Need advice on hybrids... thanks!

Hi everyone!

Would appreciate some advice on hybrids.
I currently use a Mizuno Opti II ladies set which includes:
- Driver (loft 14)
- 4 wood (loft 20)
- 7 wood (loft 27)
- irons 5 to 9 (loft not sure)
- P and S
- blade putter

Have found that my hitting for the irons are very weak. Am ok with both the 4 wood and 7 wood - but distance for 7 wood goes further than the 4. So far, 7 wood can hit about 125m, while 4 wood can hit about 100m. Ball for 4 wood doesnt have much trajectory though - goes straighter than it flies off the ground.

Am thinking of getting a hybrid to bridge the gap between the 4 wood and 7 wood. Mysticsea (one of the forum guys here and my advisor thus far in equipment purchase, haha) suggests that I can get something with a loft of 23 / 24.

I've tried mizuno MX700 before - doesnt hit very well for me. Callaway FT (think loft 23) - feel not as good too. As for callway diablo (loft 24, regular flex) - feel and sound are very good. Ball has trajectory too.

Am therefore seeking advice from all the pros here - whether my rationale in getting a hybrid to bridge the gap between the 4 wood and 7 wood is correct? What should I look out for when getting hybrids too? And possibly what kinds of hybrids would be alright for me?

Am thinking of trying cobra TWS ladies flex too. Adams a4Os looks good - but lofts would be either 22 or 25. Not sure if these would be suitable? Another thing is that I'm petite in size, so have always been advised to use ladies flex - but recently have found myself better able to handle regular flex / men's shafts as well. I suppose for men's shaft, distance is usually greater, so am thinking if I should just go for regular flex instead of sticking to ladies flex too?

Wanna get the new club as a birthday present for myself... haha, so already getting all excited... would appreciate all advice / suggestions / ideas etc!!! Looking forward to the replies!

Hi star,

I've played with a couple of good lady golfers and I saw that they were using a lot of woods off the fairways. Their trick is to use longer clubs to get more distance out of it. Even if they top the ball, there will still be substantial roll. They tend to stay away from the irons except for PW, SW. One extremely good lady golfer that I've played with only had 11 clubs. Driver, 4 woods, Putter, 5 irons (7-SW).

From your description, if your 4 wood goes further than your 7 wood, it's a swing problem. Not an equipment issue. Having said that, a hybrid would not bridge the gap between your 4 and 7. A proper setup would look like Driver, 3, 5, 7, 9 wood. I've hit a ladies 9 wood before and I understand why it's so useful to have one.

As I've always said before, if it's a swing fault see a coach. If it's a shaft problem, change the shaft. You won't get more distance by using stiffer flex. That's for certain. Give it a thought and let us know.

Cheers.

how far u hit your driver? your 7w is 125m, how abt your 5i or 6i?

i assume u hit abt 150-170m for your driver, thus u are looking for club between your driver n 7w?????

are u hitting well with your 7w, consistently 125m? if u are doing 125m straight oreadi, my suggestion is to work on your driver n irons before trying to bridge this cap.....

my wife drives abt 160-180m, no longer has the 4w but has the 4 hybrid (22*) n 5 hybrid (25*), she hits abt 125m with the 4H, i try to bridge that distance cap with a 4w or 5w but she just not a wood person (think she just lazy) but she made a valid point...... she is not looking for GIR (greens in regulation), she just want to enjoy her golf, play bogey is good for her (if bogey every hole, she will lplay 90) n she hits well with her 4H, thus she will play driver/4H/chipping for most par 4s, and she hits straight, so bogey is very possible....

my point is: dun be too worried abt your distance or cap between clubs, most par 4s for ladies abt 300m-320m, if u play your driver n 7w combo right, u will be a good golfer oreadi, cos u will make the guys u playing with sweat in their pants.... work on your consistency with your driver/7w n your irons too, once u managed all those, then work on your distance cap, but for now, dun worry abt it, one less club now means one less club to practise......

work on your short game too, ladies threw many strokes around the green......

Slinger is right...

We men also threw too many strokes around the green... sigh....

The reason why your 4w is shorter than your 7w is cos your swing speed is too low to launch the 4w.

Not enough spin to launch ball and thus the ball flight is low with little carry. If the ground condition is not gd for rolling, your 4w would come out short. You don't need a in between club especially a low lofted hybrid. It will be equally hard to launch and you probably cannot get the distance to go past your 7w either.

should be able to get 9w nowadays, esp ladies.,. may even replace your 5i

Khorkar wrote:

Slinger is right...

