Hybrid steel shaft experiment

[Syks7]

Less of an experiment and more of a oh well why not.  I picked up this Rbz2 tour hybrid 2iron the other day and while I don't mind the stock shaft it felt a little inconsistent to me it also didn't really slot into the 3wood to 20°4 iron gap the way I wanted it to tending to get more toward the 3 wood than where I wanted it to be north of the 4 iron.  So I figured I'd take a flyer and try it out with a 2 iron shaft that matches my irons.  Hoping that the steel shaft would take a little distance out of it and make it more consistent.  Cut, flo'd, weighted, and epoxied last night...  Hopefully I've built a new fairway finder that fits into the gap I want.  Excited to try it out.

[BIG STU]

On 11/16/2021 at 3:43 PM, Syks7 said:

Less of an experiment and more of a oh well why not.  I picked up this Rbz2 tour hybrid 2iron the other day and while I don't mind the stock shaft it felt a little inconsistent to me it also didn't really slot into the 3wood to 20°4 iron gap the way I wanted it to tending to get more toward the 3 wood than where I wanted it to be north of the 4 iron.  So I figured I'd take a flyer and try it out with a 2 iron shaft that matches my irons.  Hoping that the steel shaft would take a little distance out of it and make it more consistent.  Cut, flo'd, weighted, and epoxied last night...  Hopefully I've built a new fairway finder that fits into the gap I want.  Excited to try it out.

In the past I have done quite a few conversions and it has been 50/50 success rate with the people I have done it for. Personally I have not done any for myself because generally I do not get along with Hybrids. But maybe it will work for you--- I have always been a big proponent of trying different stuff-- You never know until you try

[Syks7]

 

41 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

In the past I have done quite a few conversions and it has been 50/50 success rate with the people I have done it for. Personally I have not done any for myself because generally I do not get along with Hybrids. But maybe it will work for you--- I have always been a big proponent of trying different stuff-- You never know until you try

I've had one round with it and am going to swing by the range today to get some more swings in with it.  My experience after the one round though is that I very much like it and I think its going to do exactly what I hoped it would.  Off the tee is monstrous, same for off the deck.  Plus it seems very amenable to both a softer finesse and a heavy step on it go swing.   I still have to get used to it though, the consistency will come but I need more reps.  

[BIG STU]

6 hours ago, Syks7 said:

 

I've had one round with it and am going to swing by the range today to get some more swings in with it.  My experience after the one round though is that I very much like it and I think its going to do exactly what I hoped it would.  Off the tee is monstrous, same for off the deck.  Plus it seems very amenable to both a softer finesse and a heavy step on it go swing.   I still have to get used to it though, the consistency will come but I need more reps.  

Seems like you may be on the path for it working for you--- I build and modify my own stuff and sometimes I may work with and experiment with a club for a while to get it to work- Can give you 2 examples--- The Scotty in my signature I went through 3 different Bulls Eye fluted shafts before I founfd the one that balanced out and felt good to me. The PM wedge I have been messing with it on and off for a year and finally got it ground and weighted right for me.  Looks like your initial thoughts and engineering turned out well now you just have to fine tune it practice it to gain confidence in it. Yep I love it when a plan comes together good. And to be honest trust me I have 2 staff bags packed full of failed experiments.

[schneck1977]

I as well have tried matching steel shafts in a hybrid.  I have had better luck with higher lofted hybrids with steel (24*-20*).  You have me thinking about some different options for the upcoming season now.

[Syks7]

 

On 12/13/2021 at 3:39 AM, schneck1977 said:

I as well have tried matching steel shafts in a hybrid.  I have had better luck with higher lofted hybrids with steel (24*-20*).  You have me thinking about some different options for the upcoming season now.

So far I'm several rounds and a lot of practice in with it and I'm learning its quirks, but overall I'm exceptionally pleased.  It's mostly blind luck but it seems to be doing exactly what I built it for.  I'd like to take credit, but I really only know enough about clubs to make a loosely educated guess.  Its finding tight fairway and filling the gap between my 3 wood and 4 Iron.  Part of the reason it's working so well for me is in relation to the weight and length,  Its robust at 419 grams total weight (D5 SW) so I can swing it like an Iron, but it's also long at 42" so I can swing it  like a wood too.  The length makes it exceptionally easy to load the shaft so you never have to swing hard and weight makes it very stable.   No joke when I say it's the easiest swing in my bag to get out to 200 + yards.  It also covers a very large gap 30+ a4yards, If I want to get after it I can borderline poke it out towards the three wood 225-230 or if want to swing easy 90% I can hit it 210-220 just north of my 90% 4 iron at 205.  

The biggest quirk though is also related to the utility.   Pick the right swing and it's forgiving, pick the wrong swing and you're going to hit your worst shot of the day.    So far my experience says:  Off the tee, tee it up, swing like a wood and pick it and it will launch like a cannon arrow straight or with a slight fade.  If you swing it like an iron and come down on it at all you can expect to hit a shot that may go twice as high as it goes long or a snap hook so powerful that it's going to give you incredible distance but also go two fairways over.  Same goes for a fluffy sitting up lie in the fairway or rough.  For a tight lie or sitting down in the rough a steeper iron swing with a slight divot will produce a surprisingly clean and high ball flight for an 17.5 degree club.  Try to pick it you'll thin it so badly it borderline looks like you topped it.  

It's a fun club and thus far was a hugely worthwhile experiment.