Hybrid Irons, Why Not?

[Fontyyy]

I'm going to guess here that most of us do not shoot par or less.

And we take all the help we can get with driver, fairway woods (and I'll include long hybrids and rescue clubs in there, 'cause that is where they belong).

So why not irons? Why do we shy away from real help? How many of us have even tried an "ultra game improvement" 7, 8 or 9 iron?

 

The insperation for this post was me buying some old Cleveland HiBores, the originals from 15+ years ago. Which TBF, in general, 99+% of the time return a better result than a brand new set of Cleveland CBX's.

For every given swing path from full on duff, fat or thin to slight miss-hit the ball goes higher, longer and straighter. Why, oh why, do we not want this help?

[billchao]

The short answer is people have different launch conditions and SGI short irons or even hybrid clubs would not suit everyone’s swing.

[Fontyyy]

5 minutes ago, billchao said:

The short answer is people have different launch conditions and SGI short irons or even hybrid clubs would not suit everyone’s swing.

How many have tried them?

For a season, on the course?

 

[Vinsk]

43 minutes ago, Fontyyy said:

I'm going to guess here that most of us do not shoot par or less.

And we take all the help we can get with driver, fairway woods (and I'll include long hybrids and rescue clubs in there, 'cause that is where they belong).

So why not irons? Why do we shy away from real help? How many of us have even tried an "ultra game improvement" 7, 8 or 9 iron?

 

The insperation for this post was me buying some old Cleveland HiBores, the originals from 15+ years ago. Which TBF, in general, 99+% of the time return a better result than a brand new set of Cleveland CBX's.

For every given swing path from full on duff, fat or thin to slight miss-hit the ball goes higher, longer and straighter. Why, oh why, do we not want this help?

Why not iron head covers?

[billchao]

53 minutes ago, Fontyyy said:

How many have tried them?

For a season, on the course?

 

Speaking for myself here, but why would I? I was fitted properly for my irons.

[pganapathy]

I personally use a 2 and 4 hybrid.  From 5 downwards I have irons.  The reason I prefer irons here is that I can still hit them properly (swing, clubhead speed etc) and they are a bit more versatile for me than hybrids in the shorter irons.  Over time I will move to more and more hybrids in my set, but not right now

[Darkfrog]

1 hour ago, Fontyyy said:

For every given swing path from full on duff, fat or thin to slight miss-hit the ball goes higher, longer and straighter. Why, oh why, do we not want this help?

I don't necessarily believe the part about straighter - that has to do with face and path.

I was fitted for my irons, and I don't have any issues with launch conditions, and any bad launch conditions are a swing problem, not a club problem.

Edited October 13, 2021 by Darkfrog

[Fontyyy]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

Why not iron head covers?

Because the "irons" in question (my HiBore's") were £130 and are heavily chipped anyway.

But yes, I do agree, even I would struggle walking down the fairway with 13 head covers!

[Fontyyy]

1 hour ago, Darkfrog said:

I don't necessarily believe the part about straighter - that has to do with face and path.

 

So, you NEVER miss a par 3 green left or right?

They're just more forgiving. Trust me, they are straighter, hit 50 shots with a hybrid "7i" and a real 7i, the dispersion will be tighter with the hybrid.

Not trolling, really,  but if don't play off + something ....

Edited October 13, 2021 by Fontyyy

[boogielicious]

2 hours ago, Fontyyy said:

How many have tried them?

For a season, on the course?

 

He has and so have I. I have a 4 and 3 hybrid and have tried a 5. I found that I hit the 4  and 5 irons better in all conditions, off the tee, fairway and especially rough. I tended to hook the 4 and 5 hybrids and even tried heavier shafts than stock. For me, the hybrids aren’t as good out of the rough either, which is counter to what the OEM state. I do like the 3H off the tee and in the fairway, but I will go with an iron out of the rough.

[pganapathy]

11 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

 For me, the hybrids aren’t as good out of the rough either, which is counter to what the OEM state. I do like the 3H off the tee and in the fairway, but I will go with an iron out of the rough.

I believe this might be related to your swing.  I reckon a steeper swing will help an iron cut through the rough better and a flatter swing will help the hybrid more.

[Carl3]

I have a 3h and 4h and had put away my 3i and 4i not too long after I switched to less forgiving irons. Now that I have learned to hit my irons better, I am leaving my 4h in the trunk more often depending on how some tees are set up.

I think the long irons will give more consistency on length than the hybrids. When my swing is crap I will reach for the hybrid more often and make adjustments to reduce distance if needed. But I really want to get striking the ball better and better and leave one of the hybrids behind. 

I have a tendency to draw a hybrid too much as many are set up with a bias for people who tend to come over the top.

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

The short answer is people have different launch conditions and SGI short irons or even hybrid clubs would not suit everyone’s swing.

