heavygolffeels

The other part of this is that poor iron players generally do not feel comfortable with a 4i, 5i, sometimes even a 6 iron. So there seems to be added importance to get within a certain distance to hit at least a 7 iron for the approach. Everytime you are left 160, 170, 180 out, the mantra becomes, "if I could only hit my driver 10, 20, 30 yards further, then I would be able to attack/birdie/par this hole." And that's what gets worked on. And its not just on the tee. You see guys hitting 3 wood off the deck from a bad lie from 310 out because they want that 8 iron in there hands instead of the 6 iron for the 3rd shot. And they top it, and end up making a mess of an easy par 5 that they hit a decent drive on. Classic deficiency leading to bad decision making. The reality is that if you are a poor 6 iron player, you are likely a poor 8 iron player as well, the loft is just masking it better. Put in the work to become proficient and confident in your 5, 6, 7 iron. They are true weapons on the course. As @chisag alluded to, a great iron shot can erase a bad drive, and a bad iron shot can erase a great drive.

also a good way to turn your chipping yips into putting yips. in that case, swing them all like your driver.

For a lot of players, the 3 wood is dead. Slower players aren't going to have the swing speed needed to optimize the launch conditions of the club, and its incredibly common to hit a 4 wood or 5 wood farther. And of course those clubs with have more control with shorter shafts and more backspin and hence less side spin. On the other side of the spectrum, alot of fast players can hit the 3 wood near driver distances, which can make it impractical to carry in the bag. Or they hit it so far, that is rarely comes up and a needed shot on a par 5, when a hybrid or 5 wood could be used to hit a softer shot into a green. Either way, do not feel like you have to carry a 3 wood just to check the boxes. @Lgebbers, what you learned about your 3W/5W is applicable to the driver. It's probably not the case that a 8 or 9 degree driver would go further for you than a 10.5, 11, or maybe even a 12 degree driver. More loft will almost always help you hit it straighter, and more height may give you more distance depending on your swing speed. Its likely that a driver with a longer shaft will be harder to control as well.

Cobra F6 Baffler. Shorter than your average 4-5 wood. A little smaller and heavier head. Rails are fantastic. This is the ultimate hitting off the deck fairway wood. Cobra has newer iterations with the tour models, but nothing is quite like the F6 Baffler. Wish they made it in a 7 wood as well. If you have not gotten along with fairway woods before, this is your ticket. I was well known for detesting fairway woods and carrying 2 or 3 hybrids until I found this gem.

Awesome. Highest score gets a prize too right?

Cobra F6 Baffler.

Ping Rapture or Stretch.

Nice article. I've been looking forward to this release for a few months. Currently playing z585 5-6 and z785 7-pw, but have been thinking of replacing my 5 iron with something a little more forgiving. G710 had my interests. I have demoed the Cleveland UHX 5 utillity several times and have been really impressed. But I can't wait to try the ZX4. Bend the 5 iron 1 degree weak and kill some offset and match the loft to the ZX5 and it could be a sneaky good club. 5 iron top line:

Steelfiber but in S flex. It gets a good amount of use on the tour, but almost everyone is playing stiff and not x.

Setting up with the driver on the ground and aligning the ball slightly toe side has done wonders for me. Looks like it could help you as well if you are already setting up in the middle or heel side.

Been a while since I had a FW in the bag. Just picked up a Cobra F6 Baffler 4/5 wood, that will get a fair shot. Otherwise I might look at the 425 5 wood and maybe the Mizuno after the TXG review.

I would look to swap it for the 3 iron, as long as you find the utility more forgiving than the 3 iron.

I think PING really does not care. They have a long history of making fugly clubs that perform. Turbulators were not well received on any product line, but they kept making them because they added something to the performance. And it seems like G400/G410 sells were pretty good. And now, they are sort of the expectation. After initially not liking the way they look myself, I dont even notice on my 410 driver anymore. And when I demoed the 425 hybrids and 5 wood it almost seemed like something was off. They didnt look like PING clubs at address. But they are onto something in this line. 425 max fairway feels fantastic and is hard to not hit high and straight. cant wait to get my hands on the driver.

