Driver vs. 3-Wood Off the Tee

Practical Golf Articles
#61

Different perspective here from an average bogey golfer -

I don’t even carry a driver (yet)… I still, despite telling myself not to, tense up and try to it hard - which is, of course, the exact opposite of what you should be doing to hit it better…

Been taking lessons, working on the full swing, and taking the driver to the range once in a while but … for now … it’s still on the bench…

So I’ll typically tee off with my 3W (technically a 4W, I guess, at 17°) and am getting more comfortable with it over time.

No, I don’t always hit it great but today … have to brag, sorry! … had a tee shot with it that ended up further and in a better position vs all of the three guys in the group ahead of me hitting their drivers (I could clearly see where they all were as they were setting up their second shots).

Yeah that may have been a rare case, but … for me, for right now … I’m better off with not-driver off the tee.

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#62

IMO, you are hitting a driver, your driver just so happens to be 17* and 43” with a smaller head.
The swing you’re using to produce successful drives with that club is the same swing you could use to produce successful shots with an 10.5* 45” club. The latter will just go farther and actually be more forgiving because of the design. I think if you can make the mental switch that a club is just a club then you’ll be able to start taking advantage of the one that’ll hit it the longest.

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#63

Hi Jon,

Great article! If shorter distance is the only reason to tee off with a 3W, why not just take a shorter/easier swing with driver to still have the forgiveness benefit of greater MOI?

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#64

That’s a great point, and I am doing more of this myself. There is a hole on my course that’s an uphill dogleg left. If I go too far and long to the right, I risk going in fescue (usually a lost ball). Instead of hitting a 3W, I hit what I call a “bunt” driver where I’m swinging at about 80% and moving the fall further to the center of my stance. Helps create a low-running draw.

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#65

Do you hold off the finish at all or is it all swing speed adjustment?

Hear the pros talk about this a lot “cheater” or “fairway finder”

#66

I always used to try to hit a “soft” driver and I’d always hook it. I can go after a driver or swing normal, but trying to ease into it just throws off my timing too much.

If I had time to practice, certainly something I should try more often on the range.

#67

You want to tee off with a club that puts you as far southern fairway as possible, while overall minimizing risk.

3 wood very well may be your optimal strategy right now, but know it’s more a mental problem than a physical one.

Drivers are significantly more forgiving than three woods, they also lend themselves better to more adjustment.

Long term, you should work on hitting driver. It will help lower your score. Short term, keep hitting 3 wood!

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#68

I don’t feel like I’m doing anything too different in my swing (no holdoffs etc), it’s just a slower swing speed (somewhat similar to hitting a 60-75 yard wedge).

For me, I have a tendency to hook these shots because my path can get a little more in-to-out, so one of my mental cues is to try and keep the clubface a little more open at impact. Getting back to your original point, practicing the shot, and starting to understand its tendencies helps.

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#69

Big (BIG) “if” :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

You’re right - I’m just not there yet… Working on it! Thx

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#70

Definitely a mental hangup (still). But am working on it, improving the full swing - thx for the encouragement!

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#71

In theory 3-wood should curve slightly less because of loft / d-plane. Whether or not that makes for the smaller head is debatable.

#72

This might be traveling down the rabbit hole a little much, but I did mention in the article that the fitter I work with suspects that dynamic loft on driver vs 3-wood off the tee is equivalent. So that would (partially) account for why 3-woods don’t seem to be more accurate off the tee for a lot of players.

Also, because MOI is higher on the driver, those off-center strikes should suffer from gear effect less than a fairway wood.

Again, this is something that can be player specific which is always why I encourage people to test if they can!

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#73

This is a great point. Maybe hitting off a barely raised tee with three wood is the magic solution.

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#74

I know a really good golfer who hits 3-wood off off the deck for most of his tee shots, and he is scratch. But he’s the exception to the rule for sure.

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#75

Ironically, i really want a 300cc 2 wood at 43 inches as a three wood replacement…

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#76

Have you looked into the Taylor made mini driver? Have seen but not hit one.

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#77

There is always going to be except to some rules, but to get better you have to learn how to hit your Driver. Played recently with two co-workers that just started playing last fall and my comment to them was that they needed to learn to hit Driver to get better. As they both would rather hit 3-wood or 4-irons off the tee than Driver.

One of my best rounds of this year I couldn’t hit Driver and after 12 holes I left it in my beg just to make sure my ball would stay in play. I had hit into hazards 3 of the last 4 holes with Driver and the course wasn’t even narrow.

#78

Yes. Didn’t suit my eye and disliked the sound…

It’s on my list of things to buy cheap on the used market if it ever comes up.

#79

Since they didn’t continue with the series, I’m guessing the idea didn’t really work out, either just in sales or for performance reasons.

#80

Very timely article for me. Have lots of trouble controlling a driver and end up OB a few times. Makes the game frustrating. So I often use a long iron or 3 wood off tee. End up in play and 200-215 yards. BUT it kills my ability to score on long par 4 and par 5 holes so I’m doubling down on trying to learn to hit a driver half way decent.

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