3 Irons ARE NOT What They Used To Be…. This Could Be The Missing Link to Your Golf Game

Summary

In this instructional golf video, a teaching pro explores the efficiency of the three-wood compared to the five-wood and hybrid clubs. With advancements in technology, the three-wood is now larger and more forgiving, challenging the obsolescence of the five-wood. The video presents a three-ball test for each club, analyzing consistency in ball flight, direction, spin rates, and distance. The results show the three-wood offers a higher carry distance with less loss on mishits, while the five-wood provides more spin and a lower launch angle. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of personal testing and visual assessment alongside data for club selection.

Takeaways

• 🏌️ The video discusses the potential return of the three-iron to golf bags, questioning if it's now more efficient than a five-wood or hybrid.
• 🚀 The three-iron and five-wood have almost identical lofts, with 0.5° difference, suggesting minimal distance variation between them.
• 📏 The five-wood is slightly longer than the three-iron, which might contribute to higher club head speed and potentially greater distance.
• 🔍 The video emphasizes the technological advancements in clubs, particularly the five-wood, which includes perimeter weighting for off-center hits and a center of gravity designed for better launch.
• 🧍 Both clubs were custom fit to the instructor, eliminating the excuse of ill-fitting clubs affecting performance.
• 📊 A three-ball test was conducted for both clubs to evaluate consistency in ball flight, direction, spin rates, and distance.
• 🌳 The test was performed at the Bristol Golf Club on a challenging hole with specific target distances in mind.
• 📉 The three-iron showed a significant difference in distance between the best and worst shots, indicating inconsistency.
• 💥 The five-wood demonstrated a higher club head speed and more consistent distance, albeit with a tendency to spin more.
• 🎯 Despite the numbers, the instructor stresses the importance of visual and physical feel when testing clubs, not just relying on data.
• 🤔 The video concludes with the instructor considering which club to 'game', highlighting the personal decision-making process in club selection.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The video discusses whether the three-wood should be reintroduced into a golfer's bag, comparing its efficiency and performance with a five-wood and hybrid clubs.

Why have some golfers left their three, four, and five irons at home or used them as door stops according to the teaching pro?

The teaching pro mentions that this has been due to the introduction of hybrids, which have become more popular as they offer similar loft but with smaller heads and shorter lengths, making them easier to play.

What is the difference in loft between the three iron and the five-wood in the video?

The three iron has a loft of 20°, while the five-wood has a loft of 19.5°, which is only 0.5° difference.

How does the length of the club affect the expected distance in the video?

The five-wood is about an inch and a half to two inches longer than the three iron, which is expected to result in more club head speed and potentially greater distance.

What technological advancements in the five-wood are mentioned in the video?

The five-wood has more perimeter weighting for off-center hits, a center of gravity positioned further back to help get the ball airborne, and a larger club head for more forgiveness.

Where were the clubs used in the video custom fit to the golfer?

The clubs were custom fit at the Belfrey, which has a specialist Titleist fitting center.

What was the purpose of the three-ball test with both clubs?

The three-ball test aimed to assess consistency in ball flight, direction, spin rates, and distance for both the three iron and the five-wood.

What was the maximum carry distance achieved with the three iron in the video?

The maximum carry distance achieved with the three iron was 230 yards.

How did the golfer's mishit with the five-wood compare to their mishit with the three iron in terms of distance?

A mishit with the five-wood was still longer than the golfer's 4 iron, whereas a mishit with the three iron was shorter than the 4 iron and back into the five-iron distance.

What is the conclusion the golfer came to regarding the use of the three iron and five-wood based on the test?

The golfer concluded that both clubs have their merits, with the five-wood offering more consistency and forgiveness on mishits, while the three iron may be preferred for certain situations depending on the golfer's comfort and consistency.

What advice does the video give for testing golf clubs?

The video advises not to rely solely on numbers when testing golf clubs, but also to consider the visual perspective and feel of the shots, as this can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the club's performance.

