Driver versus 3 Wood

How does a driver compare to a 3 wood?

Asking most golfers for what the difference between a driver and 3 wood would be, the answer would be the driver is longer and the 3 wood is more accurate. Is this true? How much longer would we expect the driver to be and how much more accurate is the 3 wood?

We did a simple test to compare the two. We hit 24 shots with a driver and 24 shots with a three wood. The driver was a PXG 0811X 10.5 degrees with an Accra Tour Z RPG 372 M4 shaft at 46.5 inches length and the 3 wood was a PXG 0341X 15 degrees with an Accra FX 2.0 370 M4 shaft at 43 inches in length. Testing was done on a nice May evening, 20 degrees and little wind. 3 shots were hit with each club before switching to the other until 24 shots were hit. The same ball, Titleist Pro V1, was used for all shots and they were recorded with a Trackman launch monitor.

Results

Driver and 3 wood carry and dispersion

Club	Club Speed MPH	Ball Speed MPH	Carry Yards	Total Yards	Side Feet	LA	Spin Rate	Height Feet
Driver	103.3	151.0	236.2	259.9	33.20	11.1	2683	84
3 wood	96.7	143.7	219.1	243.2	32.65	10.4	2924	74

The driver's total distance was 259.9 yards on average and the three wood's was 243.2 yards. a difference of 16.7 yards. As you'd expect with a lighter and longer club the club head speed and ball speed are higher with the driver, 5.6 and 7.3 mph more. The average dispersion of the driver was 33.20 feet and the three wood was 32.65 feet. The three wood was just a little more accurate but nothing that would make a difference to performance.

Looking further into the results we can see the average peak height of the driver shots was 84 feet and the three wood shots 74 feet. The driver hit it higher then the 3 wood, which might surprise some. But if you think about it, with the driver teed up higher and having a little more speed, the extra height would be expected even with the difference in loft.

A closer look at the dispersion patterns we can see the driver has a little more tendency to go right and the 3 wood left. Why might this be? Delving into the average club numbers the driver path was -1.3 and face to path was -0.9, the three wood was -2.9 path and 1.3 face to path. These face to path numbers combined with where the balls went suggest a hint of heel strike with the driver and toe strike with the 3 wood, hence a little more right with the driver and a little more left with the 3 wood. Length of club could be a factor in the strike difference, sometimes longer gives heel strike tendencies and shorter toe strike tendencies.

What does this mean for this player's golf game and your golf game?

For this player the driver is longer and just as accurate as the 3 wood. He should only use the 3 wood over the driver in two circumstances, firstly when the driver would bring substantial trouble into play, for this player it would be around the 250 yard range, and secondly, if the player wanted to hit the ball right to left as suggested by the dispersion results.

Is this the same for every player? No, we can only say this for this player. Every player is different. However it's not unusual not to see too much difference in accuracy in 3 wood over driver. But, it would be worth every player's time to do this test and arm themselves with the results to give them better information on how to plot their way around a course. Some might find, the three wood much more accurate, some would even find that the 3 wood hits it further. What players might find this? For more accuracy, a player who has a big out to in swing path tendency tends to be more accurate with the three wood, they see much less left to right shots, for a right handed player. For the player who has a steep angle of attack with woods, they can hit the ball just as far with the 3 wood as driver due to the extra loft on the 3 wood getting spin loft up more optimal and keeping the ball in the air a little longer.

In conclusion, the driver is longer and can be just as accurate as the 3 wood, so hit it as much as possbile but get tested yourself to find out.

Any comments and questions are welcome.