I ditched my driver for a strong 3 wood

[grisham]

I’ve stopped using my driver and strictly use a strong 3 wood/2 wood off the tee.  Over the years I’ve gone through countless drivers. I’ve been fitted and taken lessons. But, I’ve never been consistent with my driver.  Recently I’ve been using a strong 3 wood/2 wood off the tee and it’s so accurate and consistent. It’s easy to hit and my fairway percentages have increased dramatically. On average I lost 10-15 yards but that’s if I hit my driver perfect.  I currently have a Ping Rapture 13.5* Ping G400 Stretch 13* and a Cleveland HiBore 2 wood that I rotate through.  Anyone else ditch their driver?

[RogerinNewZealand]

Ok.I just bought 2006 Ping Rapture with stock shaft and i know this has worked for me in the past.This may replace my I20 that is almost perfect for me.You answered your own question. You havent had a reliable driver,but most of us have and a have bought back my 2 best ones in last 5 months..in 2010 a Callaway Diablo helped me hit Every fairway and in 2013 a Tm xr3?the non conforming one helped me hit 17 or18.Stick with that fairway wood,its your club!and congrats on finding it.Keepam eye out for a driver you have liked,the shaft you have liked, plus some lead tape and measuring tape.Start at 45.5 and cut half inch at a time and test. 44.5 inch and 8 grams lead is my guess for Sucess.Best regards,Roger

[Troutfly]

410 driver and the 13 raptor- the latter for windy or avoiding trouble, low piercing flight from tee without the significant distance loss compared to my 17 fw or 4h. I've always been a smig wild yeilding big stick, some will cry "specialty club" or something cute they read here, for me, the raptor was and continues to be a true game changer.

[Myherobobhope]

I've tinkered with ideas like this... but I think having a driver in the bag and confidence with it on the course is important to shooting your best possible score. It might be a 44 inch 13 degree driver... but I think you need to find a way to maximize length while minimizing risk. Step one is getting the ball in play, and step 2 is hitting the ball as far as possible while managing step 1...

[Davidv]

Hitting the driver and hoping for that long straight bomb is just too much fun to give up. In my group we like to compare equipment, bust chops over drives good and bad.

[Z1ggy16]

Did you ever try a shorter driver? Mine driver is a solid 30-40 yards longer than even my 14* 3w. Depending on the course and conditions, I might take 40 yards closer to the pin in the rough than 40 yards back in the fairway. I find that there's just so much more margin for error with the driver and now a days, unless you make a really bad swing... you'll get more % yards out of a driver than a smaller volume 3wood.

Not to derail you, but maybe try a 44 or 44.5'' driver, tee the ball low and give it a go again. When I was really struggling, although my swing mechanics were poor... teeing the ball down and going a little shorter really did help me. For my handicap, my driver is easily the best part of my game now.

[BMC]

Swing speed plays a big role. Sub 95 mph, go with 44 inch/ 14*. Could be labeled a 3 wood or driver.

Swing shape plays a role too. I use an OG Rapture 3 wood and can hit a high draw with it for max distance.

[JungleJimbo]

@Z1ggy16 @grisham : +1. I have a Callaway Bertha Fusion 13.5* (with the loft adjusted +2*, to 15.5*; length 44.25"-44.5"; for easier right-to-left draw bias, narrow par4's), and a similar Rogue 13.5* (adjusted -1* to 12.5*; length 45"). I prefer this combo, and have ditched the 3-wood from my bag.
Agree with @Z1ggy16 's view, that this Bertha Fusion ~15* "thriver" = more margin-for-error, than a 3-wood for tee-off.

[bluedot]

I played a three wood off the tee for awhile, until I did it in some tournaments and realized what I was giving up relative to other players. 10-15 yds. is a LOT, and there is just now way that hitting a club or two more into 14 greens is a good long-term recipe.

I know you said you've been fitted and taken lessons, and I respect that. But in this day and age of an incredible array of driver/shaft/adjustability options, it is just tough for me to get past the idea that there isn't a driver out there for you that doesn't involve a trade-off like 10-15 yds.

One thing you might consider is a playing lesson with a really good teaching pro. IMO, sometimes when a player is experiencing accuracy problems with driver but nothing else in the bag, it's not the club but rather the mental approach to hitting the club that's the problem. Anytime the thought over a shot is to hit it as far as possible, trouble becomes more likely. With every other club in the bag, we accept not only limited yardages, but a VERY specific target. All too often with driver, rather than a VERY small target, there is no target except FAR, so we make a swing unlike anything else in the bag. A playing lesson with a good teaching pro where you talk about EXACTLY where you are trying to put the drive might help.