We men also threw too many strokes around the green... sigh....

talking abt u......

i can help u with the short game, just jio me for golf, $5-$5-$10......

i remb playing wirh my sis in law 7W when i starting golf... easy to use n take off easily too...then when slightly improved, cant use it any more..

think for beginner, it's more impt to learn n get used to your swing 1st b4 buying new equipments....

slinger wrote:

how far u hit your driver? your 7w is 125m, how abt your 5i or 6i?

i assume u hit abt 150-170m for your driver, thus u are looking for club between your driver n 7w?????

are u hitting well with your 7w, consistently 125m? if u are doing 125m straight oreadi, my suggestion is to work on your driver n irons before trying to bridge this cap.....

my wife drives abt 160-180m, no longer has the 4w but has the 4 hybrid (22*) n 5 hybrid (25*), she hits abt 125m with the 4H, i try to bridge that distance cap with a 4w or 5w but she just not a wood person (think she just lazy) but she made a valid point...... she is not looking for GIR (greens in regulation), she just want to enjoy her golf, play bogey is good for her (if bogey every hole, she will lplay 90) n she hits well with her 4H, thus she will play driver/4H/chipping for most par 4s, and she hits straight, so bogey is very possible....

my point is: dun be too worried abt your distance or cap between clubs, most par 4s for ladies abt 300m-320m, if u play your driver n 7w combo right, u will be a good golfer oreadi, cos u will make the guys u playing with sweat in their pants.... work on your consistency with your driver/7w n your irons too, once u managed all those, then work on your distance cap, but for now, dun worry abt it, one less club now means one less club to practise......

work on your short game too, ladies threw many strokes around the green......

hi slinger - my driving is about 150m - for irons, i'm very weak... not consistent at all - 5 / 6 / 7i all about 80m? i had supposed this would be a swing problem, esp when i can't even play the basic 7i well... and sometimes it's even more than that, psychological as well... keep telling myself my irons are weak... so always can't do it...

that's why i thought of getting a hybrid to replace the irons and bridge the loft between the woods...

so far, for the few small games i've played, other than driver, i just use the 4 wood and 7 wood till the ball is nearer the green.

but you are right - consistency is the key no matter what clubs i hold... that's certainly very useful advice...

sunny wrote:

The reason why your 4w is shorter than your 7w is cos your swing speed is too low to launch the 4w.

Not enough spin to launch ball and thus the ball flight is low with little carry. If the ground condition is not gd for rolling, your 4w would come out short. You don't need a in between club especially a low lofted hybrid. It will be equally hard to launch and you probably cannot get the distance to go past your 7w either.

sunny - that's very enlightening...

how can i improve my swing speed then?

rocky wrote:

Hi star,

I've played with a couple of good lady golfers and I saw that they were using a lot of woods off the fairways. Their trick is to use longer clubs to get more distance out of it. Even if they top the ball, there will still be substantial roll. They tend to stay away from the irons except for PW, SW. One extremely good lady golfer that I've played with only had 11 clubs. Driver, 4 woods, Putter, 5 irons (7-SW).

From your description, if your 4 wood goes further than your 7 wood, it's a swing problem. Not an equipment issue. Having said that, a hybrid would not bridge the gap between your 4 and 7. A proper setup would look like Driver, 3, 5, 7, 9 wood. I've hit a ladies 9 wood before and I understand why it's so useful to have one.

As I've always said before, if it's a swing fault see a coach. If it's a shaft problem, change the shaft. You won't get more distance by using stiffer flex. That's for certain. Give it a thought and let us know.

Cheers.

rocky - thanks... originally i wanted to get an additional wood to bridge the gap.... then upon second thoughts, since im so weak with my irons, might as well get a hybrid to replace the irons. At the same time, thought that the loft of the hybrid can then be in between that of the 4 wood and 7 wood.

seems like i really should hold off buying the club - as advised by mystic and all of you here - and really to work on my swings first...

really appreciate the advice given by you guys... sole researching can yield a lot of "wrong" and "odd" insights so it helps to have a variety of opinions here.

hmmm it's that constant urge to buy equipment lah.. i'm guilty of buying and experimenting with drivers and hybrids and only recently have i cooled down and started focusing on getting my swing better. maybe if your friends have the hybrid you could just borrow it for a while and then decide later on whether to buy it or not!

star wrote:

sunny wrote:

The reason why your 4w is shorter than your 7w is cos your swing speed is too low to launch the 4w.

Not enough spin to launch ball and thus the ball flight is low with little carry. If the ground condition is not gd for rolling, your 4w would come out short. You don't need a in between club especially a low lofted hybrid. It will be equally hard to launch and you probably cannot get the distance to go past your 7w either.

sunny - that's very enlightening...

how can i improve my swing speed then?

check with your pro. Is Grant your coach? Talk to him and he would probably advise you on your clubs as well. And I am not claiming credit for what I posted. It was taught by one of the pros and it is a common problem among ladies. That is why they are hitting many clubs the same distance or shorter distance clubs actually go further than their 3W etc... it is all down to the swing speed. You need sufficient speed to generate enough spin to launch the ball and keep the ball in flight.