Depending on how high I choose to tee the ball up, I can hit my 3W (actually a 'strong 3' - 13.5deg) almost as long as my 10.5deg driver. The difference is maybe 10-15 yards.
The shot PROFILE however is different. The 3W goes higher and the difference in distance comes from less roll more than from less carry.
On top of that, I typically hit a slight draw with my 3W and a slight fade (read: Big slice) with my driver. I'm sure, if I could hit the draw with my driver, I'd get even more roll and a bigger difference in distance.
It's probably a lot down to not being able to get the best from your driver (and mine). Getting distance is a product of a lot of parameters, club head speed (or rather ball speed), spin and launch angle. All these parameters have to be adjusted to fit each other.
You can easily have a situation (like mine), where a 10.5deg driver, launching the ball at 140mph (appx 95mph club head speed) with a spin rate of 4,400rpm, gets the same distance as a 13.5 deg 3W launching as the same speed and spin rate.
Think about it. You'll often tend to tee the 3W lower and the Driver higher, causing you to hit more on the upswing with the driver and thus increasing your launch angle so that it ends up being the same as the 3 wood.
Same speed, same spin, same angle ... you're going to end up with same distance. One club having a giant head and the other not, will not increase distance.
But if you - one way or another - were to change some of the parameters to fit the club better - like teeing slightly lower, going to a 9deg Driver or hitting a ball with different spin rates - you might suddenly see a fairly big difference between your Driver and your 3W.
It all boils down to TWO words that we probably all should spend some time with ...
Launch Monitors!
I'm fairly sure that any decent clubfitter out there (please chime in if you're watching) would be able to dissect your swing (and mine) and find out what the optimum parameters would be for that swing, getting you a set of
clubs - and a choice of balls - that will benefit your distance greatly.
Accuracy, however, is quite a different formula
