Steel Shaft on Hybrid...right for me?

[mytmouse]

Hey everyone,

This is my 1st official post so Yay! to that! :) I'm sorry if this post is a bit long-winded, but I feel that I should provide as much pertinent info to ensure that you guys know where I'm coming from.

 

About Me:

I started trying to play golf, maybe 4 years ago. Since then I've gotten married and kids and needless to say not enough time to take the game seriously. I'd go to the range every now and again. I got a couple of lessons and played 2 9 hole rounds. One thing that has also kept me from the course is feeling the confidence that I can go out and not be the guy that is holding everyone back from enjoying themselves. I guess you can call it noob anxiety. LOL I have been working on my swing to become more sound and consistent. I have come a long way from my coming over the top swing where now I feel fairly confident in my swing. So I'm ready to try it out.

 

My Sticks:

When I started I bought a complete set of Wilson Prostaff clubs. I can't even find any info on them from their site. Their cavity backs black and gold in color and in "Men's Flex". I'm assuming that's regular. But in haste, I didn't realize that the reason they were on sale was because they it was missing the 4i hybrid.

 

Now it get's interesting. I suck with hitting my Driver, Woods, and hybrid. Actually I just pulled them out since feeling confident about my swing and hit them decent, BUT I haven't really put time into them. What I did do is pick up a set of Dynacraft driving irons that I found on sale on Ebay. I wanted to try them out at the suggestion of a friend that said that's how he started playing while he left the Driver at home until he got his swing and confidence up using it. I scored all 3 clubs for just $30! They came with regular Apollo steel shafts, I just swapped out the grips and was on my way. Well... the experiment there was lovely. Well after a little practice it was lovely, I can hit the #2 about 220 off the deck. I was happy with the distance. Sure it's not what some hit with a driver BUT I could hit it straight and my mis-hits weren't all over the place. I'm ready to start playing but I feel like I still need to put a couple of hybrids in my bag I can use when the lie isn't in the fairway. I'm not naive enough to think that I could use it out of the rough with great success. So I'm thinking that adding a 3i & 4i hybrid to the bag might help me with those shots.

 

So yes, I already have a 3i hybrid. And like I stated earlier I hit it with much better success but I'm not sure that if I go play a round next week I'd be compelled to whip it out. So I'm thinking of experimenting with a lower profile head and use a steel shaft. Why a steel shaft? Well because every club I hate in my bag has a graphite shaft on it. I can't tell you the flex. But I don't like any of them. So I'm trying what I know. I'm looking at these from Hireko: Power Play Select 5000 I'd just buy the 4i at first but get the same Apollo regular flex stepped shaft that's on my Dynacraft Irons and then just put on my favorite grips. The weight isn't much different than the driving irons I already have so as far as feel I think I'd like it. I also like the price. I don't have a huge budget and if I gotta play around I'd like it to be reasonable! LOL

 

Ok so all that and I guess I want to know if my thought process makes sense and if you guys think I would benefit at all from using a steel shaft on a hybrid and if these would be easier for me to hit in less than favorable lies than my irons? My plan is to use my #2 driving iron as my driver, the #3 and #4 driving irons as my fairway woods and then the hybrids when I get a lie that I don't feel comfortable hitting my driving irons from, but think I can still get enough face on the ball to get it closer to the green than just punching out. I just want to play and go into the round not fearing having to pull certain clubs out of the bag. I know I'm not gonna shoot under par, but I don't want to hinder my fun by fighting with clubs in my bag.

 

Thanks for any info you guys can provide. If it helps at all here is a vid of me swinging my 5 iron. It's unedited so please excuse me and my buddy's joking around between swings. LOL

 

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[Enfynet]

If you can hit the heavier steel-shafted Driving Iron with confidence, then you would probably like the feel of a steel shaft in your hybrid.

Your swing may not be fast enough to feel real confidence in a Driver. Hireko offers a 14° "Thriver" that is designed to be the length and weight of a 3 wood but has the volume and forgiveness of a driver. This might be a good option for you down the road, and wouldn't compete with the 18° Driving Iron in your bag. When my friend was first starting to play, I built him an XS Thriver and XS 3H as his long clubs. If I had started him with the "average" 10° driver, he may have given up quickly. I also used the heavier Acculite G70 graphite shafts, to help him feel the club.

[mytmouse]

Thanks Enfynet! I was beginning to wonder if that would make sense to anyone. LOL I think I'm gonna go ahead and buy the 4 to see if I like the feel of it and if so, just on the 3 as well. I want to build my own clubs at some point down the line, but I think I'll let someone who's done it for a while hook me up first. I found a guy using the same shaft that's in my driving iron and he's only charging $25 shipped. So worst case, I don't like it and go back to the driving board.

I was looking at the Thriver as well. But the 1 thing I saw that I don't know if I like is the 1 degree closed part. Like I said I've been working on my swing and while slices aren't out of my mis hits, I am much better than before. But I'm wondering if using a closed face driver would make my good hits hook a whole lot. But then again maybe I won't notice? I have no idea what my SS is, but I hope to try to get a fitting at some point to get a better idea. But I had a problem with my longer clubs I had the tendency to overswing because in my mind they're supposed to go further. LOL So I might control my swing a little more because of that, but I have much better success. But I figure as my consistency and ball striking improves so will everything else.

[Enfynet]

[quote name='mytmouse' timestamp='1433222700' post='11672512']
I was looking at the Thriver as well. But the 1 thing I saw that I don't know if I like is the 1 degree closed part.
[/quote]
According to Jeff Summit (I'm paraphrasing here...), the 1° closed face is partially a result of the way players rest the club on the ground. As the sole of a driver is not usually designed with the ground in mind, the face will open up if rested on the turf.

[mytmouse]

Hmmm... ok gotcha. Well I'll put that back on the wish list then! I figured with all the good reviews it can't be but so much different. But sometimes I talk myself in and out of things. LOL Thanks for the insight! I really do appreciate it!