Does anyone make a driver like lofted 3 wood - giving up on Driver...

[mutadayen]

I have come to the conclusion after my last couple of rounds that i simply cannot control the driver and am erratic with it off the tee.  Consciously or subconsciously, i think im swinging the 3 wood the same way and my results are infinitely more predictable and consistent.  Went again to the range today and spent 30 minutes hitting driver and 30 minutes hitting 3 wood, and came to this conclusion that the driver and me cannot co-exist.  This is even after a winter of lessons and thinking i was making strides with the driver after great simulator sessions.  Time to retire my driver along with my ego and get smart is what im thinking.

I played a 9 hole round using my 3 wood, and the next day using my driver on the same 9 holes.  The results were as follow:

Day 1 - 3 wood: 6/7 fairways hit

Day 2 - driver: 2/7 fairways hit

Played 18 holes a couple days after, and managed to hit only 4/14 fairways with the driver, yet still shot an 85, all things considered.  With that, has anyone gone through the same thing?  And furthermore, are any of the big companies who could make a 3 wood with a lower loft setting (like a 9.5 or 10.5)?  Titleist makes a 13.5 degree and im really tempted to go pick it up.  Thoughts?

[ryan772]

Why not try out one of the Mini sldrs http://taylormadegolf.com/SLDR-Mini-Driver/DW-WZ039.html It has an option for a 12 degree option for loft.

[tristanhilton85]

Yeah... Callaway with their new Great Big Bertha Model (and I'm sure on some of the other models) offers a 13.5° head... add in the adjustability that is offered and you can get it up to 15.5° of loft.

[newtogolf]

There's also an Aeroburner mini driver too and Callaway has the XR 3Deep.

[mutadayen]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.  WIll head out to the store this weekend to try and hopefully test my theory. Hoping one of the options out there can get me within a reasonable distance of my 3 wood today

[daa1969]

My guess is your shaft is ill fit for you, whats your swing speed? Whats your tempo? Ive spent Way too much money and time figuring this out on my own, for me, i top out at about 105mph with a fairly whippy transition, i have finally settled on a low torque stiff shaft, 2.2 to be exact, with a medium tip and a 10.5 head, its a little bit on the high launch side but its my sweet zone where i can just hit the ball with no worries, ive been all the way down to 8 degrees, spent a while at 9, but theres just too many things to go wrong, its better to be able to be a little off and still get help than to have to be perfect with each swing. I just finished figuring out the best lenght of my shaft, i started at 46" for me, i found the best lenght was 44" that was the point where my distance didnt suffer, but my accuracy improved, gotta be hitting the sweet spot and this is what works for me, im 6' tall btw. Anyway, all i can say is depending on your swing, try some different shafts, its hard because none of these big name places really give you a true fitting, usually they just hand you a club and ask if you like it, you have to be the one to ask for a high or low torque, etc. if your a slow swinger than maybe a high torque soft tip will suit you, if your like me and just wanna hit the ball without thinking than maybe a low torque stiffer tip, i luv the stable feeling at impact.

[JazzFatCat]

I just got a Callaway Bertha Mini driver with a 12 degree head. You can adjust it down one degree to 11* or up two degrees to 14*. There's also a neutral/draw adjustment.

I've only been to the range once with it today but it seems a lot more forgiving than my 15* 3 wood and about 10 or 15 yards longer. I had it set at 13* neutral today. The shaft is the same length as my current 3 wood. I got the Speeder shaft in stiff flex and really like it.

About 5 years ago I was fitted for a Henry Griffiths driver but for whatever reason I can no longer hit it and I hate the feel of a big headed driver. The Bertha Mini seems like the ideal driver for me these days.

I think sometime next week I'm going to turn a lesson into a FlightScope session to see what adjusting the head does for distance.

[mutadayen]

I have been fitted and taken lessons.  My swing speed varied on the monitor between 108 to 114 (PGA Superstore).  My club is a Nike VRS Covert 2.0, 8.5*, Stiff, with the a 45" Mitsubishi Rayon Kuro Kage 60 graphite shaft that comes with the club.  At my fitting, they threw multiple different drivers at me and mixed up the shafts.  The two best performing drivers last year were the Nike and the Cobra.  They put me a in a high torque shaft, even the really expensive shaft upgrade that would have added another $300 to the cost, but it didnt make a different.  Flights were similar, so we agreed to keep the shaft standard and instead of spending money on a shaft, we spent money on lessons to try to find my right swing path.  Like i noted, in the winter time, I felt good about my driver swing and things were clicking.  But over the last month, the driver specifically has gone to shite.

I use the same takeaway, same tempo, same feel as my wedge (I use to slice and push everything right because my swing was handsy, as i started everything with my hands and my club was behind my body right at the point in my back-swing when hands were parallel to my belt buckle on the takeaway. I was going way too much inside).

After a few months of hell, my swing starts with my shoulders and i keep my hands in front of the club at parallel, getting into a more pro like position (we used Nick Faldo, Adam Scott, and Billy Horschel as examples).  I've gotten more on plane with all my clubs and shortened my swing as i'm pretty flexible and use to get my arms vertically straight on my back-swing if i wanted to, parallel with my legs).  So i use to over-swing to say the least and sway a lot.  That's calmed down tremendously.

At this point, I have zero confidence with my driver.  I spent enough on a driver last year that i didnt want to spend more again this year to get refitted for a new driver because i loved the Titleist 915D2 driver.  I didnt go into as much research and time on the shaft as i should, and i will this winter, but Chicago has a short golfing season as is so im just trying to salvage the remainder of this year in hopes of a fresh driver start next year, or simply move to a 3wood like driver which i much more confident in.

