3 hybrids in a bag, good/bad idea?

[kurisu]

Hello everyone,

Been lurking for a little while, and finally decided to post 3 replies to gain my title of "mini-golfer" (title which couldn't be more fitting at the moment…) I like this place!

Hope I'm not going to get killed immediately with my first question, but here goes: (but first, a little background on my golf history)

Being in Japan for the last 10 years, I've been pushed quite many a time to start playing golf, but I've resisted because I didn't want to give up my hobbies (photography and playing guitar). Then I met my current girlfriend, who's been playing for 6~7 years, and was patient enough to finally convince me to give golf a go.

I've been taking lessons on roughly weekly basis for the past 5 months with an American guy who's a PGA instructor here in Tokyo. He's great and I feel my abilities slowly and steadily improving.

I started with an old set of clubs from my company's president ('94 models King Cobra Oversized with regular flex graphite shafts), which I had to give back a month ago. They were great to start with, though I always felt the shafts were a little flimsy. I tried many different heads and shafts, and finally got the 2009 AP1s with NS950GH S shafts (with a 40% discount) and my distance and consistency have improved since, so I'm quite happy with my choice.

Now, you may already know where I am going with this…

I have yet to pick woods, and my longest iron is a #5. I hit it ok, though I have to admit my #5, #6 and #7 roughly go about the same distance at the moment (140~145 yards on average).
Ego has been pushing me to get a #3 and #4 of the AP1s, but I've resisted thus far, because I'm always reminded by my #5 that I ain't that great with it (yet)
I recently have hit the 909H hybrids at the range and was very surprised that it was so easy to hit.

I've read a lot of threads in these forums about hybrids in general, and most people seem to have, say, a driver, a #3 and #5 wood, a hybrid, and their irons.
But I'm wondering if anyone has ever considered to use a driver, then #2, #3 and #4 hybrids instead ? Would there be anything weird/wrong about this setup?

As a side note, I'm very bad with woods right now, be it a driver or a fairway. The shafts are so long (yes I've tried different lengths), it kinda throws me off, and my instructor wants to concentrate on my irons first. And I do like the idea of having long(er) irons (I'm intending to get hybrids with the same shaft as in my AP1s)

Looking forward to an interesting discussion and your comments!

Christopher

[GaijinGolfer]

With hybrids instead of fairway woods you would gain some accuracy, but you would lose some distance.
Hybrids have a shorter shaft than do fairway woods, which is where the increased accuracy/lost distance comes from.

[tim31x]

hybrids are great clubs! if you struggle with long irons i would definitely go with some hybrids. they aren't as accurate as irons, but they are much easier to hit and in the long run actually are longer and more accurate because of their player friendly capabilities. i currently play to a 6.8, i struggle with my 4 iron and already replaced my 3iron and 5wood with a 18.5* hybrid. i am currently debating on a 4iron hybrid, maybe even a 3iron hybrid because i hit my 5iron about 215. im still not sold on fairway woods from the fairway, so i often turn to my hybrid because i can control it better. i am a very good driver of the ball, but you struggle much like most of us do with longer clubs starting out. give it time the driver will come. also hybrids are a great transition to longer clubs because the shafts are about an inch longer than standard iron shafts. just my two cents. keep playing, you'll fall more and more in love with the game just like all of us have.

-tim

[Fastrack]

3 hybrid is so useful to get balls in the air easily from any lie and long distance without fear. Accuracy is not terrible.

[SQ Bimmer]

Typically a 2H will replace a 5w. You are going to need a 3w eventually, may as well start practicing now. Hitting 3w off the deck consistently takes a lot of it.

However if I were to start all over, I think I would go for a 16.5* wood, aka 4w, instead of a 3w and 5w. I tried a 2H to replace my 5w for a while, and I just could not do it. I hit my Burner 5 wood much more consistently, and IMO the same goes for most higher handicap players.

[Blades4me]

IMO, it comes down to feeling confident over the ball. If you feel more confident with hybrids then play them. They are definetly easier to hit. With that said, I have only 2 hybirds, Bridgestone Air Muscles in 2 & 3i iron design. If the course is really wet I'll usually stick them in the bag. Generally though my irons go from 2-lw bcuz the feeling of a well struck long iron to me is just soooooo sweet. Granted I can't generate quite the distance with the irons as I can with the Air Muscles, but that isn't a big deal to me. And for some reason I'm just more comfortable with a iron vs a hybird. BUT that is just me and I don't mean to be snubbing hybrids b/c the have their place and work great for many players, pro's included.

Again, IMO what the hybrids do better than any other club I've found is putting from the frog hair around the green. You have to practice it, but once you get it down it can shave strokes and is DEADLY

When I was struggling with my 3w I got a 14* hybrid. It didn't have the same distance as a 3w, but I could hit it consistently. Once I got used to not holding back on my swing I went back to my 3w and haven't looked back. I think one thing many ppl miss on fw woods is that they DO NOT respond well to a wussy swing; you have to go at it all the way. A hybrid may help you with this as it did me.

MOST IMPORTANTLY though, its not the gear, its the enjoyment of the game, so whatever gets you there is good.

[kurisu]

Thanks for everyone's input so far.
I'd give up distance for accuracy any day.
I hit my irons quite straight, with a slight draw (although I am also guilty of the odd slice from time to time when i don't concentrate), and as I said, at the moment, the distance I hit with #5 is pretty similar to my #6 and #7. I do realise that this will probably change (I hope so too!), but the frustration of not reaching further was replaced by some small confidence in at least not sending the ball only left or right.

