Sound off for (or against) hybrids...

[shortgame85]

In my mind's golf fantasy, I am Sean Connery playing against Mr. Goldfinger for the love of the game and for the sake of irritating the hell out of him and his chunky caddy. I play with butterknife blades and persimmon woods. I am very tall and wear impeccable clothes and John Lob golf shoes. I always have a caddy and I never ride in a cart.
Alas.....I am 5'6", I use game improvement clubs and I ride in a cart way too much. Oh yes, I am a prostitute for a ball that will help me squeeze a little more distance out of a drive. So, I also use hybrids.
For those with single digit handicaps and play blades, more power to you; as for me, if a hybrid helps me get down the fairway or onto the green, well I say, " Hand me the hybrid, Moneypenny!"

[LSeca]

When I hit one of my hybrids, I am not trying to shape a shot. I am trying to put the ball down the fairway, either off a tee or off the deck on par 5s and longer par 4s. Until I can consistently hit an iron as well and as easy, the 18 and 21 degree hybrid are staying in the bag.

[ahnh666]

being far from intermediate (or advanced)...i find the hybrid extremely useful.....if i were to hit the ball always on the fairway, i probably would have no need for a hybrid.....but i'm far from perfect and occasionally in the rough...

when the rough is slightly deeper (but, having a clear path) i have trouble with my 3 or 4 iron getting slowed down too much when cutting through the grass before striking the ball....

when in the rough..i'll take out my hybrid....the hybrid pushes down on the grass and slide on top...and strikes the ball out and much further than my irons....

if i was hitting from the fairway...distance wise...it's the same..hybrid or long iron...there really isn't much of different....and usually hitting a hybrid and long iron is about the same difficulty.....

only reason for a hybrid for me....when the ball is in the rough.....

[iacas]

I don't think I've posted.

I've never really been a big 5-wood fan. I hit my 3-wood just fine - from both the fairway and the rough and the tee - I've just never cared for the high ball flight from the 5-wood or the lack of workability.

So for years I had a 2-iron. From bad lies in the rough it was tough. It was also a Ping Eye2 so it had a bit too much offset.

Anyway, with my hybrid, I can hit the ball high or low. I can work it left or right. I can hit it from virtually any lie and to distances from 180 to 230.

[TourSpoon]

I don't think I've posted.

So what is the key to varying the distance from 180 to 230? I feel comfortable with 205-225 but I would like to hear how you get so much versatility from your hybrid.

[lamebums]

Well, a slight update on the hybrid front here... I demo'd the TaylorMade Rescue and Burner hybrids. I made about a dozen good shots with excellent contact with the Rescue until it all went to hell. For some reason I started pushing everything to the right, despite the offset at address (and when I looked to see where the club was at impact it seemed to be square) and the thins multiplied. Then tried the Burner, with no dice. Went back to the Rescue, had maybe three good shots out of 20. Granted, a mat is about as thin a lie as anything goes which probably caused a good number of those thins, I still can't explain why the ball goes 70 yards off line to the right.

[play4him]

I can't speak for Iacas, but I have a 19* Titleist 585. The way I vary my distance is by gripping down on it or by just swinging smoothly. I noticed the other day, I had to lay up on a Par 5 and just swung smoothly and got about 225 out of it. Off the tee on another hole, I hit it 250. So I really like the versatility that I've found with this club. I liked it so much that I bought a 17*, as well. I have X-stiff shafts on both of them.
I never had problems hitting long irons, but had heard so much from others about hybrids that I went ahead and tried one. I'm glad I did.