# The Great Mid Iron vs Hybrid Debate - Can You Hit a 7 Iron?



## One Planer (Sep 23, 2016)

Reading the thread about higher lofted hybrids had me thinking.

Can you hit a 7 iron? Because....

If you can hit a 7 iron, you can hit a 6 iron.

If you can hit a 6 iron, you can hit a 5 iron.

If you can hit a 5 iron, you can hit a 4 iron.

Or can you?

I'm very much a firm believer in the mental side of golf. If you think/believe you can't hit a particular club, you're on a hiding to nothing before you even start.

I play with a chap on occasion who claims he cannot hit a long(...er) iron. His longest irons is a 7 iron in the Ping K15 range. he constantly harps on about how easy hybrids make the game. How forgiving and easy they are to hit etc.

During a bounce game a while back, he asked if he could try my 7 iron, so I handed it over to him. He hit it clean as a whistle, great flight and a lovely soft draw. He was amazed at the distance my 7 iron went.  

Then I told him to look at the sole. I'd given him my 5 iron on purpose just to prove he could hit something longer than a 7 iron.

Before I go on, I would like to say I have absolutely no issue with hybrids or anyone that uses them. If they work and make the game easier for you, more power to your elbow.

One thing that does grate a little is the higher lofted versions (... As per Gary's thread).

31Â° Hybrids ..... Seriously?

If you can't hit a 6 iron (... 7 iron if it's a TM or Callaway iron :smirk: ) then I would suggest money would be better spent on lessons as opposed to equipment.

Long iron replacements (19Â° thru 22Â°) are a little different and I can, kind of, understand their requirement as some folk my find it difficult to get the correct launch from as little loft in the equivalent iron.

I cannot understand the need for a hybrid with a mid-iron loft though for the average, healthy, golfer. Long iron lofts, OK. Mid-iron (27Â°-31Â°) I just cannot understand it 

My own personal perspective on hybrids is well documented on these boards 

I'm not a fan and find them hook-machines and less accurate then the equivalent iron. I'm also probably the only person on here who finds them harder to hit than the equivalent iron.

My own bias aside. I understand that they can help in certain instances. Golfers of an older disposition who aren't as flexible as they used to be or folk who cannot generate sufficient club head speed to get the ball to a good height and I absolutely accept that, but for average Joe, male or female, I cannot see the point.


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## Lord Tyrion (Sep 23, 2016)

Personally I struggle with the length of shafts so my longest iron is a 7 iron. I have a 21Â° hybrid that I hit in the manner of a 7 iron and go down the shaft a little on it. I am a bit hit and miss with it but persist as I need the extra length it offers over my 7 iron. I have tried many 5-6 irons but just can't get on with them.

You may well be correct about the mental side of the number on the iron but then that applies to many aspects of golf.


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## Reemul (Sep 23, 2016)

There is no such thing as an average Joe and there in lies the issues. Life would be very boring if everyone was an average Joe.

I find anything from a 5 upwards no issue but hitting a 3 or 4 iron tough. I like to use a 7w yet a lot of my playing partners take one look and go I can't hit with that yet they can happily hit with the 5w.

It's all about what works for you and what works for you may not work for the average Joe...


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## Alex1975 (Sep 23, 2016)

I am with you OP if all things are equal and by that I mean head length.


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## tsped83 (Sep 23, 2016)

Why does it matter from one guy to the next? If it's legal and someone prefers hitting 7i equivalent hybrids, then surely therein lies the point? Personal preference?


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## DRW (Sep 23, 2016)

I love my 7 iron, probably my most reliable club in the bag.

This year I have carried and tried very hard with my 6 iron, which at the beginning of the year I had trouble with hitting. Now I can hit it, just not super reliable. And to be honest I can swing the 7 iron harder/faster, more consist and get the same distance from the 7 iron if I need to.

Its always been a case for me for not being able to see the loft on lower irons, so they look like to me a flat bit of metal on the end of a shaft and therefore not liking the look of it (even though I hit down etc with my iron).

I have been searching for an 11 wood for over a year in tight lies but no joy but after seeing garyinderry thread about hybrids I may buy a very lofted hybrid if the lofts go high enough.

It is truly mad, I agree. 

Never thought of you as an iron snob:ears:


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## Alex1975 (Sep 23, 2016)

tsped83 said:



			Why does it matter from one guy to the next? If it's legal and someone prefers hitting 7i equivalent hybrids, then surely therein lies the point? Personal preference?
		
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It does not matter but it beats talking about socks....


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## Deleted Member 1156 (Sep 23, 2016)

Blimey, I didn't even know this debate existed  :mmm:


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## One Planer (Sep 23, 2016)

drive4show said:



			Blimey, I didn't even know this debate existed  :mmm:
		
Click to expand...

