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David Howell did a great little video on hitting a hybrid solidly. I want you to see his ball position.
You can get several good views of his address position in this video, but there's a really good one at the 1:23 mark. Here's a still that I snagged:
The ball is just ahead of the center of his stance, maybe a third of the way between his heels. The shaft points almost straight up, pointing at his lead ear or perhaps just a fraction inside it. (Maybe his lead eye? No more than that.) I'd pay a lot of attention to that vertical shaft at address; if you get that right, you'll probably get the ball position correct for your swing.
And when he swings, he takes a slight divot; you can see the dirt fly when he does.
That's the big thing I'd like you to get from this, although you can certainly pick up some other tips from what David says. But if you put the ball too far forward or too far back, you're going to have trouble getting a consistent strike on the ball.
And ball position is something EVERYBODY can learn. You don't need any specific physical gifts to learn where your best ball position is!
This video from LPGA teaching pro Kathy Hart Wood focuses on chipping with a hybrid but -- at least to me -- this video seems to take a different tack than others on the topic. Here, take a look:
There are two important things for you to note here.
First, playing a hybrid well is mostly a matter of setup. She devotes most of this video to proper setup, so you want to pay attention to that.
Second -- and I want to stress this, since this stood out to me in her presentation -- this is NOT a shot that you want to use out of the rough. Many times "hybrid chipping" is offered as a generic alternative for dealing with chipping problems, but it's not. Kathy stresses using this method from the short grass and, as you can see, she can use it from quite a distance from the hole!
The setup is basically the same as some of the chipping techniques with an iron, where you stand the iron up on its toe so the shaft is straight with your forearms. Your putter shaft should be in line with your forearms as well, if you want to get consistency in your stroke.
You stand closer to the ball as a result, so you might have to bend your elbows outward a bit, and you want the ball just ahead of the center of your stance. She says your eyes will be over the ball; that means your weight is slightly on your lead foot. Nothing complicated here, just standard short game technique but using your putting stroke.
As for chipping from the fairway with your hybrid -- and again, note that she is using a 4- or 5-hybrid -- this is a strategy play, something you use as a conscious decision and not just because "I always chip with my hybrid." She is using this technique when she's got some ground to cover with the chip.
Very basic info here but, as we have seen with Jordan Spieth's putting struggles lately, basic stuff is usually what goes wrong when our games get out of whack. You won't find a much simpler explanation of hybrid chipping than in this Wood video.
Golf Digest instructor Adam Kolloff recently wrote a short article called Get The Most Out Of Your Hybrid. It focuses on hitting hybrids from the rough.
Kolloff has four tips to improve your hybrid play from the rough.
Keep a firm grip so the face doesn't twist open or closed.
Play the ball in the center of your stance.
Don't sway off the ball. Try to stay very steady over the shot so you can hit down sharply on it.
Be sure to accelerate through the rough.
That tip about playing the ball in the center of your stance is important. Kolloff says that too many players try to play the ball forward like a fairway wood, but I imagine just as many set up with the ball too far back in their stance like a wedge. Hybrids have straighter faces than wedges, so playing the ball too far back can drive it deeper into the rough rather than popping it out of the grass.
These are simple things, I know. But it's usually the simple things that trip us up.
Camilla Lennarth probably isn't too familiar to American fans. She's a Swedish player who's been on the LET for several years, with one win. So why am I featuring a player who hasn't become a household name yet?
Because she did a short LET instructional video on how to use a driving iron, a club which is gaining in popularity but about which there aren't too many how-to videos yet.
The first thing to note is that this isn't some kind of 12° or 15° long iron. If I'm reading the numbers on the sole correctly, her driving iron is 21°, which is why Camilla says that a driving iron is basically the same as a hybrid -- that is, you play it virtually the same way. So why would you use one instead of a hybrid?
The driving iron has more weight on the back, which helps you get the ball up in the air while still getting less spin on the ball. That creates more run when it hits the ground. You also get a flatter launch angle (Camilla calls it a "bullet shot") which makes it easier to control the ball in the wind.
Camilla's tips (which may help you with your hybrids as well):
Ball position is the same with both clubs. She says she plays the ball slightly ahead of her 5-iron position, so she can get the ball up in the air more easily.
This ball position means the clubshaft is almost vertical at setup, rather than leaning forward. You can see this in the video.
And you can also see in the video that she doesn't exaggerate her forward weight shift during the downswing. You don't want to hit down on the ball. The weighted sole keeps the ball low without putting so much backspin on it.
