3 wood versus driver

[taxgolf]

Not sure if this is appropriate, but I am sure the moderator will keep an eye open. I would like to tell something about my golf game. I can not understand some points completely and would like to know some opinions. I had a Ping 3 wood. Could not hit with it. Nothing, zip. I bought a 3w Titleist head with Oban shaft. Steady as a rock. I use it from the tee. Smoke comes off the ball. It seems almost impossible to hit a bad shot with it. Picknick up distance, hit it as far as most of my playing partners. Incredible. I think golf has a lot to do with self believe. A huge part is mental, as soon doubt creeps in, old swing faults are kicking in as fast as a Ferrari. I slice my driver now and then. Do not slice the 3w. Simply said, the driver head is bigger than the 3w so it should be easier to hit the ball. Yet the bigger head will give more room for faults. Right? Anyway, I played the 3w on the first 9 holes. Then, the big boy came out of his headcover. Somehow, feeling confident, I managed to hit the driver almost the same as the 3w. Self believe, and trust gained, made my driver. I struck it well. I think there is room for improvement. Straight ball flight, no ballooning. Still I strugle with the difference of using a driver or the 3w off the tee. Keeping in mind that length is the diffenrence of a hard 4 iron or maybe an easy 7. My main issue is that I can not explain for myself the difference of a 3w mid fairway or the driver in bad rough. Why is it possible. Why is the 3w, which I always found the hardest club in the bag, so reliable. Besides I love ripping the 3w (I feel I can not mis hit it), I do not think it is a bad strategy of hitting it of the tee. Certainly on the shorter par 4. My questions/story might seem ridiculous. But I do not figure out the relation between those two. Yet, on the course, I do not care. I really love it when the ball goes off like a rocket.

[Mr. Desmond]

There is an explanation, but we can't tell what you are doing without video.

Do the same thing you do with the 3 wood, but play  the Driver off your front big toe or just inside the toe, tee it relatively high (ball is just above center, and try to hit ball so that you are hitting on the upswing (just past the lowest part of your swing).

You've probably got 2 more inches with the driver ... on equal hits, the driver should go further if it is fit to you. Or since the driver is a longer stick, you have some trouble making upper center contact; or your tempo is "off" with the driver.

Check the length of the driver. If more than 45 inches, most people have issues with consistent contact. Check tempo -- don't rush the transition from the top --- smooth it out and keep the loft of the club to contact.

[Shorty]

  taxgolf said:

I bought a 3w Titleist head with Oban shaft. Steady as a rock. I use it from the tee. Smoke comes off the ball. It seems almost impossible to hit a bad shot with it. Picknick up distance, hit it as far as most of my playing partners. Incredible.

Keep this club, forget the driver and you'll have no worries.

[Mr. Desmond]

Yep to above  ^^^^

Don't know if my advice would help or hinder...

Use the 3 wood until you master this...

http://thesandtrap.com/t/77144/how-to-draw-the-golf-ball-or-how-to-reduce-your-slice#post_1054273

[taxgolf]

I know my post might seem ludocrous. I try to monitor certainly key elements, like ball position etc.. But that is not really what I am looking for. SOmehow, the 3w feeds more nature, safe, comfortable. I would like to think it should be easier to hit the driver. Just by the size of the head. Somehow, I find it more difficult to align the club compared with the 3w. When I watch TV, when the driver isn't working for the tour pro, they go to the 3w. Why is that. What makes the 3w more reliable than his big brother, somehow the 3w has an advantage. Clearly I am thinking wrong that a bigger clubhead should make it easier to hit the ball. I can not discribe the joy of hitting the 3w followed by that lovely sound AMD as soon as you hit it, you know. You almost, almost feel like a pro. And don't we all.

[Mr. Desmond]

  taxgolf said:

I know my post might seem ludocrous.

I try to monitor certainly key elements, like ball position etc.. But that is not really what I am looking for.

SOmehow, the 3w feeds more nature, safe, comfortable. I would like to think it should be easier to hit the driver. Just by the size of the head. Somehow, I find it more difficult to align the club compared with the 3w.

When I watch TV, when the driver isn't working for the tour pro, they go to the 3w. Why is that. What makes the 3w more reliable than his big brother, somehow the 3w has an advantage.