Most of us play better when we talk to ourselves like we hear Tour caddies talking to their players on TV. Thinking thru the shot carefully leads to small targets, which leads to small misses.

Just something to think about.

[Newgs]

I go back and forth between my 3w and my driver as my top club. One thing I have noticed is I get in a lot less trouble with my 3w than with my driver and that makes my round a lot more fun. What distance I lose, which isn't much, is made up easily with more fairways instead of rough or worse. My thing is I tend to over swing with my driver which as noted above is more between the ears than anything else. Go with what works for you at the end of the day though.

[bubbagump]

Ive been rocking a SLDR mini since it came out, and have zero regrets in using it as my main tee club. I do agree, that even if you mash it and are within say 10-15y of your driver you are leaving likely at least 1 club out there each hole which can add up fast but accuracy can never hurt either and if you are comfortable with some longer approaches in some cases, it equals out. I used the mini almost exclusively off the tee, because most the courses I played it was all I needed but when I would play longer holes or courses the difference of a driver could really be handy. I really began to work on driver, and get it into shape and now I am comfortable pulling it but still use the mini often as course management requires it the better club. I have kept the mini in also because I use it as a 3w, so I hit it both off the deck and tee so its not just a boutique luxury club taking a spot in the bag.

If you can find your way around most courses with a strong 3w, 2w or mini I would say go for it and see how it works for you.

 

[cardoustie]

Quitter

[letsgolf]

If you hit your 3 wood consistently, then you might consider cutting your driver length down. I'm playing a 44" Mizuno ST-190G. The shop that cut it down just had to get two more weights from Mizuno to correct swingweight. Now it's just an inch longer than a typical 3 wood. If you're consistent with a 3 wood, this should definitely improve your consistency with the driver. Worth a try before ditching what should be the most forgiving and fun club in the bag!

[Titleist_PT23]

When I started playing again I used an X Hot 3 Deep for about a year off the tee. When swinging well, the club is a cannon. However, I found that the worst 5%-10% of shots with this club were actually worse than the worst 5%-10% of shots with a driver when you considered both accuracy and distance lost. The fall off in distance and direction on bad strikes is just so horrible vs. any 430-460 cc head.

[Bridges]

The 17* Callaway Super Hybrid will make you question whether or not you need a driver or three wood. It is LONG and forgiving.

[bjh1]

This topic has been raised many times (maybe a couple times by me). For some people it's just a mental thing - either they can't get used to the look of the huge clubhead, or they try to hit it too hard.

I've had a degree of success with shortening the driver and adding some weight to it to add back some feel and to slow down my tempo.

But if you have a 3 wood you hit well, don't feel bad about sticking with it. I know many comments are "I'll take the extra 15-20 yards with my driver and hit it out of the rough", but that doesn't work if your drives are OB or in the woods.

Also maybe check out a mini driver.

[bulls9999]

What does it mean if you hit your 3-wood as far as your driver? With driver (Cally Epic Flash) I don't always get that sense of smashing through the ball, but with my 3-wood, there's ALWAYS the feeling that it's a smashing impact through the ball (makes me feel like a tour player ), swinging faster/smoother, but my driver swing/impact/after swing feel makes is just blah. That made me turn to small headed drivers (TM mini-driver, Cally Mini & Deep3) for a while as well as sub-460cc drivers (i.e., Callaway Optifit? 440cc). I think the 460cc driver heads offer up wind resistance or something, I don't get that with smaller heads (maybe I need to check clubhead speed with both, haven't done that). I'm currently gaming the Cally Epic Flash, but I'm always looking in the rear view mirror, tempted to bring out the other smaller heads.

[bluedot]

I'd agree with this. If you think backwards about hitting a 3W well, then the question becomes "Why?", and you're left with shaft length and loft.

FWIW, I'm less interested in the shaft length than the loft in this situation, if only because it's hard to cut down the shaft and then get the weight right. But a LOT of players use a higher lofted head with a mid-launch shaft to good effect; more carry, better accuracy, etc. There can be some ego involved with not using a 12* head, for instance, but once you realize that you aren't missing fairways, that goes away quickly.

