I sometimes feel i'm missing a club.

My modest Ben Sayers M7 set goes 5 iron, 4 hybird, 5 wood so feel there's a gap between the 4h and the 5w, both in terms of distance but in particular when i'm in the scrubby stuff under trees and need to keep it low. I've tried closing my 5 iron but with little succes [so clearly need to practise this] and while my 4h is probably my favourite and most reliable club i'm not happy with it in really rough, twiggy conditions.

Any thoughts?

if you are trying to play a lower trajectory under branches, try practicing with the ball further forward in your stance and slow your swing down.  You will need to practice different stance widths with each club to see which works best.  What you have to avoid is hitting down into the back of the ball, the ball needs to be swept away.  You may notice a slight fade, but if you hit straight left you need to keep practicing until you hit it straight.

What degree are your 5 iron, 4 hybrid and 5 wood. 

Do you have a 3 wood in your set.

I do not know what degree these clubs are but  i would assume your 5 iron is 28*, 4 hybrid 24* & 5 wood is 21*, so to hit further  you will probably need to look at finding a wood or hybrid around 18.  Upgrading to an 18 wood or hybrid would be the practical option so long as you you strike your longer clubs consistently.

A word of warning, if you have a bad lie it is usually best to play safe and get your ball back into play with a shot you are more certain of success.  Hitting a ball off pine needles or leaves and twigs etc. can be dangerous so care needs to be taken for not only your own safety but the safety of other golfers.

you'll get a varying amount of responses on here.  I recently chucked in my hybrid and got a 2-iron, as I much prefer hitting the 2 iron, and am more consistent with it. 

The 5-iron should really be enough tokeep the ball low though. grip down, ball off the right foot and lean the shaft forwards, thus de-lofting the club.  take it back halfway and make sure you keep the same angle at attack as you did at the beginning of the swing....ball should come out nice and low.  Practice it at the range until you get it spot on...it's a useful shot to play!!

I used to have a 5 wood but then I got 3 and 4 hybrids and found I could hit the 3 hybrid almost as far as the 5 wood (around 220 yards ) so I sold the 5 wood and bought a 3 wood and kept the hybrids. I do hit my hybrids very well so I see no reason for me to have 3 or 4 irons. But that is my preference !

Nice to see you're into single figures Adrian. You still at Oulton? if so pretty good going around there.

 Paidraig Harrington favours the hybrids as he says it gives him extra height and so can stop it on the green aas opposed to a 3 iron. I tend  to him my irons high and so have never considered hybrids. As for keeping it low: I would have thought the stance requires the ball to be furher back rather than further forward?

Patrick, it all depends on what shot you are trying to play that determines ball position. 

If i was looking to play a low draw from under trees i would be considering putting the ball further back in my stance.  How far back from the usual ball position for any given club would be dependant on the required outcome for the shot using any specific club.

But if i was wanting to hit a low shot for the maximum distance that had to be straight or that allowed room to fade then i'd select the appropriate club and look to play it from a position further forward than usual so as to keep it low, and with a reduced back swing and swing speed so as to prevent chopping down into the back of the ball and forcing the ball up.  For this shot i'd play any long iron, hybrid or wood that would stay low enough until clear of the overhanging branches.  The ball needs to have a lie that allows it to be swept cleanly off the turf.  This is a shot that needs to be controlled, if you go to hard or fast at it then any fade could turn into a slice.

I have the understanding that if you hit down into the back of the ball then the ball will go up.  Placing the ball into the back of yourstance will cause you to hit down into the back of the ball and the only way you can counter this is to play a draw with a less lofted club.  So to play this type of shot with a long iron or 21* wood or hybrid requires space down the fairway to accommodate the outcome for such a shot.  it is a brave shot to play when there are easier shots to play, and a difficult shot to hit consistently. 

I play the low draw type of shot when the occasion requires it especially with my 7, 8 & 9 irons when i need to get low draw to pitch short and run onto the green when other options are too risky.

