Large/small head on 3 wood

[joekelly]

Just using the term 'wood' here but all are metal. But i see many 3 woods have small heads, even something like the hybrid heads.  But i have an older very traditional sized 3 wood head with maybe 15* of loft. What are the differences between these clubs? What advantage does the smaller head provide? I can hit the hybrids quite well so gravitate towards the smaller head but in fact off the tee the bigger head looks more 'powerful'.  LOL.

[billchao]

Just using the term 'wood' here but all are metal. But i see many 3 woods have small heads, even something like the hybrid heads.  But i have an older very traditional sized 3 wood head with maybe 15* of loft. What are the differences between these clubs? What advantage does the smaller head provide? I can hit the hybrids quite well so gravitate towards the smaller head but in fact off the tee the bigger head looks more 'powerful'.  LOL.

Generally, larger heads are more forgiving on mishits but smaller heads are more workable.

[WUTiger]

During the 1970s to 1980s, I played a 3W and 4W made by Sounder, a small operation somewhere down in Florida.

The Sounders had very small clubheads, probably about the size of current Adams hybrids. The 4W really got the ball out of the rough well, as good as the Raylor I used for awhile.

The smaller size forced me to concentrate more. I think this also helped my driver accuracy.

[David in FL]

Smaller headed (and shallower faced) clubs tend to be a little easier for the average player to hit off the deck. Those that use the 3-wood as an alternative off the tee but seldom hit it off the deck tend to opt for larger, deeper faced clubs.

[David in FL]

During the 1970s to 1980s, I played a 3W and 4W made by Sounder, a small operation somewhere down in Florida. The Sounders had very small clubheads, probably about the size of current Adams hybrids. The 4W really got the ball out of the rough well, as good as the Raylor I used for awhile. The smaller size forced me to concentrate more. I think this also helped my driver accuracy.

I still have a couple of Sounders up in the attic somewhere. Great club back in the day!