Hybrid vs woods vs driving irons

[HPIMG]

My setup is irons stop at 5i them 4Hybrid 3 hybrid 3 wood and driver. I feel as if my hybrids are just a little too inconsistent and looking at possibly swapping them out for maybe a 5/7 wood.
What do other have at the top of the bag and what do you like dislike between the 3 clubs. I love my 3 wood definitely one of my most consistent clubs.

 

[sunshine]

I think it depends on your swing and swing speed, also the ball flight you are looking for.

I have quite a steep swing which is good for irons but terrible for woods. So my longest iron is a 3 iron. I have enough swing speed to hit this about 200 yards and I like the low ball flight, it’s my go to club into the wind and great for links courses.

Personally I find consistency is directly proportional to shaft length.

 

[Voyager EMH]

I'm currently using Driver, 3-wood, 16° and 20° hybrids. The nine irons are 21° to 57°.

We have continued with placing on fairways for this month so the 3-wood has been guaranteed a good lie.

Later in the year I might ditch the 3-wood in favour of 10 irons from 21° to 58°. With more run the 16° hybrid will be going about as far as the 3-wood is doing now.
Current 9 irons are 21°, 24°, 28°, 32°, 36°, 40°, 45°, 50° and 57°.
This would change to a set of 10 that are 21°, 24°, 27°, 30.5°, 34°, 38°, 42°, 46°, 52° and 58°.
Narrowing the gaps at the mid and shorter end should get me closer to the pins - in theory at least.

 

[Imurg]

Top of the bag is, currently,
Driver @9.5
4 wood @ 16.5
7 wood @ 21
4 h @ 23 and then into the irons..
There's not enough gap between the 7w and the 4h so thinking of bringing in a 3h @ 19.
Feel I'm spinning the 7w too much plus , for me, it's a fairly 1D club...it goes high with a slight draw..
Can't for the life of me hit it low

 

[Slab]

Driver set at 10.5°
Fairway is a 3fw at 16°
Then 4 Iron is a 19°
5 iron at 22°
and so on..

If conditions &/or set up dictates then I often just play driver and irons only and the 3FW is a passenger

 

[timd77]

My longest iron is a 5i, goes maybe 170 when I hit it well, but low.

I then have a 3 hybrid which is more like 180-190, out of the rough etc.

Next is a 4 wood, tend to hit that quite cutty, 200ish. Runs a lot so I only hit it when I just need to get one as far as poss, long par 4s, 2nd shot to a par 5 etc.

Then it’s driver.

I do have a 7 wood, I probably use it once or twice per round. I reckon it goes about 170/180, but if I need to pretty much guarantee strike, height and landing at a steep angle, it comes out. Played in Spain a few weeks ago, the SI1 hole was a par 4, maybe 380 yards. It’s split into 2 halves and surrounded by water, water short, fairway, water, peninsula green, water. I hit 7 wood onto the first bit of fairway, stopped quickly before the water. Had around 160 carry to the green and maybe 200 to the water behind the green so hit another 7 wood, dropped lovely on the green.

The reason I don’t use it more often is because of the height, into wind it goes no further than a 7 iron, I’ve even hit it only 130ish once into a strong wind! Great club for an occasion though, it’s one where you just let the club do the work and watch it go.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

You have mentioned a driving iron. Unless you have a decent swing speed and are a good ball striker, don't go near them. They promise so much, deliver so little unless you have either of those attributes. Great clubs if you can use them, destructive if not.

 

[nickjdavis]

Funnily enough, the transition from long irons to hybrids/woods is something I've been messing about with since getting a new set of irons in February, I've finally settled on...

6-iron @ 25 degrees
5-hybrid @ 24 degrees
3-hybrid @ 19 degrees (nominal loft is 18 but I've increased it by a degree)
3-wood High launch @ 16.5 degrees
2-wood @ 13 degrees
Driver @ 10 degrees (increased by a degree from standard)

I never saw much difference between the 4 and 5 hybrids when testing and had to go down to a 3 hybrid (in a high launch version) to get a consistent distance separation.

Then the 3h/5wood/3wood separation was not significant so I decided to drop the 5-wood and go for a 3 wood high launch (effectively a 4-wood you could say) that gave me the flexibility to loft up/down as conditions dictated.

The 2-wood is a specialist tool used as a driver alternative for tight holes and also as a very low penetrating fairway wood from decent lies off the turf.

 

[Captainron]

I vowed never to use hybrids after Todd Hamilton used them at Troon and beat Ernie. The guy wasn't good enough to use long irons and won a major.

I am sticking to my guns and no hybrid will ever be in my bag!

 

[Orikoru]

I love my 7 wood. Initially I had a hybrid in that spot in the bag, but I tried a 7 wood and it was much easier to hit. Nice high flight. I still use a hybrid as a 5 iron replacement though.