And that sort of brings us back to fitting. The only really bad fitting I ever had was with a guy who only focused on giving me what was the longest combination. When I put that driver in play, I hit some REALLY long drives, at least for me, but my accuracy was just awful. By contrast, the guy that I worked with since has NEVER put me in the longest combination that we hit; he is masterful at looking at both distance AND dispersion. That's meant different things with different fittings, but it's a successful formula.

[eric13]

Between length and loft I’ve found keeping length and going higher loft to be more successful. I even have a La Jolla 15* driver aka thriver that I use occasionally.

[forrester_fire]

My results with a 3 wood off the tee, much like driver, are mixed. When I'm hitting it well, it's great. When I'm not, my misses can be much more spectacular than with a driver. Have you tried playing your driver at 43-44"?

[Breiman]

Strong 3 wood and 2 wood (When they were still wood), have been my goto tee club for 40 years. I never liked the longer drivers and have tried shorter ones. But I have always had a good fairway wood swing that has a nice draw. When I take all the driver mishits out of my game, it saves me 3-4 strokes a game by using the strong 3wood. I tried the mini drivers for a bit, but much prefer the strong 3 wood.

[joostin]

I respect the OP's decision - seems to work just fine for him. Another suggestion I'll throw out there as some have suggested to actually carry 2 drivers: How about carrying an older driver that you might have loved in the past instead of 3 wood? Go back a couple decades like 983K, R510, J33P, 975D, GBB... Grip down or cut it to 44" if you want. It would be a cheap experiment. You may already have one of those classics sitting somewhere. I've been thinking of picking up a 983K just to see what all the fuss was about from that era. When visiting the folks I have and old KZG Maraging Power (230cc) with a Penley shaft that's really fun to work left or right, and solid hits can still run out 290.

[ChipNRun]

Circa 2000 I planned to get the Ping i3 model 3W in 12* loft and use it for a driver. The tungsten sole plate got the ball up well despite the low loft, and could deliver a shot low and hot or high and soft.

Unfortunately, the transmission went out on my wife's car, so the i3 never made it to my bag.

[ShooterMcGavin69]

At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I am trying to say this as humbly as possible, if you can't hit your driver, IMHO odds are you may not be able to handle longer approach shots produced from using a 3w either. It's your swing, not the club. I guess it also depends on what tees you play, maybe you are strangely great with your irons and suck at your driver? If that's the case, you can swing just fine and there's a driver out there for you..just go practice...grind it out until you get better.

[hogan234]

I did this when I first started playing. I used a Big Bertha Warbird 3+ with great success. I’ve experimented with higher lofted drivers but feel like the strong 3 had a more penetrating flight because I teed it lower.

[jol]

IMO, confidence is a huge component of the game. If you feel more comfortable hitting your 3 wood and can still reach the green in regulation. Go for it! It worked for Henrik Stenson.

[NRJyzr]

I tried this several years ago, at the time the TEE E8 Beta was at the end of its run as current product. Results from a fitting suggest 43" a good length for me for a tee club, the E8 Beta came in 12* and had a real deal Rogue Silver as a stock shaft. Why not? Ultimately, it worked but only to a point. I found the 3w gave me a bit more spin, such that into the wind tee shots became an issue. Eventually set it aside.

I agree with others that suggest trying a shorter driver, but I believe they're not going far enough. Try something at 43.5" length, or even 43". Get yourself a cheaper, older model driver, a roll of lead tape, maybe plug in a 3w shaft of your choice thanks to the joys of modern adapters, and give it some run. You might need a bit more loft than you would at the longer driver lengths foisted on us, but that's an easy adjustment.

It may be obvious, I'm very much not a fan of club lengths offered in modern drivers and woods. When I play metal woods these days, my drivers are now 43", 3w at 42"....

[tdelam]

Yep, it's a vicious cycle!

[bluedot]

I wondered when Stenson would come up.

Two points about his heavy use of a 3W relative to other top Tour pros:

We only know what Stenson did playing the way he played. We do NOT know, and never will, what Stenson MIGHT have done had he hit driver more of the time. Maybe he would have been worse, but maybe he would ave been better; there's no way to prove or disprove either possibility. But believing that Stenson had his success because he hit 3W a lot, rather than that he had success in spite of giving up yardage so often isn't especially solid logic.If we agree that Stenson hit 3W more than anybody else on Tour in his peak years, and put aside the question of whether or not that was his BEST possible strategy, doesn't that exception prove the rule? If nobody else on Tour was doing that, which strategy seems the best?

[Stinger83]

With some of the 3 woods today you could easily put driver away and not miss it.