happened. I got a RBZ 3W HL (high launch, it's 17* and basically a 4W), and initially a 5W and 7W. But, i noticed that the 3W was 17*, 5W was 19* and 7W was 21*. So, I tested out the 3W and 7W (1" differenence between shafts), and found about 15-20 yards difference. So, I returned the unhit 5W for a full refund. (I also got an RBZ 4H as a bridge club).

Rough planning guidelines for comparing distances between clubs is  + 1/2" shaft and + 4* loft = 10 to 12 yards distance gain. For woods it may be slightly more yardage between.

From 2002 until 2009, I played a Tour Edge Bazooka pair, 3W 14* and 5W 19* (3/4" difference in shaft length). With these two low-profile woods, I had about 20 yards difference although I could shave a little if I faded the 3W.

Any way you can borrow a G15 3W and compare the two? Don't know until you test them.

[GaryH]

I'd heard it was supposed to be about 3.5 yards for each degree of loft, so a 3 degree gap should in theory be about 10.5 yards by this measure (this also incorporates the effect of the extra length of shaft that typically accompanies a club of 3 or 4 degrees less loft).  But i also don't know if that applied to both irons and woods equally.

From my vantage point at the range i find it difficult to see the exact differences between the longer clubs.

[GaryH]

By the way, i did check out the 'how far do you hit your clubs' thread, but it struck me that not too many people on there carry both a 3W and a 5W, many eschewing the latter for a low-lofted hybrid.

[Mr. Desmond]

As a regular flex guy, you've got to see if a 15 deg 3 wood will really work for you - will it get high enough for good carry?

I found a huge difference in what I can do consistently off the deck with a 3 wood versus a 5 wood - consequently, I don't carry a 3 wood.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by GaryH

By the way, i did check out the 'how far do you hit your clubs' thread, but it struck me that not too many people on there carry both a 3W and a 5W, many eschewing the latter for a low-lofted hybrid.

Yeah, but it typically takes some speed to get a low lofted hybrid way up in the air. I define lower lofted as 21 degrees and below. A 20-21 7 wood at about 41 inches is an easier club than a comparable hybrid for guys with average golfer speed.

[Lost-Ball]

i dont carry a 5 wood in the bag. i have a 4 iron (190-200 yds), a superfast 2.0 3* rescue ( 210-215yds), and a RBZ 3 wood (220-230yds). add 10-15 yds to each club off a tee except for the RBZ which can go up to 40 yards more off the tee for me. im not as confident ripping a fairway wood off the fairway as i am a iron. until recently i was using 2 and 1 irons and hitting them dead straight off the fairway but hitting them like crap off a tee. all part of the mental game lol well at least thats what im gonna blame it on

[teamroper60]

I have the Callaway Diablo Octane 3w (15 deg)  and 5w (19 deg)...  I don't recall what the shaft lengths are but I get about 15 more yards out of the 3w..

Hope that helps!

[GaryH]

My thinking was that my ball-striking is not good enough to hit 3W off the deck with a high enough degree of sucess, so i would only use it off the tee.  Which lead me to think, 'well, would i even use it off a tee?'.  If it's only about 15 yards longer than a 5W, i might as well opt for the greater forgiveness of the 5W even off a tee if i'm not going to hit driver.

That said, my ball-striking at the range has been much improved of late thanks to something i'm working on in my takeaway.  If this continues i might consider myself good enough to carry a 3W, but it's early days yet, we've all had these false dawns.....

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by GaryH

My thinking was that my ball-striking is not good enough to hit 3W off the deck with a high enough degree of sucess, so i would only use it off the tee.  Which lead me to think, 'well, would i even use it off a tee?'.  If it's only about 15 yards longer than a 5W, i might as well opt for the greater forgiveness of the 5W even off a tee if i'm not going to hit driver.

That said, my ball-striking at the range has been much improved of late thanks to something i'm working on in my takeaway.  If this continues i might consider myself good enough to carry a 3W, but it's early days yet, we've all had these false dawns.....

For controlling drives on tight holes, you might experiment by gripping down on a driver. Sometimes (for some people) that works better than a 3 wood or 5 wood. If it works you could put on extra layer or two of tape for the lower hand to make gripping easier. I've done it before and it worked for me - Gripping down with a smoother swing. Or if driver is inconsistent, this is what I did - went to a 12.5 degree driver with a mid kick shaft to keep the ball down - length with more fairways since I changed.

[GaryH]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

For controlling drives on tight holes, you might experiment by gripping down on a driver. Sometimes (for some people) that works better than a 3 wood or 5 wood. If it works you could put on extra layer or two of tape for the lower hand to make gripping easier. I've done it before and it worked for me - Gripping down with a smoother swing. Or if driver is inconsistent, this is what I did - went to a 12.5 degree driver with a mid kick shaft to keep the ball down - length with more fairways since I changed.

Both ideas strike me as good ones, Mr Desmond.  On similar lines, Mickelson carries two drivers at times, and perhaps the amateur could benefit from doing the same, in the amateur's case carrying one which is a lot more forgiving like the one you describe.  For tight fairways and/or for when you're struggling with the longer-but-less-forgiving one.  I guess people might say 'but isn't that just a strong 3W?', but the difference would be the increased head size that drivers have.