Need help with your 3 wood?

[Scaldy]

My three wood has been the bane of my existence. Hopefully my story helps you.

 

I must have gone through four three woods in the last two years, always fighting for consistency but loving it when I made clean contact. Four woods are better obviously but I need all the yardage I can get on my home course. Finally I figured out the trick. The darn three woods are too long for me. I'm 5'3 and finally tried a Nike covert three wood and it's a good inch shorter than all my other three woods. Choking down on my other three woods didn't seem to help as it felt like the shaft wasn't "kicking" at the right point. ANyways, the Nike three wood is now in my bag and I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

 

As ladies the three wood can be so important for us because of our length. I hope this helps someone. :)

[Burglar]

Not a woman myself (despite the avatar), but I too have trouble handling the long 3 woods. It's one of the reasons I threw the 3 wood out of my bag and just use a 5 and 7 wood. They're 42.5" and 42", and I hit them so much better due to the shorter shaft. These nearly driver length 3 woods they're selling now are so tough to hit.

[ProStryker]

This is a topic that has irritated me for years. 3-wood lengths are are now the length of what drivers were years ago. It's crazy to think that a 43" 3-wood now seems like a 'short' 3-wood, as many companies have now gone to 43.5" shafts. I myself don't carry a 3-wood currently, I go from driver, straight to a 5-wood. I like the higher launch and shorter shaft. I don't have a slow swing speed (~103 mph) and have a decent swing, but I still struggle with 3 wood off the deck. I usually won't even attempt it. I'm sure most of it is in my setup while hitting it off the turf, but I feel that I am better than most amateur golfers, who are are attempting shots off tight lies and out of rough with 43.5" 3-woods. It's a shame that golf manufacturers are makes clubs that are harder to hit for most golfers, all in the name of the claimed 'longer distance'. I think one of the biggest misleading things about this whole thing, is that when most people test fairway woods, whether it be on a launch monitor or on the range, is that they are hitting multiple shots in a row with it. You can hit 20 shots on a Trackman or on the range, and feel like you are hitting it well, but they did it while getting a feel for setup, trajectory/direction adjustments, swing feel, etc. On the course in real play, you get one swing and that's it. And a longer shafted club makes it more unlikely to hit that one shot well.

[etakmit]

I've always left my 3w out of the bag and went Driver - 5w.

 

However I recently shortened my driver and it's done a world of good for my consistency with it. I need to do the same with the 3w. Once I do it'll be more likely that it'll end up back into my bag and as a functional club again!

 

Ladies, don't fear - over-long clubs aren't just a problem for you!

[Agnoligolf]

I have done 2 small experiments with ladies and launch monitors in the past. Basically I got the ladies to hit a 3 wood and a 5 wood off the fairway measuring the total distance of their shots with a launch monitor. In both instances the typical lady member at clubs in the uk has a swing of 60mph or lower and they all hit the 5 wood further due to the higher loft and shorter shaft. This meant they hit it more centrally on the face and the extra loft increased their carry distance.

 

Simply unless you have a fast swing or hit the ball high I would look at ditching the 3 wood off the fairway and try a 5 wood. The easy way to see if you hit it further with a 5 wood or 3 wood is to hit two balls marked next time you play a friendly. Keep track of which goes further and repeat at least three times before drawing any conclusions.

 

Andy

[Grayback1973]

I've got a Nike Vapor 3w and was having big problems pushing shots off the planet.Fitter cut 2 inches off shaft and that problem went Bye Bye.....

[MeikoKaji]

My three wood has been the bane of my existence. Hopefully my story helps you.

 

I must have gone through four three woods in the last two years, always fighting for consistency but loving it when I made clean contact. Four woods are better obviously but I need all the yardage I can get on my home course. Finally I figured out the trick. The darn three woods are too long for me. I'm 5'3 and finally tried a Nike covert three wood and it's a good inch shorter than all my other three woods. Choking down on my other three woods didn't seem to help as it felt like the shaft wasn't "kicking" at the right point. ANyways, the Nike three wood is now in my bag and I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

 

As ladies the three wood can be so important for us because of our length. I hope this helps someone. :)

hi, my wife is 5'3" and struggled with TaylorMade, etc...and actually it's not a shaft length issue so much as the center of gravity and the shaft kickpoint or both. Once we focused on low center of gravity and bought a XXio she has been pounded the ball as far as her driver. Another example is the Callaway Optiforce. Too low COG for me but perfect for my wife. We didn't even need to think about shafts but you can also add a LOW kickpoint shaft which sends the ball high. I personally love my Nikes but now they won't be made anymore, research COG before buying your next one.