hybrids

everyone says that hybrids are easy to hit but i have real trouble with mine

what do you guys think?

I am with you, Alex, mine has a mid of its own, sometimes it hits a good one and the next time I need rescuing after I have hit it. I tend not to use it unless there is four miles of space.

I get lots of success with mine off the fairway and tee but as a "rescue" club it is useless......

I have few problems with mine.  I position it in the same place in my stance as my 7 iron and get a gentle draw.  I can play it out of fairway bunkers too.  The place where it really struggles is long wispy grass as it tends to pull the head down causing it to pop the ball straight up or twist the face open. 

I wondered what Chris was talking about then "pull the head down & twisting the face"???

He's suppose to be a moderator as well??

Playing off the whites today in a comp in very windy weather my 3 hybrid was a god send for longish low second shots off the fairway. 

Try hitting your hybrid off the front heel rather than off the middle, like fairway woods they are meant to played on the up swing. Think this will help.

I disagree with that statement, Martin, if the ball is hit on the upswing then it is logical that the bottom of the swing is somewhere in the ground before the ball. Possible to hit it on the upswing from a teed up lie in the rough but impossible from a fairway.

The Driver is hit on the upswing but then it is on a tee so the bottom of the arc is lower than the ball.

Jack Nicholas used to hit every ball off his front heel,who am i to argue with that,it has served me well John,i think in my opinion that is why i am a good striker of the ball.

That is not what you said Martin, you said, and I quote:

Try hitting your hybrid off the front heel rather than off the middle, like fairway woods they are meant to played on the up swing. Think this will help.

It is impossible to hit a ball on the upswing when it is on the turf. Even Jack Nicklaus would find that impossible.

Playing the ball off the left heel will not produce an upswing, that can only be achieved by placing a ball on a tee, in other words higher than the ground so that the bottom of th arc comes efrore the ball is hit.

As good a striker as you are, according to your goodself it is no good offering advice that is inconsistent with the rules of science. It is these little things that stick in newbies minds when they are learning and it is no use teaching an impossibility.

Off the front heel is on your upswing,are you spoiling for an argument John because you have come to the right place.

fight, fight, fight. fight

I cannot believe that you teach this game, Martin. 

Off the front foot will not hit the ball on the upswing, no matter how clever you are. I am not spoiling for anything but you are certainly making a good show at embarrassing yourself with your knowledge, or lack of.

Suggest you think about it logically and then perhaps you might realise that it is impossible to do what you are saying.

Having seen you play Gary, you don't have any problems in striking anything. How you failed to score just amazed me.

LOL i thought you knew what you were talking about aswell. OFF THE FRONT HEEL

is what i said, you really dont know what your talking about do you lol

i use a taylormade mid 19 degree rescue and tend to play it just forward of centre in my stance.my normal shot is a high draw but my bad shot is a big hook.

   i do tend to get on well with it (most of the time)i suppose its like any thing else

  practice     practice     practice

  try moving the ball position around in your stance whike on the range

Infact do know anything about teaching the game of golf John

It appears not

Martin, you are getting youself so wound up that your English is deteriorating to such an extent that I cannot understand it.

Please try and make yourself understood.

Perhaps also you would care to put the two PM's you have just sent me on open forum for the benefit of other posters.

Yes Gary, that par five 12th was a disaster for you after that wonderful drive. I never thought you were going to finish the hole. You are a nice player though and I am sure you will make the progress you deserve.

Paul , with your fw woods and hybrids you want to sweep the ball away, with the ball more towards your left heel the best tip I can give is take the clubs away low and slow , you will return on the downswing on a shallowed out plane. You dont attack  the ball as you would with your irons where you hitting down and through.Good luck.

Weight transfer starts the downswing, Paul.

I have just been challenged by Mr Devlin at the rate of £1000 per hole. Is that a sign that he has lost the argument. Of course he wants to play level when he knows my current handicap.

I did offer to play him wth the proviso that I played off his tee shots for the 18 holes, but that has not yet met with his approval.

Another Pm sayhing bring loads of money.

I say, come and get it

LOL i bet you scared

Oh i have not lost the argument just loooking foRWORD TO KICKING YOUT ASS BUT YOU KNOW THAT ALREADY

Martin , which is lower your Hcp or your IQ ?

John

i wouldnt say this on open forum but when is our £1000 a hole  coming about.

David LEY IF YOU FANCY THE SAME CHALLENGE LET THE PARTY BEGIN BUT I GUESS YOU ARE THE SAME TOTALLY GUTLESS

I guess this is what happens when they allow cousins to marry,and I'm glad they've put up the price of alchopops.

I'll take you up on the £1,000 per hole Martin - then perhaps we can have a game of scrabble afterwards for, say, £20,000?

Well said Paul.  It's one thing being a professional, it's another thing acting like one.  I can think of a lot of people on this site who have patiently helped me with my game, none of which are lucky or talented enough to be able to have made a living from the game.  It's sad that for one who is lucky enough to be able to should have such an aggressive and arrogant attitude to to anyone whose opinion differs from his.

Running out of patience with this piffle.  I wasn't on the site last night and it appears none of the other mods were.  So I'm gonna call it here. 

Martin, John P - Disagreements are fine, but are not be handled in this manner on the forum.  This is a final reminder before formal warnings will be given out . 

John F, Dave L - Quit inciting or you will get one too. 

