Typically 3wood shots hit off the ground spin more and fly lower. Their drives go left, right, up, down, then they pull out the ol 3 wood and nail it straight down the middle. Can i replace my 3wood with a 5wood without losing. The difference makes sense as slower swingers often benefit from added carry from the extra loft while faster swings produce extra spin on a threewood that robs them of distance, says contributor e. If we look at carry distance, less loft produced more distance only 4 times out of 12. So we designed a club that gives the control and accuracy of a 3wood, but also built it to play as close to a driver as possible. Many golfers hit their driver far too often, placing an emphasis on distance instead of accuracy. If you hit your 3 wood as far as your driver, thats probably a good indication you need to take a look at both clubs, and possibly create more separation between the two. Would a slower swing require a higher loft or is it all strike that dictates.
The driver outdistanced the 3wood on nine of the 14 test holes by an average around 18 yards. Ive just not been able to hit a fairway wood, producing an ugly low hook thats done for more than one unfortunate bird down the years. For example, a high handicapper is often able to carry a 5 or 7 wood much further than a 3 wood because the 3 wood flies lower with less forgiveness. The 3 or 5 wood will be used for tee shots only until i learn how to hit it off of the fairway. For swing speeds below 100 mph, 1517 degrees of loft will provide the best combination of high initial launch with optimal spin, the perfect scenario for maximizing distance.
Youre talking about going from playing the up tees and hitting a 3 wood or a 2 iron hybrid into a green, versus hitting an 8 or 9 iron into the green. Many amateur golfers hit their 3 wood as for or even further than their driver and dont even realize it. We think most people will hit their driver 2030 yards farther than their 3 wood off the tee, says tom olsavsky, senior director of product creation at taylormade. One thing i always find interesting is bably a good 70% of all the guys i play with would have more fun and score much better if they used a 3 wood vs driver off the tee box. For 2012, taylormade debuted the muchhyped rocketballz 3wood, with promise that the 15degree version will surpass your old 3wood by at least 17 yards. I should have hit the tee shot with the other club. Fairway woods with less loft, like a 3 wood, can be set up to the point where it almost has the same amount of loft as a driver. So when you perfectly strike one off the tee versus off the ground, you get better launch and ball spin to the tune of one to two miles per hour more, which translates to three to six more yards per shot, says reed. Looks and image are important, but in the end you really are best off taking it for a spin. Outside of the driver, i wont have consistently had a club with a loft this low in my bag for the best part of a decade. This indicates that distance isnt the result of more loft or less loft, but of getting the right loft.
Another possibility which would only be present if you had too little spin in the driver and a neutral attack angle. What is the correct driver loft for the average senior golfer when choosing a driver, senior golfers should be careful to select the correct loft. Jun 08, 2014 in the example above, the dynamic loft at impact for this iron shot is 19. If your swing speed with a 3 wood is over 100 mph, the loft of your 3 wood should be between 15 degrees. While this is true for all clubs, the discussion properly centers around the driver. In reality, the spin loft would need to increase in order to create more spin. A great fairway wood, or fairway metal, is long off the tee and helps. Is it still the same with modern drivers with there low spin, rear weighted heads. The added loft of your 3 wood is actually more optimal for your swing speed and therefore. For most golfers, the threewood is a more accurate club than driver off the tee. I had all but given up on them until this test, now not only do i have a fairway wood in my bag, im thinking it might be time to go back to a 5 wood too. If hitting 3 wood means the difference between being in the fairway or the rough than those 14 yards arent very useful. Its a good question that may best be answered by saying the aeroburner mini is a supercharged 3wood. Three weights are included to enhance forgiveness, spin or draw bias.
When all is said and done, there isnt as much overlap between the three as wed hope and thats before we talk about center of gravity placement and dynamic loft. Strong 3 wood and mini driver have their unique places at a golf course. This is because the added loft helps send the ball skyward and doesnt give a flat ball flight. I always get emails asking me for the lowest spinning driver heads and the wedges with most spin but nobody has ever asked me about spin when it. The extra backspin and loft of a 5 or 7 wood produces much more elevation and in turn more carry distance, even on mishits. Another thing that spin loft has cleared up for us is that a flatter faced club, such as a driver, has a smaller spin loft than a more lofted club like a wedge. Strong 3wood and minidriver have their unique places at a golf course.
Jul 05, 2016 why your swing speed should determine hitting driver or 3 wood. While amateur golfers prefer the former, the more experienced once swear by the latter. Men dont need a driver at first, these are the hardest to hit consistently. This video looks at whether different driver lofts actually make a difference to performance. Because todays 460cc drivers propel the ball so far in many cases generating excess yardage the better player might not actually need it is becoming increasingly common for professionals and top amateurs to hit their 3wood off the tee. The higher loft of the simply covers up the side spin better. Carrying a golf 2 wood or golf 3 wood as an alternative off the tee makes this strategy possible. To gain more spin in the driver you would need to add loft to the club.
