3 wood vs. 2 hybrid

[trumb1mj]

I was at golfsmith today and I was hitting a ping rapture hybrid (2 - 18*). The thing is absolutely nuclear. I was hitting it like 230-255 consistently right on the target line. It was a much better ball flight than my 3 wood.

Has anyone taken their 3 wood out for a hybrid?

[MIKE1218]

I know somebody that has, and I think some people on here have, but not for a 2 hybrid. One of my friends goes from driver to 16* hybrid to 2 iron.

[Youngun5]

i sucked with fairway woods.....picked up a 14* Callaway Heavenwood and love it.

[Topflite_D2]

Well I don't use a FW and I have a Fairway wood. So I kinda do.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Even a 16* hybrid did not give me the same distance as a 17* 5w. My intent a couple years ago was to replace my FW's with hybrids. It was just not an option, and even a 16* hybrid was shorter and just not as dependable as the 5w IMO.

Do a couple searches on here for more info, but in short my experience is that a similar lofted hybrid plays about 2* shorter than a same lofted FW. Plus it is darn near impossible to find any below 18* to demo, which likely supports my thought that when you get below 18* they are just not as easy to hit as a FW. I no longer will even carry a 3w, but I would likely have to play a 12* hybrid to get the same distance as my last 3w. That thought alone is enough to kill off any thoriught of trying to replace a 3w with a hybrid

[BigJim13]

Originally Posted by Pa Jayhawk

Even a 16* hybrid did not give me the same distance as a 17* 5w. My intent a couple years ago was to replace my FW's with hybrids. It was just not an option, and even a 16* hybrid was shorter and just not as dependable as the 5w IMO.

Do a couple searches on here for more info, but in short my experience is that a similar lofted hybrid plays about 2* shorter than a same lofted FW. Plus it is darn near impossible to find any below 18* to demo, which likely supports my thought that when you get below 18* they are just not as easy to hit as a FW. I no longer will even carry a 3w, but I would likely have to play a 12* hybrid to get the same distance as my last 3w. That thought alone is enough to kill off any thoriught of trying to replace a 3w with a hybrid

I had the same experience. My original plan was to go from Driver to 15* 3w to 21* hybrid which replaced my 2/3 irons. Didn't work out that well though, the 21* hybrid carried about as well as my 5 iron, part of that was the shaft though. I agree with Jayhawk, you will find I believe that Hybrids as a rule as a little shorter than a same lofted FW wood. I now have a setup I think should work well, Driver, 17.5* FW and 21* hybrid with a different shaft...we shall see

[chemboy2]

I just recently put a 5W back into the bag after several attempts to replace it with a hybrid. What I came to realize is that once a shaft got over 40" the flatter swing plane just didn't work well with a hybrid (for me).

[azgreg]

Originally Posted by chemboy2

I just recently put a 5W back into the bag after several attempts to replace it with a hybrid. What I came to realize is that once a shaft got over 40" the flatter swing plane just didn't work well with a hybrid (for me).

You should not swing a hybrid like a fw. Swing it like an iron, you will like it much better.

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by BigJim13

I agree with Jayhawk, you will find I believe that Hybrids as a rule as a little shorter than a same lofted FW wood.

Thirded - from my experience a hybrid always plays one club shorter than a fairway wood of the same length. So My 19* Cleveland Halo played around the same distance as my 22* 7w, and I needed to drop all the way to a 14* hybrid to get anything like the distance of the old 5w I used to have in the bag.

For me I also found that the increased shaft length in hybrids over 19/20* made it much harder to hit with an iron swing, so I just went back to fairway woods for that degree of loft and they work fine.

[chemboy2]

Originally Posted by azgreg

You should not swing a hybrid like a fw. Swing it like an iron, you will like it much better.

Exactly, that's the root of the poblem.

I love hybrids and have carried them for years. I currently have two Sonartec MDs, 21* and 23*, that I wouldn't trade for anything. The descending blow gets tough for me to do consistently when the length gets over 40" though. I naturally start to flatten my swing plane and so I have found that I do much better fairway woods in those spots.

[gunning4u]

I play a 15* 3 wood and a 18* hybrid and its a perfect gap. I don't think you should be hitting a 18* hybrid as far as a 3 wood unless your current 3 wood sucks.

[warbirdlover]

zaphod did exactly that. He's hitting his hybrid just as far and straighter then his 3-wood. And he's a super good golfer.