5 wood or 3 wood?

[GolfSpy_KFT]

I struggle to hit my 3 wood consistently off the deck ( raise your hand if you're with me!). I am wondering if a 5 wood would be easier to hit and get similar distance, or if I would still have the same issues? I've been working on correcting swing faults this year and it could be that more than anything else, but just thought I'd reach out for some opinions and what has/hasn't worked for others.

[RickyBobby_PR]

A (w is going to be easier to hit due to the loft just like for many a short iron is easier to hit than a mid or long iron.

Because if this distance is going to be the same if not better and more consistent than a 3w.

Also easier to get the ball in the air for slower swing speeds with a 5w than a 3w

[vandyland]

To the above point, I replaced my 3W with a 5W and I carry the 5W farther than the 3W (better launch conditions for me) and it goes higher and straighter. Your experience may be different but I struggled to master a 3W for YEARS before I finally gave up and settled on a 5W. I was guilty of just following the standard golf bag setup. Could have saved myself some time there...

[GolfSpy_KFT]

@RickyBobby_PR @vandyland thanks for the feedback! My swing speed is around 100-105, when hit well my 3 wood is a good club, but that's not very often. Sounds like I should explore a 5 wood and see if it helps things.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

I went 4 wood with a length of 42.75". shorter shaft is better contact and higher loft is better launch.  Getting driver like distances out of it.

[RickyBobby_PR]

22 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

@RickyBobby_PR @vandyland thanks for the feedback! My swing speed is around 100-105, when hit well my 3 wood is a good club, but that's not very often. Sounds like I should explore a 5 wood and see if it helps things.

Let’s ignore swing speed. It’s not as big a factor into finding the right club as people want it to be, same with handicap.

Swing technique, how one delivers the club, head shape and type of course conditions one plays are more important.

Even at 105 mph some people are going to see better results with a higher lofted wood than a 3w. 
 

It’s also not just about the loft, as mentioned some head shapes work better for certain golfers than others. But also getting into the right shaft that feels good and provides the golfer with the ability to make better swings. Two options. Go hit a bunch of 4&5 woods with different shafts and find one that works, or go get fit

[GolfSpy_KFT]

45 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Let’s ignore swing speed. It’s not as big a factor into finding the right club as people want it to be, same with handicap.

Swing technique, how one delivers the club, head shape and type of course conditions one plays are more important.

Even at 105 mph some people are going to see better results with a higher lofted wood than a 3w. 
 

It’s also not just about the loft, as mentioned some head shapes work better for certain golfers than others. But also getting into the right shaft that feels good and provides the golfer with the ability to make better swings. Two options. Go hit a bunch of 4&5 woods with different shafts and find one that works, or go get fit

I appreciate the feedback. There's a shop not too far from me that has tons of new/used clubs so I think I will probably take that route and go from there. I have been fitted for a driver, but my guess is that driver shafts and fairway shafts will perform differently, so don't want to just base it off of that and order something. Thanks again!

[RickyBobby_PR]

4 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

I appreciate the feedback. There's a shop not too far from me that has tons of new/used clubs so I think I will probably take that route and go from there. I have been fitted for a driver, but my guess is that driver shafts and fairway shafts will perform differently, so don't want to just base it off of that and order something. Thanks again!

Yes and no. There’s no hard and fast rule when it comes to golf shafts. Also most of the shafts in fairway woods are the same shaft used for driver except they are shorter and usually heavier to account for the shorter length.

Some people fit just fine into the same shaft in both driver and fw and other don’t. I’ve been fit into same shaft but heavier, same shaft just shorter  and two different shafts over the years

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

32 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Yes and no. There’s no hard and fast rule when it comes to golf shafts. Also most of the shafts in fairway woods are the same shaft used for driver except they are shorter and usually heavier to account for the shorter length.

Some people fit just fine into the same shaft in both driver and fw and other don’t. I’ve been fit into same shaft but heavier, same shaft just shorter  and two different shafts over the years

Ditto. Although i am now testing the 65 g version in my driver that is in my 3 wood. It varies player to player due to how different you swing both clubs.

[fixyurdivot]

Hi @Jnoble89and welcome to MGS!

