7 wood or Hybrid or No need

[test123123]

I have 3 wood and 5 wood. I am wondering do I need a 7 wood or Hybrid or Not required.

[lamebums]

It depends--but if performance is consistent from one hack to another, then I wouldn't bother with a hybrid. I have one, and I hit it like a much less accurate five-iron. My three iron goes about 175 yards, my three wood about 220 or so (if I don't hit a gopher burner), and I have a gap--but hitting the three wood at 80 percent seems to work.

(But, it's just my two cents.)

[hypergolf]

I have 3 wood and 5 wood. I am wondering do I need a 7 wood or Hybrid or Not required.

At your handicap it would be better to take out your 3 and 5 woods out of your bag and replace your 3 and 4 iron with hybrids... Only if you have spare change and can afford to buy... If not playing with 5-SW + putter is adequate for the first few months...

[NM Golf]

At your handicap it would be better to take out your 3 and 5 woods out of your bag and replace your 3 and 4 iron with hybrids... Only if you have spare change and can afford to buy... If not playing with 5-SW + putter is adequate for the first few months...

I am really trying to figure out why taking the 3 and 5 woods out of the bag would be good for a high handicap. This is not a personal attack but your advice doesn't make any sense.

First, If you want to take a club out of your bag, make it the driver and use a 3 wood off the tee. The 3 wood is a fantastic club for the higher handicap as the shorter shaft and higher loft make it a relatively easy club to hit compared to the driver. Second, a five wood is the equivalent of a 2 iron so why take it out? You are allowed 14 clubs, it would only make sense to remove it in order to put a new club in the bag. I imagine he already has a 3 iron in his set so a 3 iron hybrid would replace it not the 5 wood. As far as hybrids and fairway woods go, you are better of with either of them than with a long iron. If you cannot decide between the 7 wood or the 3 iron (21 degree) hybrid then go hit both and decide then. In my experience the 7 wood is easier to hit for people with slower swing speeds, but again hit them both and decide yourself. Either of them is probably going to be an big improvement from you 3 iron.

[allin]

I agree with NM Golf. Try both hybrids and 7 wood and pick the one you like better. 7 Wds. do make excellent lay up clubs out of the rough on par 5s. Some of the hybrids like the Cobra baffler are pretty wood like and make a good compromise between the two choices.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

I think a hybrid or two would help you but I agree with what others said, not at the expense of the 3 wood or the 5 wood. Especially if you already hit those well (not sure if you mentioned that). Maybe get rid of the driver and hit the 3 wood off the tee, or get rid of both and get a 12-14 degree driver. If you have any long irons in your bag (3 or 4) you could replace those with hybrids. If you like hitting woods then a 7 wood may be more beneficial. Some hybrids look like modified 7 woods anyways (ie Cobra Baffler).

[North49]

See my clubs below. I'm a 10 handicap so I am one of your people. I have always been able to hit a driver, and in my opinion any damn fool can hit the drivers they are making these days. I love the advice about trying a 7 wood compared to a 20/21 degree. They are great clubs, and are especially great on those days you can't drive to save your life, so a least you have a money club to get it in play.

[test123123]

Thank you all for the advice. I like the Hybrid more as I can hit better with Hybrid. Which Hybrid will replace 7 Wood regarding the distance?

[hypergolf]

I am really trying to figure out why taking the 3 and 5 woods out of the bag would be good for a high handicap. This is not a personal attack but your advice doesn't make any sense.

No offense taken. What I meant was to improve the swing plane and other basic swing techniques before even touching a wood. I started off golf with 5-SW + Putter (advise from PGA pro coach so I didn't question him) but after getting my swing plane and tempo set with the irons I could really understand why the coach said that. If you give a novice player a 3 wood and ask him to hit it on the fairway vs a 5 iron see which result will be better on the course. I can bet that 90% of the time he/she will NOT be able to hit the ball with a 3 of even a 5 wood properly. We have to note that his handicap is 36 in which it is more imporatant for him to gain consistant swing plane and right techniques. After a couple months of playing, even with 5-SW set I was still able to make a few boogeys at the course. Let me ask you this? How many boogeys did you make when you were at Handicap 36? I was happy to get a couple boogeys when I was at around his handicap level. I usually made double boogey or more back then. I believe one step at a time approach would help him in the long run...

