What length do you play your driver and 3 wood?

[HoosierHacker89]

What length do you play your driver and 3 wood (or longest fairway wood)?

 

I currently play a cobra f7+ driver with a diamana whiteboard 63s in it that plays at 45.25" I hit it relatively well considering my swing isn't always the most consistent. I play off a 10 handicap and my stock shot is high predictable fade when I am playing well. I will either get into a case of slicing or snap hooking on occasion, but I generally am a pretty decent driver of the ball. I have considered cutting down my driver and inch and more weight to the head to hit the sweet spot more consistently. I used to cut my drivers down to 44.5 all the time and slap a ton of lead tape on to get the swing weight back. The f7 has the weight ports so it would look much cleaner plus I like the idea of putting extra weight in the "draw" setting to help with the days that fade is turning into a cut. I liked the shorter driver in the past.

 

This whole idea came about recently when I was talking with 54putts about driver length, and I have also realized that I hit my f6 baffler 100% better than I hit my f7 3 wood. The baffler is at 41.5 and the f7 3 wood is at 42.5 or 43. I don't remember off hand. I struggle getting low lofted woods off the deck, but I moved the f7 up to 16* and still had mild results. I have just put that club out of the bag for the meantime, and I am playing the baffler at 16* with great success. It works really well as my only fairway wood. I know that the shaft length is not the only variable due to there being clearly a difference in size between the f6 and f7 woods respectively, but I have absolute confidence in one and minimal in the other. I am going with the 41.5" thumper of the group. I hit it farther that I do the f7 at the same loft due to hitting it on the screws 9/10 times instead of 1/10 times.

 

So my response to my question is: Driver 45.25 thinking 44.25 and 4 wood 41.5

[Bye]

I’ve got a standard length shaft in my driver and a 42 inch shaft in my fairway. Driver is max distance and fairways are to go a specific distance under some sort of control. Anything over 42 1/2 gets unmanageable for me.

[shiney28]

44.5” DRV

42.5” 16.5* FW

 

But strangely my iron fitting put me in +0.5” over std.

[Booker]

Currently 44.75 driver, 42.5 3wood

[BearQ]

LTD Pro 8.5 - Tour AD TP 7TX @ 44.75" tipped 0.5"

 

XR 3Deep 14 - Tour AD TP 8X @ 42.25" tipped 1"

[Sean2]

45.5 inch driver

43.5 inch 3-wood

 

My irons are +2-inches.

[benclab]

45 inches for the driver and 42.25 for the 3 wood. Always played driver at 45 inches and used to play 3 wood at 42, but when i got my current one cut down, they didn't do enough and since I haven't really hit a bad shot with it, I've just kept it at that length.

[mtgjr]

45” driver

42.5” 16.5* 4W

[Chuck905]

Stock lengths in the Callaway Epic SZ and Steelhead XR; which I think is 46”.

 

I intuitively choke down half an inch but would never hit clubs cut down half an inch for some reason?

 

Ive experimented with 45, 46, 47 and 48 length and found 46 worked the best for me.

[Jaygolf37]

Driver - 44.75

4W - 42.50

[Radeon962]

44.5" - 10.5* Epic SZ Tensei White Pro 70

42" - 16* XR16 Pro Diamana D+ 80

[EaglesGolf99]

Driver 43 5/8"

3 Wood 42 1/2"

 

... or ...

 

Driver 43 5/8"

1 Hybrid 40 1/4"

 

 

[azkaevolution]

Driver - 44.25"

4w (17*) - 42.5"

[tannyhoban]

Driver - 45.5", 3 wd. - 44"

 

Irons are .5" over std. 4-P

[MuskieCy]

About 260 for the driver, 235 the 3.

[Jagpilotohio]

43.5” driver

42” 3 wood

 

.....for 30 years.

[Bubbtubbs]

Whatever it's shafted at.

 

I couldn't tell you the length of either.