Every single time I've tried hitting woods, all the balls visited a place called banana town… Of course I do know that I will have to get over it and work on using them… but after hitting the 909H, the fact that the shaft can be the same as my irons, the length is similar and that it's easy to hit, makes it very tempting to actually minimise my "wood exposure"…

I'm learning a good deal from you guys, so keep the information coming :) it's very interesting to hear different takes on this subject.

[Dub]

3H and 4H could really help you out a great deal right now and in the future. I think this is a great strategy. The 4H is my favorite between the two.

I've never hit the 909H so I can't really say how they'd do. I'm sure there are some easier to hit hybrids on the market, though. I don't know....

I'm a big fan of the 909D drivers. I tried two different ones recently and wound up ordering the one in my sig line....should arrive today or Friday...can't wait.

I like the 909F2's also...but again, they aren't as easy to hit as say the Taylormade Burner series. Maybe this is the shaft...don't know. I don't have a really high swing speed so shaft selection is crucial.

[Zack]

Last season was my first season playing. I had a driver, 3 and 5 wood in the bag. Towards the end of the season I ditched the 3 and 5 wood and added a 3 and 4 hybrid. Obviously you lose the distance of a 3h compared to a 3 wood but the chance that I ever hit a decent shot with the 3 wood was slim. I am leaving my hybrids in there for the next season. I think once my ball striking become much more consistent, I might throw in a 5 wood and one day a 3 wood. Since I sucked pretty bad, I was always in the rough from long distances. I found the hybrids easier to hit out of the rough. I think its important to use the clubs you feel most confidence with even if you have to give up some yardage.

[Chief Broom]

I love my hybrids. I can hit a long iron just fine but the hybrids are as smooth as silk and handle dicey lies with no problem.

[zrlaegel]

id go with a 3 20* and 4 23* hybrid but a 3 wood 17* as well. That way if you decide, you can drop your 3hybrid and move to a 5 wood to fill the distance gap a lil more. the reason a recommended a lil more loft with your clubs is because you will find it easier as a beginning player to get it up in the air and should get a lil more distance. For accuracy with your woods id recommend going and trying squared fairway woods as well as with your driver. the Nike Sumo2 or the Callaway Fti Squareaway are good places to start.

cheers~Zach

[allin]

I would advise you to remember that part of this decision is dependent on how well you hit your wedges, and how many you carry. If you look at my bag I carry four wedges one fairway wood a combo hybrid, (kind of between a 3H and a seven wood, a 4H. Wedge play is my strength and I have about 15 yard gaps in carry for the clubs 4H to driver. If I was a longer I probably would need to another club in there and one less wedge.

[pingman]

no it's not wierd. whatever works, works. it's that simple. do whatever feels good to you, anything that helps to lower your scores go with it. you can have a driver, 3 wood, 5 wood, and 3 - 9 hybrids!!!!!!!! doesn't matter, why care about what people say. as long as it helps you get that little white ball into the hole in the fewest strokes possible it's all good at the end of the day. good luck with your game in 2010

[FHopper]

Read my sig, (Rescues are hybrids), we don't care how many clubs we carry with our handicaps so get all the hybrids you want. I like the Burners because they look like woods.

[andef]

if 3 hybrids are wat u need to play your best then there's nothing wrong with that. hybrids are great options to replace irons. i am myself considering adding a 2H, the Titleist 909 H 19*.
There's this guy at our golf club who plays off +2, is a great ball stricker and plays with 2-5 hybrids and then blades from the 6-PW. I've played with him a few times and asked him why he played hybrids instead of player's irons. He said that his hybrids are great clubs and he would play the 6-PW if Titleist made them. The ZM blades he plays were the best option for those clubs.
There's another guy here who's scratch and he plays blades 1-PW. It's all about what you like.

[Greg]

Ive got 3 hybrids in my bag, 3, 4, and 5 and then go to traditional irons from 6 on down. I find the hybrid long irons much easier to hit and actually just as accurate as well as I can hit them just as straight as traditional irons as well, though i am somewhat of a high handicapper, im sure a better player would prefer hitting a 4 or 5 iron into the green but for me, the hybrids at least give me a chance on those longer approach shots and those long par 3's of at least coming close to hitting the green and I will use the 3 hybrid on par 5's if I feel like I dont have a good lie instead of my 3 wood.

[flopdarock]

unless you are an absolute beast with your driver and hit every fw you aim at... i would not abandon the idea of a 3w in the bag...
dont get me wrong... i sling a 3h and a 4h and love those clubs...
but when i was horrible at driving the ball i was forced to be very very good with my 3w in all diff types of situations... it was my money club since i would duff my driver and have an enormous distance to make up that a 3h just wouldnt cut it...
now that i have a handle on my driving... ive since retired my 3w and picked up a 4w and 7w...

weigh all your options... the types of courses you play... how well/confident you hit these longer clubs... the cost... distance gap issues... etc etc

[WUTiger]

You might consider a driver, a 3-wood and two hybrids.

This gives you some flexibility. The 3-wood gives you extra distance for longer shots off the fairway. And, if you have days when you can't hit your driver well - it happens - you can use the 3-wood off the tee.

Consider also a 4-wood as your single fairway wood. It is easier to hit than a 3W (4W has more loft), but still gets good distance.

(Personally, I have trouble hitting hybrids. But, lots of people I play with hit them quite well).

ALSO: Hybrids can be used for certain chip shots around the green. Check out the golf magazines and blogs on this.