Should I start hitting hybrids?

I've been playing for a number of years now and am part of the old school whereby I have my driver, 3w, 5w and 3-pw in my bag along with my "old faithful" putter. Recently a lot of my golf buddies have been including hybrids in their bag. Confession - I've never hit a hybrid and I'm tempted to give them a go. Would be interested to get peoples thoughts and experiences with hybrids - both good and bad obviously

Well....imho...hybrids are more forgiving than the 3-4 irons in terms of mishits. The hybrids are also able to twig yr shots (baby hooks/fade) like irons...and they really sound way nicer off the hits. 


I say go grab some 2nd hand hybrids to try out!

The question is Why Not?

Took time for me to be able to hit them well, but now they are among the most used clubs in my bag. The trick for me is to position the ball slightly left off center vs 5 iron.

the good: easier to launch
the bad: a hook machine for some people

For myself, I just can't hit hybrid. The dispersion is bad for me. Tried a dozen of them and finally ended with a driving iron to bridge the gap between my 5 iron and 5 wood. Definitely not as easy to launch with the hybrid but missed shots dun feel as painful.

I was like you when I was playing more fervently. Only had woods and irons in the bag... Never and refused to touch a hybrid...

Until my case of backsideitchytitis acted up at a sale and I picked one up for a steal... Went to the range, made some tweaks to the stick and now, I have at least two of them in the bag (I have from 2H to 4H)... They are my go-to clubs on the course. Need to punch a low shot under some trees - use my hybrid. Putting around the fringe - use my hybrid. Tight and narrow fairway - use my hybrid.

They are pretty useful clubs I must say!

Hi Chunky Munky,

Are you hitting your 3W, 5W, 3i, 4i and 5i well?  If you have older clubs, I would assume the loft and length of the 6i would be manageable (unlike some of the newer models where the loft and length of a 6i is like 3i/4i from 20 yrs back).

If you are hitting all those clubs well, are happy with the dispersion, have good distance gaps between them, then why would you change?

If you are not, then you have to figure out which are the clubs that are troubling you then select a suitable range of hybrids and give them a test.  Some hybrids are more like woods, some more like irons.

There are many posts in this forum that have discussed hybrids, what not run a search and go through them?  Many informative posts around.

Never looked back when I moved to hybrid. My 2h and 4h are the work horse. From tee to rough to fairway. It's so much easier to hit than long irons. Still have a 3w but in a round. I used it like maybe once or never. Dependent on my driver performance that day. But if I need a shot that confirm on fairway. 2h is my top choice.

I think many who have switched to hybrids won't look back. I'm one of them. Hehe. I feel they are much more forgiving than a muscle back/bladed 3i. Esp if the ball is in the rough. I also get more consistent distance with my 3h.  

Derek has a gd point. If you r hitting ur long irons well and scoring well.. Why change.. However, I feel that we could all benefit fr technology and a lil more forgiveness. But like any other clubs.. Not every make, model may work for u. Best to try diff ones out and identify what works best for u.

Not all hybrid are built the same. If you just switch from long iron to hybrid and that hybrid just happened to hook for you, you may think that hybrid is not for you and go back to iron.. But generally hybrid is much easier to launch compare to iron, so you still need to "trial and error" to find a suitable hybrid to hit straight.

simple answer. yes. 

my bag has only 7 iron to pitching now. my 5 hybrid is straight. easy to launch . high trajectory.  whats to even consider.

youtube has many videos comparing the iron vs hybrid already.  simple reason to switch is because modern balls are so low spin compared to the old  balata balls, we need hybrids to get them in the air.

 more than 40 years ago. balls were very high spin and iron lofts of ben hogan's 4 iron is the same as our 6 iron today.  so unless u think your game is better than old Ben's.....

For me, hybrids tends to hook alot and is like a "lazy" club. It is so easy to hit that I can choke down to hit anywhere from 140m to 180m on my old 22* 2012 burner , which is said is my go-to club whenever i am in a fairway bunker from that distance, on a good lie, i would say is a 100% hit. The only problem comes from low shots and fades. Low shots always end up as a push hook and fades as a pull hook, probably due to the lie angle as my irons are 2* flat.

TS,

Try it out and then decide if you keep it or chuck it away.

As long as you never try it, you never know it.

Yes you should try it.
Im using callaway diablo edge and recently picked up a TM rescue.
They are quite forgiving. Definitely a shot-saving tool for me

i try many hybrids in the end i give up went by with 4i and 3i instead the only hybrid that i find ok was the R11 TP Rescue the rest all i find it difficult.

if you find it hard to work on your 3i now then try swing one hybrid and see. A man's meat might be another men's poison

fking_soon wrote:

i try many hybrids in the end i give up went by with 4i and 3i instead the only hybrid that i find ok was the R11 TP Rescue the rest all i find it difficult.

if you find it hard to work on your 3i now then try swing one hybrid and see. A man's meat might be another men's poison

I'm like you. Find that I can hit irons better than hybrids or woods. Somehow I am more used to looking down at an iron than hybrid/wood.

My last game is played w/o hybrids and woods, and it was my best yet

however, i only got a 4i, am looking out for a 3i.

I think its all a matter of getting used to it. It felt weird gg from a 300cc driver to 460cc at first too. I used to play with a 2 iron in my bag and constantly got harrassed by frens hahaha. i also initially hated the looks of hybrids. clubs like cleveland meshie looked horrible to me. the shape, the color, the offset, etc.

Then after trying some here and there. i realized they are really much easier to hit and much more forgiving than a bladed long iron. mishits felt like i broke my fingers and the ball didn't go very far. i still play 4-pw, but i def won't put a 2 or 3 iron in my bag anymore. 

i think it also depends on how far you hit a golf ball. if you're hitting your 3i 200 meters or more. you might not need your long irons that often, except maybe to tee off for shorter, narrower holes. 

You can also consider trying out some hybrids with steel shafts that may give you better control also.

abadan wrote:

I think its all a matter of getting used to it. It felt weird gg from a 300cc driver to 460cc at first too. I used to play with a 2 iron in my bag and constantly got harrassed by frens hahaha. i also initially hated the looks of hybrids. clubs like cleveland meshie looked horrible to me. the shape, the color, the offset, etc.

Then after trying some here and there. i realized they are really much easier to hit and much more forgiving than a bladed long iron. mishits felt like i broke my fingers and the ball didn't go very far. i still play 4-pw, but i def won't put a 2 or 3 iron in my bag anymore. 

i think it also depends on how far you hit a golf ball. if you're hitting your 3i 200 meters or more. you might not need your long irons that often, except maybe to tee off for shorter, narrower holes. 

You can also consider trying out some hybrids with steel shafts that may give you better control also.

Wah bro i not gg or need to hit 3i to 200m or more lah. My 4i is 160m only. If 3i can get 170m I will be very happy already, but I think it will probably add less than 10m to my 4i provided I'm able to hit.

I think I can have a good game with a range of 170m. I did try to play with hybrids before, and my tm hybrid 22deg gives me 180m on a good hit, and it's probably 1 out of 3 hits. The other 66% of the time it can go anywhere, OB, hazard, borrow fairway end up burst the hole.