I hit my 3 Wood better than my driver. So now.......

[dap]

What is the loft on your driver, and how far do you hit it.

 

Like the other person said, maybe you need more loft on it. And put a 4 or 5-wood in your bag instead of 3-wood.

I second this advice. There are a lot of pros using 10.5 degree drivers, a few even 12 degrees and they swing 115mph. The average player swinging 93 mph really needs at least 14 deg if not more. If you swing less than 95mph and you hit a high ball with a 10.5 deg driver then you have a flippy swing and not doing it properly. A proper 93 mph swing with a 10.5 deg driver will be too low. I'm just amazed that golf shops stock mainly 10.5 deg drivers and below.

 

Driver 14 deg and 3 wood 18 deg should be about right for the average player.

[Ri_Redneck]

Depending on what it costs to repair yours: I just bought a Cobra Fly-Z. They're down to $179. I set it to the highest setting, 12 degrees, and seem to be hitting it farther and straighter than my previous driver which was 10.5 fixed. I also have a 9 degree driver, but get a low ball flight and have trouble controlling the left/right. Try hitting a higher lofted driver and see what it does.

 

The one I have now is an older Cobra (Amp Cell). It can go to 11.5 but I've never really messed with it much because I've been so inconsistent. I'm just getting to the point where I'm starting to make more consistent contact.

 

To add insult to injury if I do end up replacing it, I just had a new grip put on it yesterday.

 

The AMP Cell is a much higher spinning driver head than the Bio cell or Fly-Z models. I have all three and find the BC and FZ longer.

 

And Yeah!! Make sure the head is secure and I bet you get accuracy AND distance back pretty quick. Check that screw before each round too.

 

BT

[jbrunk]

What the 3 wood is doing for you that your driver is not.... is that you are hitting the center of the 3 wood more consistently, with a better swing and with better control. Guess what, I do the same thing. I can hit my driver 270 when I hit it well, it is a 50/50 shot, probably closer to 40/60. When I use my 3 wood it is closer to 90/10 and I hit it 250-260 90% of the time. I have better control and can find the center of the face sooooo much easier. I have a driver in the bag just in case, but use my 3 wood 98% of the time.

 

 

Deff bag the driver unless you have an extra club that you really could use. I have driver in the bag as a just in case my swing goes to crap.... it has happened a couple times.

 

This is me too, I'm pretty streaky with my driver and will go quickly to 3W if it misbehaves. If I'm hitting driver well, I top the 3W more often and catch my irons thin. For some reason I can't always compartmentalize my driver swing from everything else.

 

So for the last three rounds, I have DUMPED my driver entirely. Gone! I mostly wanted to break up my late summer malaise, scoring was stuck in the upper 80s. So I've been teeing it forward (to 6000y) with 3W off the tee, to work on hitting more greens from a better position, rather than rescuing my offline tee shots half the time. Good results so far, shot 83 and 80 the last 2 rounds with almost double the GIRs.

 

So for the OP, glad it was a quick fix for your driver head, but put it on notice and keep grooving that 3 wood!

 

 

[Girevik]

Hitting both off the tee is exactly what I was thinking of ding my next round.

 

My current driver can only to to 11.5, and I'd is currently at 10.5. If I ever lean to hit it, I'll start playing with loft. I don't think I'm in the market for a new one in the near term.

[bluedot]

Hitting both off the tee is exactly what I was thinking of ding my next round.

 

My current driver can only to to 11.5, and I'd is currently at 10.5. If I ever lean to hit it, I'll start playing with loft. I don't think I'm in the market for a new one in the near term.

 

Unless I've missed it, you haven't ever said what (other than distance) is going on with your driver. Do you slice? Do you have two-way misses? These things make a difference in trying to figure out what's going on.

