Hybrids?

[mellojoe]

Beginning golfer, here.

Right now, I play mostly with my 3-wood off the tee and then move down to 5-iron. I am still learning how to properly hit my driver, so I don't use it much. I use my 3-wood fairly frequently, and my 5-wood often as well.

I can hit my 5-iron pretty decently, but I stay away from the 3-i and 4-i since I'm not consistent with them, either. My 7i is my go-to club.

I've been told that hybrid clubs are a great way to bridge the gap between my fairway woods and my long irons. I've never hit one. I've never used one.

What should I look for in hybrid clubs? What brands are forgiving for beginners? Which ones are suitable for low-budget? (I don't want to spend a ton of money since I'm still a beginner. The "best of the best" would be useless in my hands at this point.) Which ones should I stay away from?

Basically: Can you recommend a good couple of hybrid clubs for a beginner?

(My wife is taking me garage sale shopping in several golfing communities over the next few weekends, so I'm thinking I could pick up a steal.)

[seanYsean]

Well i really like my Mizuno CLK FLI-HI's and I know Taylor Mades Rescue are good too...I got my hybrids off the web for extremely cheap, new and under $50 each, but I am left handed. Might try looking for deals that way.

Good Luck

Sean

[meenman]

Nickent had a deal for something like 2 for $99, the nike sumo 2s are extremely forgiving and before I bought mine a fellow member at my course let me try his nicklaus for a couple weeks - I hit it decently but I have no idea what the price was on it.

I would recommend getting a 2 and a 3 - a 4 iron is not that hard to hit if you practice a bit.

[joshtpa]

No question about it. Try Adams Hybrids. They were the innovator of hybrids. They make arguably the most forgiving hybrids.

[DJYoshi]

my 1st hybrid that I had a Lynx. it's easy to get up. they're really a beginner's club to get your swing down. it didn't penalize me really for off center hits.
adams idea hybrids are great too.

the hybrid is a great club and if you're not hitting a 3 or 4 iron, you should definitely get a 3 and 4 hybrid. they also tend to have a higher ball flight and softer landing so when you're going for the green with a hybrid, you can really stick it...b/c lord knows I can't really judge how far my 3 or 4 iron will roll.
go and test a bunch of different ones. tell the person fitting you that you want to do a blind test..and not tell you what the names of the clubs are. that's how i chose my 1st hybrid and even my current irons

[GaijinGolfer]

If you struggle with your 3 and 4-iron, a 22* hybrid would probably be a good club for you.

[Klean]

I play Nickent 3DX ironwoods. They are really easy to get up in the air. They are on sale at Dick's for about $49-59 each. Definately worth twice what I paid for them.

[JYB]

i would go with a Taylor Made hybrid.

[PLAYHOUSE]

No question about it. Try Adams Hybrids. They were the innovator of hybrids. They make arguably the most forgiving hybrids.

yes yes. awesome feeling hybrids.

[DDBowdoin]

scout 3balls.com and rockbottomgolf.com for bargains... people have already made great suggestions so I thought I'd throw you some great places to find some deals

[GaijinGolfer]

Ebay is another good place to find deals on clubs.
Ive been keeping an eye out on there for a Titlelist hybrid.

[lucky7]

yea i love my cobra baffler 3i hybrid. It is extremely easy to hit but i tend to have some trouble controlling it off the tee. It is a great club to have if ur not that confident with ur 3 wood and u want an easy club to it.

[RX Phoenix]

yes yes. awesome feeling hybrids.

That's what I believed until I got a set of Adams Idea Boxers, and I couldn't hit them at all, terrible clubs, huge waste of money. I went to the Callaway FT Fusion hybrids and have yet to hit a bad shot with them, fantastic clubs.

[wrx_junki]

I use a Taylormade Burner Rescue 3 which is 19* loft. I think its been very solid for me for the last few weeks. Although I had a rough time with it in the beginning. If you hit your woods well I'm sure you'll have no problem. I'd say get one used and try it out to see if its for you or not.

[joshtpa]

That's what I believed until I got a set of Adams Idea Boxers, and I couldn't hit them at all, terrible clubs, huge waste of money. I went to the Callaway FT Fusion hybrids and have yet to hit a bad shot with them, fantastic clubs.

You couldnt hit a shot with them? Never heard of that one before. Its odd that switching to a different hybrid went from "not hitting the ball" to "havent hit a bad shot". Im wondering if its aesthetics and something due to setup? Really curious.

[GaijinGolfer]

Sounds like you guys all like your hybrids. I recently bought a couple Titleist 503H (19* and 22*) off of Ebay, so it will be interesting to see how that works out.
I love my long irons, but I dont hit the ball all that high with them, so attacking the green with my long irons isnt really a good idea.
Ive never really hit any of my woods all that well (just now Im starting to get halfway decent with my 3-wood), but Ive always hit my 5 iron-PW pretty well, so Im hoping that I will be able to at least do OK with a hybrid.
Who knows, if I like them, they just might replace my 1-4 irons.
I bought both clubs for about $50 each, so Id say I did fairly well.

[joshtpa]

Those Titleist hybrids are very nice. I think you will like them.

[Stacey_E]

For a beginer, a cheap used club that would serve you very well is an older Nike CPR - the wood shaped hybrid - not the smaller iron type head. These are one of the very few hybrids that had a shaft length anywhere near the shaft length of the iron they replaced. They hit the ball very high off any lie and came in 4 degree gaps (30, 26, 22). You should see a real distance gap between them.

I realize they are not the newest models, but at about $40 used they make a suprisingly good entry level hybrid.