Using a 4 or 5 wood as driver alternative instead of mini driver or 3 wood?

[Vater]

My driver has gone to garbage - though there's a glimmer of hope after going to the range and overhauling my entire setup (always a good sign, right?).

 

So I thought I could take a hiatus from driver and tried a 3 wood and mini driver on a trackman...

 

And my best alternative to my driver is.......... my 5 wood that I have turned down to 17deg. Beautiful, straight, high trajectory tee shots.

 

The carry on the 3 wood and mini were hardly any better and I was less consistent with them. Of course some of that can be attributed to familiarity and shaft. I guess I'm happy to save the $$$.

 

4/5 wood = the ultimate mini driver?

 

Anyone else skip the 3 wood or mini and using a 4 or 5 wood as their main driver alternative?

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

I've had days where I felt like I could melt my driver with laser eyes....... so I've occasionally taken out a hybrid. Punching a good one out there straight might make for a longer approach, but I'd say it is comparable to a 5 Wood, so if you can hit it well it'll always trump teeing off with a club you don't hit well.

 

I find my driver behaves better when I slow down and ensure I'm anchored well at the feet. When I get out of control, it's usually because I'm using parts of my body to generate rotation that I shouldn't. Getting that back in check makes for better drives. Yet, until you can work out your troubles there's absolutely nothing wrong with using a shorter club that you're confident in.... not at all.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Mikey_HACKilroy

[kthomas]

In the past I've resorted to using 3W off the tee when driver feels off.

 

I think the best solution is developing a "FW finder" swing with the driver. For me, that's teeing the ball a bit lower, slightly further back in my stance, and taking about a ~90% swing. 

[Binson]

It's a bandaid but if it's the longest club you can keep in play at the moment off the tee, then it's the right play for now until you can get the Driver working again. 

[gvogel]

For me, it was more fun to find a mini driver or very strong 3-wood.  I don't need that many clubs in my bag at my age, and getting the ball in the fairway is more important than most else.  If I am in the fairway, I will find a way to get on the green or close, and get up and down.

 

Lately playing driver, mini, 5-wood, 5-hybrid, 7 - PW, SW, putter.  From the senior tees, as I have turned 70 and "graduated."

[Vater]

I guess my scenario is just a real life nexus of various threads on here - 5 wood as your only fairway… alternatives off the tee… size/shape of drivers back in the day…

 

Since I’m using only 12 clubs right now, maybe it would be fun to find a mini driver, though it would be a one trick pony. 

[Roejye]

2 hours ago, Vater said:

though it would be a one trick pony. 

I'm a big fan of one trick pony clubs at the top end of the bag. My favorite club was one I bought specifically for one par 3 at my home course and I just found ways to use it more often. 

 

My current setup is 8.5° driver, 12° driver, 19° hybrid. There's some distance overlap with the 2 drivers but one is much easier to hit, I'm just giving up some top end distance and it's most likely useless into wind. I had a couple rounds after about a 2 week layoff where neither driver was working so I just hit 3 hybrid until I felt like I got the swing more situated. 

[bvanlieu]

I'm of the opinion that the driver is the easiest club to tee off with, provided there is no danger in distance, e.g. you only have 225 of fairway until water, then you hit a target shot (iron/hybrid/FW) off tee. 

 

The big honking driver club face gives me the best chance to hit the bloody thing.

 

Now, when my driver goes out to lunch, to me its 43-44' club time to get my groove back, which is in the range of modern 3/4w. I choke down and start hitting punt shots until stella gets her groove back. 😄

 

 

[Nickc]

I also prefer, especially if carrying only a few clubs, to use a 5 wood for tee and long fairway shots.

I do not like modern driver large faces ...more chance to hit off centre!....much prefer a persimmon driver or 2 wood with a nice small face!

[mshills]

I don’t know…..my position is driver is the easiest club in the bag to hit and I cannot wait to hit driver. If you drop down to a 4w as your longest club you are giving up too much off the tee IMHO. 

[Kai Slater]

Yes, I 100% do this very thing.  I have no problem pulling out the old Cleveland Quadpro 5 wood (19*) or the 23* hybrid for those times when I need a fairway and don't fully trust the driver.  In fact, I really only the use driver when I have a wide open fairway and, playing only around 6000 yards, I can get away with a shorter tee shot with the fairway wood most times.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Kai Slater

[ARSM1932]

5 hours ago, bvanlieu said:

I'm of the opinion that the driver is the easiest club to tee off with, provided there is no danger in distance, e.g. you only have 225 of fairway until water, then you hit a target shot (iron/hybrid/FW) off tee. 

 

The big honking driver club face gives me the best chance to hit the bloody thing.