 

Another factor that you might consider is your mindset when you hit the driver vs the 3W. There are a LOT of players who make a completely different swing with their driver than with any other club in the bag, including the 3W, because they think that they can/should be hitting it 300 yards. All kinds of swing flaws can come along when we do this, so one idea is to be VERY intentional about your aiming point off the tee with the driver, whether it's an intermediate point in front of you or a tree in the distance. Make that line the goal, rather than how far the ball goes, and "trick" yourself into thinking that you are swinging the best club in your bag (7 iron, a hybrid, whatever).

 

The other thought I have for you is the setup of the club, since you say that you aren't going to change drivers anytime soon. If your misses tend to be to the right, set the club on the highest loft setting that you can and play that way for awhile. I'm not a believer in the importance of a degree of loft (if the loft is changing at all, which I don't believe; see Tom Wishon's video on this subject) but I DO believe in the change in the face angle. If you go to that setting, you'll be closing the clubface a little, and maybe reduce some of your worst misses. Good players always try to take one side of the course out of play off the tee; give it a try, and focus less on how FAR you hit the driver.

 

As to the loft experiment, you can pick up a high-lofted driver for a very small price and make a fairly cheap experiment out of it; you might be surprised. Again, your experience with your 3W is telling you that loft if your friend; now imagine that you have a 460 cc version of your 3W to hit off a tee!

[DrainedTheEagle]

The driver is longer and therefore harder to control. To make room for the club you have to goat hump more.

[Girevik]

 

Unless I've missed it, you haven't ever said what (other than distance) is going on with your driver. Do you slice? Do you have two-way misses? These things make a difference in trying to figure out what's going on.

 

 

Well, all of the above. But I'm still having issue with all my clubs so that's not my main concern (other than when I miss with my diver it hurts more than when I miss with something else). For the most part it's distance; my 3W was traveling as far as my driver, and at times it seemed farther.

 

My neighbor I was golfing with said that he had heard that most armatures hit 3W longer because they can't generate enough head speed with the driver, but hit the driver out of sheer pride. That's really all I was trying to get at; am I doing something wrong, or is it a just the physical difference4 between me and the pros?

[VPSax]

Thanks to this thread, I had a stellar driving day. I play a Callaway XR 10.5 degree driver. Never tried lofting up...until today. Cranked it up +2 degrees and put it at a neutral setting. Nothing but straight and long. In fact, I could not hit my 3 wood today at all. Definitely unrelated (operator error).

[bluedot]

Unless I've missed it, you haven't ever said what (other than distance) is going on with your driver. Do you slice? Do you have two-way misses? These things make a difference in trying to figure out what's going on.

 

 

Well, all of the above. But I'm still having issue with all my clubs so that's not my main concern (other than when I miss with my diver it hurts more than when I miss with something else). For the most part it's distance; my 3W was traveling as far as my driver, and at times it seemed farther.

 

My neighbor I was golfing with said that he had heard that most armatures hit 3W longer because they can't generate enough head speed with the driver, but hit the driver out of sheer pride. That's really all I was trying to get at; am I doing something wrong, or is it a just the physical difference4 between me and the pros?

 

Amateurs that hit their 3W longer than their driver do that because of technique and/or equipment, not club head speed. There a lots of players with relatively low swing speeds that hit their driver well, and significantly farther than any 3W; what they have in common is good mechanics and a driver that suits them.

 

I'll repeat what others have said: Loft is your friend, and your 3W proves that. Get a driver that has more loft; you might be amazed at the difference.

 

(And don't take any more advice from your neighbor! :) )

[DrainedTheEagle]

My Callaway 2 wood has been money for twenty years. The deuce. 13 degrees of loft.

I've regripped it 5 times, and the shaft just broke yesterday.

[Girevik]

(And don't take any more advice from your neighbor! :) )

 

Well, to be fair he was quoting what he had heard someone else say. He crushes his driver. I mean, not by WRX standards, but by mere mortal standards.

 

Hopefully I'll continue to get more consistent and I can play with lofting my driver up, but as I said it only goes to 11.5. If I get the point where I'm hitting it consistently and can try something with more loft and get convinced it's a making a difference I'll make the investment. Right now I don't feel I can compare since I can't be sure if it's the club or the swing

[dap]

You can get a Taylormade r15 14 degree driver new for next to nothing these days. You can get one for about $80 plus shipping from a few eBay sellers.

