Struggling with my hybrids, wait it out, or try something else?

[onthehunt526]

As of late, my driver has been okay. Hybrids not so much (well at times they are okay). I'm tempted to take them out and put my 4-iron back in and leave it at 13 clubs.

Part of the issue is, I can't seem to hit them off the tee at all (my 3 and 4-woods are fine for that). Next, I have this left to left to left thing going sometimes that I ain't got a clue how to fix (I think I'm coming over the top)... 

I had a few resounding thoughts and ideas to fix this.

1) Take a lesson or two, maybe I just need a trained set of eyes to see what the hell is going on.

2) Put the 4-iron or Lumpy in and call it a day...

3) Start some sort of Frankenstein experiment where I take older an 7 and 9 wood, cut them down to hybrid length, counter the swingweight loss with extra weight in the clubhead or a with lighter grip, and call those my "utility woods".

Or finally just go to lofted fairway metals without cutting them down.

So should I wait out this hybrid crisis or into another direction of replacing my 3 and 4 irons.

[inthecup]

Sometimes I look down at a hybrid and think fairway wood.  The ball slowly creeps forward in my stance and leads to a pull hook because the club has extra time to close.

I have access to a launch monitor and I have verified that is what is happening to the clubface.  I recently slipped back into this habit and had the pull hooks going even though I was coming from the inside.

The solution was to weaken my right hand slightly (I am a righty) and move the ball back in my stance to the middle (I only moved it one ball).  An give it an iron swing.  Fixed the problem (I think, it is a moving target).  It is a really good feeling being far from the green and not feeling you are going to hit it left of left.

 

Not sure this is your problem but you are presenting a closed clubface to the ball.  You might want to think is those terms to figure out why.

[Typhoon92]

I can't hit one either....left to left.  And my hdcp is +3.  I carry a lofted Fw..Never a problem.  My clubfitter told me hybrids were more upright and me being not tall makes it worse.  He said he could bend one but I never bothered.

[Valleygolfer]

I don't care for hybrids but it sounds like you are trying to "steer" the club. I was doing the same thing with my driver. I know how I fixed my issue but don't know if it will work for you. I think you should take them out for a while.

[David in FL]

It would probably help those that really understand such things, to see your swing with a hybrid.

My suspicion, as someone who admittedly knows very little about such things, is that you're either consciously or unconsciously "releasing" the club, maybe more similar to what you might do with a fairway wood, or even driver.  

When I get a little whacky with my hybrids the fix is always the same.  I need to remind myself that I need to emulate the feel/swing of my mid-irons.  I also need to move fractionally closer to the ball, as I've likely unconsciously crept back just a bit, again, mimicking a longer fairway wood.  

Of course, ymmv, but you're a good player who has played the hybrids successfully, or they wouldn't be in your bag in the first place.  No need to go to weird lengths.  Just figure it out.  

[WUTiger]

On 8/28/2017 at 9:34 AM, inthecup said:

The ball slowly creeps forward in my stance and leads to a pull hook because the club has extra time to close.

It could be a ball alignment thing, as ITC has suggested.

You're using TE E9 hybrids, which I have hit before and really like. The E9 heads don't have much offset, and you have X-flex shafts, so it's not like you're overpowering the equipment.

If it's OTT, possibly you're overswinging. Most instructors advise golfers to hit the hybrid like an iron, so if you're thinking fairway wood you may be taking the club back too far.

Swing thought for hybrids: Only take a 3/4 swing. If you tape the "3/4" on video, I'll bet it's close to a full swing. So think 3/4 and you'll be On The Hunt again! 

Also, I feel your pain. My FlyZ 4H - the only one I carry regularly - is in time out this month after being the source of multiple double bogies.

Yesterday, I used my 4i as a driving iron for two longer par 3 holes: I hit the green on one and got a tap in up-and-down par for the other. (4i is great off the tee, but iffy off the deck.)

[MarvChamp]

Wait it out.  -Marv

[inthecup]

I own a 3 and 4 iron for my Callaway Apex CF16 set.  At the moment I am loving my Apex Hybrids, 2-5.  My bag looks like I am putting on a puppet show!

It is worth figuring our.  

[Midpack]

I went back and forth, and I'm still not proficient with my 3H & 4H, but I've decided to stick it out and my 2I & 3I are out of the bag. For me at least, when I started to hit my hybrids more like a long iron and stopped trying to kill the ball, my results have gotten better.