A strong 3 wood

Currently I have a Taylormade V Steel 13 degree tour spec 3 wood, fitted with a dynamic gold s300 shaft, I play off 5. I love the club for the fairway and can hit from the rough if its a decent lie. My problem is though i struggle with it off the tee, my course is quite tight and need be in a good position to attack the pin on a few holes. I've resorted to placing the ball on the tee box but feel i'm losing a few yards because of this.


Can anyone recommend a replacement 3 wood or any other ideas?

When you say 'struggle', what exactly do you mean?

You're a tier 1 golfer with an excellent 3 wood so I don't think that a simple change of equipment would be the best option. If you were okay from the tee and iffy from the fairway you might try a shorter shaft but if you can strike the ball well from the fairway, there should be no difference from doing it off the tee box unless you are teeing the ball too high. If it's purely distance, DGS300 is a good shaft for an iron but I'm not sure that I would want it in my 3 wood. I would be more inclined to use a graphite shaft: Aldila NV, Aldila NVS or UST Proforce2. For TM heads, UST shafts appear to match very well.

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Cleveland Launcher 460 - Aldila NV 65 x-stiff
Callaway Big Bertha 3W - Aldila NV 75 x-stiff
TaylorMade Rescue Dual TP (16°, 19°) stiff
Mizuno MP-32 2-PW Rifle Flighted 6.0
Titleist Vokey Wedges 52°, 56°, 60°
Scotty Cameron Circa 62 #3 35/330

When I say struggle I mean not sure where its going to go, not a problem I have with the rest of my clubs.

The club originally had a Dymanic Gold lite shaft fitted which I found had too much flex and resulted in a high ball flight. I have DG S300 shafts in all my irons and love them.

I use a 13 degree model as I play a links course and find that the lower ball flight suits me fine.

Maybe I should leave my driver in the car and use my 3 wood off the tee for a couple of full rounds.

Theres nothing wrong with the club, maybe get a X-Flex shaft for a bit more control.

Failing that get a hold of a slightly deeper clubhead cos I think the V Steel has quite a shallow face and I dont like them for driving the ball off the tee. I used to have a Mizuno Mp-001 4 wood, it was great off the deck and out the rough but impossible to use off the tee lots of big high hooks. I fitted a stiffer shaft and it got a bit better but it still hit too high cos if the carbon crown with all the weight in the sole.

I have a Callaway Big Bertha 3+ now and it has a slightly deeper face and is a good combination of off the deck distance muncher and accurate drop to club off the tee.

Good Luck,

D.

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Longniddry Golf Club Champ 2005.

In the Taylor Made Bag:

Callaway FT-3 Tour 9.5 Aldila NV 65S

Callaway Steelhead 3 Wood

Callaway Steelhead 5 Wood

Callaway X-16 3-PW

MacGregor Tourney 52 Degree

Cobra Phil Rodgers 59 Degree Rusty

Odyssey DFX 2-Ball

Callaway Tour iX

If you hit the club well off the deck then maybe you just need to tee the ball so low that it may as well be sitting on the ground.

Overtly simplistic I know......

Also, I'm unsure if I understand why you think you might be losing distance hitting the ball off the deck as opposed to off a tee peg.???

Tighten up with a stiffer shaft.

I appreciate what you're saying about the shallow clubface, I've just bought myself a R7 tp 3 wood with a nvs x-flex shaft so we'll see if there is any difference with that.

Stock?

I'd upgrade to a heavy NV-X. The NVS plays a full flex softer than the NV, and there's no guarantee a stock X is truly that stiff.

Its a NVS 75g-x so it might be a bit firmer (or certainly keep the ball down a bit)than a normal 65g shaft.

The NVS has slightly softer tip for a higher launch than the NV.

its a NV-75X I have in my driver and its pretty good. I have a Graf Blue Tour X in my 3+ and its like a girder but that lets me open my shoulders and really pound it without worrying about it ballooning into the air.

The lower you tee a ball as well the higher you will hit it because your angle of attack becomes steeper. The trouble with the shallower heads is they make you tee it lower as Scragger rightly says.

D.

On the tee box if your going to play it off the deck or teed low, play with the same ball position you normally play a 3 wood. If your going to tee up, change the ball position to your driver setup. After all, all your doing is driving with more loft, principle is the same, trying to catch it on the upswing.