Clearly I am thinking wrong that a bigger clubhead should make it easier to hit the ball.

I can not discribe the joy of hitting the 3w followed by that lovely sound AMD as soon as you hit it, you know. You almost, almost feel like a pro. And don't we all.

A bigger club head makes it easier to make contact with a longer stick.

It is the longer stick that gives people more trouble. 45.5-46 inches versus 43 inches is a huge difference in making contact. Also, the longer stick is speeding along at a faster pace.

That is why the 3 wood is more reliable - not as deep a face as driver, shorter, slower yet some 3 woods are 175-180cc, which is large.

No big mystery. It's not  all mental .... it's the differences in the club. But confidence plays a large part in the overall shot.

Of course, I have great confidence in my driver, and at the moment, hit it better than the 3 wood, which is new. Until I stop being tentative with the new club, the driver is more dependable.

[joekelly]

Well, taxgolf,  sounds like the long ball off the tee is under control.  Start to work on the irons to reduce the HC. Forget about other people and  their sticks.

[TitleistJunky]

I see this topic across multiple forums . Hot 3 woods are as long as drivers now I hit my 3 woods very close to my driver. Dump the driver

[taxgolf]

The mystery of the game. It doesn't matter how wel you hit it. When you are on the tee of the first hole, hahahaha. Nice to notice some similar experiences. So: play ball!:-D

[vangator]

The 3 wood off the tee doesn't help you when playing a 460 par 4. I think I could hit every fairway with my 3 wood but I typically only hit it 230-240. That's going to equate to a lot of bogeys unless my chipping and putting are very sharp. Birdies are out. So, in the long run you're going to have to hit the big dog if you're going to play courses with any length.

[David in FL]

  vangator said:

The 3 wood off the tee doesn't help you when playing a 460 par 4. I think I could hit every fairway with my 3 wood but I typically only hit it 230-240. That's going to equate to a lot of bogeys unless my chipping and putting are very sharp. Birdies are out. So, in the long run you're going to have to hit the big dog if you're going to play courses with any length.

I guess it depends on how you define a course of "any length". If there are 460 yard par-4's, the course is likely pushing 7,000 yards and is waaaay too long for most of us, regardless of how long we think we are off the tee. I hope the OP is smart enough to stay away from 7,000 yard tees/courses. Pick the right tees for his game, and I agree, an accurate 3-wood will likely to be a lot more effective, and fun!

[vangator]

  David in FL said:

I guess it depends on how you define a course of "any length". If there are 460 yard par-4's, the course is likely pushing 7,000 yards and is waaaay too long for most of us, regardless of how long we think we are off the tee. I hope the OP is smart enough to stay away from 7,000 yard tees/courses. Pick the right tees for his game, and I agree, an accurate 3-wood will likely to be a lot more effective, and fun!

I would hate to think that I could only play shorter courses and challenge par. Part of the fun of golf is the challenge. If I were to tee it up at Pebble Beach, you bet I'd be playing the tips. I want to see play what the pros are playing. I know courses are not usually setup for tournament play. If it beats me up that's OK. I don't want to shoot par at Pebble from the red tees. So what I'm trying to say, is try to take your game to the next level to be able to play these tougher courses and score well. If you're physically not able to hit it far, that's OK. Play the tees that's enjoyable. But I wouldn't settle for the JV team. When I played the Copperhead, we played a quota game so we weren't playing the tips. The back tee (black) were set up one tee from the championship tees. The tips were 7400. That would be a challenge!

[David in FL]

  vangator said:

I would hate to think that I could only play shorter courses and challenge par. Part of the fun of golf is the challenge. If I were to tee it up at Pebble Beach, you bet I'd be playing the tips. I want to see play what the pros are playing. I know courses are not usually setup for tournament play . If it beats me up that's OK. I don't want to shoot par at Pebble from the red tees. So what I'm trying to say, is try to take your game to the next level to be able to play these tougher courses and score well. If you're physically not able to hit it far, that's OK. Play the tees that's enjoyable. But I wouldn't settle for the JV team. When I played the Copperhead, we played a quota game so we weren't playing the tips. The back tee (black) were set up one tee from the championship tees. The tips were 7400. That would be a challenge!