Some of you might find that a club like this has a place in your bag. If so, now you know how to play it.
Super short tip today from Michael Breed on how to hit a hybrid. (He says it works with a fairway wood as well, but it will probably help with any shot played off the turf.) If you're topping your hybrids -- or maybe even hitting them fat -- this may be the key for you.
This is yet another way to think about keeping the club in front of you. You'll find Michael's tip much easier to do if you think about dropping down from the top of your backswing, rather than driving your legs hard to start your downswing. Too much lateral motion in your downswing will cause you to twist your chest skyward at impact -- that's simple physics.
So try Michael's tip and hit the ball when the center of your chest is pointed at your lead foot. It's a simple image to keep you from spinning out at impact.
Play the ball back off your trailing foot. (Looks to me like it's just ahead of his big toe).
Get the hybrid's shaft as upright (vertical) as you comfortably can.
Grip down on the shaft, even actually onto the shaft a little.
Butch says he uses his putting grip, although that's not a requirement. However, this IS a putting motion so that might help you make a more solid stroke.
This really isn't any different than using the similar technique with an iron. However, a hybrid's shaft is longer -- that might be a consideration as to which club you use.
Likewise, you might also want to consider how well the ball is sitting. Either club may work well if you've got a good lie. But if the ball is down a bit, you might find that one club works better for you than the other. A few attempts with each on the practice green should tell you which club you use best.
Brady says you can use a fairway wood, hybrid or long iron for this shot.
Stand a half-step closer to the ball. This will help you trap the ball better.
Grip down on your club. That shortens the club and makes it easier to control.
Set your stance so your feet are just wider than your hips, not your shoulders.
Position the ball about an inch back of the center of your stance. Just look at the photo above.
Tee the ball really low, even level with the ground if you're comfortable doing so. Brady says you can hit it off the ground or even kick up a little mound like Laura Davies does. But I'd go with the low tee, simply because you might as well get the best lie you can get.
This is the first time I've seen this particular tip, and I'm glad someone finally included it: Instead of gripping the club with the last two or three fingers of your lead hand, grip more tightly with the thumb and forefinger of your trailing hand. When Brady says this is "old school", he means it comes from the days of hickory shafts. He says this will help you square up the clubface, and I agree with that. Just bear in mind that you probably won't be able to hit the ball quite as far, as this is a soft-shaft technique and, unless you're incredibly strong, even a regular flex shaft is much stiffer than they used to use. But since the idea is to hit the fairway and you've already done some things that will reduce your distance, it doesn't matter.
Finally, cut off the followthrough to help keep the shot low.
The whole point of the stinger is to make sure you hit the fairway on a tight hole, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or not. It's a worthwhile shot to add to your repertoire.
Jackie Stoelting, former Big Break winner and back-to-back Symetra Tour winner, was on Morning Drive Tuesday morning. After they talked to her about her two recent wins, she headed over to the simulator to hit some hybrids and wedges.
Did you get that? Jackie says hybrids are the best part of her game... and she feels that she hits her hybrids more like wedges, not fairway woods as so many players teach. A different approach indeed!
In doing this, she specifically mentions that she puts the ball a bit more forward in her stance with a hybrid than an iron. She also says she tends to "pick" or "sweep" them off the turf, although she credits that to time spent playing on Bermuda grass, which is thicker than a lot of other common golf course grasses.
But this is much more of a mental approach than a technical one. Most of us feel more comfortable standing over a wedge shot than a fairway wood. Stop and think about this for a moment... what do you do different when you play a wedge than when you play a fairway wood?
Although Jackie says she plays the ball a bit more forward than a typical iron, she isn't playing it as far forward as most weekend players might play a fairway wood. So you might try playing your ball just slightly ahead of the center of your stance, and move it forward slightly as an experiment until you find the most comfortable spot for you.
Because wedges have shorter shafts, most of us make a shorter backswing with them. You might try making a three-quarter swing with your hybrid.
Most of us also put our weight just a bit more on our lead foot with a wedge. Perhaps that's worth trying with your hybrid -- just don't put as much weight forward as you would with a wedge. This is a longer shafted club, after all!
And since most of us don't drive our legs hard when we hit wedges -- we're after accuracy with them, not distance -- I would also suggest a bit less leg drive with your hybrids. You can always swing a bit harder once you feel comfortable hitting your hybrid.
Bear in mind that Jackie Stoelting isn't unusual. If you watch the LPGA much, you've heard the commentators comment about how much closer the ladies hit their hybrids than the men. I've frequently heard their hybrid proximity to the hole likened to the PGA pros' 8-iron shots.
