For the mid to high hcp'rs ... 5w vs 3w

[inthehole]

As a mid hcp who's struggled with consistency with the 3 wood for years (have good and bad days with the 3w .. but the occasional REALLY bad days are round killers)... this year I bought a quality 5 wood.     What a difference !!     I hit it SO much better off the deck - my average length is longer than the 3w as I hit is cleaner (that once in a blue moon 3 wood when I pure it was longer, but that was a couple times a year shot).  Off the tee I have so much more confidence with the 5 wood due to the shorter shaft.

Just curious if anybody else has found the same epiphany ... for us average golfers with moderate swing speeds and not alot of practice time, the 5 wood is far more reliable ...

[newtogolf]

I had gone to a 5W at the beginning of the season but found distance wise it was too close to my 3H which I prefer to hit out of the rough.  I decided to buy a 3W shortened by 1/2" (5W length) and spent a lot of time practicing with it.  The 1/2" doesn't cost me much distance and overall it fits my distance gaps better.  

[dennyjones]

I have a 3W, 5W and a 3H.   I purchased the 3H this year and it has all but replaced my 5W.    I use the 3W off the tee but unless I have a good lie, the hybrid is my choice.

[Hardspoon]

I used to carry a 3W and 5W. I didn't hit either one particularly well, and I'd worry too much about which to pull for different shots.

I ended up switching to a 4W, which I hit much more consistently.

[Missouri Swede]

When I got my current club set up about 5-6 years ago, the pro at the store had me try a 5W instead of a 3W. It's still one of my more reliable clubs.

A few weeks back when meeting some 'trappers for the first time, when it was time to tee off (and the practice tee was closed, so the first tee was the first shot of the day), that was the club I picked. 

[WUTiger]

Golf Digest covered this a couple of years ago in a report on FW options. General finding: Average golfer hits a 4W more reliably and often longer than a 3W.

At a golf demo day about that time, the Tour Edge guy had all who were willing hit both the 3W and 4W versions of the TE Exotics. Turned out that most average guys - and several big hitters - got more out of 4W than 3W. By big hitters, I mean guys who carried their driver shots about 270. Using 3W vs. 4W (or 5W) depends not only on clubhead speed, but how you come into the ball.

I just finished my fourth season of 4W + 7W, and it's more reliable the 3W + 5W ever was.

One of the local teaching pros carries a 5W with a 4W-length shaft. He gets about 260 yards, about 15 less than a solid 3W, but with better reliability.

In this day and time, we have launch monitors and multiple shaft options: test with different combos and see what works best.

Also consider some of the larger-headed 3Ws set to above-standard loft. The TE Exotics 3W Long - set at 16.5* - gave me tempting results at a May demo day. (But, I had just bought a Calla X16 Pro driver and was out of $$).

[Hacker James]

also, be aware of the "honeymoon" effect of any new club. Often the "break through" is short lived. I am not sure why, maybe because of the novelty, you focus more then after you get used to it, old swing habits creep back in. That being said, I also find the higher lofted 5W performs as well as the 3W.  In addition to my 3W, I carry an older Hogan 5W, Orlimar 21 deg hybrid, and 4 hybrid. Some days, a particular club just seems to feel better.

[mcanadiens]

While it really hasn't made much of a difference in my overall scoring, my switch to a 5W as my primary fairway wood seems like a good move. The rate of really bad mishits is much less. Distance wise, a perfect 3W was probably worth 20 yards or so, but perfect is a rare thing for me with that club.

[dave s]

Same here.  3-wood is long gone.  I have a 5w AND a 7-wood.  Both are so much more reliable than a 3-wood.  Actually, I kept the 3-wood in the bag for so long because my home course has a par 3 that plays from 188 - 210 from the tees we play.  Now, I just hit the 5-wood and take my lumps.  At least I know I'm not going to roll it or slice it off the planet.

The 7-wood is my 170-180 club, the 5 wood approaches 200 on a rare perfect swing/hit.

If anyone is considering going 'old man' like me, the long end of my bag is 6-iron, 5-hybrid, 7- and 5-woods. I'm staying away from any club with the numbers 4 or 3 anymore.