Thank you all for the advice. I like the Hybrid more as I can hit better with Hybrid. Which Hybrid will replace 7 Wood regarding the distance?

Wood 7 can be replaced by hybrids between 20*-22*.

[Shindig]

Thank you all for the advice. I like the Hybrid more as I can hit better with Hybrid. Which Hybrid will replace 7 Wood regarding the distance?

One way to find out. Check if it fits the gap that the 7-Wood would've filled. If it's in that gap, and close enough to where you wanted to fill the gap, it did. Whether a hybrid will always do the same as a wood of similar loft... I would guess that they're a few yards less but with better accuracy. I've never heard of people going for the green on a par-5 with a 15* hybrid, but I've heard of it with 15* 3-Woods. But I don't hear that much...

Anyway, when I got my hybrid, I wasn't worried if it goes as far as a 7-wood, but rather whether it filled the distance gap between my 4I and 5W. It did that just fine, and I kept it accordingly.

[NM Golf]

No offense taken. What I meant was to improve the swing plane and other basic swing techniques before even touching a wood. I started off golf with 5-SW + Putter (advise from PGA pro coach so I didn't question him) but after getting my swing plane and tempo set with the irons I could really understand why the coach said that. If you give a novice player a 3 wood and ask him to hit it on the fairway vs a 5 iron see which result will be better on the course. I can bet that 90% of the time he/she will NOT be able to hit the ball with a 3 of even a 5 wood properly. We have to note that his handicap is 36 in which it is more imporatant for him to gain consistant swing plane and right techniques. After a couple months of playing, even with 5-SW set I was still able to make a few boogeys at the course. Let me ask you this? How many boogeys did you make when you were at Handicap 36? I was happy to get a couple boogeys when I was at around his handicap level. I usually made double boogey or more back then. I believe one step at a time approach would help him in the long run...

I don't know I never had much trouble hitting a three wood, but then again I was never a 36 handicap. I believe in taking the driver out of the bag for a beginner but don't buy into the iron only approach. If you can hit a 5 iron I believe you can hit a 3 wood. That is just my opinion, but like I said before my highest handicap was a 19 and I only shot over 100 twice in my adult life.

[hypergolf]

I don't know I never had much trouble hitting a three wood, but then again I was never a 36 handicap. I believe in taking the driver out of the bag for a beginner but don't buy into the iron only approach. If you can hit a 5 iron I believe you can hit a 3 wood. That is just my opinion, but like I said before my highest handicap was a 19 and I only shot over 100 twice in my adult life.

"If a person can hit a 5 iron then that person can a 3 wood" logic will be =

"if a person can hit a 3 wood then that person can hit a driver..." Only two inches difference from 3 wood to driver whereas roughly 5 inches difference from 5 iron to 3 wood... Plus the upright loft of getting the ball airborn... It is great that you only hit 100 twice in your life but not all of us can run before we crawl... I guess it really depends on the person's physic and inborn skills. Like you said I have seen some people who could hit their woods quite well from the beginning. But very rarely...

[Shindig]

I don't know I never had much trouble hitting a three wood, but then again I was never a 36 handicap. I believe in taking the driver out of the bag for a beginner but don't buy into the iron only approach. If you can hit a 5 iron I believe you can hit a 3 wood. That is just my opinion, but like I said before my highest handicap was a 19 and I only shot over 100 twice in my adult life.

Funny you should say that.

For what felt like the longest time (start in approx Jan06 until about July06), I could hit up to 8I consistently, and sometimes the 6I and 7I. Never the 4I or 5I. Then when I got to the point of hitting the 5I on command, I've been able to hit all up to driver.