Perhaps the ladies get short iron proximity because they approach their hybrids like short irons. I know I'm going to try it!
Every now and then I find an interesting tip about how to play hybrids. The irony is that most of them give you basically the same tip: Hit your hybrids as if they were irons, not fairway woods.
However, for some players that's easier said than done. So I'm always on the lookout for some new drill or image that might help you get a better result with your hybrid.
Hence, this short practice tip from Golf Channel Academy's Annabel Rolley. Why do I like it? Because it's the kind of drill that's simple to comprehend... and it's so visual that, once you get good with it on the range, you can use it out on the course without actually using the physical target from the drill! Here, take a look at the video:
Look, teeing the ball low and placing a quarter on the ground in front of the ball is one of the cheapest range practice aids you can use to learn how to hit down and take a divot. (Although I think I'd use a second tee instead of the quarter and just push it down almost level with the ground. If you get good at this drill, you could end up losing a lot of quarters!)
But please note what Annabel says: It doesn't really matter if you actually hit the quarter. The key here is the image of trying to pick the quarter (or tee or whatever) off the ground in front of the ball when you make your swing. You can do that out on the golf course during a round -- imagining something in front of the ball, that is, not placing an actual quarter on the ground -- to help you take that divot.
If you're having trouble hitting your hybrids, this is worth a try. Tips don't get much simpler than this.
Set your weight a bit more on your lead side to encourage a downward hit.
Move the ball back a bit in your stance, for the same reason. Leadbetter suggests a position similar to your 7-iron.
Be sure to get a full shoulder turn during your backswing.
Stay down on the ball at impact. (Here's my tip: If you find yourself straightening your legs, you're probably trying to jerk the club to start the downswing. Instead, feel as if you're starting down more slowly and "hit the accelerator" when the club is near waist level.)
And remember: Leadbetter says these 4 basics will improve your hybrid play, but they should help your iron play as well.
I've posted tips on this subject before, but this page at golftipsmag.com on the mechanics of a hybrid tee shot is just too awesome to ignore. LPGA/PGA instructor Alison Curdt has lots of great info here that you can check out at the link, but this one picture may save many of you a load of frustration:
Her instruction for this photo says:
To start, use a tee whenever you can, and don't be afraid to tee it up off the ground. I like to place the tee into the ground and leave the tapered part of the tee in the air. Next, play the ball slightly forward in your stance in roughly the same position you'd play a long iron. From here, swing with a "sweep some dew" motion and focus on a smooth, shallow, easy swing. To get a feel for this, take a few practice swings near the ball and imagine sweeping off the dew on the grass. Do this a few times until you feel confident, comfortable and ready to swing.
There's also a whole sequence of photos showing you how to sweep the ball off that properly-positioned tee.
This page is part of a 6-page sequence called Tee Shots 101 on hitting 6 different types of tee shots. (This photo is from the "long par 3" page.) The first page is at this link. But this one picture is so clear that I had to post it.
I found this video tip from Golf Magazine Top100 Teacher Jim Murphy over at golf.com. It's a tip on how to hit a hybrid off the tee. Murphy says you can hit a hybrid almost as far as a driver if you do it right...
But it's his warning about how NOT to do it that I think many of you will be more interested in!
Murphy says that the correct way to hit your hybrid long and straight is to tee it very low, so the tee almost doesn't show above the ground, and make the same swing (a level to slightly downward sweeping blow) you'd make from the fairway.
That's if you want to hit it long and straight. Teeing it high, as you would with a driver, is a mistake...
Unless you WANT to hit a hook with your hybrid!
If you tee the ball high -- that is, with about half the ball above the top of the hybrid -- and make your normal upward driver swing, Murphy says YOU'LL HOOK THE BALL. So if you need to get a big hook off the tee, you could aim for a hook and make your driver swing.
And it follows that if you adjust how high you tee the ball -- teeing it just a bit lower, for example -- you should be able to turn that big hook into a smaller draw.
You may have to play with this a bit to get the exact result you want. And if you're a chronic slicer, you may have to work on your weight shift a little so you don't reverse pivot and cut across the ball. But for many of you, this could be just the thing for that dogleg tee shot that's been giving you trouble.
Today I'm just including a link to a new Golf Digest piece on Paula Creamer. It's an interesting piece (3 pages) with her thoughts on improving your game, as well as some interesting tidbits about her. Did you know she has a pink pool table with pink chalk?
