3 Wood Struggles

[Jeremie Boop]

So, mentioned this in my swing thread but I did flightscope work yesterday to find out the gapping in the upper end of my bag. I was pretty sure going in what I needed but numbers confirmed that I need a fairway wood to go between my 18* hybrid and driver. The trouble I have is I averaged 215 carry with range balls with my hybrid but I couldn't find a 3 wood that I could really hit consistently and the best distance I got on any of the ones I tried was low 220's carry. I didn't have a ton of trouble actually getting the ball in the air but they just dropped short of the needed distance. They were all 15* 3 woods and I guess I could probably squeeze out that extra needed yardage for the gap if I pushed it up to 14*, however I am worried that pushing the loft lower would end up causing me to struggle with launching the ball from the ground. My question is this, is it worthwhile continuing to work on finding a 3 wood or is the distance that I'm looking at not really worth trying to cover?

As you can see here, there were only a couple 3 wood shots that landed in the area I would need to cover. I tried probably 10 different 3 woods. All numbers are carry distance. The 3 woods that had the best numbers were Ping i25, Titleist 913f, and Cobra BioCell. Each of these drivers had some carries out just under to just over 220 with one out to 227 max. I did not look at anything newer because I'm trying to keep cost down and I didn't think that anything from this year would really make much difference anyway.

[billchao]

So, mentioned this in my swing thread but I did flightscope work yesterday to find out the gapping in the upper end of my bag. I was pretty sure going in what I needed but numbers confirmed that I need a fairway wood to go between my 18* hybrid and driver.

I'm not sure I agree. Yes, there is a gap between your driver and your hybrid, but does it really need to be filled? Do you face a lot of 230 yard par 3s? Will it really help you that much more to be 15-20 yards longer on a par 5 approach? The problem is, given how poorly you hit the 3W based on the shot zones, the club wouldn't really be filling the gap anyway, and you're inviting a whole lot of trouble along the way. In the end I think you'll shoot better scores without one.

They were all 15* 3 woods and I guess I could probably squeeze out that extra needed yardage for the gap if I pushed it up to 14*, however I am worried that pushing the loft lower would end up causing me to struggle with launching the ball from the ground.

With your swing speed, I don't think you'd have a problem launching a lower lofted fairway wood, but I'm not sure that would fix anything.

[Jeremie Boop]

I'm not sure I agree. Yes, there is a gap between your driver and your hybrid, but does it really need to be filled? Do you face a lot of 230 yard par 3s? Will it really help you that much more to be 15-20 yards longer on a par 5 approach? The problem is, given how poorly you hit the 3W based on the shot zones, the club wouldn't really be filling the gap anyway, and you're inviting a whole lot of trouble along the way. In the end I think you'll shoot better scores without one.

With your swing speed, I don't think you'd have a problem launching a lower lofted fairway wood, but I'm not sure that would fix anything.

The guy at the range who was helping me with picking different clubs to try basically said I need to learn to hit the things, I've just got a mental block about fairway woods because I've always struggled with them *I didn't notice until now that I typed "stuggle" in the title*. He said I can come in and grab one and practice until I get comfortable with it and can be consistent. The thing about the shot zone for the 3w is that it was for all of them. Some I wasn't able to hit at all and others I hit pretty well but just not very far. Either way I'll probably just get one from inside when I go to the range and practice until I get to a point where I can hit it well before buying one.

[billchao]

The guy at the range who was helping me with picking different clubs to try basically said I need to learn to hit the things, I've just got a mental block about fairway woods because I've always struggled with them.

That makes sense.

*I didn't notice until now that I typed "stuggle" in the title*

I didn't either. Fixed now.

He said I can come in and grab one and practice until I get comfortable with it and can be consistent. The thing about the shot zone for the 3w is that it was for all of them. Some I wasn't able to hit at all and others I hit pretty well but just not very far. Either way I'll probably just get one from inside when I go to the range and practice until I get to a point where I can hit it well before buying one.

That's great of him. You should definitely learn to hit them better before you decide to buy one.

[Jeremie Boop]

That makes sense.

I didn't either. Fixed now.

That's great of him. You should definitely learn to hit them better before you decide to buy one.

Thanks for fixing the title, and yeah the guy is a really low pressure sales person. He's firm about making sure you are happy with what you buy, he doesn't want to just sell you a club to make money. He never even charged me for using the flightscope either.

[JazzFatCat]

Why do you need a club that goes 230 yards? Is there a 230 yard par 3 on the course you usually play?

I personally don't think you need a club in between your driver and hybrid. Driver + hybrid + short iron probably works nicely on most par 5s for you.

[Jeremie Boop]

Why do you need a club that goes 230 yards? Is there a 230 yard par 3 on the course you usually play?