But you're a 5 hcp. Like me, you don't seriously challenge par from any tees very often. Like it or not, we are the JV team. Maybe the JV practice squad. ;-)

[Seniorhacker]

I would agree with Mr. Desmond that the length of the driver is probably makes it harder to hit than the 3 wood. Also mentioned, there are some hot fairway woods out there. My Tour Exotics is about 10  shorter on average than my driver. Occasionally I'll really catch the 3 wood sweet and hit it pretty much the same as the driver. At one time my driver was the most consistent club in my bag but as the driver shafts have gotten longer, I've picked up a little distance but have lost some consistency. I'm even thinking of going to a driver with a little shorter shaft.

[vangator]

  David in FL said:

But you're a 5 hcp. Like me, you don't seriously challenge par from any tees very often. Like it or not, we are the JV team. Maybe the JV practice squad. ;-)

That's my league handicap which changes every blue moon. If I were to count all my rounds it would be more like a 2. But with only counting 10 out of 20, it could be lower. I should track it better. The public courses I play typically don't punish drives that are a little crooked because they need to keep pace of play going, so I usually challenge par every time out. A course I used to play regularly would pick one day per week to set up the course for tournament play. Tees back and pins in horrific spots. That was fun. I remember one pin placement where you would have to putt 120-150 deg away from the hole to have a chance a la Augusta. Those days, 75 was my goal. I'm going to hit my drive tomorrow for the first time since I swapped out the shaft. Maybe it will be better.

[joekelly]

Two notions i can agree with here. First, the vast majority of golfers can not hit any club 230 yards so courses with long par 4s, and the like , do not offer very many par holes.  Secondly, i can agree with vantgator that without challenge, we can not improve.

We have a par 5 here with bunkers along the right  side at 220 yards.  Have seem few, darn few,  players beyond this range.  It's one of my goals, to get that far.  Now i can get 200,  but seldom more. For me, turn on more power = turn on more slice.

[taxgolf]

I certainly like the challenge. Might call it being proud. Or stubbern. Would love to hit all the clubs in the bag consistently. But I would probably be a scratch player, hahaha.

Still, the 3 wood set me up nicely to being able to hit the driver. I attack the par 5 in three on the green. The 3w will give me more than enough distance to do so. We'll see.

[inthehole]

  taxgolf said:

Not sure if this is appropriate, but I am sure the moderator will keep an eye open.

I would like to tell something about my golf game. I can not understand some points completely and would like to know some opinions.

I had a Ping 3 wood. Could not hit with it. Nothing, zip. I bought a 3w Titleist head with Oban shaft. Steady as a rock. I use it from the tee. Smoke comes off the ball. It seems almost impossible to hit a bad shot with it. Picknick up distance, hit it as far as most of my playing partners. Incredible.

I think golf has a lot to do with self believe. A huge part is mental, as soon doubt creeps in, old swing faults are kicking in as fast as a Ferrari.

I slice my driver now and then. Do not slice the 3w. Simply said, the driver head is bigger than the 3w so it should be easier to hit the ball. Yet the bigger head will give more room for faults. Right?

Anyway, I played the 3w on the first 9 holes. Then, the big boy came out of his headcover. Somehow, feeling confident, I managed to hit the driver almost the same as the 3w. Self believe, and trust gained, made my driver. I struck it well. I think there is room for improvement. Straight ball flight, no ballooning.

Still I strugle with the difference of using a driver or the 3w off the tee. Keeping in mind that length is the diffenrence of a hard 4 iron or maybe an easy 7. My main issue is that I can not explain for myself the difference of a 3w mid fairway or the driver in bad rough. Why is it possible. Why is the 3w, which I always found the hardest club in the bag, so reliable. Besides I love ripping the 3w (I feel I can not mis hit it), I do not think it is a bad strategy of hitting it of the tee. Certainly on the shorter par 4.

My questions/story might seem ridiculous. But I do not figure out the relation between those two. Yet, on the course, I do not care. I really love it when the ball goes off like a rocket.

I hit a 3 wood 265 yds last time out (sick distance for me).    My drive is typically 240-250.    I think for most of us, there isn't a huge distance differential.    I guess theoretically if you have a good 3 wood that agrees with you, you wouldn't be giving up much by using a 3 wood instead of driver, but you have to 100% commit to it - don't even take the driver so it's out of your mind.