What's a hybrid to you?

[Vater]

Do you think of hybrids more in the family of irons or more in the family of woods?

 

I get that hybrids were designed to replace long irons, but I've always thought of them as a type of wood. And if you search the forum, people are constantly pitting a hybrid against a wood when making club decisions.

 

Considering their actual construction, I like to have anything that's like a wood have similar characteristics and anything that's an iron have similar characteristics. So I kind of "flow" my wedges from my irons - and I "flow" my hybrid from my FW and driver.

[Davidv]

⁉️

[Vater]

@Davidv Crazy connection, but I actually saw your reply in the XXIO thread, so you're a good example of what I'm talking about. Your driver, woods - and hybrid - are all XXIO, but your irons are PING.

 

Everyone talks about how hybrids are like irons, but why is it that so many people buy hybrids that are complementary to their woods?

 

It's because we all think of hybrids as wood type clubs, right? Again, why is the debate always between some X fairway wood and some Y hybrid? Because we think of them as comparable.

 

(Or is no one saying hybrids are like irons anymore?)

[Ger21]

Quote

What's a hybrid to you?

Dead...

[EaglesGolf99]

Callaway 2016 Apex Hybrid.

 

That's a Hybrid. 

 

Close thread. 

[Billfitz]

I replaced my fairway woods with hybrids, so I'd say they work like woods, not irons. Then there's the matter of being hollow like woods, having bulge and roll like woods, having longer shafts than irons with the same loft, and they'll never be mistaken for blades. Still, the line is being blurred by hollow irons that look more like woods than blades too.

[mogc60]

I consider them a mini fairway wood to fill a yardage gap. 

[lefthack]

Not iron, not wood, not putter, not wedge.

[jomatty]

Not wood or iron.  Its like they are a hybrid of the two.  J/k I tend to think of them more similar to a mini fairway wood.  I know some people use a swing similar to their irons but I have had the best luck using a swing more similar to a fairway wood.  I do prefer hybrids that have more of a fairway wood shape.  Those that like the squarer toe that are more iron like may feel differently.

[benclab]

Hybrids to me are a different animal. Their own class. It's a 2 iron and 5 wood in one... a, well, hybrid of them. It doesn't match my woods, 818h2 vs g425, and is easier to hit than a long iron but I can do all the long iron stuff with it.

 

 

[Vater]

7 minutes ago, jomatty said:

Not wood or iron.  Its like they are a hybrid of the two.  J/k I tend to think of them more similar to a mini fairway wood.  I know some people use a swing similar to their irons but I have had the best luck using a swing more similar to a fairway wood.  I do prefer hybrids that have more of a fairway wood shape.  Those that like the squarer toe that are more iron like may feel differently.

Good point about the squarer toe - I like the more compact profile hybrids, that's why I chose the M3. I think the SIM2 Rescue looks great in this regard. I also like the adjustability of the M3 for any illusions I have of being able to shape the shot. Yet, I completely agree that hybrids are like mini FWs and that the swing of a wood makes more sense than how I strike my irons.

[ChipNRun]

History lesson: Hybrids were not invented in the early 2000s. Hybrids are a resurrection of the Bulldog, a hickory-shafted trouble club from the late 1800s. The small head had a width of about two golf balls, and was used to blast the ball out of shaggy rough lies.

 

In the 2000s, are hybrids more woods or irons? Well, it's a combination of the two.  General rule: Hybrids fly better if you hit down on them like an iron, rather than sweeping them.

 

And, the clubheads vary. Some look more like a wood, while others look more like an iron. If you're feeling a bit confused, part of the blame goes to Mizuno and its FLI-HI family.

 

Sometimes FLI-HI gets marketed as a long-iron replacement, while other times it is shaped like, and called, a hybrid.

 

Final advice: Don't worry about which part of your bag from which the hybrid flows. (If you can literally see it flow, you have a clubhead speed problem.) Focus on how the hybrid flies.

 

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by ChipNRun
Double insert on FLI-HI panel.

[Vater]

41 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

History lesson: Hybrids were not invented in the early 2000s. Hybrids are a resurrection of the Bulldog, a hickory-shafted trouble club from the late 1800s. The small head had a width of about two golf balls, and was used to blast the ball out of shaggy rough lies.

 

In the 2000s, are hybrids more woods or irons? Well, it's a combination of the two.  General rule: Hybrids fly better if you hit down on them like an iron, rather than sweeping them.

