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Re-Thinking Strategy Off Tee

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Published: 21Jun2009
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A recent survey conducted by Golf Digest generated some surprising results. The magazine tested 20 average golfers with golf handicaps ranging from 3 to 20. The golfers used clubs equipped with modern technological advancements. All else being equal, the test showed that there was little difference in accuracy between using a driver and 3-wood off the tee. That's despite the 3-wood being a couple of inches shorter than the driver and having four degrees more loft.

With a distance advantage of 20 yards or so with the driver, the test suggests that the average golfer may want to rethink his or her strategy when teeing off. Previously, many golfers automatically turned to the 3-wood on tight holes. Thanks to modern technology, golfers might want to consider using the driver instead of the 3-wood on these holes. Of course, the case favoring the driver over the 3-wood isn't quite that simple. Nothing in golf is. But it does give players who want to cut strokes from their golf handicaps food for thought.

Changing Golfers Strategy Modern technologically advanced drivers are changing the way today's professional golfers think as well. Back in the '70s and '80s, Jack Nicklaus advocated using a 3-wood as your back up driver. Not so any more. Today, some Tour players, like Bubba Watson, don't even carry a 3-wood. In other words, thanks to modern technology the 3-wood's accuracy advantage may have faded. Key among these technological advancements is the club head's size. Being larger than before, they're more forgiving.

Another reason for the fade lies with the 3-wood itself. Some suggest that current drivers (and hybrids) are re-molding the modern swing. Meanwhile, the 3-wood, which has failed to progress much with from a technological standpoint, can't keep up. The new drivers require a certain amount of force to rotate them. If you look at the 3-wood, it's not in the same class. So how much does this change affect the average player and how he or she plays the game? It's probably more than we realize.

Keep in mind, however, that the bigger clubheads have their disadvantages, too. When you think about it, they encourage sloppiness. With the bigger heads, golfers can hit the ball an inch-and-a-half off center and still get a good drive. Thus, subconsciously at least, we know we have more room for error. In other words, some of the keys we've learned in our golf lessons go out the door. But put the fairway wood in our hands, with it's small club head, and we automatically tighten things up.

Given this situation, you can come up with golf tips that take advantage of the new developments. For example, some professional golfers think there is some merit to carrying two drivers with different lofts and shaft lengths. Others think there might be a benefit to carrying a "fairway" driver—a driver with a smaller head and shorter shaft, but with still many of the technological advancements. This driver would replace the 3-wood in your bag.

For the average player, the suggestion to bomb the driver all day long seems excessively aggressive. We still hook and slice—even with new oversized drivers. Even golfers with low golf handicaps run into these problems. Employing a driver with the latest technological advancements, however, may cut down the your erratic ball flight of the tee, keeping the ball in play. Plus, a wicked slice isn't going to be cured miraculously cured by a 3-wood either.

So maybe using the driver more off the tee is an option that average golfers should consider in their quest to pare strokes from their golf handicaps. What the choice really boils down too isn't only the driver's new features or their shaft lengths. Nor is it only the difference in yardage. What it comes own to is how you feel that day. If you're hitting your driver well, you're going to want to hit it all day long. So maybe you should use the driver more. But keep the 3-wood in your bag just in case.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

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