Fairway Woods v Hybrids - what's the difference??

[AmandaJR]

I struggle with my fairway woods and probably hit 1 in 10 as I should. The others are either topped or, more often, cut nastily with impact towards the heel. The good ones are very good and keep me trying although most days they stay in the naughty corner.

I played with one of the ground staff yesterday who had a Titleist 3 wood. Can't recall the model but it had a much smaller head than mine and somewhere between a hybrid and wood I guess. I hit the bloody thing a mile and that was my first swing with it (having just scuffed my 5 wood into the rough)!

To my eye the smaller head just looked more hittable and perhaps the look is such that I feel even if I fat it the result will be ok.

So what is the difference? The lofts are stronger than my ladies equivalent 5 wood I used to have and did hit better although the Rhapsody did have a smaller head than the G20s I think...

Not sure whether to stick with them and hopefully get them working or go for something like a 16 degree hybrid - or a different model of fairway wood.

Any thoughts/experience/advice?

 

[bigslice]

have a look at the wilson fybrid and rs range, they are a mixture of fairway and hybrid type and there is a ladies range. they be better suited to you. itwo had a 12 degree driver a 15 wood and 18 wood. distances pretty close to each other in the 3 and 5, so i have a 17 to split diff. i found that at the moment i can hit my hybrids better than the fairway woods (straighter)

 

[patricks148]

I find the smaller the head the better i hit the ball.

I have a Mizuno mp 630 3 wood that has a small head, which is used off the deck more than the tee.

When i started playing 6 years ago i tried all sorts of 3 woods and could not get on with any of them till i started using a small headed wood.

Nothing wrong with using a hybrid instead, i have a 17 deg (which replaced my 2 iron) goes as far as a 5 wood and much easier to hit IMO.
Very good out of the rough.
Hybrids have shorter shafts than woods i believe

 

[BeachGolfer]

Most try and swing fw woods too hard resulting in an over the top action added to trying to pick the ball off the turf. Hybrids are designed to play like irons, catch the ball with a descending blow and take a small divot like a rasher of bacon, but not a pork chop. Try and play your fw wood the same way. FWIW, 16 degree hybrids off the deck ain't easy either!

 

[bobmac]

Take a look at your hips at impact and compare them to the guys on tour.
You will see yours are pretty much the same as they were at address whereas the better players have their hips open at impact.


Also compare your shoulders
Yours are turned more than the tour players meaning you are quite armsy and a bit lazy with the hips.

If you learn to use the lower half and the top half together, you will be able to hit any club.

 

[louise_a]

I have the WS ladies 14 degree RS driver and 17 degree Fybrid 3 wood, I have been struggling with the Fybrid but I am getting used to it a little now.

 

[AmandaJR]

Thanks Bob. The lack of left hop rotation has been mentioned before and I need to work on that.

Shoulder turn - I turn too much on the way back or through or both?

 

[bobmac]

Thanks Bob. The lack of left hop rotation has been mentioned before and I need to work on that.

Shoulder turn - I turn too much on the way back or through or both?

I wouldn't worry about the shoulders too much. Focus on turning your hips better and the shoulders should fix themselves.

 

[AmandaJR]

I wouldn't worry about the shoulders too much. Focus on turning your hips better and the shoulders should fix themselves.

Ok - will focus on that at the range later. Thanks.

 

[Aztecs27]

Bob, as an aside, does the "head/body behind the ball" thing that applied to Driving, does that apply to using a 3 wood (both off the tee and deck) also?

(Sorry for the thread hijack, Amanda!)

 

[AmandaJR]

Bob, as an aside, does the "head/body behind the ball" thing that applied to Driving, does that apply to using a 3 wood (both off the tee and deck) also?

(Sorry for the thread hijack, Amanda!)

Good question!

 

[Aztecs27]

Good question!

Cheers. I only ask because the move has been so effective with my driver!

I'm assuming the answer is "yes", but I wanted to check.

Not been able to try it out (on a tee) as there's never any short enough tees at the range for my 3 wood.

Might try it on the 1st hole at Woodhall on Saturday. :thup:

 

[AmandaJR]

Cheers. I only ask because the move has been so effective with my driver!

I'm guessing though that it's to promote contact on an upward path rather than the descending blow the 3/5 wood would require??

 

[Aztecs27]

I'm guessing though that it's to promote contact on an upward path rather than the descending blow the 3/5 wood would require??

Perhaps. Hence the question. I would have said you don't want too much of a decending blow though (unlike with an iron)

 

[duncan mackie]

ever since there has been anything other than 'woods' and 'irons' there seems to have been confusion about the terminology, and it sounds like Wilson are adding more :whoo:

I always understood that -

fairway woods are longer for the given loft, and designed to create a higher launch angle and ball trajectory than rescue/hybrids.

these latter are shorter and smaller headed, for any given loft and designed to give a lower launch angle and more 'powerful' trajectory to the ball than a fairway wood. the larger/rounded sole, and greater effective face (than an iron) makes them more forgiving and easier to play by the average golfer.

all of this comes out of the clubs design and you can 'swing normally'. the driver is the one that is generally played with a more forward ball position.

as bobmac points out, it's how people approach their shots, and the swing they use, that tends to influence the resultant shot with distance clubs the most!

 

[SocketRocket]

With fairways consider you are driving a nail through the ball with the club that is set at a 10 degree angle, for irons and hybrids consider the nail set at 20 degrees.

 

[bobmac]

Bob, as an aside, does the "head/body behind the ball" thing that applied to Driving, does that apply to using a 3 wood (both off the tee and deck) also?

(Sorry for the thread hijack, Amanda!)

Yes, as long as you dont start moving backwards.
The whole point it to flatten out the angle of attack and to prevent the 'top'

 

[AmandaJR]

With fairways consider you are driving a nail through the ball with the club that is set at a 10 degree angle, for irons and hybrids consider the nail set at 20 degrees.

I like that visual...will give it a go.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Nowadays I hit my fairway woods very nicely although for a long time I struggled so I also have a 2 hybrid that I used to hit a lot but hardly bother with now. During a recent practice round I noticed that good shots with the hybrid and 5 wood go almost exactly the same distance.

Off the tee I play the fairways much like the driver, maybe slightly further back in my stance (low tee) catching it early in the up swing. Off the fairway I think the 10 degree tip above is probably right, I do hit the woods with a very slightly descending blow for a consistent strike. With a good lie, however and looking for slightly more distance I might play it more like a tee shot - sweeping the ball rather than hitting down on it. For me, this is higher risk though, more chance of a fat or thin.

 

[DaveM]

Think of the hybrid as an iron and hit down on it. A fairways wood like all woods should be swept of the ground just on the up. All this is off the perfik lie of course!