The first page of the article also has a number of links to other Golf Digest articles about her and more of her tips, like her basics on how to hit approach shots with hybrids. That article also includes this video, although it only covers part of what the article covers.
And don't forget that Paula is playing in the ShopRite LPGA Classic this week. It's only a 3-day event, and GC is broadcasting the first round live on Friday at noon ET.
This post started with a short video Ian Poulter did for MasterCard. It’s going to seem like I’m rambling a bit, but stick with me. I think you’ll find this post helpful.
First, here’s the Poulter video. You’ve probably seen it but, for those of you who haven’t...
What drew my attention was Ian’s statement that his 4-hybrid spins the ball about as much as a 6-iron. That’s a huge difference, folks! Since the ball is coming in much higher than a normal 4-iron, the combination of spin and trajectory can make a big difference for players who don’t hit the ball as far.
I started wondering if this 2-club difference in spin rates was typical. Would a 3-hybrid spin like a 5-iron? Perhaps more important for a weekend player, would a 5-hybrid spin like a 7-iron? While many players struggle to hit the longer clubs, most of us can hit a decent 5-iron… and getting 7-iron spin would certainly help us hold more greens.
That, in turn, got me to thinking about Jiyai Shin. No doubt you’ve heard TV commentators remark that she hits her hybrids as close as most players hit their wedges. I decided to see what Jiyai has in her bag. Bear in mind that Jiyai isn’t a long hitter - her stats at LPGA.com say she hits her driver around 241 yards - so hybrids must be a huge help to her.
I managed to find out what she had in her bag when she won the 2012 Women’s British Open (from this GolfWeek article) and when she Top-Ten’ed at the 2013 Wegmans LPGA (at this LPGA.com page). They match. Likewise, I confirmed at the Mizuno site that she’s played this same setup since March 2010.
Here’s a shocker, folks… Jiyai carries ONLY ONE hybrid! It’s a 23-degree hybrid, which works out to about a 4-iron loft. She carries three fairway woods - 3-wood, 5-wood, and 7-wood.
In my search for spin rate comparisons between hybrids and irons - which I didn’t find, BTW - I also turned up this page at thehackersparadise.com comparing the lofts of hybrids and irons. The key thing I got from this page is that you can’t just match up the numbers when you replace an iron with a hybrid. That is, a 3-hybrid isn’t a direct replacement for a 3-iron; the hybrid actually hits the ball farther as well as higher. One commenter on the page mentioned that there was a huge gap between his 4-hybrid and 5-iron - a gap that was easily filled by a 5-hybrid.
So it appears from the info on the Hacker’s Paradise page that the numbers are roughly a club off. That is, a 5-hybrid probably replaces a 4-iron in terms of distance. Even if you match the lofts - for example, a 23-degree hybrid for a 23-degree iron - you’ll probably get a bit more distance because hybrids have longer shafts. But because of the higher launch angle, the hybrid will stop quicker on the green.
And all of that, in turn, made me wonder what loft Poulter has on his hybrid. His page locked up my browser, so I had to make do with his page at Cobra Golf. It informed me that Poults has TWO Cobra AMP Cell hybrids in his bag - a 3/4 hybrid and a 4/5 hybrid. Based on some other info I found (he carried a 21-degree hybrid back in 2011, for instance) I’m guessing that the 4/5, which is available with 23 degrees of loft, is the one referred to in the video.
I should note here that 23 degrees is a common loft for 4-irons. I should also note that the Cobra AMP Cell hybrid Poults can be adjusted to 25 degrees, closer to a 5-iron. He might have it set slightly different.
As a result of this, I think I can suggest a couple of questions you should ask yourself before you buy a new hybrid, and maybe even give you some idea what kind of performance to expect.
The obvious question is “Which iron do I want to replace with a hybrid?” That’s your starting point… but you should take that iron with you when you go to pick your hybrid.
The second question you should ask is “Do I care if there’s a distance gap around this club?” Based on some of the information I found on the webpages I mentioned earlier, a typical 5-hybrid hits it about the same distance as a typical 4-iron. Technically the 5-hybrid should replace the 4-iron, not the 5-iron. If you want the 5-hybrid to replace the 5-iron, that might be a reasonable switch… but you should be aware that you’ll have a larger distance gap between your 6-iron and the new 5-hybrid.
