Multiple Hybrids Now

As someone that was initially cautious about the hybrid fad (I bought my first hybrid last year), I have now gone ahead and purchased a second hybrid. I was able to snag a Taylor Made Rescue TP model, but I'm thinking of keep my Diablo in the bag as well. I originally purchased the Diablo to take the place of my 2 iron so I got the one with 18 degrees of loft. I found that I hit that hybrid nearly as far as my three wood but more accurately. So I've decided to take the three wood out of the bag and carry the 18 degree Diablo, and now the 22 degree Rescue. Do any of you do this? It seems so foreign to me to not have a three wood, but hybrids are so much easier to hit off the deck. What do you guys think? Has anyone else left the fairway wood in the garage??

Ugh...now I'll have to change my siggy again :P

I'm currently playing without a 3 wood as well.  Driver, 16* hybrid and 3-PW iron set.  So far so good, the hybrid seems covers tee duty of the 3 wood 95% of the time, and is a bit more accurate as well.

I'm considering getting a higher lofted hybrid to accompany my 19* black super hybrid. I really need to learn how to hit the 3 wood off the deck and make it more useful.

I too took a long time to warm up to hybrids. I tried a few and snapped hooked a third of the shots. Then I tried out Titleist 909H's and that completely changed my mind. I use 24* & 19* 909 hybrids and given how versatile these clubs are I don't see taking them out of the bag anytime soon. They are easy to hit varying distances, trajectories, and the occasional fade when required. Can't do nearly the same things with a 5W or 4 iron. I matched them up with the 15.5 3W that I only use as an option off the tee or is the lie is perfect in the fairway and the additional distance is needed. So I have 2 hybrids and my life is better for it!

Not gonna happen. If there's a hybrid on the market that I can hit as far as a 3-wood, then it's probably illegal. I do hit a hybrid instead a 2-iron now though, so I'm not just being a curmudgeon. I am one, but that's pure coincidence.

I won't give up my 3 wood or 5 wood, but I have a hybrid instead of a 3 and 4 iron.  I don't hit a 3 or 4 iron enough, and my distance is more consistent with a hybrid.  Another reason is that I have 4 degree gaps from 3 wood all the way down to my 51 degree wedge, so I see no reason to have a 3 AND 4 iron when I can put 1 hybrid in their spot...

I won't replace my 3 wood but I want a 3 hybrid to fill the gap between the 3 wood and my 4 iron.

For the last year I had played a 3 and 4 hybrid.  I hit them OK....sometimes yes and sometimes no.  I recently replaced both of them with custom made 3 and 5 woods.  Holy cow, I've never hit a club as well as these consistantly.  Things things are sweet.   The hybrids are history.  I carry the 3 and 5 woods with my longest iron being a 4i.

I use a 3 and 5 wood and got rid of my 19 degree Taylormade rescue but when I was down in SC a few weeks ago I gave my fathers Adams A7 22 degree hybird with a stiff flex a go. I was actual able to hit this club. I was not able to hit the TM rescue with a reg flex to save my life hence why I traded it. Anyway this forum got me thinking as bit. Maybe for the upcoming season I will add a 4 hybrid. Good post fellas.

I can hit my hybrid longer off the deck than I can my 3 wood. Probably off the tee too. It's odd.

I also have a 2 iron replacement that I hit more consistently than my 3w.  More consistent doesn't mean farther in my case, but in many circumstances consistent contact produces a more reliable outcome (220 carry vs 235 carry).  The 3w seems to be a tougher club to hit for many mid to high and even low caps versus a lower lofted hybrid.  And if your swing speed <90, there may not even be a distance difference.

18 deg Hybrids?

Wait until you get older like me and play 25 and 30 deg hybrids.

I like a 4 wd and 7 wd for the long clubs.

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Hybrids are interesting. My early adventures with hybrids were painful, just couldn't get it to work. Last spring at a demo day I found a couple I really liked: The Callaway Edge Tour and the Adams Pro Black. (Factory reps had some in R shafts, which worked quite well for me. The S was just too much.) But, they didn't dislodge my 5W - immediately.

The 3H from 2008-09 gave way to a 5W, and the 5W gave way this fall to a TM 19* Raylor. Raylor is interesting - people argue whether its a hybrid or a fairway wood. But, it works.

A pro I met at a golf expo made an interesting case for more fairway woods. He recommends his students carry a 3W, 5W, 7W mix (and maybe a 9W) - and skip the hybrids. His reasoning: fairway woods have longer shafts for more distance, and the 5W and 7W outperform hybrids because FWs have bulge in the clubface. This bulge creates the gearing effect. ) --- Assume the parenthesis to the left is a FW clubface with bulge. If a player hits a shot toward the left (top of parenthesis), the bulge will "gear" (spin) the ball back toward the center. If a player hits a shot toward the right (bottom of p), bulge will also gear the ball back toward center.

If you read between the lines on players who say they can't hit hybrids - such as, "I always hook them" - this lack of gearing may be part of the problem on offf-center hits.

Also, he said that FWs have the center of gravity deeper in the clubface, which will get the ball up more, from rough, fairway or tee. The hybrid (my viewpoint here) relies on a smaller clubhead to get through the rough.

Before hybrids took off a few years ago, a couple of power hitters on the PGA tour had dumped their 2i for a 7W.

Just some things to think about. Any opinions on this from the rest of you?

My Nickent is a hookomatic because it's hard to set up square. If I use the face, the grip, and even the label on the shaft, I can line it up exactly where I want. The problem is that it's weighted in such a way that, if I were to close my eyes and line it up based on feel, it's closed every time. My long irons, my fairway woods, an my WS Fybrid, aren't weighted that way. Lead tape might cure this, but leaving it in the garage seems to do the trick as well.

I think the "always hook them" issue also has a lot to do with the shafts that come in most hybrids.  Designed to help get the ball up, active tip sections, etc.  Both hybrids I own that came stock with relatively stout V2 shafts have never given me too many problems in the hooking department.  Two other hybrids were great when I first got them, and slowly turned into hook machines as I got better and my swing got faster/quicker.  I replaced both shafts w/ DG X100s and now hit them straight for the most part.

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Clubface angle may also be a problem. Both the hybrids I liked - Edge Tour and Pro Black - had square faces rather than closed ones. Again, I was able to use them because the shafts were R flex.