With more lofts, shafts and headsizes available it is not easy to find the perfect match for your game. Back in the day of steel shafts and wooden heads, most people could hit a 5 wood farther than a 1,2, or 3 wood. I can hit my 3 wood as far as i can hit my new driver. But i dont use or recommend an official 3 wood and i really think this concept will absolutely revolutionize your game. Jul 22, 20 often with the flatter face of the driver there is more side spin yes, no such thing but for the sake of explanation i will use it.
The minidrivers were kind of a cross between the forgiveness of a driver with a shorter shaft and the loft of a 3 wood or in some cases 4 wood with a 250 or so cc head. Our golf clubs offer golfers a competitive performance advantage and functionality through innovative design, such as e9 face technology, adjustable flight technology and baffler rail technology. Our new driver has many options to optimize your performance. While drivers have large clubheads, typically 440cc or more, fairway woods. Seniors unsure of whether they need more loft should experiment on the course or driving range comparing driver and 3 wood distance off the tee. The minidrivers were kind of a cross between the forgiveness of a driver with a shorter shaft and the loft of a 3wood or in some cases 4wood with a 250 or so cc head. What is the correct driver loft for the average senior golfer. Try a driver with a higher loft and youre likely to see improved distance. It not hard to hit a 3 wood farther than a driver actually. Often with the flatter face of the driver there is more side spin yes, no such thing but for the sake of explanation i will use it. Oct 27, 2016 this video looks at whether different driver lofts actually make a difference to performance.
Can i replace my 3wood with a 5wood without losing distance. If your swing speed with a 3wood is over 100 mph, the loft of your 3wood should be between 15 degrees. The added loft of your 3 wood is actually more optimal for your swing speed and therefore lets you hit the 3 wood the same distance as the driver. The 3wood bridgestone combination hit the fairway 12 of 14 times with one major screwup. If you hit a driver 200 off the tee on a par 5 and follow it up with a 215 yard hit with a 3 wood, guess whatyou just hit a 3 wood farther than a driver. How does different driver lofts change ball flight 7. Fairway woods launch and spin tourspecgolf golf blog. One of the biggest trends seniors fall into is selecting a driver with a lower loft, the theory being the lower. Much like age, the loft stamped on your driver is just a number an often meaningless one at that. Many people would rather hit a highlofted wood into a green than a 2, 3 or 4iron.
Four of the other five holes were short wins by the 3wood and the other was the aforementioned 110yard driver on the opening hole. Compared to the 3 wood which has a loft of degrees, the 4wood club has a higher loft of 16 degrees. With most other clubs, were concerned about distance control, while with the driver we usually just want to get as much distance as we can. Dec 21, 2019 fairway woods with less loft, like a 3 wood, can be set up to the point where it almost has the same amount of loft as a driver. We think most people will hit their driver 2030 yards farther than their 3wood off the tee, says tom olsavsky, senior director of product creation at taylormade.
Cobra golf is a leading golf club and golf equipment manufacturer, committed to providing superiorquality, high performance products for avid golfers of all abilities. Mar 24, 2015 so we designed a club that gives the control and accuracy of a 3wood, but also built it to play as close to a driver as possible. Spin loft is the difference in angle between your attack angle how much up or down the. I can hammer my 3 wood approx 250ish, and i only recently bought the new. If you want to lower your scores quickly, one of the best things you can do is put down your driver and use your fairway woods more often from the tee. Eight easily adjustable loft settings allow you to manage trajectory, launch and spin. Perhaps a little more loft on the fairway wood could improve trajectory and help you hold greens. This video sees me explain possibly why your 3 wood goes as far as your.
To help you make the smart play so you can play smart we put 22 different fairway woods to the test and. The ultimate guide to fairway woods golfers authority. Because a driver imparts less backspin, it makes it easier to impart sidespin. May 31, 2018 see how important loft can be in fitting a fairway wood properly, and whether you could be losing yardage by choosing the wrong loft. Having more loft than drivers, fairway woods are easier to hit and can be. The distance gapping turned out great for me and i now have more scoring clubs with tighter gaps in the bottom of my bag. Of our 12 sets each golfer produced 3 sets, 1 with each driver, we found that less loft produced more total distance only half the time, 6 out of 12.
The mini driver has a larger head and less loft compared to a strong 3 wood. So if youre playing a golf ball that spins less and a fairway wood that also spins less than those used when fairway wood lofts and names were determined wood woods, wound balata balls, it makes sense that most players would do better, particularly off the turf, with more loft. When a golf ball is launched from a club, it follows a trajectory dictated by its speed, launch angle and spin rate. Compared to the 3 wood which has a loft of degrees, the 4 wood club has a higher loft of 16 degrees. Aug 16, 2019 in this case, i can only assume your pro has observed you hitting your 3wood and determined that youre launching it too low with too little spin, most likely worse when struck off the ground. A fairway wood is easier to hit than a driver due to its smaller less intimidating profile. Buying guide for golf fairway woods must read before. Do i need a low spin driver, and which one is best. Theres a lot of confusion surrounding the subtle differences between fairway woods, especially the most common 3, 4, and 5 woods.