 

Now, when my driver goes out to lunch, to me its 43-44' club time to get my groove back, which is in the range of modern 3/4w. I choke down and start hitting punt shots until stella gets her groove back. 😄

 

 

The driver may be an easy club to hit off the tee for some players but hitting it straight enough to hit a reasonable number of fairways is a different matter entirely, Rory, Rahmbo and plenty of other tour players are obsessed with hitting their driver even on short par 4s when they should be hitting 3 iron and sand wedge, even when they are hitting it off the planet both left and right as Rory and Rahmbo have been doing recently they continue to hit driver into the junk most holes.

 

For me, 3 wood and 2 hybrid are much easier to hit fairways with but I suppose some players are better with their driver despite the much longer shaft.

[Louis_Posture]

20 hours ago, Vater said:

 

 

And my best alternative to my driver is.......... my 5 wood that I have turned down to 17deg. Beautiful, straight, high trajectory tee shots.

 

 

If you want to shoot lower scores, play the 5-wood from the par 4 and par 5 tee boxes.

[Lord Helmet]

I always struggle with these situations.  The 'driver is garbage' so I goto a 3/5W, etc....

 

So what happens when THAT club goes to pot?  Then what?  4i? 5i?

 

Gotta work thru the driver - get it sorted.  Sure, there are rounds when the driver is off and it hurts my score, and I do switch up to my 3w on holes where Id usually play driver, but just for the round.

 

Then its back to the range to work, work, work.

 

Im just not a fan of ditching it tho and replacing since inevitably the next club will do the same at some point.

[Kai Slater]

27 minutes ago, Lord Helmet said:

I always struggle with these situations.  The 'driver is garbage' so I goto a 3/5W, etc....

 

So what happens when THAT club goes to pot?  Then what?  4i? 5i?

 

Gotta work thru the driver - get it sorted.  Sure, there are rounds when the driver is off and it hurts my score, and I do switch up to my 3w on holes where Id usually play driver, but just for the round.

 

Then its back to the range to work, work, work.

 

Im just not a fan of ditching it tho and replacing since inevitably the next club will do the same at some point.

This is exactly what I did when my driver went to pot.  Actually, it wasn't the driver, it was my crappy swing flaws, which no piece of equipment was going to fix.  So, it was off the range to work on my driver set up and, what do you know, now I can hit my driver nearly every time with a slight fade or a manageable slice if it goes wrong.

 

Otherwise, my 23* hybrid has served me well on many  short par 4's.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Kai Slater

[Lord Helmet]

I used my driver 8 times yesterday on a 6200 combo white/blue tees.  Other times it was 3w, 19* or 24* irons.  Could have used driver 4 more times (other 2 were too short - severe dog legs) but I dropped back and played to the wide spots in FW to give approach shots into greens.  And I needed to hit driver 8x on the course and holes I did.  Not having that in bag would have killed my 79.  Thats what I mean about folks just dumping the club and dropping down to 3w/5w.  What happens then when that option goes to pot?

 

I personally feel dumping it (not saying OP is doing that) is not the way to go.  Go grind it out at the range. We have all been there.  I choke up, T it down, play for a fade.  Sure, its spinny and short but then you start getting comfortable and can work from there.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Lord Helmet

[RoyalMustang]

24 minutes ago, Lord Helmet said:

I used my driver 8 times yesterday on a 6200 combo white/blue tees.  Other times it was 3w, 19* or 24* irons.  Could have used driver 4 more times (other 2 were too short - severe dog legs) but I dropped back and played to the wide spots in FW to give approach shots into greens.  And I needed to hit driver 8x on the course and holes I did.  Not having that in bag would have killed my 79.  Thats what I mean about folks just dumping the club and dropping down to 3w/5w.  What happens then when that option goes to pot?

 

I personally feel dumping it (not saying OP is doing that) is not the way to go.  Go grind it out at the range. We have all been there.  I choke up, T it down, play for a fade.  Sure, its spinny and short but then you start getting comfortable and can work from there.

 

Spinny and short for me is still a good 30 yards past my 4W, and who doesn't want 30 yards? If I hit my driver well with a full swing, more like 60. 

[Lemonde]

I’m usually less than driver when there is trouble enough off a tee that any mishit will exaggerate to a major miss.   I can hit the mini relatively straight without the exaggeration.  For the driver a wild miss could be 40 yards left or right and so it limits my options.  Fortunately I hit my irons a long way so don’t worry too much about a 175+ shot into a green.  

[kthomas]

8 hours ago, Lord Helmet said:

I always struggle with these situations.  The 'driver is garbage' so I goto a 3/5W, etc....

