Just been fitted for a 910 D3 &.....

[Potor_36]

I might be alone on this, but I find my driver more reliable than my fairway wood. I mean, it's huge! 1" off centre on my 4w and it's a horrible toe-y shot that could go anywhere. 1" off on my driver will just be a small draw.

If I want to take distance off just use a 3/4 swing and it'll go as far as a full 4w.

Don't get me wrong, I still prefer my 4w for some tee shots, I just don't think the driver needs to be this unreliable monster that it sometimes gets painted as (as long as you don't use it to try to launch the ball into another time zone).

Think you've got it spot on here, I mean - how can a fairway wood be more forgiving when the face is so much smaller than that of a driver?

I had something of a revelation last weekend and started hitting my driver like my 3 wood ie. with a little less of a 'smack it and see where it goes' attitude. I think fairway woods find more fairways off the tee mostly because people swing them more sensibly

 

[fundy]

You seem to be ignoring the 2 physical parts that make fairway wood more forgiving than a driver, namely more loft and a shorter shaft

For the best part of a year my 3 wood has been my go to club, and if its really tight then Ill happily tee off with the hybrid to keep it in play, the shorter shaft especially plays a huge part in having better control

 

[chris661]

You seem to be ignoring the 2 physical parts that make fairway wood more forgiving than a driver, namely more loft and a shorter shaft

For the best part of a year my 3 wood has been my go to club, and if its really tight then Ill happily tee off with the hybrid to keep it in play, the shorter shaft especially plays a huge part in having better control

You seem to be ignoring the fact to can just come down the grip an inch or so on a driver.

 

[Alex1975]

You seem to be ignoring the 2 physical parts that make fairway wood more forgiving than a driver, namely more loft and a shorter shaft

For the best part of a year my 3 wood has been my go to club, and if its really tight then Ill happily tee off with the hybrid to keep it in play, the shorter shaft especially plays a huge part in having better control

You seem to be ignoring the fact to can just come down the grip an inch or so on a driver.

Do you do this??

 

[Oddsocks]

You seem to be ignoring the 2 physical parts that make fairway wood more forgiving than a driver, namely more loft and a shorter shaft

For the best part of a year my 3 wood has been my go to club, and if its really tight then Ill happily tee off with the hybrid to keep it in play, the shorter shaft especially plays a huge part in having better control

You seem to be ignoring the fact to can just come down the grip an inch or so on a driver.

Sorry but im totally with fundy here. never managed to get the hand of chocking down on a driver, yet i can do it with every other club in the bag. As some have said maybe its because your natural instinct is to rip a drive, but my 3/5w are my go to clubs, more so than my hybrid.

 

[chris661]

Do you do this??

Sometimes yes, depends on what I am looking for from a tee shot.

 

[Potor_36]

You seem to be ignoring the 2 physical parts that make fairway wood more forgiving than a driver, namely more loft and a shorter shaft

For the best part of a year my 3 wood has been my go to club, and if its really tight then Ill happily tee off with the hybrid to keep it in play, the shorter shaft especially plays a huge part in having better control

Fair point. Its still true that I hit the fairway with my driver more often than my 3 wood though and there must be some reason for this. Also, if the shaft length makes such a difference, why doesn't everyone lop a couple of inches off their driver. Would the distance loss be that big that its not worth it?

I'm not trying to argue, just curious

 

[chris661]

Sorry but im totally with fundy here. never managed to get the hand of chocking down on a driver, yet i can do it with every other club in the bag. As some have said maybe its because your natural instinct is to rip a drive, but my 3/5w are my go to clubs, more so than my hybrid.

Maybe that is why you ended up in the cabbage then?

 

[Aztecs27]

My driver was the most reliable club in my bag at Blackmoor. I'm sure my playing partners can give you exact numbers, but of all the drives I hit on Monday, I can only think of two or 3 that weren't good strikes or in play just off the fairway. BUT, if I'm having driver woes, my 3 wood is now my go-to club.

My irons on the other hand were a different story. Couldn't hit them for toffee

 

[Oddsocks]

Sorry but im totally with fundy here. never managed to get the hand of chocking down on a driver, yet i can do it with every other club in the bag. As some have said maybe its because your natural instinct is to rip a drive, but my 3/5w are my go to clubs, more so than my hybrid.

Maybe that is why you ended up in the cabbage then?

I'm sure there are loads of reasons why everyone ends up in the cabbage, poor alignment, bad grip, wrong swing plane, bad posture, incorrect weight transfer, and many other reason's. Any you think may be my issue as you seem to be able to judge my game from behind a keyboard without seeing it, hell I may even be able to sack my pro and move to "chris661 virtual school of coaching"

 

[chris661]

[qoute]Any you think may be my issue as you seem to be able to judge my game from behind a keyboard without seeing it, hell I may even be able to sack my pro and move to "chris661 virtual school of coaching"

[/QUOTE]

Nope, I never once judged your game. By your own admission you were not happy being in the cabbage so I offered an option as to why you were there ie wanting to "rip" your drives". Take your head out your arse and read the post instead of getting all defensive.

 

[Oddsocks]

sorry if it offended, but at a couple of stages your replies have been a dig, i thought this reply was just another one of those.

Granted its when i try to rip big drives i get in trouble, yet i never try to blast a 3 wood which is maybe why its my go to club. *note to self blasting clubs isnt the way forward*

 

[Aztecs27]

*note to self blasting clubs isnt the way forward*

I now know this is the case. (Only taken my 19 years to figure it out

All of my bad drives/shots are from rushed/quick swings.

 

[chris661]

If I was having a dig I would say it, rather than try to be smart.

 

[Region3]

You seem to be ignoring the 2 physical parts that make fairway wood more forgiving than a driver, namely more loft and a shorter shaft

That's very true. I'm quite happy to accept that I'm in the minority, it just seems to work well for me although I don't do it very often.

The 5th at Blackmoor is a sharp dogleg right. Unless you go kamikaze over the trees you need at least 200 (maybe a bit more) to have a shot at the green, but the fairway runs out at about 250 I think.
In the morning I hit 4w badly twice (1st and prov) and blobbed it. In the afternoon I choked down an inch on my driver and hit a 3/4 shot with it that probably finished around 230, right where it wanted to be.

We're all different, thank goodness

 

[Oddsocks]

Region you need to sort yourself out

Two easy 3w put me in a1 position for two easy 6i and two GIRs. Think I has one par and one bogey. Man that green was tough!

Just a shame I found the cabbage to often

 

[Region3]

Region you need to sort yourself out

Ain't that the truth!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Blimey Gary even I hit the 5th in the morning and was just short in two in the afternoon. Man up. Hit driver as I am not a big hitter and was never going to run out of fairway. The other option over the trees had no real margin for error and with crap all down the right of the hole seemed suicidal. Even a 3 wood for the longer guys would only have left 180-200 in and a long iron in.

I can hit a driver and fairway wood well but I'm just as capable of hitting them both badly. The point is finding a big dog in particular you are confident with. Nothing worse than standing on a tee thinking I don't really fancy it with this club. There are a few good drivers out there at the moment and I guess it comes down to what you like and wheter you can justify the expense to yourself. If you think it is value for money and will help then go for it