[Dave2512]

Kick X Blast Driveway is badass. 43" 280cc 12.5 degrees. It's two clubs in one for me. I don't carry a fairway wood anymore. I didn't lose any distance considering my best to worst drives were always about 80 yards apart. Actually pretty easy to hit of turf as long it's not real thick rough. Even then I still use it if I think it will come out low and roll forever.

[flopster]

The only problem with those high lofted drivers is they are also designed to put less spin on the ball and more spin particularly backspin is your friend that is why your having more success with the 3 wood, your swing speeds are plenty fast enough to hit primarily 3 wood without losing significant distance in fact your probably well past most players even with it. IMO anyone with a swing speed at least 100mph could easily play any track of 6500-6800 teeing off with 3 wood all day if the driver was that erratic and probably shoot lower.

[mvmac]

The only problem with those high lofted drivers is they are also designed to put less spin on the ball and more spin particularly backspin is your friend that is why your having more success with the 3 wood, your swing speeds are plenty fast enough to hit primarily 3 wood without losing significant distance in fact your probably well past most players even with it. IMO anyone with a swing speed at least 100mph could easily play any track of 6500-6800 teeing off with 3 wood all day if the driver was that erratic and probably shoot lower.

The mini drivers? They'll spin more than a regular driver.

[daa1969]

From what i gather, the kuro kage 60 is a very high torque shaft, 4.0 id say it would be a miracle if you were able to square the head up at 108mph without manipulating swing, im willing to bet if you tried a heavier, like 75g, low torque, stiffer tip shaft you will have much more success. You dont have to spend a lot for a good shaft, the proforce v2 75g is only $60 i bought my setup on ebay, $60 shaft. $40 head, for $100 i have a $360 driver. also, i would consider a little more loft, the lower the loft the more dispersion your gonna get, and finally, try different hand placement on shaft, i.e. Play with lenght, choke up and see where u make best contact, i think the pros average is like 44.5 or so, and they know what theyre doing, and do it consistently. Manufacturers want to say theyre the longest so they put longer shafts in these days, if you happen to catch right, it will be long, but for most it just means longer off center, as the head gets further from you, your swing will fall to a more flatter plane, more baseball like, usually placing the toe too high, setting you up for a pull or hook, so the compensations begin. Im 6' at about 105mph, i have 10.5 proforce v2 75g stiff at 44" my flight is a high draw that rolls on average to 305 on course. You have to find the sweet spot more often which will help your smash factor.

[BeCu]

I switched to a Tom Wishon 919 F/D (Fairway Driver) and absolutely love it. Good combination of carry + roll out for me. This model is designed with a hot face like many popular drivers. Historically I have never maintained consistency with longer driver clubs. Tried many brands/models over the years. So I decided to attempt a custom 3 wood like driver combo and settled on Wishon because of trust in the brand.

My goal was to build a fairway driver with the longest length in which I could while achieve center strike consistency. Additionally I wanted a feel near to my favorite fairway wood (#5). The design of this club head allowed me to add weights (multiple weight ports) to achieve proper feel. Also, I had the lie angle adjusted in the process as the hosel on this model is bendable.

I believe I have achieved my goals and driving is fun again.

[Langdon]

Taylormade Tour Spoon - maybe an 07 or 08 model. 13* lofts and if shafted right they can be as long as a driver

[Hatchman]

I agree with @ @mvmac and @ @daa1969 . I wouldn't give up on the driver just yet. I've been tweaking shafts for a couple year now. Don't know your misses but your path and shaft can be dealt with if causing the problem since you asked for thoughts. A marshal friend of mine who I see struggling off the tee sometimes asked me a question, but I'm no expert by any means just a fairly straighter hitter to a spot type driver. Long enough to be competitive when we play. This is his email to me of August 3, after loaning my practice driver set up a little different for him. His path is bad and he spins out too. Temp fix only. Needs TST help :-) "Hey Lefty ! Hope you had a good day. Just to let you know, played back nine (Cahoon) and was 6 for 6 in the fairway with your driver. Hope to see you tomorrow or Wed a.m. Appreciate use of driver. Still small fade but dramatic reduction in slice and pretty long. If I can, I would like to use it this week and I will take care of it for sure. Thank you, Lefty (George)"

[Osnola]

I dumped my driver about 6 months ago and went with a Tour Exotic 13* off the tee and a Cleveland Black 15* to hit off the fairway and out of the rough.  This setup has helped me hit more fairways than I had ever hit with my driver...I am more interested in consistency than a little more distance.

[daa1969]

Back in the day the average driver was 43", then the marketing teams said people want to hit longer, so now theyre coming out like 46" then they figured if it was lighter you could swing it faster, so now theyre down to like 49grams, i think thats the lowest ive seen. Problem is, we're not robots setup specifically to hit a certain club, so when you put in the human factor things tend to go differently. We will inadvertently begin altering our swing to fit a club, especially after we pay good money for it. The best of the best continue doing what they do best by keeping the lenght maintainable, and the weight up. I believe the average lenght on pga is 44.5 and im not sure but i would bet none of them are using a super lite shaft, just a guess but i feel safe guessing none are under 75grams. Theres a point where distance and control meet at a happy medium and its up to each individual to find their happy place. That being said, there is a place for lighter, perhaps someone with slow swing speed, good tempo, etc. but for anyone with fast speed like 100+ i bet you will be better suited to heavier shafts

[flopster]

The mini drivers? They'll spin more than a regular driver.

I agree but less than a 3 wood is what I meant and it seems the spin from the 3 wood is helping him.