I'm still in the experimental phase of this same question. I also have a similar thread that you might want to check out.  I got lots of great feedback from many of the same forum members responding to your question.  Key is that for most amateurs, a 4w or 5w is the better option to a 3w off the deck.  But, because I'm of stubborn German/Irish stock, and really wanted to wring out 3w options, a few decided to indulge me and provide advice.

I don't have an issue launching a 3w (at least those I've played) but I definitely hit my G400 5w more consistently.  My G400 3w flushed just wasn't getting me the yardage I wanted so I just recently picked up a TSi 2 3w with the Tensei Blue AV shaft.  It was the 3w I was fitted for and did offer about 7 yards more distance. But, I'm still finding that my ability to hit it consistently challenging - that is getting optimal launch angle.  I'm also still fine-tuning the hosel LL adjustments to offset fade.  The "teaser" is that when I do flush it, I'm getting that added distance... which keeps me from abandoning a 3w .

I do miss the low/flat profile of the G400.  Not sure why, but that flat sole just exudes confidence for me.  I might try one of the Callaway's 3HL or even a 4W and see how that compares.  Good luck with the challenge.

 

[Kenny B]

I suspect that there might be some issues with how you are striking the ball, and it might be worth a lesson investment to find out. With the added loft, the 5W will tend to cover that flaw up whereas the 3W will expose it.  So, a 5W will probably give you a more consistent distance, but if raw distance is needed the right 3W can make a difference.  

I was never a good FW player, even 5W clubs, but I kept using my TM Rocketballz 3W because with my slow swing speed, I needed all the distance I could get for second shot (not to fill a gap between driver and the next club).  I finally gave it up for a 17º hybrid; easier to hit, good launch and reasonable distance, but it wasn't as long as my 3W if I hit it well.  

This year I bought the Callaway Epic Max 3W, Heavenwood, and 9W from Callaway Pre-Owned, and my long game changed immensely!  This 3W is so easy to launch and is very consistent for me.  I was actually thinking about the Cleveland XL Halo woods, but when I hit the Callaways, I was sold.  

[Paul Hedrick]

4 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

I struggle to hit my 3 wood consistently off the deck ( raise your hand if you're with me!). I am wondering if a 5 wood would be easier to hit and get similar distance, or if I would still have the same issues? I've been working on correcting swing faults this year and it could be that more than anything else, but just thought I'd reach out for some opinions and what has/hasn't worked for others.

[Paul Hedrick]

I removed my 3 wood from my bag, and use my 5 wood exclusively.  I am hopeful that someday, when I improve, I can hit my 3 wood.

[drb1956]

I love my 3 wood, especially off the deck! I'm playing a Callaway Diablo Octane 3 wood(15*, reg. shaft). This is the non tour version. I can get distance off the deck, with a good swing. I like the "tall" face of this club. Not many fairways have that feature, which makes them hard to use. I can get it up from longer rough. That's why it is still in my bag after all these years. I've upgraded my driver(Ping g410 SFT) 2 seasons ago, and have been thinking about my 3. Played a decent round over last weekend, and my 3 wood was a rock star, so now I'm not sure. I like the tech, with the loft adjustment, and that you can switch shafts, provided you have them set up with the hosel tips. Will be checking out fairways whenever I go to Dicks, or PGA...

[TheCanadianBogeyman]

I used to play only a 5 wood because I couldn't reliably hit a 3 wood off the deck.  My swing speed isn't that fast, around 100mph driver.  But I never really liked hitting the 5 wood off the tee if my driver was having an off day.  This year I have switched things up.  I now have a 3 wood in the bag for tight fairways off the tee, and a 7 wood in the bag for off the deck.  I tried a 5W in my fitting, and while I did sacrifice some distance from the 5W, it wasn't much (maybe 5 yards on average, 7-9 yards on a perfectly flushed hit with the 5W).  But the difference was that the 7W was so easy to hit.  I'm sure my average yardage wouldn't be much different in real life, as I hit that 7W way more consistently.  So now I play a 3W/7W setup and am liking the results.  If I am further than a 7W distance from the green, I just accept that its out of reach for me, because the chances of me hitting my 3W flush while under pressure aren't great.