 

It's just basically a larger,lighter,longer and more forgiving 3 wood to hit off a tee.

[Hoganstriker]

This is classic. Ask Henrik Stenson about it.

 

I seem to have lost his cell number. Also, I'm about the farthest thing there is from a pro, so I try not to base what I do on what they can do.

 

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question and I'm wasting everyone's time or something. It's usually not so hard to get a straight answer around here.

 

I don't know what your game is, nor how fast and/or how well you swing it, but unless you can't hit 200 yards with your driver/3w, I don't see how a properly fit driver wouldn't get you at least a little more distance than a three wood.

 

I am not a long hitter by any mean, but I can drive it 250 all day and will regularly push it near 270 on a good roll, so my situation might not relate to yours, I don't know. That being said, I am actually more confortable with a driver than I am with a three wood, although I still can hit my 3W fairly well, in the 220-245 yards range. That wasn't always the case however. I had to learn how to hit the driver properly to get decent figure. My swing is probably not what it should be as far as what a perfect driver swing is, but it works for me. You need to find a driver and a swing that works together and learn how to hit it, I don't see why that shouldn't be possible. Just the other day, I was playing with my father in law and we were paired with 2 single players. One of they had this very strange set up where he would stand way too close to the ball, had the face of the club completely shut (reducing the loft of the clubs by several degrees I'm sure!) and hitting the ball completely out of balance, finishing every single swing on his right foot with the left leg almost in the air, ready to fall on his bottom. I am exaggerating, but not much, true story. He was hitting a high pull slice that carried 225-245 yards all the time. He was hitting most of the fairways also. Honestly, that's a golfer who made the most out of his swing. I don't know for the love of god why he doesn't try to fix his posture and balance issue, seems to me like an easier fix, but standing close to the ball, shutting the face and hitting down with a ott swing worked for him. Maybe you need to find something that works for you.

But by all mean, if you hit your 3W that much better and enjoy it just as much as a driver, keep using it. I just don't see how someone can hit a 3W very well and can't find a driver that works just as well, especially of the tee, where both swings are similar in my view.

 

edit : I also meant to wish you success with your driver adventure. I well struck drive is very a very fun thing.

 

The slice guy had clubface control that's why he succeeded.

[Girevik]

You can get a Taylormade r15 14 degree driver new for next to nothing these days. You can get one for about $80 plus shipping from a few eBay sellers.

 

It's just basically a larger,lighter,longer and more forgiving 3 wood to hit off a tee.

 

I see a few auctions that are close to 80 on either side, but have several hours left. Is there a particular seller you can recommend, or is it just a matter of trying to get lucky on an auction?

[MrJones]

My thoughts are that with the smaller 3 wood head, people concentrate more on making solid contact. A nice smooth controlled swing with a 3 wood on the screws beats a loose swing with the driver off the toe or heel.

 

I think this is why is very important to consistently tee your ball up the same height every time with driver. Tee it high and let it fly can work but it's harder for us amateurs to be consistent.

[dap]

You can get a Taylormade r15 14 degree driver new for next to nothing these days. You can get one for about $80 plus shipping from a few eBay sellers.

 

It's just basically a larger,lighter,longer and more forgiving 3 wood to hit off a tee.

 

I see a few auctions that are close to 80 on either side, but have several hours left. Is there a particular seller you can recommend, or is it just a matter of trying to get lucky on an auction?

I've bought from Quickshipgolf before and have had no problems. If you look at the feedbacks, the 14degree r15's are selling for around 80 so I wouldn't bid much more than that. They seem to have quite a bit of stock so be patient if you don't win the first one you bid on.

 

 

[Girevik]

And there's no question about authenticity? They're still like $230 at Golf Galaxy. That seems too good to be true.

