how to hit hybrids

[9 holes is enough for me 0]

I am new to forum. Ive been playing golf for 6 years and have watched to ton of the golf channel academy plus have googled golf instruction big time. For the most part the techniques have NOT been contradictory except -Hitting a Hybrid about half say you should not hit down like a iron but sweep like a wood. The other half say hit down like a iron one even says 3.5 negative degrees. What do you all think. My mid to long fairway is the worst part of my game for sure. 

[CarlH 7,949]

Play it like a long iron.  Place it a bit forward in your stance, off the logo of your shirt or your left ear, and swing smoothly.    Allow me to rephrase that, as I'm sure others will chime in with a different way.....that's how I play them and it works well for me.

Edit:  Don't try to kill them.  Swing the club rather than hit the ball.

[BostonSal 554]

I remember the very first TaylorMade FireSole Rescue.

It was a copper orange color, had a titanium head with a rail sole, and the very best way to play it was to leave it in the trunk.

Then I tried Cleveland Halos which were a little bit better but not much. For me, anyway.

Eventually I discovered that while hybrids were a godsend for some, in my case, they were an answer to a question never asked.

 

Curiously, I had better luck with utility driving irons..

PRGR made an excellent one early on, and then Dunlop made a blatant knockoff of it for a lot less money.

The Mizuno Fli Hi II could have stayed in my bag forever, but I wanted a touch more loft as I got older.

Now I've got an Epon.   I also got a couple of matching fairway long irons, but that was an expensive and stupid  mistake on my part.

From the tee, driving irons really take the fear out of tight driving holes if you hit them well.

Hybrids, on the other hand, are great for those who hit them better than long irons or high loft woods.

That didn't turn out to be me. 

 

 

 

[Riverboat 783]

32 minutes ago, John Pizzuto said:

I am new to forum. Ive been playing golf for 6 years and have watched to ton of the golf channel academy plus have googled golf instruction big time. For the most part the techniques have NOT been contradictory except -Hitting a Hybrid about half say you should not hit down like a iron but sweep like a wood. The other half say hit down like a iron one even says 3.5 negative degrees. What do you all think. My mid to long fairway is the worst part of my game for sure. 

I really think this depends on the hybrid. Some are built to play more like an iron, and others like a wood. The key is to find one that matches what you want to do. I've had more problems with the hybrid than any other clubs. I've only ever found 2 that I could hit well. The first was a Hogan that I hit just like a five or six iron, the current gamer is a Wilson that I play like a five wood. I agree completely with the previous poster, however,  that in either case, these are not clubs that you want to muscle. They are meant to provide distance and extraction ability without having to force the issue. 

[9 holes is enough for me 0]

thanks for replies but I do not have any irons lower than a 6 just hybrid 3 4 5 and 3 wood . still looking for answer to my question on how many degrees I should hit hybrid down or sweep like a wood. I am a mid-high handicapper and having trouble getting good loft on anything under a 7. Thanks 

[Riverboat 783]

50 minutes ago, 9 holes is enough for me said:

thanks for replies but I do not have any irons lower than a 6 just hybrid 3 4 5 and 3 wood . still looking for answer to my question on how many degrees I should hit hybrid down or sweep like a wood. I am a mid-high handicapper and having trouble getting good loft on anything under a 7. Thanks 

Sounds like you would have trouble with an iron swing if you can't get launch on anything longer than a 7, so I would try to sweep them like fairway woods. If that doesn't work, they may not work for you... either check out other hybrids or go the 7, 9, 11 wood route. 

[GaDawg 1,368]

1 hour ago, 9 holes is enough for me said:

thanks for replies but I do not have any irons lower than a 6 just hybrid 3 4 5 and 3 wood . still looking for answer to my question on how many degrees I should hit hybrid down or sweep like a wood. I am a mid-high handicapper and having trouble getting good loft on anything under a 7. Thanks 

Unless the ball is teed up, you should hit down on it like you would your 6 -7 irons. Personally, there is not a direct answer to your question. You can't go by the degrees on the club, it depends on how the ball is sitting. On a tee, don't hit down. In the fairway, hit down like your 6-7 iron.

[puttnfool 462]

1 hour ago, Riverboat said:

Sounds like you would have trouble with an iron swing if you can't get launch on anything longer than a 7, so I would try to sweep them like fairway woods. If that doesn't work, they may not work for you... either check out other hybrids or go the 7, 9, 11 wood route. 

Definitely nothing wrong with the 7, 9, and maybe even 11 wood route.  I have played 7 and 9 woods often over the years.

[cnosil 24,387]

2 hours ago, 9 holes is enough for me said:

thanks for replies but I do not have any irons lower than a 6 just hybrid 3 4 5 and 3 wood . still looking for answer to my question on how many degrees I should hit hybrid down or sweep like a wood. I am a mid-high handicapper and having trouble getting good loft on anything under a 7. Thanks 

Let's say 3.5 - 4 degrees down; bur you also need to realize that most players actually hit down with a wood as well.    I'm assuming that you are on a launch monitor measuring this so it is probably just better to work on launch angle to get better at hitting the club.  

https://blog.trackmangolf.com/trackman-average-tour-stats/

[Hook DeLoft 703]

I think the best answer to your question is to experiment. Take a hybrid to the range and try different ball positions. Middle of the stance will encourage a slightly downward strike. Putting the ball closer to your front foot will encourage a sweeping strike.