It does now


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## garyinderry (Sep 23, 2016)

[video=youtube;JGYCz8_zk5c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGYCz8_zk5c[/video]


Test using a 3i and 3 hybrid.  No contest.  :rofl:


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## garyinderry (Sep 23, 2016)

My mid iron replacement 5 hybrid is because, while I can and have hit the 5 iron well enough.  It just isn't consistent enough for me.  

Hybrids are on the whole much more forgiving. They are also designed to launch.  For me to hit a high 5iron I need to get the feeling of casting the club a touch to present more loft at impact. 

The hybrid just makes solid contact so much easier.  

If we stood and hit ball after ball after ball, you with 5 iron, me with 5 hybrid, I would nearly bet my hat on you being the first to duff one 30 yards short of target. :ears:


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## One Planer (Sep 23, 2016)

garyinderry said:



			[video=youtube;JGYCz8_zk5c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGYCz8_zk5c[/video]


*Test using a 3i and 3 hybrid.  No contest*.  :rofl:
		
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How deeper rough?

If the rough is thick enough that you cant get to the back of the ball I would question club selection and the expectation of outcome.

I'd rather take a more lofted club and guarantee getting it out.

As it's about mid iron hybrid lofts, would you hit a 7 iron from the rough?


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## Break90 (Sep 23, 2016)

I'm happy with my 7 iron, mostly happy with  my 6 iron, and fairly happy with my 5 iron, especially off the tee. 

4 and 3 iron are a lottery, however my 21 and 24 degree hybrids are far more reliable, and the bad shots are, well, less bad than the long irons.

I've always been comfortable hitting fairway woods off the deck, so it's probably at least partly mental, but I don't imagine I will ever find the time to practice enough with the long irons to make them as reliable as my hybrids.


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## Imurg (Sep 23, 2016)

7,6 - no problems.
5 can be a bit iffy, especially at the moment.
4 - goes no further, for me, than a decent 5 iron...
I think many people try to hit the hybrid too hard..swing smooth and let the club do the work.


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## Sats (Sep 23, 2016)

Personally I have a 18Âº driving iron for links that often gets swapped out for my 19Âº hybrid or 18Âº fairway wood, it depends on what I plan on doing. Not quite sure what exactly the OP is getting at here? Boasting about being an iron player or asking a question with a myriad of answers that depend on feel, ability, cost, etc etc doesn't seem to really make any point that's concrete.


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## patricks148 (Sep 23, 2016)

I hit my irons OK, Ive even got am MP37 two iron in the bag at the moment instead of the hybrid, though that might change now we are towards the end of the season.

in fact i struggle with high lofted hybrids, the 23 deg one i have doesn't go as far as the 3 iron i replaced it with. just used to ballon.. 205 carry and no more, ito a wind it went nowhere.


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## Farmergeddon (Sep 23, 2016)

I have a flat swing and have found that The Cleveland Altitudes work best for me, they are all Hybrids so yes I have 31degree and a 46 degree hybrid... the horse fits my course!


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## USER1999 (Sep 23, 2016)

Yes  I can hit a 7 iron. I can also hit a bladed 3 iron. What I can't hit is a hybrid. They are horrible.


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## xcore (Sep 23, 2016)

Love hitting my 4 iron off a perfect lie, anything other then that and il use my 22 degree, although that tends to hook (the risk of duffing a long iron in semi rough is worse and more likely)


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## shewy (Sep 23, 2016)

Ditched my hybrids, just go to high for me, if in the rough I use a higher lofted iron and don't attempt the Hollywood shot. Love my 4 iron, thinking of adding a 1 iron for off the tee.


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## 3565 (Sep 23, 2016)

Single length shafts 7-8 iron length solves the problem?


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## 351DRIVER (Sep 23, 2016)

murphthemog said:



			Yes  I can hit a 7 iron. I can also hit a bladed 3 iron. What I can't hit is a hybrid. They are horrible.
		
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I was very much in this boat for a long time, i saw the bigger head on the hybrid and tried to swing it like a wood, rather than hit it like an iron, as soon as i picked the club up and swing it as if it were a long iron, started to hit it well and now think they are great.  

Long iron is more accurate, Hybrid has more punch, nothing beats the perfectly struck long iron for golfer satisfaction!


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## BTatHome (Sep 23, 2016)

Does this argument really exist? Surely whatever someone hits is just down to them .... will the same argument exist for GI irons and blades. Surely if you can hit a 7 iron then you can hit a blade too? 

Golf is individual, I don't know of two people that have the same set of clubs, or the same swing with those clubs, so why would we try and fit everyone into the same box?  I see plenty of people with six headcovers in their bag, some older, but it's growing down the age range too now. Lessons can help loads of people but some times people just wanna go out and have some fun playing golf.