Glad to see the OP found some love in a 5-wood.  Good stick.

dave

[inthehole]

27 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

While it really hasn't made much of a difference in my overall scoring, my switch to a 5W as my primary fairway wood seems like a good move. The rate of really bad mishits is much less. Distance wise, a perfect 3W was probably worth 20 yards or so, but perfect is a rare thing for me with that club.

exactly my sentiments !   For consistency, the 5w is so much better for me than the 3w ... the minimal loss in distance is a small price to pay.  For me, a 3h is no where near as long as a 5 wood - the hybrid is still my lay up confidence club & tight fairway tee shot club .... but when I need more, the 5 wood fills that spot.    Splitting hairs between 15° and 18° never made much sense to me (I've had 4 woods - shaft length is almost the same as a 3 wood) ...  

[Lihu]

26 minutes ago, inthehole said:

exactly my sentiments !   For consistency, the 5w is so much better for me than the 3w ... the minimal loss in distance is a small price to pay.  For me, a 3h is no where near as long as a 5 wood - the hybrid is still my lay up confidence club, but when I need more, the 5 wood fills that spot...  

Yeah, a mid-handicap wouldn't really benefit that much from a 3W. I don't really mishit it in the sense that it shortens my average distance with it, but other than impressing my friends on the driving range it really isn't used that much. My 20 degree hybrid averages 218 yards and is only 20 yards shorter, but much more reliable. Unless I whack a drive 280 yards or more, there really isn't much chance of me making a normal length par 5 in 2 anyway. IMHO, a 3W from 238 yards away to a tiny green isn't a very good approach shot choice. . .

Low handicaps or long hitters can probably use a 3W in lieu of a driver on many holes, but not generally a mid-handicapper.

[arturo28mx]

Same here. Tried to master the 3 wood for years without any success. Now it is driver plus 5 wood plus hybrid

[jkelley9]

I seem to be doing okay with my 3w :shrug:

I understand why 3w's are tough to hit, but what I don't understand is people who claim that a 5w is drastically easier to hit. I find these people all the time. I just don't get it. 

A hypothesis I have is that people have their woods at incorrect lengths and/or stiffness. I feel like with this clubs it's more important than even the irons. 

Another hypothesis I have is that the majority of people who carry a 3w (myself included) use it as a "oh balls... I hit a crap drive and now need to make up some distance." I think most people can't handle that added tension. I'm pretty relaxed about it. But the most often miss I see with a 3w is topping it. I think folks are leaning back and wanting the ball to go "high up" in the air to carry farther. Well that's surely debilitating to a swing. I see it all the time though. 

[NJpatbee]

At my age (64) I carry neither the 3W or 5W.  I can hit my 2Hybrid as far as a I could hit a well struck 3W 20  years ago.  Also, the 3 wood was a good strike about 50% of the time  while the 2H is closer to 90%.  It may just be my swing and age but I carry 1 Wood (driver) and 6 hybrids and can still play comfortably from the middle tees, which I always played.  Full disclosure - I am a 17 HCP and my less than tour pro swing is likely more suited to the hybrids.

[rehmwa]

I had a 3w and 5w for a long time.  Really liked both of them a TON.

I've switched out the 5w for a 2h - it's not as visually pleasing to me as the 5w, but it's definitely more versatile in terms of lies I can take on.  It's a shame, for that distance, I really liked how the 5w set up.

[Tee2Trees]

I'm pretty solid with the 3W but with a 5W I can get too steep and hit pop-flys.

The first question to answer with your FW's is whether to go shallow-face or deep.  For me deep-faced FW's can be more reliable, although sometimes a bit shorter off of tight lies.  I like to use a relatively shallow 3W (Xhot) for max distance potential off the deck but then a deeper faced 5W (actually 2H) to give me more consistent distance and trajectory from varied lies.

[Hazsa]

Interesting read. I actually have a space in my bag as I carry a Driver, 3W, then 3/4H, 5 Iron etc.

I'm pretty confident hitting my 3W off the tee and off the deck, but i'll hit the Hybrid if it's tight. I might give the 5W a try next season, but not to replace the 3W. 

[natureboy]

On 10/9/2016 at 10:53 AM, newtogolf said:

I had gone to a 5W at the beginning of the season but found distance wise it was too close to my 3H which I prefer to hit out of the rough.  I decided to buy a 3W shortened by 1/2" (5W length) and spent a lot of time practicing with it.  The 1/2" doesn't cost me much distance and overall it fits my distance gaps better.  

Had you experimented with gripping down on the 3W before you bought the cut-down one?