As mentioned above, some hybrids respond better to a downward strike. Some perform better when you sweep it. So much depends on the design of the hybrid. If you hit fairway woods well off the turf, you may be better off sweeping hybrids. If you take a divot with your longer irons, you may hit hybrids better with a downward strife IF the hybrid is designed for that. In general, smaller headed hybrids respond better to a downward strike and large headed hybrids are good for sweepers.

Bottom line:  find a hybrid that suits your swing. Don’t try to change your swing to suit the hybrid. 

[Riverboat 783]

45 minutes ago, Hook DeLoft said:

I think the best answer to your question is to experiment. Take a hybrid to the range and try different ball positions. Middle of the stance will encourage a slightly downward strike. Putting the ball closer to your front foot will encourage a sweeping strike.

As mentioned above, some hybrids respond better to a downward strike. Some perform better when you sweep it. So much depends on the design of the hybrid. If you hit fairway woods well off the turf, you may be better off sweeping hybrids. If you take a divot with your longer irons, you may hit hybrids better with a downward strife IF the hybrid is designed for that. In general, smaller headed hybrids respond better to a downward strike and large headed hybrids are good for sweepers.

Bottom line:  find a hybrid that suits your swing. Don’t try to change your swing to suit the hybrid. 

Very well said. 

[Tyler86 414]

As previously stated, its sort of situation specific. But for the most part my 3h i hit more like a fairway and my 5h more like and iron. At least thats my swing thought. Im not a great hybrid player, but its still more consistent than a 3i or 5i for me. 

[Kansas King 594]

I have a tendency to hit hybrids with a sweeping strike or slightly down on them. However, it really depends on your swing and the hybrid. There are no solid rules in golf that one must swing up or down with any club. Sure, hitting down on the driver may not give optimal results but it can be done. Hitting up or down on a hybrid will give you different results and different situations may require different types of strikes. Off the tee vs. off the fairway into a green are two different situations. Off the tee you may be going for distance and want to strike the ball in a way that maximizes distance while going for the green may necessitate a higher trajectory or higher spinning shot to hold the green. So it really just depends on the shot at hand and as noted above, you just have to experiment a little. 

[PBH3 94]

Generally speaking I found that there are 2 types of hybrids, smaller heads more like a driving iron and larger heads more like a fairway wood and they are each more successful when swung like their counterparts.  It took me a long time to find hybrids that I could consistently hit well, most were snap hook or worm burners, but once I found my current gamers which I swing down on like irons they have been great and far easier than a 3 or 4 iron to hit into greens.

[9 holes is enough for me 0]

thanks for replies. They say hybrids are easier to hit for the mid-high handicapper and can get more loft. Like a few of you said I would probably struggle with a low iron. I struggle with the ball position forward of center. Will have more questions and start a new topic sometime on something else but if any of you have any sayings about compressing the ball please let me know . Like for example hitting a long distance out of a fairway bunker "Stand tall top of the ball" that works. Or Gary player in a greenside bunker "light a match"  I need one like that for compression on the fairway. 

[den748 166]

On 8/29/2021 at 11:44 AM, CarlH said:

Swing the club rather than hit the ball.

This tip single handedly removed 3 strokes off my handicap. 

But for the question asked, I hit my hybrids more like a wood.  Usually forward in stance and not hitting down on it.  Never come close to taking any earth up when swinging.

[cnosil 24,387]

10 minutes ago, den748 said:

This tip single handedly removed 3 strokes off my handicap. 

But for the question asked, I hit my hybrids more like a wood.  Usually forward in stance and not hitting down on it.  Never come close to taking any earth up when swinging.

Have you been on a launch monitor to confirm you aren’t swinging down?   Having the low point above the ground doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t swinging down.  

[den748 166]

1 minute ago, cnosil said:

Have you been on a launch monitor to confirm you aren’t swinging down?   Having the low point above the ground doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t swinging down.  

I am not.  So it is certainly a possibility.  I just feel the same and set up the same as I do with my 3 wood.  I also have a very high ball flight which I think is due to me swinging up/setting up too far forward in my stance (or one of a million other things wrong with my swing)

[Kansas King 594]

14 hours ago, 9 holes is enough for me said:

They say hybrids are easier to hit for the mid-high handicapper and can get more loft.

Generally speaking, the bigger the club head, the more forgiving it can be. With hybrids, you get a much larger clubhead than with an iron. This generally means that club designers will pull the center of gravity (COG) back and lower to promote higher launch and use more perimeter weighting on the edge (on an already wider club) to have a much higher MOI than a normal iron. The key thing with forgiving clubs is that they just aren't for higher handicaps, everyone can benefit from additional forgiveness. However, not everyone needs an ultra high launching hybrid, so that is why you see hybrids in every size from a driving iron to near fairway wood size. It's just a matter of finding what works best for you. I will say the key phrase is "what works best" because it's rather rare that a club absolutely doesn't work for someone unless you're using a senior flex shaft and swinging fast enough to hit a 300 yard drive. 

[BostonSal 554]

I understand that long irons have always been the most difficult clubs to hit consistently well.

My question is this:

What makes hybrids preferable to, say, seven and nine woods?

I have 21 and 25º metalwoods that are very effective [except that I can't keep them down in wind].