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## apj0524 (Sep 23, 2016)

I think sometimes guys who can hit long irons and can't understand the use of hybrids are missing how the help the likes of me to play the game.  Yes I can hit a 6i and 5i fairly consistently, so I should be able to hit a 4i the same and I can, the issue is that as I am new to the game and a senior when I gaped my clubs I found that I do not have the necessary swing speed to hit a 4i so that it launches high enough to give me more carry than my 5i, wheres with my swing speed the 25 deg and 22 deg hybrids provide me with:

A higher ball flight of my 25 deg hybrid over my my 5i meaning I ball lands without much roll out, but I carry the 5i lower shots and when I am looking for a bit more roll out

The 22 deg hybrid gives me a decent 4i carry compared to my other clubs

I would love to be able hit a 4i or 3i with a decent carry but I can't so hybrids are the obvious choice, and I can hit both my hybrids straight, with a fad and with a draw so in my view they are not the one dimensional club they have reputation to be


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## 351DRIVER (Sep 23, 2016)

Long irons require a decent swing speed, i am sure if you swing too slow to hit a 3 iron a hybrid can feel like a miracle club, whereas if you can hit the 3 iron a hybrid compromises accuracy but returns extra length


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## Liverpoolphil (Sep 23, 2016)

I would suggest that Major winner YE Yang who has hybrids down to 5 iron at some stage would be a great advert for using what gives you the best results 

Maybe more club handicap golfers should try them could help bring Handicaps down


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## Nashy (Sep 23, 2016)

I don't carry a 3 iron anymore and have an Adams 20* hybrid with an X stiff Graphite Design shaft, I cut the shaft down so it's only 0.5" longer than a normal 3 iron would be. This is the first Hybrid I have reliably got on with.

I do love a 4 iron though, I prefer the flight and find I am more accurate with it. Confidence is key and I have that from a 4 iron, I know a lot of people get that from a hybrid. That's the great thing about golf, there's no set way to do it.


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## Dasit (Sep 24, 2016)

I do love it when I connect with my 4 iron, lovely ball flight

but I find sticking to a 7 iron and higher scores better overall for my round... all too often I hit heavy with my 6/5/4 irons


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## Junior (Sep 24, 2016)

But if I dropped my 4i I'd have nothing to pitch out with from under the tees 

I have a 22 degree old Wilson hybrid that I've tried to budge from the bag but nothing stays the distance.  I even tried the Titleist hybrid you have Gaz.  I think it's the heavy regular v2 staff that just suits a smooth swing.  It's a great 200 (210 if I turn it over a bit) yard club for me.  My 4i is then 190.

I honestly think there is minimal consistency between how I hit a hybrid and long iron.  My bad shots with both are equally as bad.


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## patricks148 (Sep 24, 2016)

a friend of mine who's in his late 60's and still off 3. At a course thats over 6700 yards of the medal tee's has a 6 iron as his lowest lofter iron the rest are hybrids. Not because he can't hit them or isn't a good ball striker, simply because he hits the hybrids further with his diminishing CHS.


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## drdel (Sep 24, 2016)

Personal choice.

Until the rules demand that you need to show the clubs used on the scorecard I'll not worry whether I use the same club as my playing buddies.


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Sep 24, 2016)

As a result of what I managed this evening and mentioned in the 'I played today and...' thread - I can now say that I CAN hit my 7i straight high and true - and my 6i, 5i, 4i AND 3i.  My hybrid can now be of use for specific shots rather than a fallback cop-out - which is great as I was very prone to hooky with my 20.5* hybrid - bad news.  But happy golfer this evening - keen to see what tomorrow morns comp brings me....


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## Hobbit (Sep 25, 2016)

Does it honestly matter. Is a posted 70 with irons better than a 69 with hybrids?

I have irons down to 4 and a couple of hybrids. Different ball flight, and if its windy...

As for hybrids hook? Golfers hook, hybrids don't.


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## Jack_bfc (Sep 25, 2016)

I carry a 3, 4, 5, 6 hybrid.....

I've never even tried to hit a 3 or 4 iron..


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## craigstardis1976 (Sep 26, 2016)

It depends on the specs of your irons of course. 

My Ping Eye2's have a 24 degree 4 Iron. Very easy to hit. Although the stock ZZ Lite Shaft is on the stiff side, it is very light weight and has a super soft tip. 

I go from 12 degree Driver, 19 Degree 5 Wood and 21 Degree Hybrid and I am set ready to go. 

Of course this only really applies if your clubs have not gone in for the new loft jacking that so many have.


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Sep 26, 2016)

With my new found confidence in my irons (they are blades so I need confidence with the low numbers) I hit a couple of cracking 4i shots yesterday (both about 190yds which will do me just dandy).  Sweet as a nut; straight as a die, and high as I ever have been.


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