I have been hunting for a 5 iron replacement and just demo'd the UHX 5/23 utility on a monitor for 20 minutes or so. I believe the UHX iron and utility are the same length, but the utility swingweight's at D4 versus D2 for the iron. It was just a grip cap longer than the ZX5 5 iron in total length. Very easy to launch. I am a fan of the recoil shaft. I've used that on other utilities before. Honestly reminded me very much of the U85, but even more forgiving. And it's 3/4 shorter than the comparably lofted 4 utility from Srixon, which really helped me find the center more. I had been planning to hold out for the ZX4 5 iron, but may give the UHX a go.

Could be easier to demo the Cobra Tour Length drivers. 44.5 inches. 18g and 6 gram weight, so you can swap the 6 for another 12 or 18 if you really want to add weight. And added head weight makes the shaft player weaker.

For my money, I'd go with the older versions. Those were sneaky good utilities. You'll lose some ball speed and distance with the shorter shaft (the OL hybrid will help retain some speed), but if you want something that is easy to hit and will roll out quite a bit, I can't think of anything better.

Still gaming 2 2016 apex hybrids. Not in love with this line, and not too happy about including the name sake on the oversized model. They changed the apex to the apex pro? No. Should have called the other one the Super Max Apex or something. ruined it for me. More interested in the Sim2 Rescue and 425 this year.

I'm playing an Adams Super XTD Hybrid at 17 degrees for this very reason. Playing at 41.25. Oversized hybrid. Very fairway-esque and an absolute bomber. Its the Callaway Super Hybrid before the Callaway Super Hybrid. How about Wishon clubs? There are numerous fitters in the UK. The EQ1-NX line is especially customizable as it has weighting options to play from 42-40 and comes at 60 degrees stock lie, which is quite upright, and can be bent in 2 degrees either way. Some of his other woods can be bent up to 4 degrees.

Ping does really well with the slower swing market. Heavier head means more stability at impact, and produces faster ball speeds given the same club head speed. The question is how much is lost with the shorter shaft. Simple physics that the shorter shaft will be slower, but if you can swing it even close to a maximum CHS, the heavier head will make up for it. And if you have a varying strike pattern with a longer shaft and a short shaft minimizes that, you will see a greater smash factor and more consistent ball speed. For some, the heavier head also helps with swing path and shallowing. You dont come OTT when chopping down a tree with a heavy axe.

Anyone else intrigued by the new sim2 rescue? Long time Apex and Adams user and feel like TM finally made an Adams-ish boxy hybrid after purchasing them. Need to see this in person, but its one the short list.

wow. what is going on in here. looks like the oprah show. and you get a club and you get a club and you get a club. Congrats all!

Experimenting with a Mini 1.5 Bertha right now as a second club off the tee. Not looking for a driver placement, but more of a 3 wood with a larger footprint that is uber forgiving off the tee. No need to ever hit a wood off the deck as I am over the moon with my 17* hybrid. if i could land one cheap, id like to try a Cobra tour length 12* driver as well. so far the mini bertha is staying in the bag.

wow. you guys are on top of it. thank you! much appreciated.

Yes. Noted in my review as well.

Finishing up my review now. Should be up in the next few days. I've got two more rounds coming up. One tomorrow at Southern Dunes and one on Sunday at Dinosaur Mountain. Looking forward to getting a few more shots with the UiHi on some beautiful designs. I had a second go on the launch monitor and some of the things that I have been working on with the UiHi have began to produce some progress. Makes for a little more interesting review, as initially I just didn't get along with the UiHi very well. Here's some snippets from my last round on my home course. There's 3 holes where I have hit the UiHi off the tee every round and I've yet to shoot worse than par on these holes. Not perfect strikes by any means. I dont think any of these carried more than 170 but ran out pretty good and stayed away from trouble, setting up PW, 8 iron, and 9 iron into the greens. I've been known to make a mess off these shorter par 4s trying to place the ball perfectly. Learning to love 'ugly' pars.