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Generally effective FW wood loft gaps

(~ 10 - 12 yards distance delta on 8 out of 10 hits)

using your 80% swing ?

3* loft gaps ?

4* loft gaps ?

5* loft gaps ?

6* loft gaps ?

OK, this was pretty confusing, so I'm going to assume that you asked what gaps we have in our fairway woods. In general, 4 degrees of loft and an extra half inch of length equals about 10 yards, with the loft difference being 8 yards of that gap and the length being the other 2. These are only generalities, however, and don't really say much about anyone's individual swing. Swing speed has a lot to do with it too, since if you have a low swing speed you're going to need larger degree gaps to keep 10 yard increments. Typical bag makeups would have 3 to 5 degree gaps in the fairway woods. I play a 15 degree 3w, a 20 degree hybrid, and a 24 degree iron at the top of my bag. You can probably just look at a lot of forum memebrs' signatures to see what lofts they are playing at the top of their bags.

Sorry for the confusion! Yes - what lofts do we need between FW wood clubs to get the 10 - 12 yards difference on the typical 80% swing.

I sense that the industry 3* is low.

4 degrees is perfect. Unless you are only going to carry one. In that case I would go with a 17 degree which is half way between a 3 and 5 Wood.

This is exactly what I've just done -- put a 17° 4 wood in the bag, 3 and 4 hybrids, 5i-PW, GW, SW, LW and putter. We'll see how it plays out but so far it looks like I have finally covered the top end of my bag to fit the way I play.

Thanks - sort of answer that I was looking for.

well, 3* plus one inch of length is going to be around 10 yards, for people with a sufficient swing speed. Not every company does 3*, some do 4*. Also, with the loft strengthening of the irons, there is less room at the top lofts to spread out anymore. Way back when, it was typical for the 3 wood to be 16*, the 4 wood to be 19* and the 5 wood to be 22* -- or, since most people go from 3 wood to 5 wood or hybrid, that used to be a 6 degree gap! Each progressively more lofted wood would also be 1 inch shorter -- something the manufacturers don't necessarily do anymore either.

Again, this really comes down to each individual swing, and how they perform for each individual person. Each person's home course and personal strategies enter into the decisions, too. If you play a lot of long courses leaving you lots of long approaches, you may want that top of the bag to be more precise so you might want smaller gaps. You might need to carry a 13* fairway wood, too. On the other hand, if you know you are going to lay up a lot, and/or prefer to carry a lot of wedges, you probably will have the top of the bag more spread out. There is no one correct way to choose your bag, or one correct way to choose your lofts.

"Each progressively more lofted wood would also be 1 inch shorter -- something the manufacturers don't necessarily do anymore either."

Right. I see about a 1/2" shaft length difference between the odd numbers on modern fairway woods. This could be another reason why the 3* gaps are seeming less effective.

For example, almost every length on this spec sheet only reflects 1/2" delta between any two odd number clubs in a subject model.

Adams Golf FW Specs

Put the clubs in your bag that will give you the best yardage gaps and the most confidence, period. I know Titleist does...

Strong 3 - 13 degrees
3 wood - 15 degrees
4 wood - 17 degrees (-1/2")
5 wood - 19 degrees (-1")

The Taylor Made V-Steels were tighter yet...

Tour Spoon - 13 degrees
3 wood - 15 degrees
4 wood - 16.5 degrees
5 wood - 18 degrees

I don't carry a 2nd fairway wood because I don't need that kind of club. How many approach shots do we hit from over 200 yards? We're ametuers playing from the white tees. We hit driver off the tee and 7-irons or less typically. Long par 3's and par 5 2nd shots are the only shots close to 200 yards generally. IMO, there's no need to jam Driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, 7-wood, 4-hybrid, etc. into a bag just to hit wedges and 9-irons all day.