This.

Personally, I normally carry 4 hybrids ... ish... Here's my normal bag:

• Driver
• 3-wood
• Cobra F7 3 hybrid
• Cobra F7 4 hybrid
• Tour Edge Golf Hot Launch E521 Iron-Wood 5-iron and 6 iron (These are basically hybrids) 
• PXG Game Improvement 7 iron
• PXG players irons for 8 iron through Gap Wedge. 
• A 54 degree sand wedge
• A 60 degree lob wedge 
• Putter

I do have a PXG Game Improvement 6 iron and 5 iron. Sometimes I'll replace one or both of the Tour Edge Clubs with one of those. One of the issues with Hybrids or Even Super Game Improvement clubs is they tend to be one-trick-ponies. They are going to hit it high and straight. Which may or may not be the desired shot. 

An example is that at one time I did all of my low punch out shots with my 5 iron. When I carry the Tour Edge Hybrid Iron it sucks for punch out shots. Hits them too high, its tough to hit a low runner. So, since carrying them I've actually learned to hit punch shots with my 3 wood. 

It all depends on what you want/need out of your clubs AND what skills/swing speed you have. 

 

53 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

For me, the hybrids aren’t as good out of the rough either, which is counter to what the OEM state. I do like the 3H off the tee and in the fairway, but I will go with an iron out of the rough.

Yeah, this is different for everyone. I'd much rather hit one of my hybrids out of the rough than any of my irons. But again, it's going to vary depending on the hybrid you choose, the irons you choose and the way you swing. 

Neither is "better". Some may be "Better for you", or "better for me". That's why you are given choices. 

[Colins69]

Year it's subjective, how many times have you hit a friend's driver and smashed it down the middle. Trick is to realize you were much more focused on that swing, took me a long time to get it LOL...

[Darkfrog]

2 hours ago, Fontyyy said:

So, you NEVER miss a par 3 green left or right?

Of course I have missed a green on a par-3 before. Are you suggesting that if I played hybrid irons I would never miss a green on a par-3?

2 hours ago, Fontyyy said:

They're just more forgiving. Trust me, they are straighter, hit 50 shots with a hybrid "7i" and a real 7i, the dispersion will be tighter with the hybrid.

"Trust me" isn't going to convince me. Show me real world data that 7-hybrid has tighter dispersion than a 7-iron. I'm no

2 hours ago, Fontyyy said:

Not trolling, really,  but if don't play off + something ....

I'm not sure how to respond to this, I'm not close to being a + handicap, and I likely never will be, but not once has my swing teacher suggested I switch to hybrid irons.

 

[billchao]

3 hours ago, Fontyyy said:

They're just more forgiving. Trust me, they are straighter, hit 50 shots with a hybrid "7i" and a real 7i, the dispersion will be tighter with the hybrid.

For you, maybe. Again, not for everyone. I play exactly one hybrid and it’s the only club in my bag I can hit a hook with without deliberately trying to.

Distance control is harder with hybrids, too.

51 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

"Trust me" isn't going to convince me. Show me real world data that 7-hybrid has tighter dispersion than a 7-iron.

Exactly. If they were magic clubs that instantly improved people’s game as claimed by @Fontyyy, everyone would be playing them.

[ChetlovesMer]

9 hours ago, Fontyyy said:

For every given swing path from full on duff, fat or thin to slight miss-hit the ball goes higher, longer and straighter. Why, oh why, do we not want this help?

Nobody's saying you can't play the hybrid short irons. If they help you, then by all means play them. 

Personally (as I've mentioned) I play hybrids and my long/mid irons are very hybrid like or at least heavy on the game improvement side. 

Yes, I've tried the hybrid style short irons. They are fine if all you want to do is hit the same shot every time and you aren't consistent with finding the middle of the club face. 

BUT - Think about what you are giving up. With hybrid style irons you will have a MUCH harder time hitting punch shots and knock downs and varying the distance. I'm not a great golfer (many on this forum can attest.) But even I will hit knock-downs and punch shots and partials and chippy short iron shots along with the standard 135 yard stock 9-iron shot. My standard 9 iron is a 135 yard shot. But I will pull 9 on occasion to hit 145 or 105 and almost anything in between. I will, can, and have bent shot around trees. Similarly with my other short irons. You give all of that up with hybrid style short irons. AND THAT'S FINE. If that's what you want. Really. It's fine. Nobody will stop you from playing them. 

However you asked "Why, oh why, do we not want this help?" Well, people have answered. Because to get that help you give up versatility and distance control. 

Life is a series or trade offs. You choose what you like/need. 

[WilliamB]

For the better ball strikers, I think they can work the ball better with forged irons and get better feedback because the steel is a bit softer. I think this is the case with either forged or cast type irons.

Edited October 15, 2021 by WilliamB
updated info