See how an online golf lesson with michael can help your golf gam. Im hitting my driver just as far as my 3 wood golf. The higher loft, low spin drivers are for people with lower swing speed. Golf monthly looks at the different elements of a golf swing that affect the loft you should play on your driver. Hit the golf ball farther by improving spin loft adam. The mini is 100cc larger than a typical 3wood, making it more forgiving, he says. Change desired shot shape draw, fade, or neutral change desired spin settings low, neutral, or high change desired loft with each driver you can adjust the loft angle between 2 of stock angle i. Mar 06, 2012 for 2012, taylormade debuted the muchhyped rocketballz 3 wood, with promise that the 15degree version will surpass your old 3 wood by at least 17 yards. If your swing speed is 90100mph and your driver loft angle is lower than 11 degrees, 90% of you are losing distance by playing the wrong loft. I always get emails asking me for the lowest spinning driver heads and the wedges with most spin but nobody has ever asked me about spin when it comes to fairway woods. To calculate spin loft we also need the angle of attack, which is 5. The 4 wood together with 7 wood can be used to replace your old driver 3,5,and 7 wood.
Ortiz recommends that the golf club you should use is a fairway 3 wood with a 17 degree loft since its super versatileyou can use it to club off the tee and off the fairway. Taking the dynamic loft and subtracting the angle of attack 19. Driver with 3wood shaft experiment clubs, grips, shafts. Optimize driver loft for more distance true fit clubs. Change desired spin settings low, neutral, or high change desired loft with each driver you can adjust the loft angle between 2 of stock angle i. While theres not a necessarily standard loft for each wood, youll frequently find 3 woods with lofts ranging between 15 and 18 degrees, though degree 3 woods are available. The 3 wood is standard length and has a swing weight of d3, but my new driver is 46. Youll also most likely have a better angle to attack the green. A positive attack angle increases launch angle and reduces spin for a. As great as traditional 14 or 15 degree 3 woods are, theyre tough as hell to hit for most people so i have a slightly different take on what the best or most forgiving 3 wood is. When the spin loft angle increases, the efficiency of energy transfer into the ball gets reduced. A simple fact about fairway woods, drivers, irons, and wedges for that matter, is that the number or loft printed on the club is a guideline that. Deciding on what fairway wood s you want can be harder than choosing your driver.
Choosing fairway woods is rather like buying a new car. So between the 3 and 5 wood, for off the tee purposes, which should i get. It gives a little more dynamic loft, which will increase the spin a little bit. See how important loft can be in fitting a fairway wood properly, and whether you could be losing yardage by choosing the wrong loft. Youll be able to hit them consistently and get them to travel longer distances. The 3 wood is standard length and has a swing weight of d3.
Im hitting my driver just as far as my 3 wood golf clubs. Many seniors are amazed that their 3 wood often achieves a similar distance to the driver. Mainly, how much distance, if any, will i be sacrificing by getting the 5 wood vs. How to pick the best golf club for you bobby jones. We want low spin with the driver off the tee and as much spin as we can get around the greens with our wedges.
Looking at fowlers swing at impact on gears compared to a typical amateur with a significant slice and lack of distance, notice the differences between each players spin loft numbers. Missing to the good side of the fairway, playing the shots you know you have. Its made my 3wood perform like a driver, he told me last fall during a golf digest cover. In general, the slower the swing or club speed, the higher. This video sees me explain possibly why your 3 wood goes as far as your driver off the tee. The higher degree of loft on the 4 wood makes it swinging easier and also and adds more height to the golf ball. I see the loft is different, but by call a 3 wood strong degree vs just a 3 wood 15degree. Just as 60 is the new 40, then 3wood might be the new driver. The best fairway woods for high handicappers and beginners must come in lofts higher than 17 degrees.
Buying guide for golf fairway woods must read before you buy. But i do know that at some point in the round, after a poorly struck driver or 3wood, ill probably think to myself. Many amateur golfers hit their 3 wood as for or even. What is a strong 3 wood and why its better than a driver. Why your swing speed should determine hitting driver or 3wood. At about 220cc, the rapture is nearly a third larger than the companys current largest 3wood, the g25. In the below picture, we see the yellow gap between the angle of attack and loft of the club increased. Taylormade m1 v callaway epic v ping g400 v titleist 917. In this case, i can only assume your pro has observed you hitting your 3wood and determined that youre launching it too low with too little spin. The m1 fairway utilizes the same loft sleeve and sliding weight system technologies found in the m1 driver to create a precise fit for ideal launch characteristics. A vast amount of golfers will chose to hit a fairway wood instead of a driver due to its better accuracy. Fairway woods can serve many different purposes in a golfers bag. May 12, 2014 if theres one thing i know for certain its that some of you guys are chomping at the bit to buy a new 3 wood.
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