[hypergolf]

FYI, I used to tee off with 5 iron and played with 6-SW on the fairways... Ah the frustrating old days...

[NM Golf]

"If a person can hit a 5 iron then that person can a 3 wood" logic will be =

I don't know how you play but for the average amateur the most difficult clubs to hit consistantly are the long irons and the Driver. A 5 iron is a long iron so if you can hit a long iron you can probably pull off a 3 wood. Your "logic" above is ridiculous.

If a 3 wood is as easy to hit as a driver then why do so many people pull out 3 woods on tight driving holes? Well its because the 3 wood is considerably easier to hit straight consistantly. IMHO I think your philosophy and your advice are full off holes, I don't care if you did get it from a pro. But you are entitled to you opinion, just like I am.

[Shindig]

If a 3 wood is as easy to hit as a driver then why do so many people pull out 3 woods on tight driving holes? Well its because the 3 wood is considerably easier to hit straight consistantly.

I agree with you on the other points made in this thread. But I have a very different reasoning on the 3W on tight holes; I've heard that the reason to do this is so that if you miss the fairway, you're less off-course (the same percent deviation is fewer yards). Does this make sense, or am I completely off guard?

[I'm the weirdo who hits his driver more accurately than his 3W]

[hypergolf]

I don't know how you play but for the average amateur the most difficult clubs to hit consistantly are the long irons and the Driver. A 5 iron is a long iron so if you can hit a long iron you can probably pull off a 3 wood. Your "logic" above is ridiculous.

If I am not wrong 1,2,3,4 irons are long and 5,6,7 are mid irons... (Although some consider #5 to be a long iron) If my logic is ridiculous, let it be. I am not saying my way is perfect anyway. It worked well for me and I was just giving advise from my personal experience. I mean I am talking to a person who scored 100 only twice in his life vs me who only could break 90 after a year of play... Yeah, my PGA coach sucks and gave me a wrong advise... His name is Steve Bann and you can find him at Melbourne Golf Academy if you do happen to visit Australia... I think he coached Stuart Appleby and a few other PGA players... Oh I will personally tell Steve that his logic is ridiculous when I visit Melbourne in July since I was only quoting his logic verbatim.

About the 3 wood.. Read below. Just to show you my ridiculous advise and philosophy, see the following URL. (Article by David Leadbetter, Another ridiculous guy???) http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...53/ai_84454561 (Definition of long and mid irons: Scroll down to L and M to find appropriete definitions) http://www.alquiler-directo.com/golf...vocabulary.htm (Website about choosing right clubs for beginners) http://www.learnaboutgolf.com/educat...r_golfers.html I mean logically... Shorter the easier... Why do people cut even a mere 1/2 inch off their driver shaft? However, I am NOT completely disagreeing with you. I know some who start with half set. 3 or 5 wood, 5,7,9,PW,SW + putter combo starter set. I would advise a 5 wood for a starters set if he/she really wants to use one. Whatever works best for each individual.

I agree with you on the other points made in this thread. But I have a very different reasoning on the 3W on tight holes; I've heard that the reason to do this is so that if you miss the fairway, you're less off-course (the same percent deviation is fewer yards). Does this make sense, or am I completely off guard?

Actually there are split decisions to the driver vs fairway... I myself am confused as to which is right although my personal preference leans more towards the 3 wood option when comparing with driver. One reasoning that favored the 3 wood is like what NM said and also because of the shorter shaft compared to the driver... However I read articles where they countered that by saying that driver has a bigger sweet spot and therefore it should be easier to hit compared to the 3wood...

[hypergolf]

Just bringing back this old thread after a week of testing some shots with 5 iron vs 3 wood... Had 8 of my golf buddies involved too. None of them could hit their 3 woods as well or consistant compared to the 5 iron. (Handicap ranged from 4 to 28) Anyone else hit their 3 wood as well as their 5 iron? Thanks.