What do you use for distance? My ‘longest’ are a 4 iron and 3 wood, what can get me farther?
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Driver off the deck!
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Is that a “thing” with modern drivers? I used to do it all the time when drivers were smaller. I wonder if I’m missing something by not trying it out.
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Overall, the longer and lower lofted a club is, the farther it should go, assuming you launch it high enough to carry the “maximum” distance…
If your 3 wood isn’t competitive with your 4 iron, you should look at a four or five wood.
I’d also highly recommend looking at building swing speed. @Fit_For_Golf is a great resource!
It is - I’ve played around with it on the range and can hit it pretty good, but never do it on the course
I miss my old taylor made 320. That was a glorified 3 wood with a flat bottom. I could crush that off the deck.
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I used a Titleist 910 for 6 or 7 years, and I felt pretty comfortable hitting that off the deck on the course. Lots of times I’d practice just 2 or 3 shots off the deck on the driving range before starting play, just as a confidence builder. If I could hit that shot, I could hit any shot. Now I have a Callorway Rogue Subzero, a couple years old, and I haven’t practiced very much with it that way. To me, it makes sense if the wind is blowing hard and/or the fairways are running really fast, as long as there’s no real danger if it just rolls. A topped driver will still go 150 yards or more rolling.
3 wood for me is the longest. The longest iron I carry is a 6 iron.
The last driver I hit off the deck was my Titleist 975D, which was 7.5 degrees. I haven’t seen any need to ever do it since. There’s maybe a handful of par 5s in existence I can’t hit driver-3wood to inside 100 yards. And if I’m inside 100 yards I still have a good chance at birdie.
Most par 5s I have driver-mid iron into anyway. For me, it doesn’t make sense to carry anything longer than a 3 wood (and I even play a higher lofted 3 wood).
Find something you feel comfortable hitting from the fairway that will fit a distance gap you need. If that gap is longer than 3wood, but shorter than driver then there are low lofted 3woods or 3+ woods I guess. Maybe some of the driving irons may get you a little more distance than a 3 wood.
My suggestion is if you can’t get home in 2, then play to a comfortable distance and stick your 3rd shot. Birdies don’t hurt.
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Being fairly new to the game, the 3 wood will likely be the longest potential club in your bag hitting off the fairway. To get that potential though, you’ll need to practice making solid contact with it and getting it up into the air. A lesson would be best for this, telling your instructor that this is something you want to work on. If lessons aren’t possible, then there are technique drills and videos available.
By deck do you include the fairway? I tried hitting driver on the fairway when I first started about a year ago, couldn’t manage it. No tee, no hitting upwards on the ball. Do you manage it? Considering I’m a senior female, don’t get the yards you big guys get!
It can work but you have to play for it to come out low and run. I can get 30 more yards with driver off the deck vs my fairway wood, but it only works if you have room to run it. I don’t really get any more carry from driver off the deck than I do from my fairway wood.
I’m working on the flexibility to do a good full backswing and carry through. My guess is I need to to that first? I’m a righty but my left arm is stronger than the right, don’t know if that does much good.
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No, don’t try a driver from the fairway. At your club head speed it’s not going to be worth it.
It’s somewhat unfair, a fast swing both hits the ball farther by being faster AND tends to generate more launch, which tends to hit the ball higher…
One of the reasons hybrids have become so popular is they naturally launch the ball higher than irons, so slower swings can hit them further…
I’m not anywhere near qualified to suggest what you should and shouldn’t do, but if you are willing to work on building strength, look at rotational exercises and do plenty of core stuff.
One of the nice side affects of weight training for golf was doing rotational work and basically practicing my swing slowly but with resistance.
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Thanks for the input. Will be trying the golf fitness exercises - if nothing else will be in better shape rather then get fatter this winter!
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My 18-degree hybrid is my go to. I’ll pull 3-wood every now and then if its required (and can potentially) reach the green. That being said, I’m not sure its a great idea since my misses with 3-wood off the deck are much worse (prone to tops and big slices) than the misses with my hybrid.
I carry both a 3 and 5 wood and use them both pretty frequently off the deck. With my current iron struggles, I am more confident hitting a 5 wood into a green than a 6 iron. I prefer FWs to hybrids but do carry a 4 hybrid for the versatility of the club.
I have a Mizuno 4w that I can move left/right and gets 200+ yards control
I can only sometimes hit a good 6i so for consistency I always hit 7i. When I used to fade/slice the ball I could hit 3i but now I hook/draw the ball I must be delofting the face making the low irons unhittable unless off a tee.
IF it gets here before it’s too cold to play, I’ve ordered a 15 degree hybrid - I’ve had a bit of success with recently acquired #4 and #6 hybrids on the fairway! Thanks for the tips!
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