[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

There's got to be some common sense here and probably always depends on the situation.

Yes, common sense should come into play, which is why there are so many bad golfers out there. Between testosterone, ego, and lack of brains impacting the application of common sense, these are three of the greatest challenges facing golf today and cause the inflation of handicaps everywhere.

Most rec golfers are probably more comfortable with driver off the tee since modern driver are so forgiving. The driver is probably the right choice for most people, most of the time unless there is trouble in your normal range.

And this is where we completely disagree. The driver is the longest and flattest club in the bag, making it the most difficult to hit. When teaching, the driver is the last club you let a student get in their hands, because it is a grenade with the pin already pulled. Nothing will blow up a player's game and confidence quicker than the driver. The latest iterations are easier to hit, but they are still a tough club to control and get most players in more trouble than they can handle. The distance generated from these clubs give players a false sense of ability and choice in tee box, again hurting their game and potential to improve. Players are better off playing forward and hitting shorter clubs to learn how to hit the ball and develop some skill. But this is another philosophical battle that also hurts the game today. Players should try and learn to hit their clubs to be successful from all distances, not just be yard apes that hack their way around the greens.

There's a lot of situations where it is probably wise to aim for a comfortable, stock distance in a wide part of the fairway when laying up vs hitting a 3 wood as far as you can when at best you'll be 20-30 short and you have a good chance of slicing it into the trees.

You stand a much greater chance of slicing a ball into trouble with the driver than you do with a shorter club. The same corrective technologies in drivers are incorporated into all clubs these days, so you should be hitting the clubs with the same diminishing dispersion pattern as you work your way down the set. The 3 wood is the ultimate compromise for distance and straightness because of the lack of mass in the head of the driver which ultimately creates the swing variations (mechanical or human) that cause slices and hooks. But the driver is the big dog and most high handicappers will default to it for the three variables mentioned in the first paragraph of this response. Never under-estimate the impact of testosterone, ego, and brains from preventing good decision making that will improve a player's ability and score.