Outlines

00:00

🏌️‍♂️ Reviving the Three Iron: Efficiency vs. Modern Clubs

This paragraph introduces a debate on whether the three iron should make a comeback in golf bags. The speaker, a teaching pro with 15 years of experience, has observed students neglecting traditional irons like the three, four, and five irons. The video aims to determine if modern technology has made the three iron more efficient and user-friendly compared to a five wood or hybrid. The speaker notes the technological advancements in clubs, such as the hybrid's introduction, which led to the five wood becoming less popular. The comparison focuses on loft, clubhead size, and center of gravity, with the hypothesis that the three iron might be as forgiving and efficient as a five wood or hybrid.

05:02

📊 Analyzing Club Performance: Three Iron vs. Five Wood

The speaker conducts a three-ball test with both the three iron and the five wood, using Prov1x golf balls for fairness. The goal is to assess consistency in ball flight, direction, spin rates, and distance. The test reveals significant differences in performance between the clubs. The three iron shows a remarkable shot with a high carry and spin rate but also exhibits inconsistency, with one shot falling short. The five wood demonstrates increased clubhead speed, resulting in more distance and spin, but also shows a tendency to pull shots to the left. The speaker emphasizes the importance of both visual feedback and data when testing golf clubs.

10:03

🚀 Club Decision Making: Balancing Performance and Feel

The final paragraph discusses the results of the golf club test and the decision-making process for choosing which club to include in the bag. The speaker reflects on the performance of both the three iron and the five wood, noting the three iron's potential to achieve greater distances with a mishit but also its inconsistency. Conversely, the five wood offers more consistent distance, even on off-center hits, without a significant loss in performance. The speaker also considers the visual appeal and feel of the clubs, ultimately seeking a balance between performance data and personal comfort with each club. The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to share their preferences and decisions regarding club selection.

Keywords

💡Three-iron

A three-iron is a type of golf club with a 20-degree loft, used for long-distance shots. In the video, the three-iron is being evaluated for its efficiency and comparison with other clubs like the five-wood or hybrid. The script mentions that despite technological advancements, the three-iron might still have a place in a golfer's bag due to its ability to achieve significant distance, as seen in the test shots.

💡Five-wood

A five-wood is a golf club with a 19.5-degree loft, slightly less than a three-iron, and is traditionally used for longer shots than irons. The video discusses the five-wood's obsolescence with the introduction of hybrids and compares its performance to the three-iron. The script notes that the five-wood has a larger clubhead and is longer, which might contribute to higher clubhead speed and potentially greater distance.

💡Hybrid

A hybrid club is a blend of an iron and a wood, designed to be easier to hit than long irons and provide more forgiveness on off-center hits. The script mentions hybrids as a reason for the decline in the use of five-woods, as they offer similar loft but with a smaller head and shorter length, making them more accessible for golfers.

💡Clubhead speed

Clubhead speed refers to the velocity at which the clubhead moves at impact with the golf ball. It is a critical factor in determining the distance a ball will travel. The video script provides data on clubhead speed for both the three-iron and five-wood, indicating that the five-wood has a higher clubhead speed, which should theoretically result in greater distance.

💡Loft

Loft is the angle that the clubface makes with the ground at address, affecting how high the ball will travel after being struck. The video script notes that the three-iron has a 20-degree loft and the five-wood has a 19.5-degree loft, suggesting a minor difference that may not significantly impact distance.

💡Custom fit

Custom fitting in golf involves adjusting clubs to suit an individual golfer's specifications for optimal performance. The script mentions that both the three-iron and five-wood used in the test were custom fit to the instructor, ensuring that the clubs were perfectly suited for his swing and thus providing accurate data for the comparison.

💡Consistency

Consistency in golf refers to the ability to perform the same shot repeatedly with similar results. The video script discusses the consistency of ball flight, direction, spin rates, and distance when hitting with the three-iron and five-wood, highlighting the importance of this attribute for golfers when choosing clubs.