 

So what happens when THAT club goes to pot?  Then what?  4i? 5i?

 

Gotta work thru the driver - get it sorted.  Sure, there are rounds when the driver is off and it hurts my score, and I do switch up to my 3w on holes where Id usually play driver, but just for the round.

 

Then its back to the range to work, work, work.

 

Im just not a fan of ditching it tho and replacing since inevitably the next club will do the same at some point.

 

The solution is to develop a reliable fairway finder swing with the driver.

 

Trying to do it through equipment is just a crutch, and not beneficial to anyone's game, IMO.

[Poor Mans Ty Webb]

Working on a setup where driver is built to play a fade and FW is built to play a draw. Skipping the 3w because I almost never hit it off the deck and going to an 18ish degree 5w. Dropping down to a utility 4i from there. In theory, this gives me three tee club options. Fades with the driver are grooved. I’m just struggling to dial in the 5w to hit the draw shape I’m looking for, but if I get it dialed in, it’s gonna get used for long approaches and for tee shots that favor a draw/less yardage than a driver. 

 

Used to carry a 3w/7w/4i set up, but like you I’m trying to drop to 12 clubs to make walking easier. If I add back a club between driver and 5w, I won’t care what it is, just so long as I can comfortably draw it off the tee. But I don’t see a significant difference between 3w and 5w other than distance, and I’ll be happy with what a draw with a 5w will get me off the tee.

[MS.71]

Seems like a lot of potential distance you're giving up. If you're hitting it well stick with it for now but as I'm sure you know you really want to get that sorted out. Have you tried 3 wood head in a 5 wood shaft length? And then potentially turn that down to 13/14ish degrees and see if you're able to deliver it the same as the 5w but sneak out another 4-5* of loft and hit it that much further.

[jarediogolf]

17 hours ago, bvanlieu said:

I'm of the opinion that the driver is the easiest club to tee off with, provided there is no danger in distance, e.g. you only have 225 of fairway until water, then you hit a target shot (iron/hybrid/FW) off tee. 

 

The big honking driver club face gives me the best chance to hit the bloody thing.

 

Now, when my driver goes out to lunch, to me its 43-44' club time to get my groove back, which is in the range of modern 3/4w. I choke down and start hitting punt shots until stella gets her groove back. 😄

 

 

I’ve come full circle on this. 
Bought a low lofted hybrid (16*) to serve as an alternative tee club (specifically on draw holes). Worked good!
But in an effort to make that work, and applying the same principles to the driver I’ve learned to hit really controlled driver shots, with the big face it’s just easier. 
I put a larger grip on my driver that has made face control easier, it also makes choking all the way up easier as well. Also added a bigger weight to the rear. If I want to hit a shorter controlled draw I just choke up on it with a slightly closed face and setup for contact on the toe and it just draws on demand. 
Short fade? Choke up, open the face, swing like an iron, it’s a controlled shorter spinny fade. 
Now I’d rather hit driver than any alternate tee club. 
So I’ll probably sell the hybrid and add back another low profile wood that is easier to hit off the deck for mo’ distance. 

[Lord Helmet]

18 hours ago, Kai Slater said:

This is exactly what I did when my driver went to pot.  Actually, it wasn't the driver, it was my crappy swing flaws, which no piece of equipment was going to fix.  So, it was off the range to work on my driver set up and, what do you know, now I can hit my driver nearly every time with a slight fade or a manageable slice if it goes wrong.

 

Otherwise, my 23* hybrid has served me well on many  short par 4's.

 

17 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

Spinny and short for me is still a good 30 yards past my 4W, and who doesn't want 30 yards? If I hit my driver well with a full swing, more like 60. 

 

Absolutely

[RoyalMustang]

4 hours ago, Lord Helmet said:

 

 

Absolutely

 

I can't nail the "fairway finder" 100% of the time yet, but if I slow down and focus on my tempo and mechanics, I'm usually in a good spot. Distance will be the same as my 3W but that plays to a draw a bit more and the driver is more of a fade. When it's tight but the hole is long and 240 yards is not an option off the tee, having that swing in your pocket is massive. 

 

A realization came when I "moved up a tee" from tips to regular men's on a round recently. I just swung easier; I was giving up those 30 yards but was in the fairway most of the day. Shot a 75, which is really solid for me. Trying to cruise at the 285 off the tee mark vs always trying to be 310+ made life a lot easier. I didn't realize that I was swinging "hard" until I stopped swinging hard and just made sure I was in a good position to attack the pin. 

 

Of course, when I play the tips, 285 will leave you with a 8-iron while 310 is more like a full GW. I'd rather be 8-iron from the fairway instead of 310 with a big draw and in deep rough though, or worse! 

