Ditching the Hybrid

[deejaid 3,939]

5 wood 21* driving iron are my go 2s

 

 

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Settled on an 18.5* Macgregor persimmon 4-wood and it's been great. Probably really similar to a hybrid with a similar head size and shaft length.

 

 

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[Dueller 36]

Use to hate the hybrids and hooked them off the map. Recently discovered how good the G400 range of woods have been and now the 4 hybrid is one of the best clubs in my bag. Perfect step between my 5 iron and 5 wood.

[Sluggo42 6,049]

Another thing to realize, is that we are talking about 200 yard shots. I don't care what club you are hitting, there are a lot of things that can and will go wrong.

I doubt anyone is a steady green dancer at 200 yards, I know I'm not.

 

It's a natural reflex to swing “harder”, and bam, you're already in trouble. Every push, pull, draw, fade, is magnified due to the extra length.

 

I don't think there is a “magic” Hybrid, that's gunna go straight every swing.too many variables in live play. Most complaints are “user interface” problems.

[RoverRick 1,566]

I started the summer with one swing, after 18 months absence. I had 3 wood, 3-5 hybrids. Then I got injured and while I was recovering, still on going, I had to change my swing. Suddenly the hybrids and FM's that I was loving were going hard left.

 

Of course the problem was me, not the hybrids, but I have now gone back to MP FLI HI's and regular irons on graphite shafts to replace all of these.

 

I like the forgiveness of the hybrids, but the misses with them are simply too costly. A miss with the iron like clubs for me will be a shorter, sometimes much shorter, shot but still straight. While a mis-swing with the hybrid will go 30-40 yards left and often into a hazard or off the planet.

 

Plus the less forgiving clubs cause me to be more conscious of them and make a better swing.

[russtopherb 6,246]

Another thing to realize, is that we are talking about 200 yard shots. I don't care what club you are hitting, there are a lot of things that can and will go wrong.

I doubt anyone is a steady green dancer at 200 yards, I know I'm not.

 

It's a natural reflex to swing “harder”, and bam, you're already in trouble. Every push, pull, draw, fade, is magnified due to the extra length.

 

I don't think there is a “magic” Hybrid, that's gunna go straight every swing.too many variables in live play. Most complaints are “user interface” problems.

 

I know that's the thing with me - there's just something about the shape of a hybrid that confuses my already confused brain. I can hit fairway woods just fine with full confidence. Hybrids? Nope. I've lost count of how many I've tried. 

[Har in the Hat 1,589]

I have a Nike Cpr 3hybrid and love it

 

 

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[NiftyNiblick 1,972]

How many of you have switched from a hybrid to one of the new driving/fli hi irons that seem to have become pretty popular in the last few seasons?

 

I'm a driving iron fan, but I don't see it as being a hybrid substitute.

 

The hybrid is a fairway club that you can use on the tee,

 

The driving iron is a tee club, and you'd better be a hell of a long iron player to use it on the fairway.

 

For me, the driving iron was a one-trick-pony, but I always believed in one-trick-ponies being a legitimate segment of the bag..

[GB13 7,779]

I'm a driving iron fan, but I don't see it as being a hybrid substitute.

 

The hybrid is a fairway club that you can use on the tee,

 

The driving iron is a tee club, and you'd better be a hell of a long iron player to use it on the fairway.

 

For me, the driving iron was a one-trick-pony, but I always believed in one-trick-ponies being a legitimate segment of the bag..

Funny, I can't hit my driving iron off the tee but can hit is really well out of the fairway. I have had to stop teeing it up and hitting like a fairway shot on the tee.

[NiftyNiblick 1,972]

Funny, I can't hit my driving iron off the tee but can hit is really well out of the fairway. I have had to stop teeing it up and hitting like a fairway shot on the tee.

That's something, GB13.

 

I don't tee anything up high.

About a quarter to three-eighths inch high for woods (which is why I don't hit a big body driver).

Down to the tee's cup for irons.

 

The problem with driving irons from the fairway, in my case, at least, is anything but a near perfect lie is a killer.

The lofted fairway wood is better for me from the fairway.

 

I keep saying is instead of using the past tense. Stubborn.

[GB13 7,779]

That's something, GB13.

 

I don't tee anything up high.

About a quarter to three-eighths inch high for woods (which is why I don't hit a big body driver).

Down to the tee's cup for irons.

 

The problem with driving irons from the fairway, in my case, at least, is anything but a near perfect lie is a killer.

The lofted fairway wood is better for me from the fairway.

 

I keep saying is instead of using the past tense. Stubborn.

Yeah, any tee height makes me hit it high on the face and I end up with a knuckler that goes 150 yards shorter than it should. My driving iron shots are ugly this way but the end up in the fairway, a pretty good distance, so whatever works I guess. I tee up all of my other irons though, so I might just be crazy...

[tehuti 570]

I am still having trouble with my 3 hybrid, even though I finally started hitting well with it on the range. So I picked up a brand new closeout Srixon Z355 7 wood to see if that is easier to hit off the deck.