 

And, the clubheads vary. Some look more like a wood, while others look more like an iron. If you're feeling a bit confused, part of the blame goes to Mizuno and its FLI-HI family.

 

Sometimes FLI-HI gets marketed as a long-iron replacement, while other times it is shaped like, and called, a hybrid.

 

Final advice: Don't worry about which part of your bag from which the hybrid flows. (If you can literally see it flow, you have a clubhead speed problem.) Focus on how the hybrid flies.

 

 

Solid point on how it flies. (I used the word "flow" as a lazy way of saying "related to" or "connected to" or "stemming from".)

 

So then what is your opinion on which a hybrid's flight is more like? For me, it's more like a wood. But your point is well taken as I have a FW, hybrid, and iron all within a few degrees of loft and I like having the three of them for the different shots I can make with each.

[GG194]

A long/mid iron replacement since I have trouble hitting them. Also sometimes a FW replacement because I struggle with it too. Generally a 4H is the most dependable club in the bag other than driver and putter.

[Mikey PHP]

A replacement for long irons and mid irons. In my experience, I find them easier to swing than your standard long/mid irons. Great out of the light rough and for doing what I refer to as “bump and run”shots. I even have a 7 iron which is referred to as a mid-hybrid.

[VUnit469]

Neither.
 

For me my 2H is a green approach club from 220-240M as hybrids have a high flight.

 

It fills the gap between my Driver and my 3iron.

 

If I had to pick, it would be wood, since it has a 3 wood shaft in it, not an iron steel shaft.

Edited October 21, 2021 by VUnit469

[1mcozik]

A mix between werewolf and vampire.

[ChipNRun]

9 hours ago, Vater said:

So then what is your opinion on which a hybrid's flight is more like? For me, it's more like a wood. But your point is well taken as I have a FW, hybrid, and iron all within a few degrees of loft and I like having the three of them for the different shots I can make with each.

 

First, I'll describe my current - but changing - bag mix at the long end. I'm "anchored in Fours." I carry a 17° 4W, 22° 4H and 22° 4i. (And a 21° 7W).

 

4W is my distance wood... 7W blasts ball out of summer rough better and flies higher than 4H... 4H probably most versatile, I can flight it up and down a bit, and it goes almost as far as the 7W... 4i lost its steel and now has a lighter SteelFiber hybrid shaft, it makes a great driving iron when I need a low draw.

 

My new MavMAX irons run 5i - PW. So, I will keep the 4H as a versatile bridge club. If I practice, I can tee the ball low and hit a hot stinger with it, a useful trick since there's no 4i.

 

Also, there's the issue of a rough split-out in hybrids:

• Traditional hybrids, which have a shaft length and loft somewhere between numbered irons and fairway woods. Notice there is no equivalent JPX numbered iron to the CLK 2. Also note that the CLK 4 has a shaft 1.5" longer than the JPX 4i.
• Iron replacement (IR) hybrids, which are paired to an iron set. The IRs have pretty much the same shaft length and loft as the numbered irons they are meant to replace. In Mizunoland, the FLI-HIs tend to be the IR model, although not quite as close a match as to earlier JPX-FH offerings.

Edited October 21, 2021 by ChipNRun

[Billfitz]

11 hours ago, ChipNRun said:

General rule: Hybrids fly better if you hit down on them like an iron, rather than sweeping them.

That's not my experience with them. I hit mine with the same low angle sweeping swing as I used with fairway woods. I get the same distance as I did with the FWs, but better accuracy.

[ChipNRun]

Response to remark, "...hit down on ( hybrids) like an iron..."

 

36 minutes ago, Billfitz said:

I hit mine with the same low angle sweeping swing as I used with fairway woods. I get the same distance as I did with the FWs, but better accuracy.

 

Interesting. I get into trouble with topping the ball if I try to sweep hybrids. The "hit down" has long been the recommended cure for those who had trouble hitting hybrids.

 

Anyone... maybe an instructor... have comments on the sweep vs. hit down attack angle for hybrids? What works for who? Is head design a factor?

 

[ohioglfr]

Hybrid for me is literally a "rescue" club in that they've replaced the long irons I don't have the swing speed for any more.  At 67 years, my longest iron is a 6.  I relate to them more as a wood type club but with more control since the shafts are a little shorter.

[boggyman]

Trouble left…..

[BraxtonFullerton]

13 hours ago, jomatty said:

Not wood or iron.  Its like they are a hybrid of the two.

