Why Can I Hit My 3 Wood Straight But Not My Driver?

Written by Todd in Online Golf Instruction

Have you often asked the question why can I hit my 3 wood straight but not my driver?

Tired of having no idea where your driver will go?  

You might often have the following question running through your head…

Am I going to block and slice it right or will I hit a pull hook left?

You are not alone!

Many beginning golfers and even some golfers that have played the game for a long time continue to struggle with the driver.  It is one of the most unique clubs in the bag and presents the greatest challenge to his straight shots.

However, we are here to help and provide 5 tips to start hitting your driver straight, but first we will help you understand why the driver is so challenging and then provide some solutions.

The driver is one of golfs greatest mysteries for some. Check out our tips below!

Why Is The Driver So Difficult To Hit Straight?

The overall length of the average driver (45 inches) combined with the lowest amount of loft (8-10 degrees) presents two major challenges for golfers to hit their driver straight.  When you also take into account the swing speed generated with a 45 inch shaft the ability to control the club face and the swing path is significantly more difficult!

Three reasons detailed below:

  • Driver Shaft Length
  • Reduced Loft with Driver
  • Swing Speed and Variables

Why Is The Driver So Difficult To Hit Straight: Reason #1 Driver Shaft Length

The average shaft length in a driver sold at most retail places ranges from 45-46 inches.  In an effort to provide greatest distance and additional speed for today’s golfer, the club manufactures have lengthened the shaft from previous generations. 

The average driver use to be around 43 degrees in length, which is now more similar to the 3 woods that are sold.

You might not have even noticed the difference when you purchased your latest driver, but the drivers have increased in length.  Take into consideration that there are many professional golfers on the PGA Tour that have reduced their driver shaft length to around 44 inches. 

This provides greater control and stability.  The golfer is better able to control the club face and the swing path with the shorter club.

It makes logical sense when you consider that the wedge is the easiest club to hit straight and as clubs get longer and reduce loft, the club becomes more difficult, so why not take your driver and have an inch or two cut off the shaft.

It may also be the reason you are able to hit your 3 wood straight but not your driver.  When you take into account that your 3 wood is more than likely between 42 and 43 inches long, the additional length may be causing issues.

Here is a post that covers this idea – Reducing Your Drive Shaft Length:

Should I Shorten My Driver: One Golfer’s Experience

Why Is The Driver So Difficult To Hit Straight: Reason #2 Reduced Loft

When comparing a 3 wood to a driver, you reduce the amount of loft typically by around 6 to 8 degrees.  This reduced loft increases the potential side spin axis on the ball, causing the ball to curve more to the left or to the right. 

Golf is a difficult game with the club head of the average amateur with the driver in the upper 90s with some swinging above 100 miles per hour with the driver.

The good thing about many drivers sold today, is the ability to adust the loft that typical see a range between 8 and 11 degrees.  Go ahead and try to set your driver up with more loft to see if you can reduce the side spin on the ball and hit your driver straighter.

The extra loft on the 3 wood may be helping you out by reducing the side spin, allowing you to hit your 3 wood straighter than your driver!

Hit more fairways with a shorter driver!

Why Is The Driver So Difficult To Hit Straight: Reason #3 Swing Speed

We all want more swing speed and we should all try to gain more swing speed through training, but to answer the question why the 3 wood sometimes is easier to hit straight than the driver it often comes down to the swing speed generated with a 45 inch driver shaft compare to the 3 wood.

With the additional swing speed, it becomes difficult to control the club face at impact and ensure you have the right swing path to match your club face.  With this additional swing speed, the variables for a straight shot are more difficult to control. 

In the game of golf, being able to control your start line and the curve of the ball is incredible important.  This becomes more and more difficult with the longer shaft length.

Did you know?

You can use up to a 48 inch driver shaft in golf?  There are some professional golfers that experiment and look at the possibility.

The reason for the hesitation is that the miss with a 48 inch driver becomes an even bigger miss and leaves the golfer in even more trouble.

Make sure you are keeping your expectations realistic with the driver as even the most accurate drivers on tour only average around 75% of the fairways hit with many professional golfers coming in below 50%. The key is to not have your misses be really big misses and to pull in your shot dispersion.

Learn more about SuperSpeed Golf below – Tip #3

3 Tips to Help You Hit Your Driver As Straight As Your 3 Wood

  • Understand the fundamentals of golf
  • Understand the ball flight laws
  • Practice these 3 drills

Tip #1: Understand the Fundamentals of Golf

The Stack and Tilt Instructors said it best when they described what they believed were the fundamentals of golf.  They explained it somewhat similar to this:

  • The first fundamental is the golfer’s ability to control the bottom of the golf swing.  The best golfers will hit the ground in the intended spot, close to 100% of the time.
  • The second fundamental is the golfer’s ability to control the curve of the golf ball. The best golfers are able to start the ball to the right or left of the target line and have the ball curve towards the target without the ball over curving past the target.
  • The third fundamental is the golfer’s ability to have enough power to play the golf course.  This means they are able to hit the ball far enough to play the course in regulation.

They explained that among the greatest golfers of all time there were different grips and different aim points. The fundamentals in golf are not grip, and alignment. 

Ben Hogan played with a weak grip, while Lee Trevino had a strong grip.  Lee Trevino and Fred Couples aimed way to the right, while Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer aimed well to the right.

We explain all of this to help understand the importance of controlling the curve of the ball.  Read your ball flight and start to get better today.