 

 

 

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IMG_0157.HEIC

[BIG STU 7,710]

On 9/14/2018 at 9:45 AM, deejaid said:

Settled on an 18.5* Macgregor persimmon 4-wood and it's been great. Probably really similar to a hybrid with a similar head size and shaft length.

 

 

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I was on the range the other week hitting one of my Mac Custom 5 woods. THis kid beside me got curious and real politely asked me "Sir when did they start making hybrids out of wood?" He was sincere. I had to explain that it was not a hybrid but a real fairway wood back when woods were actually woods. As you know all of those Mac fairways are tiny even in it's day. Actually his new Callaway hybrid was a tad larger than my 5 wood. I told him if he was interested he could hit one. He really did not want to. I told him if he ever wanted to go to persimmon please see me. We talked and I know his Dad. I bet $20 I will know what his Dad will tell him. "Ole Stuey is ok but he is tied too much to the past with those outdated antiques" Funny thing is I am some 25 years older than his Dad and can beat him straight up from any tee using my antique equipment and him moderns. A lot of the regulars around my club will tell you tongue in cheek that I am "touched in the head" because I am always hitting those antique blades and wooden woods

[deejaid 3,939]

I was on the range the other week hitting one of my Mac Custom 5 woods. THis kid beside me got curious and real politely asked me "Sir when did they start making hybrids out of wood?" He was sincere. I had to explain that it was not a hybrid but a real fairway wood back when woods were actually woods. As you know all of those Mac fairways are tiny even in it's day. Actually his new Callaway hybrid was a tad larger than my 5 wood. I told him if he was interested he could hit one. He really did not want to. I told him if he ever wanted to go to persimmon please see me. We talked and I know his Dad. I bet $20 I will know what his Dad will tell him. "Ole Stuey is ok but he is tied too much to the past with those outdated antiques" Funny thing is I am some 25 years older than his Dad and can beat him straight up from any tee using my antique equipment and him moderns. A lot of the regulars around my club will tell you tongue in cheek that I am "touched in the head" because I am always hitting those antique blades and wooden woods

Now that I put the Stan Thompson’s in my bag I’m having even better results. I’m not sure the loft but the 4-wood is backweighted with lead and the ball gets way up in the air. 215 yards with a nice steep landing that holds the green. Better than any hybrid I’ve ever tried.


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[BIG STU 7,710]

3 hours ago, deejaid said:

 

 

Now that I put the Stan Thompson’s in my bag I’m having even better results. I’m not sure the loft but the 4-wood is backweighted with lead and the ball gets way up in the air. 215 yards with a nice steep landing that holds the green. Better than any hybrid I’ve ever tried.


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Yup you know those Gintys are a classic design--- I have a 29* Ginty 7 wood I need to try

[tehuti 570]

I just received a 7 wood yesterday, and if it works out the 3h is getting benched again. Stubbornly I want to keep working with the hybrid until I figure it out. But solidifying that spot in the bag takes priority.

 

 

 

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[catchmeoutside 27]

It does trip me out when I see someone hit a hybrid from 190 yards out but it really helps them get the ball in the air since they don't have a very high swing speed. I only have 1 hybrid, 19 degree titleist that I use instead of a fairway wood. I rarely use it from the fairway, I mostly use it off the tee and I do like to tee it up off the ground. I don't like hitting it off the ground.

[deejaid 3,939]

Yup you know those Gintys are a classic design--- I have a 29* Ginty 7 wood I need to try

Mine is probably late 1950’s, pre-Ginty. Part of a 1,2,3,4 set. I don’t have the 2 wood in the bag though.

Those Ginty’s look like they would be great out of the rough but might be a bit tough from tight lies.




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[deejaid 3,939]

I just received a 7 wood yesterday, and if it works out the 3h is getting benched again. Stubbornly I want to keep working with the hybrid until I figure it out. But solidifying that spot in the bag takes priority.


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This might really be a space in the bag where real wood woods can excel. A heavy wood head can help you stay down whether through the rough or fairway. Modern fairway woods and hybrids are just stainless steel. Pretty much no different than the early small head metalwoods of the 1980’s.


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[BIG STU 7,710]

2 hours ago, deejaid said:

 

This might really be a space in the bag where real wood woods can excel. A heavy wood head can help you stay down whether through the rough or fairway. Modern fairway woods and hybrids are just stainless steel. Pretty much no different than the early small head metalwoods of the 1980’s.


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That IMHO is why the old V-Steels are such an awesome metal wood-- Heavy with lots of weight in the bottom and those TM Tour Cleeks were good too with the rails on the sole like an old Baffler

[fixyurdivot 10,715]

I still have yet to own/play a hybrid.  I've hit a few now and then, but they don't seem to offer me much - at least from what I observe at the range.  I look at these much like "switch rods" in fly fishing.  They attempt to get the best of both ends of the performance/application scale, but IMO, seem only to find something not far from the middle.  I do play with a couple of guys who really like them, but they are pretty high handicap players who really struggle with long irons.