 

I hate to buy a club without hitting it, especially one as different as a 14 degree driver, but at that price it's almost a no-brainer.

[dap]

If you read their feedback they don't seem to have any complaints about counterfeit clubs. Only the 14 deg model is this cheap. The 12 deg is getting higher bids. I can imagine not many players would want to buy a 14 deg driver.

[Girevik]

Hmmm....I hate being tempted to spend money. But then again I'm seeing used ones for $180 so I have to think I could get my money back out of it.

 

It looks like it has adjustable loft. What are the loft options on the 14*?

[dap]

I believe the r15 is adjustable 2 degrees up or down so for the 14 degree the range would be 12 to 16.

 

A higher lofted driver encourages you to hit the ball properly with a flat or arched left wrist and forward shaft lean. If you get flippy you will know about it with a ridiculous high ball.

[bluedot]

Hmmm....I hate being tempted to spend money. But then again I'm seeing used ones for $180 so I have to think I could get my money back out of it.

 

It looks like it has adjustable loft. What are the loft options on the 14*?

 

I'm going to urge you to do two things before you buy a driver.

 

1. Watch the video link below about how adjustable drivers really work. There is a LOT of difference of opinion about this, but I believe what Mr. Wishon says in the video 100%, and my launch angles as a driver fitting on Trackman verify it, at least for me.

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1081535-how-adjustable-drivers-actually-work-everyone-should-be-required-to-watch-this-to-be-allowed-to-post-on-this-site-thanks-tom-wishon/

 

2. After you've done that, buy a driver on which the standard setting is the loft that you want, rather than thinking that you will add loft by changing the setting. Even IF the loft is changing, it is only a degree or two, which is less than half of the difference between any two of your irons. THEN change the setting to open (lower the loft) or closed (raise the loft), depending on your default miss.

 

But no matter what you do, I'd urge you to give more loft a try sooner than later. I think it's very likely that you'll hit the ball farther AND straighter, and enjoy the game much, much more.

 

Good luck!

[Girevik]

 

After you've done that, buy a driver on which the standard setting is the loft that you want, rather than thinking that you will add loft by changing the setting. Even IF the loft is changing, it is only a degree or two, which is less than half of the difference between any two of your irons. THEN change the setting to open (lower the loft) or closed (raise the loft), depending on your default miss.

 

 

I wasn't planning on tweaking the loft unless I felt I had to, but was wondering what the options were. I'll definitely watch the video.

 

 

But no matter what you do, I'd urge you to give more loft a try sooner than later. I think it's very likely that you'll hit the ball farther AND straighter, and enjoy the game much, much more.

 

 

But now much is enough, and how do I achieve it? Based on your views on the adjustable drivers, I'm guessing you'd say that upping my current driver from 10.5 to 11.5 is not going to cut it. So I need to decide if I want to pull the trigger on the 14* R15 and trust I can get my money back out of it if I don't like it.

[jslane57]

There is a ton of good advice on this thread. But I don't care how well fit your driver is for you, a 3-wood is just easier to hit for most golfers. Convincing you to spend big bucks to find a driver that truly hits better than the modern 3-wood is every OEM's goal for you. And for many, a fruitless, expensive proposition. Yes, get fit. Yes, buy the best club for you. No, don't expect it to be any better than your 3-wood in most real life situations. I have seen a few guys get fit and truly gain lots of yards and accuracy, but it's rare, because you've still got to swing the club...

[Girevik]

That's all well and good, but a driver fitting / expensive upgrade isn't something I'm willing to consider right now. Currently I have basically 3 options:

 

1. Keep working on the driver until I learn to hit it.

2. Bury the driver with a shovel and bury the shovel; hit 3W.

3. Get a new driver on the cheap like the 14° R15.

 

FWIW, Right now I'd love to start scoring better, but my primary goal is improving.

[dap]

Keep in mind adjustable lofts on drivers is a bit of a gimmick. Those adjustable hosels work by opening and closing the clubface. Loft is the same assuming you rest the club on it's sole. Loft is only changed when you twist the club open or closed back to square.

