What I am doing wrong? (of course I don't have a video for you)

[PatrickBateman]

Hey guys,

There is a major part of my game missing right now and that is hybrids. Long off the tee with the driver (thank god), long with my irons and can hit my 4 with some consistency. My problem is that my 3H is just not working. I'm playing a Callaway Xhot btw. The club is littered with idiot marks on top of the club and they are all dead center. The ball just pops up as if I'm hitting my 60* (just longer, 160 or so), very straight as well. Is there a common theme here with the idiot marks on the club and that type of ball flight? I'll get a video as soon as I drag someone to the range with me. I've played around with ball position a little but to be honest I don't practice with hybrids as much as I should bc I can hit long irons satisfactory. The funny thing is when I got my first golf set (a cheap Wilson set) I was destroying the ball with my hybrids and woods, just could not miss. This was before I had too many swing thoughts in mind. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I understand I am giving you limited info/no video....sorry fellas I'll try to get a video soon.

Additional info: somewhat of a steep swing plane, not significant enough that it gives me trouble with other clubs though.

play the ball about in the middle of my stance (play all my shots slightly further back than usual with success)

Seriously considering just grabbing a 2 and 3 iron and just putting the work in because I've been able to have success with my 4 when I worked at it.

Thanks again

[Ernest Jones]

Without seeing video my first guess would be ball position. Centre of stance is much too far back for 3h, especially if your swing is a little too steep to begin with. I'd try going to the range and placing the ball WAY forward (like past your front foot forward) and trying some swings like that as a drill. After you start getting decent contact start moving the ball back a bit at a time until it's about 2-3 balls forward of centre. Edit* you might need to tee the ball up a little bit when it's out past your front foot.

[saevel25]

Without seeing video my first guess would be ball position. Centre of stance is much too far back for 3h, especially if your swing is a little too steep to begin with. I'd try going to the range and placing the ball WAY forward (like past your front foot forward) and trying some swings like that as a drill. After you start getting decent contact start moving the ball back a bit at a time until it's about 2-3 balls forward of centre.

Edit* you might need to tee the ball up a little bit when it's out past your front foot.

I agree. People struggle with contact want to move the ball back because they don't like chunking shots. Yet it is counter intuitive because it just promotes a steeper swing which has some negative effects on ball flight and contact.

[RussUK]

Not one to give advice (high handicapper) but from what i understand and what i have been told, in regards to hybrids the lower the loft the more you want to hit like a FW?

I may possibly be making that up

[GolfLug]

Try sweeping the ball with right palm facing somewhat toward the ground. Wiping a table top with a cloth is a good mental image. Chop down swing definitely no good.

[PatrickBateman]

Without seeing video my first guess would be ball position. Centre of stance is much too far back for 3h, especially if your swing is a little too steep to begin with. I'd try going to the range and placing the ball WAY forward (like past your front foot forward) and trying some swings like that as a drill. After you start getting decent contact start moving the ball back a bit at a time until it's about 2-3 balls forward of centre. Edit* you might need to tee the ball up a little bit when it's out past your front foot.

Yeah I will try this as I have done it before. Another thing I do with my irons/driver when I'm not making good contact is pitch shots until I'm consistently hitting the center of the face. When I do this with the hybrids I hit the center of the face and it goes very straight (launch angle may be a little high) I build the swing from there and still no good; 160 yards and way too high. For reference I hit my 6I ~175 ...I'm a way better iron player than hybrid it drives me nuts when people say how easy they are to hit considering I find a 4I easier to hit.

[PatrickBateman]

I feel like I'm hitting them TOO much like an iron (shaft lean) and that's where the idiot marks are coming from. Would the ball still sky if I delofted the club in that manner? I'm thinking about getting fitted and see what happens because I really wanna be able to use hybrids, I see why they are helpful if you can use them properly.

[PatrickBateman]

Quick update: went to the range tonight moved the ball beyond my left foot and focused on hitting the center of the face for some 3/4 swings. Got confident with the delivery of the club and really smashed some nice shots tonight with my 3H, thanks for the ball placement tips guys. For anyone else having trouble with hybrids I would play with the ball position.