Its all about selecting the right shot for the position you find yourself in.

Cheers Pat, not quite single figures yet ! But almost there ! Just had a shoulder operation so may have to wait a month or so before I can get back to my best. Managed to win a couple of comps at Oulton last year and had a few rounds in the 70's, I still think it,s possible to get down to 6 handicap or so, hopefully before my joints start seizing up. I had a knee operation 2 years ago so I don't know how long that will last.

Thanks folks, some fascinating responses as always and plenty of ideas for me to try out.

Ona slightly different angle then, can anyone recommend  reasonably priced hybrids that are worth looking at?

Ta.

Hi Paul

All  i can suggest is that you decide what you want any new club to do.

Are you lookng to hit the ball longer, improve accuracy, allow you to draw / fade the ball, hit straighter, have higher or lower ball flight, get it to drop and stop, roll after landing.  

You need to play with the right combination of club head and flex of shaft that compliment your own unique swing to provide you with close to what you are looking for from any new club.  To choose the right shaft it is more complex than just deciding which flex you need, reg, stiff, etc.  Each shaft has differing qualities that determine its suitability with different club heads and golfers swings. 

Shaft - properties, including flex, torque, kick-point (bend or flex point), shaft length and weight, play important roles in affecting the balance and feel of golf clubs as well as ball trajectory

Torque - Shaft torque describes how much a shaft would twist given a certain twisting force
If the torque of a shaft is less than 3, it is considered as a low torque shaft in general. Low torque, stiff shafts are difficult to use without sufficient head speed, while with a higher head speed, a high torque soft flex shaft causes off the target shots to the left. Without a sufficient club-head speed, a stiff low torque shaft tends to cause a push to the right.

Kick Point - It refers to a maximum bending point of the shaft, and it is also called flex-point or bend-point. The lower the kick-point, more tip-flex the shaft, which in turn makes you feel that the club-head moves more through impact, while a high kick-point shaft tends to make you feel the opposite. However, a high kick-point shaft is much easier to control the direction. Since more golf clubs are made with low center of gravity club-heads, low kick-point shafts seem to have lost its role to play to some extent.

Other Factors - Also, it is important to know the fact that the shaft torque and the effect of that to the golf swings is influenced particularly by club weight and the factors determined by the position of centre of gravity. It is the feeling, not specific properties such as shaft flex, kick-point, and torque, that influences the performance of each individual golf swing. Golfers should find right combinations of a number of factors. For those who lack club-head speed, extra yardage is always a premium. Needless to say, longer golf shots require faster club-head speed at impact. Lighter golf clubs with longer shafts help golfers get a faster club-head speed. The length of golf shaft is another factor when looking for the right combinations of the above factors.

Flex - A general guide line for shaft flex selection is: 70 - 90 mph driver head speed = R; 90 - 100 mph = S; excess of 100 mph = X.

I would recommend that once you've decided on the type of shots you want to play, you go and find a golf retailer that allows you to try before you buy, and try as many combinations of suitable club heads and shafts as possible.   Because you are a high handicapper and i can only assume that you will be looking at a club head loft in the region of 15  - 18 degrees i would suggest you start looking towards club heads that have Medium to High launch properties and find shafts that suit your swing and provide what you are looking for.

Some golfers would recommend getting custom fitted but that would be down to your own preference and how much money you are willing to spend.  I have found that trying different clubs has been good enough to determine the feel of the clubs suitability for my game.  A club does not need to be expensive for it to turn out to  be priceless.

I own a 3 iron and a hybrid, but usually only carry one of them, if conditions are wet and/or the course is tight/rough infested its the hybrid and if they are dry and/or very windy i will carry the 3 - different trajectory and all that.

I knew all that of course! Thanks for the in depth responses. I've got plenty of ideas to try out now, will give this ago with my existing clubs, i don't want to be buying unneccessary gear.

Ta.