3wood for someone who can't hit one

[HOLN1UK]

One thing that helped me was a swing thought -- try to hit the ball high on the face with your 3-wood (off the deck, of course). You can't really do it, but it makes you hit down on the ball more than sweep it. 

[ian-500]

If it's mainly a tee club, buy an TM Aeroburner 16* mini driver, grip down the shaft a little and bombs away.

[Springsteennut]

Pick up a 16 degree Adams Tight Lies 2. Take a nice easy swing and watch the ball go.

[lefthack]

27 minutes ago, Markrip said:

Pick up a 16 degree Adams Tight Lies 2. Take a nice easy swing and watch the ball go.

 

This. The tight lies are idiot proof, seriously. 

[Whit1969]

+1 on the 16.5 fairway wood (HL 3 wood or 4 wood). Callaway makes some great easy to hit fairways.  The original Rogue series was very easy, just not the sub  zero version.

[tehuti]

I can't hit a 3 wood. But I have found a 16° 4 wood that works for me.

Edited January 11, 2022 by tehuti

[Tiptx1122]

I just ordered a TaylorMade Stealth Plus 13.5 with Fujikura Air Speeder 45. I never had a TaylorMade fairway wood that I couldn't hit. They have been very good to me. 

[agood3putt]

Cobra Radspeed is your answer 

[KhiloD]

1 hour ago, agood3putt said:

Cobra Radspeed is your answer 

I second this. but I'd wait band see what cobra has new as from the whispers they are pretty impressive vs Radspeed. 

 

But my Radspeed 3W has been the first automatic 3W I've ever owned. 

[getitdaily]

Stz...100%

 

I've hit everything out there except ping. Stz is legit.

[nicelife]

Try different sole shapes. I am vey good at hitting fairway woods with a “round” sole like TM or Cally. Terrible with a flat sole Ping. 

[JDennis]

The easiest 3w I have ever hit is the PXG 0341 XF. It will never leave my bag. 

[nsxguy]

7 hours ago, jomatty said:

What is the specific issue you have with 3 woods?  

 

7 hours ago, Dpavs said:

 

This is a great question. OP, when you say you cannot hit a 3 wood, exactly what do you mean? I would ignore the equipment cannons until you understand exactly what you are struggling with.

 

You guys got it. 👍

 

The OP's a 3 'cap. Need to know the problem first.

 

 

7 hours ago, HOLN1UK said:

One thing that helped me was a swing thought -- try to hit the ball high on the face with your 3-wood (off the deck, of course). You can't really do it, but it makes you hit down on the ball more than sweep it. 

 

Interesting. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

As a 3-5 handicapper, I used to be a digger and couldn't hit fairway woods for love nor money. So I used a 17* hybrid as my 2nd longest club.

 

I'd already shallowed out my swing with my irons but never really thought of swapping out the 17* hybrid until about 18 months or so ago. Experimented first with a 17* fairway wood and found myself able to hit it pretty well with the shallower swing.

 

Just picked up a 14.5 Ping 425 MAX with a Tour AD-TP shaft (store had it for a ridiculous price of $189). Very easy to find the middle of the face and being a "max" it also very easy to hit straight.

 

 

[HoosierHacker89]

F7. F7. F7.

[braincramp52]

The flat soles on the Ping G425 fairway woods make them the easiest fairway wood on the market for people who struggle with hitting fairways in the first place.

[EddieEdwards]

Assuming off the deck.  More loft, shallow face, shorter shaft, heavier shaft are things that I think help.

[Lemonde]

My Cleveland launcher halo with the rails.   Large footprint, very forgiving.  Honourable mention to the Pings and also the Adam’s Tight Lies which I gamed as well .

[Go_Blue!]

12 hours ago, agood3putt said:

Cobra Radspeed is your answer 

 

2 hours ago, HoosierHacker89 said:

F7. F7. F7.

 

These guys get it. Cobra woods are the easiest to hit off of any lie. I'm guessing it's the rails on the bottom. I had been inconsistent with 3 wood for years and put a Cobra F8 in the bag a couple years ago and havent looked back.

[spartyjeff]

23 hours ago, ZA206 said:

What’s your main use? Off the deck or off the tee?

main use probably off the tee to bridge the gap between Driver and 2i. 21 off the deck flys around 250 so on par 5's anything over that as well. 

[spartyjeff]

22 hours ago, SylvesterLundgren said:

Meet me at forrest Akers driving range I’ll show ya how to hit a 3w lol but everyone is suggesting a “17” as a 4wd/5wd, but for me my 5wd is 19 degrees. I’d just say get something that is repeatable and has a easy pass. 
a lot of “4wd”s are out there and I have hit the apex UW and it (to me) felt like I was hitting a midsize fairway wood and it got up pretty nice. So if you get the chance go to Carl’s or something maybe even try a gap fitting/wood fitting to see which wood or hybrid is a good fit. 
 

plus got to be weary, there’s people out there that can hit the hell out a 6 iron but have some sort of a mental lapse when hitting a fairway or can’t even stand to hit a long iron (2-4) . Even those who keep sharing about the 4w. Probably don’t even realize that the technique they’re putting on is the same kind you should put on a fairway in general 🤷🏻‍♂️🙏🏻 Lmao the games we play 

If only I still lived in MI but Go Green!