 

It gets you thinking that while you "may" be able to carry the ball 300 and that your game looks similar to tour-level pros; the difference is that most aren't selling out for power. It's like a decent hitter who can either hit for average or power, but not both. The best hitters in baseball are batting .290, taking their walks, and still slugging .600 with 35 homers a season. The other guys that sell out for power have higher strikeout rates and lower averages. The guys who always put the ball in play rarely get extra-base hits but get on base a lot: some of them could hit for power but it would reduce their effectiveness elsewhere. 

 

 

[RH82]

I've been driverless for the past two seasons and tbh I have never missed it once. The course I play at isn't overly long but its tight and I can get my 15* 3 wood out there 270ish and I have a lot more playable shots from the fairway/rough. One of these days I may go for a proper driver fitting but for now, my setup works.

Edited August 22, 2023 by RH82

[Louis_Posture]

4 minutes ago, RH82 said:

I've been driverless for the past two seasons and tbh I have never missed it once. The course I play at isn't overly long but its tight and I can get my 15* 3 wood out there 270ish and I have a lot more playable shots from the fairway/rough. One of these days I may go for a proper driver fitting but for now, my setup works.

 

One great benefit to less-than-driver from the tee boxes is that it eliminates the tempo wrecking "hit it hard" mentality that most have with a driver.

 

[Lord Helmet]

1 hour ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

I can't nail the "fairway finder" 100% of the time yet, but if I slow down and focus on my tempo and mechanics, I'm usually in a good spot. Distance will be the same as my 3W but that plays to a draw a bit more and the driver is more of a fade. When it's tight but the hole is long and 240 yards is not an option off the tee, having that swing in your pocket is massive. 

 

A realization came when I "moved up a tee" from tips to regular men's on a round recently. I just swung easier; I was giving up those 30 yards but was in the fairway most of the day. Shot a 75, which is really solid for me. Trying to cruise at the 285 off the tee mark vs always trying to be 310+ made life a lot easier. I didn't realize that I was swinging "hard" until I stopped swinging hard and just made sure I was in a good position to attack the pin. 

 

Of course, when I play the tips, 285 will leave you with a 8-iron while 310 is more like a full GW. I'd rather be 8-iron from the fairway instead of 310 with a big draw and in deep rough though, or worse! 

 

It gets you thinking that while you "may" be able to carry the ball 300 and that your game looks similar to tour-level pros; the difference is that most aren't selling out for power. It's like a decent hitter who can either hit for average or power, but not both. The best hitters in baseball are batting .290, taking their walks, and still slugging .600 with 35 homers a season. The other guys that sell out for power have higher strikeout rates and lower averages. The guys who always put the ball in play rarely get extra-base hits but get on base a lot: some of them could hit for power but it would reduce their effectiveness elsewhere. 

 

 

Usually my 1st drive of the day is my best lol.  Im thinking just take it easy and stay connected.  Then I get the 'this is easy' and start coming unglued.  When I was taking lessons few years back the instructor told me to hit it 250 and no further.  That got me to really stay synced up and Ive been a much better driver of the ball since.  Still have my wild ones but who doesnt.

 

 

[mshills]

On 8/21/2023 at 3:17 PM, RoyalMustang said:

Spinny and short for me is still a good 30 yards past my 4W, and who doesn't want 30 yards? If I hit my driver well with a full swing, more like 60. 

 

Right on.  You can't play good golf without confidence in the D!

 

Biggest sweet spot, usually the best-fit club to the given player, and every lie is perfect.  I love hitting it, easiest club in the bag.

[kthomas]

6 hours ago, mshills said:

 

Right on.  You can't play good golf without confidence in the D!

 

Biggest sweet spot, usually the best-fit club to the given player, and every lie is perfect.  I love hitting it, easiest club in the bag.

 

I'm sure we've all been there - battling the driver and resorting to other clubs off the tee.

 

It's just not a sustainable way to play golf.

 

Happy to hear it's been sorted.

[phizzy30]

On 8/21/2023 at 3:31 AM, Nickc said:

I also prefer, especially if carrying only a few clubs, to use a 5 wood for tee and long fairway shots.

I do not like modern driver large faces ...more chance to hit off centre!....much prefer a persimmon driver or 2 wood with a nice small face!

How old are you?  The modern driver is way more forgiving than anything persimmon.  Also, you give up distance off the tee as well.  You're only making the game harder and giving up strokes if you take it outta the bag in favor of persimmon, my friend.  I can say this in full confidence because I messed around with my father's persimmon driver when I was a teenager and it pulled outta the bag after one range session and 2 rounds.  

Edited August 23, 2023 by phizzy30