💡Launch angle

Launch angle is the initial angle at which the ball leaves the clubface, impacting the trajectory of the shot. The video script provides data on the launch angles for both clubs, noting that the three-iron had a higher launch angle, which could influence the ball's flight path and carry distance.

💡Spin rate

Spin rate is the rotational speed of the golf ball after being struck, affecting how much the ball will curve in the air and how much it will roll after landing. The script records the spin rates for the shots with both clubs, indicating that the three-iron produced a higher spin rate, which could influence the ball's behavior on the green.

💡Mishit

A mishit occurs when a golfer does not strike the ball with the center of the clubface, which can negatively affect the shot's distance and accuracy. The video script discusses the performance of both clubs on mishits, noting that the five-wood may offer more forgiveness due to its larger head size and technology.

💡Forgiveness

Forgiveness in golf refers to a club's ability to produce good results even when the ball is not struck perfectly. The script explores the concept of forgiveness in relation to the three-iron and five-wood, suggesting that the larger head of the five-wood might offer more forgiveness on off-center hits, maintaining distance despite a mishit.

Highlights

The video explores whether the three-wood is now more efficient and better than a five-wood or hybrid.

With current technology, three-irons might be as easy to use as hybrids, which have become more popular due to their smaller heads and shorter lengths.

The three iron and five-wood have 0.5° difference in loft, with the three iron at 20° and the five-wood at 19.5°.

The five-wood is 1.5 to 2 inches longer than the three iron, which could affect club head speed.

The five-wood has more technology, including perimeter weighting for off-center hits and a center of gravity designed to get the ball airborne.

Both clubs have been custom fit to the instructor, ensuring they are perfect for his swing.

A three-ball test will be conducted to assess consistency in ball flight, direction, spin rates, and distance.

The instructor hits an impressive shot with the three iron, achieving a carry of 227 yards with a launch angle of 14.4 degrees.

There is a significant difference in distance between the best and worst shots with the three iron, highlighting the need for consistency.

The five-wood shows an increase in club head speed, potentially leading to greater distance.

The five-wood shots are more consistent in distance, with carries ranging from 230 to 240 yards.

Even a mishit with the five-wood can still result in a longer carry than a well-struck four iron.

The instructor emphasizes the importance of visual perspective and feel in addition to numerical data when testing clubs.

The five-wood offers a lower launch angle and potentially less spin, which could be advantageous in certain conditions.

The instructor considers adding the five-wood to his bag for shots requiring a carry of 225 to 235 yards.

The video concludes with the instructor reflecting on the importance of comfort and consistency in choosing the right club.

Transcripts

is it about time we put three irons back

in the golf bag this video we're going

to find out whether the three-wood is

now more efficient and better than let's

say a fivewood or even a hybrid stay

tuned there's going to be some really

interesting results within this

[Music]

