How to Choose a Hybrid Golf Club
By Javanx3d
A hybrid golf club is one which combines the good or desirable qualities of the iron and fairway wood into one club. Over the past decade, hybrid golf clubs have significantly grown in popularity among golfers world-wide. Over half of professional golfers carry at least one hybrid club in their golf bag and over 20 percent of U.S. golfers use at least one hybrid club. This increase in popularity is due to the difficulty that many golfers have in properly striking the two-, three- or four-iron and the difficulty in hitting fairway woods from the rough. Choosing hybrid clubs requires the same deliberate approach that picking out new irons or a driver requires.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Identify why you are buying a hybrid golf club. Most golfers choose to get a hybrid to replace one of the long irons (two, three or four) or to complement or replace a fairway wood (three or five). This will determine the loft of the hybrid to purchase.
Determine the Hybrid loft angle that correlates to the club you are going to replace. Conversions for men's hybrid golf clubs are:
14-16 Degree Hybrid - 3 Wood
17-19 Degree Hybrid - 5 Wood/2 Iron
20-22 Degree Hybrid - 7 Wood/3 Iron
23-25 Degree Hybrid - 9 Wood/4 Iron
26-29 Degree Hybrid - 5 Iron
Conversions for women's hybrid golf clubs are:
18 - 20 Degree Hybrid - 5 Wood/2 Iron
21 - 23 Degree Hybrid - 7 Wood/3 Iron
24 - 26 Degree Hybrid - 9 Wood/4 Iron
27 - 28 Degree Hybrid - 5 Iron
29 - 31 Degree Hybrid - 6 Iron
Choose a shaft type and flex to match your current set of irons or woods depending on what club you are replacing or complementing with the hybrid golf club. Many amateurs will make the mistake of buying a hybrid golf club off of the shelf that is a different shaft type or flex from the rest of the clubs in their bag, which increases the odds of inconsistency in their golf swing.
Match the offset of your hybrid golf club to that of your irons and/or woods as well as shaft length, in order to reduce the effect of having a different design of golf club in your bag from the rest of your clubs.
Try out your hybrid at the golf-store before making a purchase. You may find that some of the hybrid club head designs are harder for you to hit the golf ball from the difference in visual cuing when striking a square golf club from a traditionally shaped one.
Tips & Warnings
Practice hitting your new hybrid golf club at the range before taking it to the course. It may take you some time on the range to get used to hitting a club with the vastly different center of gravity as that found in hybrid golf clubs.
Practice hitting your new hybrid golf club at the range before taking it to the course. It may take you some time on the range to get used to hitting a club with the vastly different center of gravity as that found in hybrid golf clubs.
About The Author
An experienced free-lance sports and technology writer and focus in both areas for my writing. I have played golf for more than 20 years and have had the great opportunity to play in over 30 states and numerous countries in addition to having experience running charity golf tournaments for the past two years. If I'm not working, I can usually be found on the local golf course.
Photo Credits
Screen Shots Taken by the Author.
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