How do you hit your hybrid ?

[BuckeyeNut]

I hit down...................................divot or not is not relevant!!   Hit down............to hit UP!!    Get it??????????

[Zeph]

I don't consciously do anything different with a hybrid than an iron. Most is dictated by ball position and the length of the club. The largest change is with the driver, where the setup and swing is different and the ball is more forward. Ball position is around the same as a long iron, which still results in a downward AoA. I sometimes use the hybrid on the rough as it glides easier through it than an iron, and I don't want a sweeping stroke there. If anything, maybe the ball a bit more back than from the fairway.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 3/11/2016 at 0:09 PM, bkuehn1952 said:

The old theory of hitting fairway woods was to sweep the ball rather than hit it with a slightly descending blow.  I suspect many of us assumed the same was true with hybrids.

A recent Golf Digest snippet indicated that even the pro's hit slightly down with fairway woods and hybrids should be hit like a long iron with a slighting descending blow, also.

There are much better players who can likely explain this better than I.

I have to agree. When I first started getting into hybrids I swung them the same way as the irons I was replacing them with. They worked just fine. Consider the name "hybrid". Originally it was a hybrid of a long iron and fairway wood, but the idea has now crept into the shorter irons. The "body" on the club moves the center of gravity further behind the face, which helps get the ball up in the air.

I also disagree with the "one swing" idea. Do you swing your driver the same as your wedge? More than one instructor advocates hitting slightly up with the driver. Try that with your irons!

And I remember a film clip of Moe Norman hitting 3 woods. The practice tee was full of divots. He'd roll a ball into one of those divots, hammer it down into the dirt for good measure, and smoke a 3 wood out of there! He said, something like, "People think you should swing a 3 wood like a driver. Baloney! You mostly hit the 3 off the grass. You gotta hit down on it!" Then he'd smoke another 3 wood and just laugh and laugh! Moe might have been a little "off", but he was an absolute genius with a golf club in his hands!