 

I love hitting my long irons, I probably hit more 2i and 4i off the tee than anything. It's definitely a mental thing for me. 

[spartyjeff]

22 hours ago, Sparty4202 said:

You could start by turning up your 915 2* and make it a 4 wood…if that helps find yourself a better option in 17-19*. Personally after struggling with fairway woods, I’ve had really good results with the Callaway Epics.

GO GREEN!! 

Go white!

 

Been thinking about trying the epics with the connection I have or the UW.

[hzppby]

I can't hit a 3 wood off the deck, I have g410 5 wood cranked down to 16.5, love this off the deck and tee.  Had to get over the smaller head but besides that its great.

[spartyjeff]

18 hours ago, jomatty said:

What is the specific issue you have with 3 woods?  

Depends on the day, really I think it's more of a mental thing but I'd say more times than not I change my swing because the look of it at address. I have a pretty steep swing 

[spartyjeff]

10 hours ago, nsxguy said:

 

 

You guys got it. 👍

 

The OP's a 3 'cap. Need to know the problem first.

 

 

 

Interesting. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

As a 3-5 handicapper, I used to be a digger and couldn't hit fairway woods for love nor money. So I used a 17* hybrid as my 2nd longest club.

 

I'd already shallowed out my swing with my irons but never really thought of swapping out the 17* hybrid until about 18 months or so ago. Experimented first with a 17* fairway wood and found myself able to hit it pretty well with the shallower swing.

 

Just picked up a 14.5 Ping 425 MAX with a Tour AD-TP shaft (store had it for a ridiculous price of $189). Very easy to find the middle of the face and being a "max" it also very easy to hit straight.

 

 

Man you just hit it on the head for me and described my issue perfectly. 

[spartyjeff]

17 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

I think the big issue with 3w usually comes from the faces being too deep (for me personally at least).  Might look for a shallower faced 3w like the Pings?

 

Do that or if you like hybrids try out the UW (its on my radar for sure for 2022) or the Super Hybrid.  Or if you're lucky like me, find the Adams Idea Pro 16* hybrid :).

Completely forgot about these! So you just cost me $40 off 2nd swing haha I sold the heck out out of those back in college and loved them

[darkhelmet]

I'm kind of in the same boat.  I finally put a different shaft into an old 3W head, and that seems to be working better so far, but the one new club that really intrigued me was the Callaway Epic Super Hybrid.  They make a 2h at 16^o that might fit the bill for you, plus you can tinker with it to dial in a loft/lie combo that works best for you.

[ewaldbeukes]

18 minutes ago, spartyjeff said:

main use probably off the tee to bridge the gap between Driver and 2i. 21 off the deck flys around 250 so on par 5's anything over that as well. 

14-16 Degree Hybrid with a slightly longer shaft ie 41-42 inches.

 

I struggled with the same thing and have often though of doing the above. Eventually put a shorter, heavier shaft in my Cobra 14.5 degree and its done the trick (42.5" shaft)... but could definitely game a strong lofted Hybrid / Iron with a longer shaft as a replacement. 

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, spartyjeff said:

Man you just hit it on the head for me and described my issue perfectly. 

 

One sometimes recognizes similar symptoms.

 

If you're a big hitter, a possible solution may be, as you already acknowledged with @J_Tizzle suggestion, a shallow faced 3 wood as the horizontal COG on a shallower fairway wood is almost certainly lower in the face than a deep faced fairway. Might help.

 

It's almost certainly easier than shallowing your swing (Maybe )

 

Then again, if you hit a hybrid fairly well, a strong(er) hybrid probably wouldn't cost you too much in distance over an actual 3 wood.

 

Good luck 👍

[J_Tizzle]

2 hours ago, spartyjeff said:

Completely forgot about these! So you just cost me $40 off 2nd swing haha I sold the heck out out of those back in college and loved them

 

I LOVE these, I think its the offset that I like, these have the tiniest bit of offset that helps me hit down on the ball more.

 

I have 16/18/20 degree ones and haven't gotten the 16* on the course yet so not sure how it'll work, but in my mind it sounds great :).

[Billfitz]

I pulled my 3, 5 and 7 woods, replaced them with 2, 3 and 4 hybrids, with the shafts extended to the same length that the woods were. It's not that I couldn't hit the woods, I just didn't get the accuracy I wanted, especially off the deck. The hybrids are just as long, but I control them better, and I can hit them out of moderate rough where the woods never worked.