In our forums, our members have been discussing the merits of playing a very short and heavy driver in place of a 3-wood. WRXer ‘Z1ggy16’ kicks off the thread, saying:

“I find myself almost never using 3w off the deck, so I’ve gone for a stronger lofted one just for the tee. I was thinking though if this is a club meant just for tee use, why not use as big of a head as possible for max forgiveness??

Just purchased an F9 head off a guy here and I’m going to stick my 3w shaft in it and get it up to about 210g. Tee it a bit lower and try to hit lowering launching fairway finders that go as long as the strong 3w but are more resistant to miss-hits.

Why don’t we see this more often? Simply because most good players don’t miss hit it enough to want more forgiveness or they actually hit their 15* off the deck more than they just it from the tee? Something else?”

And our members have been sharing their thoughts in our forum.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

• lefty1978: “I’ve messed around with short drivers down to 43″ with steel and 43.5″ with graphite. I have concluded a well fit 3 wood off the tee is better and more accurate for me. I now used a standard length driver (45.25″) and a slightly shortened 3 wood (42.5″) and a shortened 5 wood (41″). This combo has been money for me. My driver is my driver, my 3 wood is a secondary tee club, and my 5 wood is a fairway club. If you plan on going super short on driver, try going a flex stronger with shaft. You are going to have to add a ton of weight to the head to bring the swing weight up.”
• tannyhoban: “Last short heavy driver I can remember in the bag was a Steelhead 10 deg with an S steel shaft at 44 inches. I really liked that driver. Got a rattle in it very early on and returned it for a replacement. The replacement wasn’t the same. (I know, I should have just fixed it – likely was just loose epoxy). Ditched the replacement. Thus began my journey of getting accustomed to the modern driver of jumbo heads and lighter shafts. Dunno if I could go back now.”
• SkHacker: “Been using 2 drivers the last 5-6 years as I only carry 3 wedges. A short, heavy 43.5” fairway finder for tight tee shots and a 46” bomber for wide-open spaces. Been great for me.”

Entire Thread: “Trying a really short and heavy driver”