Such a gap isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You might decide you could just choke down on the 5-hybrid when you needed a 5-iron-length shot. Perhaps you could replace both the 4- and 5-irons with the 5-hybrid and free up space for another wedge or fairway wood; that might actually be a better setup for you. (Note that this is what Jiyai Shin appears to have done.) The point here is that putting a hybrid in your bag may affect your setup beyond just replacing one club.
Finally, ask yourself “What kind of improvement do I expect from this club?” Believe it or not, I think we can make a couple of decent guesses, based on the info in the video and the webpages I listed.
You took the club you plan to replace with you, didn’t you? Compare it to the new club. Is the new club the same loft? You’ll probably hit the ball about the same distance, but the higher launch angle should increase your ball spin. Figure you’ll get about one club more stopping power - for example, if your new 5-hybrid has the same loft as your current 5-iron, the higher launch angle will probably result in 6-iron spin.
Is the shaft longer? Are you comfortable swinging the longer club? The longer shaft should increase your swing speed and distance if you can swing the new club as well as the old one. If your new longer-shafted 5-hybrid is maybe an inch longer, it will probably give you something close to your current 4-iron distance - maybe even a bit more, because of the higher launch angle - and the increased swing speed should result in something between 6- and 7-iron spin.
Of course, nothing is certain in golf and these are just the best estimates I could come up with, based on the info I found… but I think they’re reasonable estimates. It’s at least something to start from, to give you some realistic expectations. If you get a new hybrid to replace an iron, feel free to leave a comment on this post to let me (and all the other readers) know what your experience is like.
Josh Blagden of golfbidder.co.uk was kind enough to provide me with this article on whether to choose a hybrid or a fairway wood for various kinds of shots. I thought you guys might find it helpful.
Golfers of all levels have long struggled with the long-iron conundrum. For many players, long irons are difficult to hit well even with modern clubfaces, because of their very small club faces and their equally small sweet spots. The extremely low trajectory of a long iron, caused by its low loft, as well as the longer club length makes it unsuitable for tighter lies, ‘punching’ out from underneath trees and playing from the rough.
Consequently, players tend to avoid having these clubs in their golf bag and favour fairway woods with a larger sweet spot. The extra mass in the head makes it easier to get the ball airborne and travel greater distances than long irons.
Fairway woods were the only alternative to long irons for decades, until the demand for hybrids exploded from 2004. The hybrid was designed to combine the accuracy and versatility of a long iron with the distance and forgiveness of a fairway wood.
In terms of design, a hybrid head is very similar to a fairway wood with a shallow, slightly convex face, but the loft of the hybrid head is generally higher than either the wood or the iron. Hybrid clubs can be a great option for a variety of different shots, and can even make great chippers near the edge of the green.
Many tour pros started including hybrids in their bags, as did golfers of all levels. The advantages of using hybrids became clear, in terms of their versatility and effectiveness out the rough. However, their weaknesses were exposed too. Fewer hybrids appear in tour bags nowadays as the more powerful pros have come to recognise they are not as effective in windy conditions, nor do they offer the ability to work the ball nearly as well as long iron replacements.
But recreational golfers generally find these long iron replacements as hard to use as standard long irons. They will use hybrids and fairway woods and, in most cases, they will find hybrids easier to swing than fairway woods. The key is in knowing which club is more effective for the situation.
How does a player choose which club between a fairway wood and hybrid?
The type of shot you can play is often determined by your lie, and the lie can dictate which type of club you should use.
From the fairway, both woods and hybrids have their places. Hybrids launch the ball higher and straighter, helping it stop more quickly on the green, while fairway woods make it easier to curve the ball and get some roll for a little extra distance.
In light rough, a fairway wood such as a 3-wood may be a better choice, as its flat bottom skims the low grass easily, yet a hybrid may be a better choice in thicker rough as the heavier but more compact clubhead can cut better through the longer grass.
From a fairway bunker, the hybrid’s lofting ability makes it a better selection than a wood.
It is important to make the right club choice as it can vastly improve your game and lower your score. You need to look no further than Chinese teenage golf sensation Guan Tianglang, who made history at the 2013 Masters as the youngest ever player to compete at a major, aged just fourteen. Whilst the majority of his competitors were using a combination of long irons and fairway woods on the uncompromising 7435 yard course at Augusta, Guan opted to hit his fairway shots on the long par-4s and par-5s using fairway woods in order to compensate for the distance he lacked. As a result of his club choices, he successfully became the youngest player ever to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.
But unlike Guan, the majority of us are not afforded the luxury of changing clubs depending on conditions. That makes it even more important to make the right decision when choosing between a fairway wood and hybrid as a long iron replacement.