I personally don't think you need a club in between your driver and hybrid. Driver + hybrid + short iron probably works nicely on most par 5s for you.

Yes, driver + hybrid puts me nearly on for most par 5s. There is no other gap in my bag outside of the one between hybrid and driver so I'm looking at covering as many scenarios as I can.

[billchao]

Thanks for fixing the title, and yeah the guy is a really low pressure sales person. He's firm about making sure you are happy with what you buy, he doesn't want to just sell you a club to make money. He never even charged me for using the flightscope either.

Cool, sounds like a good guy. You should buy the club from him if/when you decide what to get.

[iacas]

I think that you should have your gaps covered, at each end of your bag, but allowing for wider gaps at the long end.

For example, my gaps (all carry yardages under normal conditions with a "normal") swing:

Driver - 255

3W - 235

2H - 215

Those are 20-yard gaps. I wouldn't dream of a 20-yard gap between my 7I and 8I for example, but you can have bigger gaps at the long end.

So how big is the gap now? Is it 255 to 215? If so, then I disagree with those stating you don't need to find a club to fit that gap. I think you absolutely want a club to fit that gap. It's not about whether you have a 230-yard par three, it's about giving you another viable choice off the tee on certain holes. It's about being 270 out on a par five and being able to get 25+ yards closer than you can with a hybrid, which will save you a tenth of a stroke or more (more if there's a creek at 215 that means you'd have to lay up 195 versus hitting your 3W 240).

But… it sounds more like a technique issue (or mental, or both) than anything else, really. So I'd hold off on fitting and just find a 3W that is about 15° loft that you can hit reasonably well and work on learning how to hit a 3W reasonably well.

[Hatchman]

Don't give up on the 3 wood. I went through a similar process for about one year. Carried a 1h to tee off with and hit specific shots when needed but not as versatile as the new woods. Added a 3w and a 5w. Love that 5 wood the best. Only have a 4h now in the bag that my pro finally agrees with with me on. Also, I saw where John Daly tried thirteen 3 woods before settling for the one he would add to his bag one season. I tested a bunch and found one with a shaft that fit me. We then even rotated the shaft slightly 15* from stock installation.

[Jeremie Boop]

I actually got a Titleist 913 F 3 wood to try out today, problem was that I never had a chance to use it so I'm hoping to get out on the course in the next few days to give it a shot.

[Jeremie Boop]

I took the 3 wood back today, never got a chance to use it yesterday. While there I asked about any cheaper used 3 woods I could try out. He did have a rockeballz 5w that I tried out. I had about 220 carry average with it but there was some variable wind I was hitting into. The shaft length on the Titleist 3 wood and the Rocketballz 5 wood were the same. I had a really good dispersion with the 5 wood, it was even tighter than the 2 hybrid was. So I bought the 5w for 45 including tax. I figure it's something cheap that I can use to get better and more confident with hitting a fairway wood.

[MiniJeffrey]

200-220 yards with wood 3 is just fine, no? I'm hitting about the same distance with my wood 3 and I fele that for my level of play that is more than enough. I do see that you are having roubles finding a constant distance with your 3 wood. This is mainly because a 3 wood is one of the hardest clubs to hit. It may take a while for you to get it right but it should work out.

A 3 wood is and remains a difficult club. In the beginning I hated that club. Topping, chunking, hooking, slicing. It was pure horror. But I kept on trying and trying and after some tweaks (especially my grip) I can now say that the 3 wood is actually one of my best clubs. From tee I rarely waste a shot. From the deck is a little higher chance of failure (topping), but still pretty good.

However I see that you hit your 4 iron about as far as your (currentl) best wood shots, so maybe you should stick with iron play?

[Jeremie Boop]

200-220 yards with wood 3 is just fine, no? I'm hitting about the same distance with my wood 3 and I fele that for my level of play that is more than enough. I do see that you are having roubles finding a constant distance with your 3 wood. This is mainly because a 3 wood is one of the hardest clubs to hit. It may take a while for you to get it right but it should work out.

A 3 wood is and remains a difficult club. In the beginning I hated that club. Topping, chunking, hooking, slicing. It was pure horror. But I kept on trying and trying and after some tweaks (especially my grip) I can now say that the 3 wood is actually one of my best clubs. From tee I rarely waste a shot. From the deck is a little higher chance of failure (topping), but still pretty good.

However I see that you hit your 4 iron about as far as your (currentl) best wood shots, so maybe you should stick with iron play?

Actually the 5w I picked up is doing a pretty good job of hitting the distance I was looking for. At around 250 off the tee and 230ish off the ground and I have had better luck with it than I did with the 3 woods I was trying out.