COMMUNITY

Hence why I got a 5 wood instead of a 3 wood last offseason.

I feel pretty much the same way about longer distance as an advertising staple with virtually any club in the bag. For most players longer just means deeper in the woods. I've never played with a guy and said, "damn, if you only hit the ball five yards further you'd really be a player." I understand that its easier to hit what you're aiming with with a wedge than a hybrid, but still, I think extra distance is the last thing you work on but if you looked at the ads, you'd think it was all that mattered.

If we are finding ourselves needing to hit 3w to reach par 4s, maybe we need more distance with driver! And that requires us to get a later release, i.e. stop casting. It is the same with 3w from the deck. That's a hard shot if you cast. Its easy if you don't.

How to stop casting? Watch Freddy Couples. He swings with ZERO arm and hand tension, allowing his club to set with momentum on top and then bringing arms and club down together, with the wrist set retained until his hands are in front of his legs. How does he do that?

Some teachers say the answer is to ensure that the hips lead the shoulders and the shoulders lead the arms and the arms lead the hands and the hands lead the clubhead-- a cascade like popping a whip. The hips turn so fast that the other parts can't keep up.

What do you think?

Larry

That this is off topic

LOL

Larry, I gotta hand it to you...you are a machine. Never seen anyone attempt to derail so many threads so methodically.

This thread is not about how to swing a 3 wood. It's about how its use has been misconstrued and people think of it as a second driver instead of a position club.

Personaly, i want every club in my bag to go as far as humanly possible when I swing it 100%. I would love to find a 3 wood that I could hit 400 yards. The more, the better for me.

I knew that. But then I remembered the awful swings I see, which made it foolish for that guy to even try to hit a 3w from the deck. Or to even carry a 3w, ha.

So for such golfers, usually swinging WAY too hard on their back foot, advice about needing 3w to reach par 4s, etc. seemed sorta non-sensical. Sorry to be a broken record, but really, "first, learn a fundamentally correct golf swing, then.... "

http://www.revolutiongolf.com/..

Larry

I could not agree more about 3 woods Goynes. Regardless of length, I look at it like this:

Driver = longest, x degree wedge = shortest (not counting putter). The remaining clubs are to fill a gap in distances. If you don't hit your 3 wood and driver different yardages, why have them both unless you have a trajectory difference? I have also found that 200+ yards out, those distances can be wider and less repeatable...yet still be acceptable.

3W is definitely a position club Tim. I added more 3W to my game so I could hit more shots from the short grass and my scoring has been much better. I am lucky in the fact that my 3W is a decent distance club too; so I'm able to hit it on Par 4s that are at or under 400 and get about 275 out there. I feel the 3W, when executed properly, can really make a major difference on the course management side because it takes away so many mistakes my Driver can get me into. I have a 5W also; I'm not a hybrid guy but I use 5W on shorter Par 4s and 2nd shots on Par 5s. I agree with your assessment.

With my game it's a little different.

I can't remember the last time I swung a 3 wood off the tee. With today's big headed drivers I'd much rather swing driver at 3/4 swing. Accuracy is excellent. Why not use those huge sweet spots?

However, those big headed drivers are pretty useless on the fairway. Not seeing too many people hit it off the deck with those big babies. For most of them the sweet spot is too high up on the face. So the 3 wood becomes my longest distance fairway club. Why not more distance? I can always choke down a bit or go to the hybrid if it's more club than I need.

I have played with Gene Littler who plays my club nearly every day. In his 80s, he could drive only 200 and hit 3w 180. So he couldn't reach the longest par 4s. He could reach all the others and the par 5s. On the long par 4s, he hit his 3w from the middle of the fairway where his drive ALWAYS was--and then pitched it on and close (ensuring the putt would be straight uphill). If he made bogey he would score birdie on the short ones and score another par round. The key is hitting the long club straight and avoiding trouble. Good fundamentals.

Larry

I like wood.

Larry, STOP watching your video!!!!

Use 3w for position quite a bit. Distance and accuracy. It is a great club off the tee box. It is my go to club. Fairways hit equal increased Par percentages. i.e. Narrow fairway at 390 or so? 3w off the box to worst case 160 out and put myself in a good position to hit 7 or 8 iron in. Pete and Jay have played with me and have followed the plan and see the results. I have been in tournaments here on desert courses that are tight. I get the eye every time I pull out the 3w to tee off. I enjoy watching them look for their ball while I am in the center of the fairway in position to score well. I can hit my 3w 230 to 260 off the fairway and 245 to 285 off a tee. Happy with 3w in bag and it is my go to club.

I may add to that if I have a short Par 4 as I did here last week at 313, tight and playing downhill, I use 3w and nearly drove green hitting to 290 off box. Chip and a putt for birdie. Driver would have been over the back of the green on this hole or gone left or right on a miss hit. 3w is just nice to go to for me. Others probably have "that" club in the bag too.