[jslane57]

If you can hit your driver 225-250, but are going to spend money on a 14 degree driver that is not fit for you based on answers to a golf thread:

 

Just stick with the 3-wood. Or put a budget R flex mid weight shaft in your old driver, and see how that does.

 

IMO, a 14 degree driver is only something you buy if fitted perfectly for it, as well as the shaft...

[BKN1964]

Some additional info from my perspective: My driver SS is probably ~95 mph. I bought a used 12.5 degree Adams Speedline 9088 UL driver several months back (less than $50). I haven't played with it much because it has a weird-shaped face that makes it difficult for me to figure out if it's square to the target and where the middle of the face is. I took it to the course last night, and even on hits that felt terrible, I found myself much farther down the fairway than I have been with any of my other drivers, including my new Cobra Fly-Z set to 12 degrees.

 

I think this warrants more experimentation from my part. Easy distance off the tee will allow me to focus where I really need to right now: short game and putting.

[k1enneth]

I hit 3 wood better than driver also, here is my reason. I grew up hitting drivers from the '60's. Smaller head, not this 460cc monster 1957 Chevy Impala size head of today. The current 3-woods of today resemble the old drivers that I used in the past, plus the materials are hugely improved and carbon fiber shaft. I say smaller head looks more streamlined and is easier on the eye. I think that my driver 460cc head is larger and will torque more under swing dynamics, causing off center hits. 3 wood is smaller and doesn't torque therefore more on center hits, better control, and there is your distance!

What Stenson said about his 3-wood is this "The manufacturers are limited on drivers to the "trampoline effect" by USGA rules, but not so much on the other woods". He was inferring that the face of the 3 woods can be hotter/thinner/more engineered. Maybe Stenson customized his to psyche out the competition. Or it could be in his head (brain) that its better than driver. They say some of the older players like Nicklaus would test out more than a dozen drivers to find the "hottest" one.

And regarding your Driver, the best solution might be to fix it inexpensively...leave it out of the bag on your next couple of rounds to see how your score improves...and come back to it in one month. I had almost given up golf as I had bought a Callaway X-2 hot new driver last year and could not get rid of my slice. Yes, occasionally I could connect on it 2/10 drives. It was useless. But I had been warned by others that it was a relationship and you had to sleep with the darn thing to make it work. So 9 months later and a lot of range time to slow down my driver tempo and get consistent center of face hits makes the difference. There is a youtube video on driver gear effect, combined with an off-center face strike will cause awful results. And it takes a lot of range time with that face strike tape or foot powder to determine where on the face of the ball you are connecting. I was heeling the ball on the driver face, combined with gear effect, caused banana slice of 220yards long but 50 yards right in the trees. After all the range time and stance adjustments, now more like 260yards+ and you could lay sprinkler pipe on most of my drives. Next few times you play a round count all the fairways that you reach with the 3 wood as compared with your Driver. Accuracy outweighs distance for lower scores. And that is what your looking for right?

[jbrunk]

That's all well and good, but a driver fitting / expensive upgrade isn't something I'm willing to consider right now. Currently I have basically 3 options:

 

1. Keep working on the driver until I learn to hit it.

2. Bury the driver with a shovel and bury the shovel; hit 3W.

3. Get a new driver on the cheap like the 14° R15.

 

FWIW, Right now I'd love to start scoring better, but my primary goal is improving.

 

Ha ha, definitely no. 2! You could even bury the shovel with your sand wedge.

[Girevik]

I think what I'm going to do for now, unless I break down and go to a box store and hit the R15 even though I have no intention of buying it there, is to use my 3W off the tee for now, but continue to work on the driver on the range. If I'm playing around and there's no one behind us, I'll try hitting both so I can more accurately compare results.

 

Accuracy outweighs distance for lower scores. And that is what your looking for right?

 

Lower scores in the long run, yes. I don't want totally give up on the driver to save a few strokes now if 2 years from now I'd be scoring better had I kept at it.