So for me it's:
5 wood - I don't have a 3 wood as I never had much use for one, but my 5 wood is set pretty strong at 17° now.
7 wood - set also a fraction strong at 21°. I use this for second shots on all the long holes where I can't reach the green, as it's the easiest club to hit and just send one down there.
Hybrid - 23° 5 iron replacement. My irons are strong as hell, I didn't even bother buying the 5 because it was 21.5° and I'd struggle to launch that any further than 6 iron. The hybrid works a lot better.
Irons from 6 down.

I wouldn't be without a hybrid in the bag either though. It's a very versatile club, I use it out of the rough a lot, and I also use it for chipping when I'm very close to the green but in long grass, as it creates the perfect little bump and roll from those lies.

 

[jim8flog]

My hybrids are similar to yours .
I get drop and stop within reason from the more lofted of the two but a lot more run from the less lofted one. I tend to think of the longer one as a club to land at the front of a green and run to the middle or land in the middle and run to the back.
I used to use a 7 wood when I had long irons and this gave me better stop than the 3 iron because of the height of the ball flight.

 

[RichA]

I have a difficult relationship with woods and hybrids. My swing is too steep to be comfortable with woods. Hybrids are usually too flat lying for my height - the only exception being an old Cobra Baffler #3.
I've recently put a crossover back in my bag. It's not great off the deck but really useful off a tee for holes where the driver isn't a great choice.

 

[bobmac]

9 deg driver
12 deg 3 wood
1-SW Irons
Putter

Sometimes I would swap the 2 iron with an 18 deg hybrid if it's wet and there's no roll.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

I don't remember when the original TaylorMade Firesole Rescue [it was orange] made its debut,
but I do remember that I couldn't hit the demo club very well.

Hybrids must be good clubs given their popularity, but I like a driving iron on tight driving holes
and lofted fairway woods into greens
so there's no place in my bag for one.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Funnily enough, the transition from long irons to hybrids/woods is something I've been messing about with since getting a new set of irons in February, I've finally settled on...

6-iron @ 25 degrees
5-hybrid @ 24 degrees
3-hybrid @ 19 degrees (nominal loft is 18 but I've increased it by a degree)
3-wood High launch @ 16.5 degrees
2-wood @ 13 degrees
Driver @ 10 degrees (increased by a degree from standard)

I never saw much difference between the 4 and 5 hybrids when testing and had to go down to a 3 hybrid (in a high launch version) to get a consistent distance separation.

Then the 3h/5wood/3wood separation was not significant so I decided to drop the 5-wood and go for a 3 wood high launch (effectively a 4-wood you could say) that gave me the flexibility to loft up/down as conditions dictated.

The 2-wood is a specialist tool used as a driver alternative for tight holes and also as a very low penetrating fairway wood from decent lies off the turf.

I have a set for social games that is a very similar set up to this.

 

[Mandofred]

You have mentioned a driving iron. Unless you have a decent swing speed and are a good ball striker, don't go near them. They promise so much, deliver so little unless you have either of those attributes. Great clubs if you can use them, destructive if not.

Yep. I tried one about 4 years ago....sold it very quickly, just don't swing fast enough. I've now gone completely the other way and have gone pretty much hybrid everything. I currently carry a 6 iron from an old set just to poke the ball out low from trees etc. That set will get sold at some point....along with my old Cobra LTDx driver.
Driver
5 wood
9 wood
11 wood
6+7 hybrid
8-9-pw all Eleven brand hybrid irons
50-54-64 actual normal wedges.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Yep. I tried one about 4 years ago....sold it very quickly, just don't swing fast enough. I've now gone completely the other way and have gone pretty much hybrid everything. I currently carry a 6 iron from an old set just to poke the ball out low from trees etc. That set will get sold at some point....along with my old Cobra LTDx driver.
Driver
5 wood
9 wood
11 wood
6+7 hybrid
8-9-pw all Eleven brand hybrid irons
50-54-64 actual normal wedges.

A friend of mine has gone over to some Cleveland Launcher irons which are effectively hybrids. Early signs are very promising, he is getting much more loft than he was getting from traditional irons. I'm hoping to get a go of them at some point.

 

[Mandofred]

A friend of mine has gone over to some Cleveland Launcher irons which are effectively hybrids. Early signs are very promising, he is getting much more loft than he was getting from traditional irons. I'm hoping to get a go of them at some point.

I've got a set of Sub 70 799 irons I'm getting rid of.....they are big.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I've got a set of Sub 70 799 irons I'm getting rid of.....they are big.

Interesting clubs but I only wanted a play of my mates club for future reference. I'm not in the market this year.

I take it they didn't quite work for you?

 

[jim8flog]

I have a difficult relationship with woods and hybrids. My swing is too steep to be comfortable with woods. Hybrids are usually too flat lying for my height - the only exception being an old Cobra Baffler #3.
I've recently put a crossover back in my bag. It's not great off the deck but really useful off a tee for holes where the driver isn't a great choice.

Not looked a them for the for years but I have TM M1 rescue and a Titleist 8 series both are adjustable for lie.