[Middler]

I’ve never seen much difference in hitting a 3W vs a 5W. The 5W might be a tiny bit easier because the shaft is shorter, but otherwise the same with different lofts. I dropped my 5W for a 3H years ago, but I could go with either.

[Parshooter36]

The past few years I have noticed my 3 and 5 woods were basically the same distance, so I split the difference. I have my 5 wood turned down to 17 degrees, so its really more like a 4 wood. I swapped out my 3 wood for a mini driver, but it is only used off the tee.

[revkev]

These types of threads are good in one respect and not good in another.  On the one hand you learn something, ie. here, it's that loft might be the OPs friend.  I've learned through time that loft tends to be my friend.  It has little to do with my swing speed, when I was young and had tons of swing speed, loft was still my friend, I needed more of it to hit the ball farther because of the way that I deliver the club, shallow.  Dustin Johnson uses a more lofted fairway (3 wood) because loft tends to be his friend and that particular loft hits the ball through the launch window that he wants.  

 

On the other hand though you will have those who write, "I have x club, its the best, if only you had it, all your problems would be solved."  With all due respect to those folks, club x is the best one for you right now and its awesome that you found it.  It's more likely that the OP will be wasting his time and money trying 3 wood, club x, because his swing is better suited to a more lofted fairway wood.  

 

So to the OP the optimum would be to go for a gapping session with a good fitter.  Of course that is costly and might be difficult to find - where are you in Wisconsin?  I lived in beautiful Sheboygan for 5 and a half years, BTW.  Also some of us enjoy tinkering and doing it ourselves.  If I were you I would try an older Tour exotics 4 wood or a more modern 5 wood (which will have something like 17.5 degrees of loft - in other words be a 4 wood anyway.)  If your current 3 wood is adjustable and you bought a modern 5 wood you could also experiment with trying the 5 wood head in the 3 wood shaft - maybe you do better with a shorter shaft but maybe its just that you need more loft.  

 

Bottom line, somewhere, out there is the ideal shaft/head combo for you.  

 

Good luck and have fun finding it.

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, revkev said:

On the other hand though you will have those who write, "I have x club, its the best, if only you had it, all your problems would be solved."  With all due respect to those folks, club x is the best one for you right now and its awesome that you found it.  It's more likely that the OP will be wasting his time and money trying 3 wood, club x, because his swing is better suited to a more lofted fairway wood.  

Wish I could like this part 1000 times. Hopefully people read this part when they visit the thread.

Go on any golf forum or golf group and there’s going to be a thread almost every week if not more frequent about what loft, what shaft, what driver, fw, hybrid, iron or wedge should I play.

Many are going to be based ing the op’s swing speed, handicap, age. 
 

Only way to know what works best is to hit the club yourself or go get fit. Everything else is a random guess that may or may not work for the op

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Thanks for all the awesome feedback, everyone. This is an awesome community and I am looking forward to getting more and more involved. I would venture to guess my initial problem is swing inconsistencies. My miss is off the toe and it's because I tend to lose posture in the downswing. Working on it as much as I can! I've never done a fw fitting, so that may be a good route for me to take and then purchase something used down the road. The shaft profile of my fw is very different than that of my driver, so that could play a slight role but my guess is it's mostly my swing. @revkev, I live near Wisconsin Dells in Reedsburg. Lots of great courses close by that I get to enjoy! I plan to go to a shop that's about an hour away from me to hit a variety of clubs and shafts and see what I can find that way, and possibly the fitting. Hoping to get my swing fault more corrected before the end of my season and then hope I don't forget it over the winter!

[drb1956]

3 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Wish I could like this part 1000 times. Hopefully people read this part when they visit the thread.

 

 

Only way to know what works best is to hit the club yourself or go get fit. Everything else is a random guess that may or may not work for the op

I agree 100% with this! We as a group, can offer advice as to what we have tried, and whether it worked or not. We go to the big box stores, to try, or buy, but we don't know the persons background in this game that is trying to help us. And I feel like I'm being rushed to make a decision. Sales based no less! If you are looking to buy a club, or clubs, I would find a "qualified" fitter, that you feel comfortable with. YOU are the only one that knows what you need, or how it is supposed to feel, to fit your game. It is not only about distance, but how accurate you can be, swing after swing. Good luck!!