[Asiangolfer1995]

Taylormade 2016 M1 Driver 8.5 degrees Aldila NVS 85X (43.75 inches)

 

Taylormade 2016 M1 Fairway Wood 13.5 degrees Aldila NVS 85X (42.75 inches)

 

I went from 45 to 43.75 and I actually gained 7 yards because I am getting better contact. And I've always played a stronger 3 wood but I went a half inch shorter and its virtually no difference I found

[DBill]

Driver 45"

3 wood 42.5"

[Warrick]

Driver - 47

3+ - 43.25

 

irons are standard.

[Big Ben]

45' driver

42.5' 4 wood

[Rapatt95]

I just had my driver cut down from 45.25 to 44.25 and it’s been great. 5 wood at 42.5

[STPBMW]

I'm wildly inaccurate with a driver at 45.5 and found that my ideal length is about 44.75.

 

Never have experimented with shorter fairways but plan to this season. 43 feels very long and awkward to me in a 3 wood.

[LilRabbit]

Played 44 3/4" this past year, but think I'll end up playing 45" this year. Stock length in my 3HL and my 3 rescue. -1/4" in my irons.

[The Derkness]

This year I play the M3 460 at 45.5" and the M4 at 45.75". (end of grip)

On previous drivers everything was 45".

 

For the 3wd i cut them all to 43.25" EOG.

[lowheel]

Driver: 45.25

3 wood: 43

[dpark]

44.5” DRV

42.5” 16.5* FW

 

But strangely my iron fitting put me in +0.5” over std.

 

This is my setup as well. I have varied between 44.5 and 44.75 for my driver depending on the swingweight and if I have to add lead tape to get the SW I want.

[GMR2iron]

Driver- 44.5, 3 Wood- 42.5.

[Stuart_G]

Driver 44-1/4"

3wd 42-1/2"

4wd 42"

 

Just realize, that shaft weight (total club weight) and head weight (swing weight/MOI) can also play an important part in how well different playing lengths will work and the quality of the strike. Those 3 specs are all connected.

[NPVWhiz]

I'm in the camp that believes that the lengthening of the driver beyond 44" for 80% of the players out there is a bad thing, but that's derivative of my old school belief that the game was originally envisioned to be a game of skill and accuracy...with the skill component directed toward producing the accuracy. I accept that few people agree with me today, and don't want to trigger any of the young people about the driver they use by posting my bengay and brylcreem views of the matter.

 

Warning in Preface: I'll be making some statements that have no scientific data that I'm aware of to support them, so if you plan on posting a "show me the data that supports your idea" response, please don't, because I'm already telling you I don't know of any data to support my hunch. Go clean your game controller after you finish your math homework, and stay off the lawn.

 

So that leads me to the point that I'm grateful that the companies have produced heads that you can change the weight of so that I can keep my driver at 44-44.5" max, and I've never been comfortable with any kind of fairway wood that is longer than 42.5" because that's the length of the first 3 wood I had that I spent a lot of time hitting balls with when I was younger. But I've routinely played with a 3 metal that is 43". I don't hit it very well but I can't honestly say that the length alone is the issue.

 

I believe that most players from casual to mid handicap would show a tail off at the driver if you plotted their carry distance against the length of the club. These are the kinds of players that will routinely hit the ball farther and straighter with a metal 3 than the driver, except for those one or two drives per round where they really connect with one and the length they hit it keeps them in "I believe" mode. The 43.5" to 44.0" driver would work better for almost all of these folks with the right shaft and weight and all that, but people keep buying what the industry waves in front of them so most will keep tripping down the primrose path to look for that every two year dose of another 10-15 yards.

 

That said, there is something about the relative proportions of a 43.5" driver with a 460cc head on the end of it that just looks wrong to me. I've made up a few for fun, and I just can't see past the way the thing looks. It's just too big, and I suspect that somewhere in my brain I believe that having all that mass out there farther away from the axis of the shaft makes the club feel funny swinging it with all but the heaviest shafts in them.