 

 

Go on...

[Billfitz]

2 hours ago, ChipNRun said:

I get into trouble with topping the ball if I try to sweep hybrids.

 

If you're topping you're not sweeping. I occasionally top, when I have a brain fart and don't drag the club at the start of the takeaway, although when I do that I'm just as likely to lift and drop the club and hit it fat. Ball position is key as well. You can have the ball well ahead of center when it's tee'd up, which still allows good contact even if the club head is ascending. When on the deck you need to have it not so far ahead of center to account for where the club head will inevitably start an ascending path. 

 

The three swing essentials for me are to drag the club at the beginning of the swing, to rotate my hips, and to focus my eyes on the ball. If I forget to do any of them I don't hit the ball well. I have 'Drag, Rotate, Focus' written in 48 point type on a 3x5 card that's permanently attached to my push cart, lest I forget.

 

As for hitting down, I was never able to do that very well with long irons, which I gave up on in favor of 7 and 9 woods 30 years ago. I don't carry a specific hybrid equivalent of a 9 wood now, but my SGI 5 iron plays like a hybrid, so I'm still sweeping until I get to the 6 iron.

[tannyhoban]

It’s the thingy that replaces a 4 iron for me

[ZA206]

I replaced my 2i with a 3H back in the day. Couple years ago, I replaced the 3i with a 4H.

Both were excellent decisions. They were iron replacements for me, literally.

 

-ZA

[bnperrone]

I have a 4-hybrid that is cloned to my 4-iron. Shaft, length, SW, loft. I can easily pick between the two. Next set probably won't order a 4-iron. 

 

Longer than that, I have a driving iron that flows with irons in terms of length, step down in weight class shaft, etc. 

 

I have an incredibly hot and cold relationship with fairway woods, so my next attempt is going to be a low-lofted hybrid that I "flow up" from my irons. Modus GOST shaft in Tour S to complement the Modus 105X iron shafts. What I've realized after a lot of trying is that my driver is my driver and I can't make fairway woods extensions of my driver. I do, however, have success working up from irons for the driving iron, 4-hybrid, and hopefully the low-lofted hybrid that would replace a fairway wood. I'm ok giving up some of the natural length of a 3-wood, because ideally I won't be hesitant to pull the long hybrid out of the bag. 

[chipa]

20 hours ago, Vater said:

Do you think of hybrids more in the family of irons or more in the family of woods?

 

I get that hybrids were designed to replace long irons, but I've always thought of them as a type of wood. And if you search the forum, people are constantly pitting a hybrid against a wood when making club decisions.

 

Considering their actual construction, I like to have anything that's like a wood have similar characteristics and anything that's an iron have similar characteristics. So I kind of "flow" my wedges from my irons - and I "flow" my hybrid from my FW and driver.

 

This is a good question. I build my own clubs and have noticed that the head weights for woods are higher for the same length that irons (11 wood and 1 iron) while hybrids are slightly heavier than irons. I don't know if this has anything to do with why I hook hybrids as they always feel a little light to me.

 

Nonetheless, I've ordered a 25 degree component head and I plan on removing a weight screw and extending it an inch so it will play about 2 swingweights over the Golfworks standard for a 4 hybrid. I hope this will help to make it more consistent.

 

Also, it would be interesting to see a table with the headweights, length and swingweights of the overlapping clubs.

[596]

To me the hybrid is neither a wood or an iron.  Its a different beast all together.   I currently play a 3 wood, 7 wood (which replaces my 4 iron) , then 4, 5 and 6 hybrids.  The 6 hybrid replaces my 7 iron as they are the same loft.   I still carry a 7 iron as its my chipping club.   I find I hit them more like an iron then a wood.  But they are different.  They fly higher and slightly longer then the same lofted iron.   They are easier to hit high and long for this 66 year old.  

 

 

[Drivingrangehero]

I think they are what you make of them. 
 

I play a Adams super 9031 proto as an iron replacement. That seems to be the best iron replacement one I have found. It kicked my (2016) Apex out of the bag. 
 

I think some are more iron replacement like the Adams 9031, Tour Edge EXS Pro, (2016) Callaway Apex……. Other smaller foot print hybrids

 

Some of the larger footprint ones are more of a wood replacement like the TM Sim Max, Callaway Maverik, Callaway super hybrid…….. etc!

 

They are what you purpose them for I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