3 wood strategy

[IrishGolfer]

Playing last Saturday I hit a poor opening drive and then hit my 3 wood off #2. This is a shortish tight par four that usually plays a 2 iron but playing into the breeze I reached for the Sonartec. I hit it well and then decided to keep going with it off the tee, hitting it 11 times in all tee (instead of the usual 1-2). I only hit my driver 3 times and missed the fw each time, in fact all three were poor hits.

The thing is I was crushing the 3 wood and hitting it very straight. I reckon I was only 10 -15 yards behind my "best" driver and didn't struggle for distance with it. Even playing off the tips I was getting home easy enough to most greens.

As Bravo and a few of the others here will testify the Sonartec can be sneaky long. It fell out of favour for a while but it is now back "with the in crowd"!

Funny how the mind plays tricks. Confidence is the most important club in the bag and for me on Saturday my 3 wood was golden.

On Sunday I was playing in a scramble and just reached for the Big Dog all day. Totally different mind-set.

[cypressperch]

Titleist 3-wood. I will pull out the 3-wood and hit a really good, fairly long drive, and someone I am playing with will ask, "Why do you ever use your driver?" Perhaps at that time, I had not hit every driver shot as well as shots with the 3-wood. Actually, it is a hard question to answer.

But I do have confidence in my driver, and I have had driving days that I remember fondly. I think I fit that typical golfer who has a tendency to go for more distance when the driver is in my hands. Just the name, "DRIVER" makes you want to hit shots harder. If we just called it a One-wood all the time, we might not have this tendency. I hate to think what I would be like if I carried a "Burner"! What if they had a driver called "The Crush Club"? Many would buy it, but it would ruin me. I think I am finally getting old/wise enough to know my limitations and concentrate on a smooth tempo and solid contact. 250 is all I really need anyway, so why force it trying to get a little extra? I know, crushing is fun.

Cypressperch

[Andy_79]

You must have done some amount of hoking to get this thread resurrected, Cypressperch. It is almost a month old, goddammit !!

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by IrishGolfer

The thing is I was crushing the 3 wood and hitting it very straight. I reckon I was only 10 -15 yards behind my "best" driver and didn't struggle for distance with it. Even playing off the tips I was getting home easy enough to most greens.

I had the same experience while I was home on vacation. Was hammering the cleveland 3W, thus I sold the VSteel with redboard (silly me) Now I am struggling with the 3W. I hit a few nice ones today tho. Stupid game

[ezra76]

I had the opposite today. Played a tight course, first hole hit 5wood superhigh, then 3W poorly on the next hole. I grabbed the driver and just started hitting over everything. Drove it onto the fringe of a short par 4 for birdie with a high cut on a dogleg left, lol. Score was not any better or worse, just had a few more SW's into greens and a few more punch outs from the junk.

My bottom line is have to stop trying to draw the friggen ball, straight or fade, eliminate the draw entirely, I can't hit it consistantly at all.

[IrishGolfer]

Originally Posted by ezra76

My bottom line is have to stop trying to draw the friggen ball, straight or fade, eliminate the draw entirely, I can't hit it consistantly at all.

Didn't a certain Mr. Hogan face that uphill challenge?

[WildCatGolfer17]

When im playing my best I have a 5-10yd draw on my driver and woods, irons about 5 yards. When i started messing with my swing a little" dont know why " I ended up hitting alot of fades, I dont like fades and Its negative for me.. I want my old flight back

[Wi-Golfer]

My last 6 rds have been 3 & 5 woods only with no driver shots. For some reason I have zero control over where my driver shots will end up, but the 3 & 5w's have been in perfect control. Plus even if I am sitting on a 500 yd hole I really dont see a need for the big club....sure it's needed if you even want to have a chance at eagle or maybe even a sure thing birdie but I am more than happy with par. Hit the 3 w 210 yds, then nail the 5 w off the deck for about 190 leaves me a nice little 100 yd pw shot.

Plus every once in awhile surely you will get a freak shot that makes no sense on the distance. Yesterday I was on a 471 yd hole with an uphill blind tee shot, absolutley crushed the 3w the best I have ever hit it. Now there is a downhill slope on the other side but it's not enough to make a ball roll & roll for 50 yds. Anyways my ball ended up middle of the fairway & maybe 5'..thats right 5 feet from the 200 yds to the green marker.
My buddy looks at me & gives me that "WTF look", I told him "no frickin way did I just hit a 3 w 271 yds but I'll be damned if that's not where the ball ended up.

[cypressperch]

Well, while on the subject, many experts are saying that most golfers (fairly low swing speed, 95 mph and less) would benefit from shorter shafts in their drivers and more loft. These two things will make the driver easier to control (more like a three-wood). Of course, we still might look at that big 460 and think Crush. Next thing you know, we have a stronger grip, grip the club tighter, swing too hard, and all the other things that we tend not to do when we hit the three-wood.

A final thought. We hit the three-wood off the deck most of the time. It is a precise shot, so we know not to try and kill it (most of us do, at least when the green on a par five is too far away for the occasional career crush). When we get to tee up a three-wood, we probably get a boost in our confidence now that we have a lie that is perfect. Logically from this, we should hit our drivers off the deck until we can do that. Then, on the tee, we will drive much better. It is a hard game though mental.

Cypressperch