video I've been a teaching pro for over

15 years and we've had a lot of funny

interactions with my students where they

basically leave three four and five iron

at home or they even use them as door

stops however with technology the way it

is right now should threein be back in

the bag are they easier to use I mean is

this basically a hybrid at this point

they are getting bigger and bigger and a

fivewood started to become more obsolete

now I feel like with the introduction of

hybrids five Woods kind of went out of

the window a little bit no one started

to use them because hybrids were a kind

of same lofted but slightly smaller

headed and slightly shorter version

which technically does make it easier to

play now these two clubs right now are

almost identical they've got 0.5°

separating them so the three iron is 20°

and the wood here is kind of like a

really week five would at 19.5 de so in

terms of its Loft I'm not expecting a

huge difference in distance now we often

talk about length of Club as being a

huge common denominator as to why by one

Club will go further so we see here the

fivewood is basically an inch to two

well an inch and a half to 2 in longer

than the three iron okay so I would

expect to get more Club head speed with

this also the club head itself is bigger

so we've got a little bit more I just

kind of basically drum this down and go

there's more technology in this fivewood

I've got a little bit more perimeter

waiting for the offc center hits I'm

expecting to see the center of gravity a

little bit further back to help me get

the Bard a little bit more Airborne so

should this go

further the answer in short is yes is it

more forgiving than the three the three

iron now again in short it could be

because of its head size it might not be

because of its length Okay now both of

these clubs have been a custom fit to me

at the belfrey which has a specialist

Titleist fitting Center that's quite

hard to say so I know these golf clubs

are perfect I haven't got I haven't got

them off the rack they're not random

they are perfect for me so I've got no

excuse in saying oh that club's not

perfect they are perfect for me what

we're going to do we're going to three

ball test with both clubs I've got

prov1x for All Balls as well so it is as

Fair as it's going to be now what I'm

looking for here is a consistency in

ball flight Direction

spin rates and of course distance now

this is not a golf club I'm expecting to

hit the green with every single time if

I'm stood maybe with a nine or an eight

IR in my hand I'm sure you guys watching

this as well you'd fancy your chances of

hitting towards the Target that you want

so you could you can hit the green okay

when we get the clubs going longer and

longer we've got less we're less likely

to do so what we want to try and find

with this is that the bad shot doesn't

miss by much now I am on one of the most

beautiful holes here at the Bristol Golf

Club 12th hole going straight up the

hill there's a massive tree there on the

left hand side which you can see I'm

exactly 230 yards away from the pin

pretty much where I expect both of these

clubs to go one may carry one may roll

one may roll one may carry let's see

what the numbers are saying we've got GC

3 fired up and raring to go we'll go

with the three iron first I think shall

we three shots let's see the

numbers oh wow just started with an

absolute

pure is that on the

green I've air mailed the

green 100 milph Club head speed carry

227 Jesus Christ was not expecting that

2 de into out path angle of attack 0.65

remember that in mind for future videos

I've hit down on the ball but not

massively one of the numbers I'm really

interested in for this video is the

launch angle which was

14.4

de spin rate

3925 wow what a shot that was I

literally have nothing else in the tank

to offer that this club any more than

that that was

immense oh I tell a lie Oh I thought

when I first picked this up

honestly middle of the green 206 carry

on that one that's

interesting path again exactly the same

two degre that was two degrees out to

there a bit more fadey that one it kind

of popped off a little bit higher 6 thou

6 and 1 half thousand spins still the

same launch angle very close to 13 1/2

deg so the difference there I've cut

across the ball a little bit more I've

hit down I've hit more across it which

generally offers a bit more spin carried

a lot less he's actually carried 20 yard

less I mean the I mean I I can see that

visually that one there has hit the

front third of the green the shot before

it kind of caught one of the leaves in

the tree Behind the Green so it air

mailed the green it was immense right

come on get me that into our path

back that was a little bottom groovy

which will be interesting as well got my

into our path back hit down on the ball

so I bought I hit it a bit later

205

carry

5,000 spin right I'm going to give I'm

going to give the three iron a mulligan

ball okay both clubs get a breakfast

ball no for no reason at all other than

the fact I'm

inconsistent get perfect lie right come

on that first one oh my God

hwv Tennessee I'm afraid on that one

just pulled it

left it's gone bloody miles 228 carry

three to four well 4,000 spin one degree

out twin but I pulled it face was short

that's why it's probably gone longer as

