Hybrid -v- 3 wood

[emc]

Has anyone changed from their 3 wood to a 16* hybrid? I'm seriously thinking about it because my 3 wood is like a driver basically and I can't hit it worth a damn off the deck. I hit my hybrid club a lot better, maybe it's because I hit down or whatever? Just wondering if anyone's done it and what people think

 

[warbirdlover]

I've got the club but I'm not replacing my 3-wood but my 3-iron. Haven't used my own yet. A friend let me try his hybrid in place of my 3-iron last year and I put it on the green. I'm sold. I'm replacing my 3 IRON and keeping my 3-wood for longer shots.

I've got a Nickent "ironwood" hybrid. They also make a "utility" hybrid which is more like a fairway wood instead of an iron and this is the type I think you'd need.

 

[emc]

Well the hybrid I have is more 'woodlike' than 'ironlike', but I think I'm just better at striking down on the ball

 

[ezra76]

I've found the FW wood replacement hybrids to be a lot tougher to hit than the iron replacement ones. I'll stick with a 3w and 5w. 3W is fine off a reasonable lie. From "not so good" lie in the rough I tend to doubt anything with a 15-16*loft is going to be successful....

 

[Strider]

i'm with ya ezra. i don't hit hybrids very well, especially of the deck. i hi them off the tee pretty good, but that really wasn't what i wanted it for. on the other hand i have a friend that hits hybrids very well. i guess you just have to try them and make a decision.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Good luck finding a hybrid that will play like a 3w. I have a 16* halo, it plays more like a 5w. I tried ever 17* or lower hybrid that I could demo, which is not many and found nothing that played close to a 3w. I also tried a ton of 18-20* hybrids, and all played more comparable to my 7w. You may have to go to a 14*, there are a few made but they are darn near impossible to find to demo.

The one exception I found to this is the Sonartec. They have a 15* and 17*. I could only find a 19* anywhere to demo. the 19* did in fact play like my 5w, so I would assume the 15* or 17* would work, and it was my intention to buy one. What kept me from doing so was everyone I spoke with that had owned or hit one said it was great off the tee but darn near impossible to hit elsewhere, even off the fairway. This included some pretty decent golfers.

I should mention, my 3w plays more like a strong 3w or even 2w. My 5w plays more like a 4w, so you may be able to find something close to the 3w that you hit.

Just my experience after demoing a ton of low lofted hybrids, or at least the ones I could get my hands on. I have heard many differing results from my own experiences, hybrids seem funny that way. You may get some useful information here
http://www.shottalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4018
... as well as other places I will not mention, but for which you are probably familiar, under the same title.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

FYI, the 16* halo does in fact play well even out of the rough for me. Assuming the rough is not to terrible. But again, my 5w always played well out of the rough as well. I went with the 1i (16*), and 2i (19*) to compliment my 23* Cobra Baffler. I was not happy with the graphite shaft they use on the Baffler, although if you want steel there is no finer IMO. I was also unhappy with how they staggered the lofts on the lower lofted bafflers, only 2* once you got to 20*. I will say the 23* baffler is not terribly shorter than the 2i Halo, it does provide a nice gap, but I would tend to believe the 20* baffler is longer than the 19* halo. With this in mind, the 16* Baffler may be closer to a 3w, again though, they were impossible to find to demo under the 18* and I didn't care for the graphite shaft, which was only 65 grams and I wanted something more in the line of 85 grams. I only wanted 2 to replace 3 FW's, and didn't see an option to do so with the baffler. Looking back, the 16* and 20* may have worked better had they had a shaft I cared for. As it stand now, if I want the extra distance, I need to keep the 3w in my bag. As it stands right now, the 16* is the least lofted club after my driver, as I opted to keep 4 wedges and a 5i which is replaced with my 3w when I see fit.

 

[LyleG]

I play my 3-wood at 42 inches in length. This is much better length for hitting off the fairway than the OEM standard of 43.5
Secondly, I hit down on my 3-wood similar to how I play a hybrid. I started doing this after noticing that Tiger almost always takes a divot with his 3 wood.

I hit my 3-wood better now than ever.

 

[LyleG]

Cobra Baffler. I was not happy with the graphite shaft they use on the Baffler

These are amongst the worst shafts I have ever tested. When I tried to flow mine it looked like a meth head dancing there was so much wobble in it. One "S" flex one, cpm'ed at 229, a nice soft "R" and getting very close to a damn "L" even. And guys wonder why they hook these things.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

These are amongst the worst shafts I have ever tested. When I tried to flow mine it looked like a meth head dancing there was so much wobble in it. One "S" flex one, cpm'ed at 229, a nice soft "R" and getting very close to a damn "L" even. And guys wonder why they hook these things.

This makes me wonder if it was not the weight but the flex that I didn't care for. The "S" shaft I tried did feel extremely Whippy, although I assumed it was because the lower weight was throwing off my tempo and giving me that feeling. The ball did go just about anywhere it wanted. It did kind of surprised me that it felt so different, because I do have an NV-65s on my driver, and had assumed it provided different feeling possibly because the weight of the driver head as opposed to the flexibility of the shaft. Plus I have heard in the past that even the NV I have on my driver does not play as stiff as some. I certainly wouldn't even think the shafts were related. In the same sense, I tried the NV85 hybrid shaft found on some of the other brands and thought it felt extremely stiff compared to the one on my driver. There seems to be no consistency IMO between the NV shafts among different clubs, but this is just based on feel.

On the other hand, the 23* with the Nippon is the best feeling club I have in my bag, and the graphite just didn't feel hitable. Just didn't want the excess weight for the lower lofts.

 

[LyleG]

You also have to remember that the Aldila shaft in that stock cobra is no where near the same specs as an after market Aldila. These are made using inferior materials in mass quantities for specific OEM's. The NV85 hybrid shaft is a great shaft. The one in the cobra's is untter garbage, super tip soft, and cheap graphite that wobbles like mad. The same goes for the Aldila's in the cobra drivers. Junk, plain and simple.

 

[emc]

Lyle, you make a good point because my 3 wood is the same length as my driver (45" I think) so maybe therein lies the problem