Golf Tips » June 2000 – Woods versus irons?

This month’s tip comes from Peter McTait of Toronto, Canada who asks:

"How do I adjust my swing for my woods versus my irons? Secondly, I can handle my 5 wood, but I have trouble with my 3 wood and also the driver. Can you tell me why?"

Peter is one of many of our students who have posed the same question.

First of all, you do not want to "adjust" your swing or swing differently for your woods versus your irons. The swings are basically the same. The only difference is that the plane of the swing will be a little "flatter" with the woods than the irons due to the longer shaft.

The plane of the swing is a line drawn from the ball through the shoulders and extending on up. At the top of the backswing, the back of the left hand (for right handed golfers) should be on this line.

As you can see from picture in #1 (Swing with a wood) and picture #2 (Swing with an iron) the swing plane appears more upright with the iron.  I have attempted to swing both clubs the same, but because I am standing further away from the ball with the wood my swing is automatically "flatter".

Your second question is also a fairly common one.  Most golfers will hit a 5 wood better than a 3 wood, and a 3 wood better than a driver because of the loft of the club. A 5 wood will have more backspin and less sidespin than a 3 wood, and the same will apply with the 3 versus the driver. With the driver, there is minimum backspin, and only a slight error in clubface angle or clubhead path will result in sidespin, and the greater the clubhead speed the more off-line the ball will travel. Even the touring pro’s will tend to tee off with a 3 wood when accuracy is more important than distance. Just watch this year’s U.S. Open, where the rough is traditionally punishing – the pros will be teeing off with 3 woods and 2 irons quite often.