well right really interesting results

four golf shots hit one out of this

world at 230 pretty much 2 130 yards

carry one was out of this world but just

with the wrong sort of delivery position

which dropped it right down to 205 so

I've had two at basically 205 to 210 and

two at

230 is that consistent probably not next

up we've got the five wood now the big

thing from here is to see the

consistency of the distance between

puring it and off center cuz you can see

with the 3 Iron it was massive 20 yards

is

huge I say and I'm going to say this in

the same breath really the good thing

about 20 yards is for this particular

shot 20 yard of less of the green I've

actually missed the Fairway bun I've

actually missed the green side bunk as

well I'm short of them so that would be

a kind of weird positive but that's just

circumstantial so a 20 yard difference

between top and bottom is probably

expected In fairness but it's not ideal

right let's see what this one's

saying takes off like an absolute rocket

see you later interesting here one now

Club head speed has jumped straight up

the club is longer 109 mph Club head

speed from the original

105 I think it was so big big difference

in club Ed speed which should guarantee

us a little bit more distance 225 carry

with 55,000 RPM so much more spinny

pulling it a little bit the last two

shots there this one's missed quite a

bit left it's gone absolutely mes 242

yards Carry I've I've just lost a brand

new Prov with a really long thick grass

situationally not fantastic 11° launch

angle so it's it's launching a little

bit lower spinning a little bit less

carrying further and faster with it

right going to hit two more with this

I'm going just try and get I'm going to

get four four numbers off this as well

just to be fair

all right come

on guys that was an unbelievable

rocket back edge of the green 228 Ys

carry that was a rocket that was

absolutely beautiful five 5 1 half th000

spin so it's launching less which is

interesting so it's launching a little

bit lower than the 3 a couple of degrees

lower

a little bit more consistency in my

distance is 230 and 240 as opposed to

230 and 205 so it's definitely on the

longer side consistently

wise in my hands it feels lovely to kind

of hit I'm hitting down in it by a

degree as well which is well 1.2 degrees

which is kind of basically just under a

degree more so maybe because it's longer

it's encouraging me to hit down on the

board a little bit more as well but the

it behind the ball well and I think

these longer clubs like this do just

give you that kind of confidence to

really just get stuck into it cuz it's a

beautiful looking thing as it sits down

right go

again that's your necky one pulled it a

touch right out of the neck coming back

landed on the green 22 four that is the

main purpose of today's test i m hit it

it launched at 9° it's caught it launch

low off the heel and it's still gone

224 that is absolutely vital so my an my

question to you based on me hitting this

which one do I

game my question to you which one do you

already game and if you're not sure the

only way to test it is exactly what I've

just done there good golf balls on the

grass to a Target because sometimes not

just just trusting the data you need to

see things visually I've hit a couple of

shots like that rocket off the very

first 3on has gone over the back of the

green the Rocky off the fivewood over

the back of the green but the ones where

I didn't quite strike it front edge

short or maybe just trickling on so you

need that phical that visual perspective

as well when you're hit when you're

testing out clubs don't just go off

numbers go off visual the feel for me

putting these two golf clubs down side

by

side I feel like I hit this

better but when they don't when I mishit

this it doesn't cost me any problems at

all it doesn't really lose me so much

distance and again that's I come back to

what I said at the start start of the

video it's possibly because of the

difference in the size of the heads a

bit more basic just a bit more

technology in this one so it's a really

really interesting one to add in because

I'm trying to add these into my golf bag

for me a 4 iron will go about 215 to 220

the three would will go about 240 to 250

so I knew need that kind of 225 to 235

in there a career best is right in the

middle with this one a career best with

this one is on the higher end of it but

also a slight Mish hit with this is

still longer than my 4 iron a mish hit

with this is actually shorter than my 4

iron and back into five iron distance so

we got to wait up both flights were

interesting as well I'm not using anyone

in particular when it comes down to oh

this is a lyx course or a windy course

because they both launch around about

the same if anything the fivewood launch

is a little bit lower the spin off this

might be a touch lower than this so that

makes a big difference to the flight as

well so there's so much to consider you

got to get comfortable you've got to get

consistent

and then you can make your decision from

there but very very interesting test for

me if I do say so myself guys I hope

you've enjoyed this video hit the like

hit the Subscribe let me know what you

would do if you were in my shoes and

I'll see you next time