[fozcycle]

Recently I dropped my 3W/3H/5W/7W and went to a 3H/5W/7W/9W.  Found that the 5W was more consistent than the 3W. The 7W was my most consistent and the 9W is now my 145-150 club when approaching from above. I use the 3H on par 5’s 2nd shot and a few shorter par 4’s when I want an approach from 100-125. 

[Middler]

5 hours ago, revkev said:

These types of threads are good in one respect and not good in another.  On the one hand you learn something, ie. here, it's that loft might be the OPs friend.  

On the other hand though you will have those who write, "I have x club, its the best, if only you had it, all your problems would be solved."  With all due respect to those folks, club x is the best one for you right now and its awesome that you found it.  It's more likely that the OP will be wasting his time and money trying 3 wood, club x, because his swing is better suited to a more lofted fairway wood.

Agreed. Some of us try to discourage the latter by politely/subtlely sharing a different POV. There are few "bests" that will "solve all problems" when it comes to all things golf...

[Muckinfiddle]

The problem with a lot of golfers and 3 woods is that they are looking for more than the club will be able to give them. Back swing gets too long and trying to hit it too hard.

[RickyBobby_PR]

23 minutes ago, Muckinfiddle said:

The problem with a lot of golfers and 3 woods is that they are looking for more than the club will be able to give them. Back swing gets too long and trying to hit it too hard.

That’s no different than their normal swing. Many of those same people swing 100% with all clubs including wedges. They just try to swing harder with the longer club instead of either swinging faster or in control.

[drb1956]

21 minutes ago, Muckinfiddle said:

The problem with a lot of golfers and 3 woods is that they are looking for more than the club will be able to give them. Back swing gets too long and trying to hit it too hard.

This is very true! Maybe we should learn to hit the driver off the deck. If you are hiiting your 3 as far as your driver, why bother with a driver? If I'm 230 with driver, I would probably expect 195-200 with my 3, on a well struck shot. That's just me! I have tried numerous times to hit driver off the deck-learning curve!! Not so good! This past Saturday my 3 wood performed like a rock star!! Covered a lot of ground for me. Thought about replacing it-now I'm not sure...

[Muckinfiddle]

56 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

That’s no different than their normal swing. Many of those same people swing 100% with all clubs including wedges. They just try to swing harder with the longer club instead of either swinging faster or in control.

I agree but the three wood seems to bring it out more, especially on the shots from the fairway on par 5s.

[drb1956]

1 hour ago, Muckinfiddle said:

I agree but the three wood seems to bring it out more, especially on the shots from the fairway on par 5s.

Yeah, we ALL want the green in 2! I agree, you have to stay within yourself, in control. If you have a 3rd into the green, if you are in control, you WILL be in a better place to execute the shot you want, versus swinging for the fences, and end up somewhere you have to make a difficult 3rd shot. Just take it as it comes. We play this game for fun. Some folks let their "golf ego" get the best of them. I have been there, and learned hard lessons. I play as I can, with the limits my body gives me, especially at my age. Advance the ball, and ENJOY!!

[revkev]

10 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Thanks for all the awesome feedback, everyone. This is an awesome community and I am looking forward to getting more and more involved. I would venture to guess my initial problem is swing inconsistencies. My miss is off the toe and it's because I tend to lose posture in the downswing. Working on it as much as I can! I've never done a fw fitting, so that may be a good route for me to take and then purchase something used down the road. The shaft profile of my fw is very different than that of my driver, so that could play a slight role but my guess is it's mostly my swing. @revkev, I live near Wisconsin Dells in Reedsburg. Lots of great courses close by that I get to enjoy! I plan to go to a shop that's about an hour away from me to hit a variety of clubs and shafts and see what I can find that way, and possibly the fitting. Hoping to get my swing fault more corrected before the end of my season and then hope I don't forget it over the winter!

Lots of great golf in Wisconsin for sure. The season was too short for my taste but I played some great courses whilst I lived there including the Koehler ones.

[Middler]

14 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

That’s no different than their normal swing. Many of those same people swing 100% with all clubs including wedges. They just try to swing harder with the longer club instead of either swinging faster or in control.

The story of my (golf) life. I’ve learned and unlearned that lesson at least a thousand times.