Tip # 2: Understand The Ball Flight Laws

Why? If you understand the ball flight laws you can start to become your own swing instructor and make corrections on the range or the course by reading the flight of your golf ball. 

Too often golfers turn to the video of their swing when everything you need to know can be read off of your ball flight.  Did you know that your ball flight can tell you the following:

  • Where your club face was at impact.
  • If your swing path was left or right of the club face.

Once you know these two items you can make the corrections by checking out our 2nd Tip on understanding what swing thoughts can help you get the proper matchups.

So let’s dive into the ball flight laws:
  • Generally speaking, the golf ball will start where the club face is aiming.
  • The golf ball will then curve away from the swing path.

There are two different lines that we must understand.  The target line and the start line.  The best golfers start the ball left or right of the target line and then curve the ball back towards the target.

Let’s go over some examples to help you better understand the ball flight laws.

Example 1: Traditional Pull Slice

With the traditional pull slice, a shot hit by many high handicap players, the ball will start left of the target line and then curve to the left.  This means the clubface is closed relative to the target line. Let’s say the club face is 3 degrees closed. Then let’s say that the path is 6 degrees left of the target line.  We have the following:

  • Clubface: 3 degrees closed
  • Swing Path: 6 degrees left

This means the ball will start left and then curve away from the swing path resulting in a fade or a slice.

Example 2: Traditional Push Draw

THe shot that many golfers desire to hit is the push draw.  I know growing up, I would watch all of the good golfers at my golf course and see them hitting a draw that would start to the right and curve back towards the target.  Here are the numbers on a push draw and n example.

  • Clubface: 2 degree open
  • Swing Path: 3 degrees to the right

This means the ball will start to the right and then curve away from the path, resulting in a slight push draw.  In this example if the clubface was 1 more degree open at 3 degrees open and and match the swing path the shot would be slight push to the right. 

Example 3: The Pull Shot

So now that you are getting the idea of the ball flight laws, let’s show what would cause the pull shot.  

  • Clubface: 5 degrees closed
  • Swing Path: 5 degrees closed or to the left

With these numbers the ball would start left and stay left.  Since the face and the path are matched up. If the path were one degree left or right the ball would draw or fade.

How that we have an understanding of the new ball flight laws let’s get into the causes of the over the top issues that often produce examples 1 and 3 above.  

Tip #3: Practice These 3 Drills

Drill #1: Control Your Low Point

Golf is a game is game where you must control your low point.  If you are hitting behind the ball with the driver, chances are you are going to struggling with all of your clubs. 

This drill help you start to control the bottom of your swing.  You will see results with all clubs the better you can perform this drill!  The best golfers can do this drill successful 20 out of 20 times, while the struggling golfer may only be successful 50% of the time.  Get to work!

  1. Paint a one to two year line with some yard paint in your back yard.
  2. Assess how many times out of 20 you are able to hit just ont he front side of the line.
  3. If you struggle, consider putting some additional weight on your front foot throughout the swing

Drill #2: Build A Stock Shot

Whether you are hitting a driver, 3 wood or iron, you want to have a stock shot that you can count on.  One that will start on your intended start line at least 70% of the time. 

Now that we know more about ball flight laws, we understand why the ball starts where it does and why it curves certain directions.  Make sure you understand those ball flight laws and check out this drill below:

  1. Set up an alignment stick 6-8 yards in front of your golf ball.
  2. Assess how many times out of 10 you can start the ball to the right of the stick.
  3. Keep in mind the ball flight laws and that you must have an open face.
  4. Once you are able to start the ball right of the stick 6 out of 10 times, not the curve of the ball.
  5. You want a shot that starts right and curves left back towards the target.
  6. Keep in mind the ball flight laws and work on your club face control and swing path.

Drill #3: Train For Speed

Golf is a game that is becoming more and more reliant on the distance a ball can be hit.  The analytics have made it clear what we have known all along, distance is king! 

The good news is that amateurs and golfers of all ages and ability levels have the opportunity to train for more speed.  I highly recommend the SuperSpeed Golf Training System, which has allowed me to take my average driver swing speed from between 98-100 mph’s to 104-106 mph’s. 

This increase has left me more wedges into greens over the past year than any other time in my 30 years of playing the game!  The results are real!

  1. Check out SuperSpeed Golf Overspeed Training System
    1. Use discount code Golfjourney365 to save money!
  2. Train every other day for 10-15 minutes
  3. You should see a 5-8% increase in swing speed as early as your first training session.

My Secret To Golf Improvement

Let’s face it, in order to get really good at golf, we must practice frequently.  About three years ago, I made the leap and invested in a golf simulator build for my garage. 

I went with a SkyTrak Launch Monitor and the TGC software and can now play over 100,000 courses including Augusta, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Whistling Straits. St. Andrews and many other of the top 100 courses in the world.

This golf simulator setup, which is more affordable that you might imagine, has been a game changer.  I can now play golf everyday of the year regardless of rain, snow, cold weather or time of day.  I can practice or play rounds of golf.  I can stand in the 11th fairway at Augusta and with the auto-rewind feature I am able to practice my approach shots from various differences.

It is worth checking out through Rain or Shine Golf as they offer some incredible packages along with financing offers that are difficult to beat.

Some direct links to Rain or Shine Golf for pricing and financing:

Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better

What does this mean for you?  I believe in the following recipe to get better:

1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor.  Here are some options:

Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:

2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed.  Here are some options:

Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:

3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier.  Here is a series on breaking through:

We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.

4 – Practice Frequently

Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system?  It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:

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