Back on topic, my understanding is that hybrids are deigned to be hit like irons not woods and that the most common mistake when using one is trying to sweep instead of hitting down on the ball. 

I'm telling my mom

There's a letter in the post already explaining that you will be late home tomorrow as you're doing lines. 

Hybrid has become such a loose term now. It really depends on the individual club as to how it is supposed to be struck i.e. iron or wood like. Most manufacturers tend to explain the intended use of each club in their literature, some manufacturers even make different style hybrids depending on what sort of club you prefer.

I have tinkered with hybrids over the years and while many set up similar to long irons, I have settled on one (well two actually) that are set up to play like short fairway woods. 

Check out these links.  I think it's a terminology thing, but these confirm what I thought that you hit them like a mid to long iron rather than a wood.  I definitely found that when I started using them in this way the ball striking improved. 

http://www.worldgolf.com/protips/video/hitting-with-a-hybrid-6384.htm 

Here's a quick and dirty golf tip on how to hit a hybrid golf club.

A lot of golfers these days have a hybrid in their golf bag, but I'm suspecting quite a few of them aren't quite sure how to hit it. The question really lies in how you treat the hybrid club. Meaning, do you hit down on the golf ball like you do with a iron? Or do you hit it like you would with a fairway wood?

The one thing you need to remember is that a hybrid is designed to replace a mid to long iron, so you need to swing it like mid to long iron. Have the confidence to hit down and through the ball just like you would with your mid to long iron.

Now if you decide to hit your hybrid off the tee then you should tee it up a little higher than an iron and take a few practice swings just to get use to the different weight and feel of the golf club. This is especially true when you've just hit driver on the last few holes. You're all set so don't over swing, use a conservative tempo, and hit down and through the golf ball!

Have two distinct ways of using mine.  Off the fairway/light rough I use like my other fairway woods, sweeping it off and it (usually) has a wood like flight and is pretty good for about 180 yds.  Lately I've also used it for shorter par 3's, 160ish and sort of flick it off a highish tee, 3/4 swing aiming well left.  It goes really high and flops down gently but moves about 15 yds left to right.

Did I not witness you striking a brill shot with your rescue from the fairway bunker at Bondhay Tim.....

If I recall it was the shot of our 4 ball............

Ah, yes, I remember that now.  Make that 3 ways then, although that was the first time I'd ever tried it!

Chris thats all well and good if your a good ball stricker most high Hcp's dont hit down through the ball with any club , they tend to sweep and or flip to help the ball up. If you said to hit down and through the tendancy is to pick the club up to quick and come to steep into the ball and pop it.So best advice low and slow 5i up, the modern cavities with there perimeter weighting and low COG will allow you to sweep and get the ball up.

I personally hit down on all my clubs except driver,if i want a high soft cut I sweep.

That may explain why I find it easier to hit down on it Dave.  I have a very steep downswing and as a consequence tend to play the ball a touch further back in my stance than convention dictates.  I'm striking it fairly well at the moment but need to work on controlling my iron draw as that's what's giving me issues at the moment (it's controlling the amount of draw that I am finding it difficult to get to grips with). 

I suspect it's your grip I will take a look on Wednesday .Has a tee time been confirmed yet?

I do and I have

I would imagine it will be Kevin Hewett and if you haven't seen him strike a ball then you are in for an eye opener. Enjoy the game, Paul.

Kev was not able to play unfortunately so  I'm bringing my best mate along who I've just found out has a week off work.

Russ, It is all well and good calling someone pompous without having the guts to attempt to discredit anything I have said.

Your perception of me does not bother me one bit,. but this is a golf forum, for an exchange of views and anyone is at liberty to argue a point I may have made in respect of the way this game is played.

I do understand the theory of this game having played it at a level you have yet to attain.

Those who have met me will only tell you that I am a very helpful person, willing to devote my time to help anyone improve at this wonderful game.

If all you have to do is talk about me in a pub then your life is pretty shallow.

I take your comments about me as nothing short of an disagreeable person attempting to take sides with someone who was abusive to me when his teaching methods were questioned.

Now I suggest you run along back to the bar and have another good laugh, as your sole input to these forums has been nothing about golf, just a bitch at the personality of someone you have never met, or know anything about.

Thanks Paul, support is always welcome, but these guys are just spoiling for a fight. They have no intention of contributing to the forum other than jumping in on others disagreements and being abusive. I can handle his sort all day long.

If he had discussed the subject matter instead of taking sides, then we would have had an additional forum member, but now, all we are going to get is more aggravation from someone just spoiling the enjoyment of others.

I am another person who has had / is having the pleasure of John's input both on the range and the course.

Sure, John talks a good game here on the forum but that is only because what he says is TRUE!!!

Within 10 minutes of seeing me the very first time, a couple of pointers / tweeks here and there and I was hitting the ball straighter time and time again. It is a work in progress but that is only because I go back to my old ways and John has proven that what he says works.

I for one have been posting here less because of the aggression / witchhunting that has been going on - it could be the death of a forum like this. I am in contact with Darren from this site to see what can be done about the trolls.

Thats what I think should happen Paul.

In fact, three warnings and youre out may also be an option!

Russ (if that is your real name??)

I think for one of your first posts you could have been a bit more tactful rather than employ school yard tactics. As John said if you didn't agree with something he said then you could have made your case.

It amazes me how many 'newbies' to the forums are not prepared to meet up with fellow shakers & play this game for what it is, enjoyment. Add a little banter & you soon make friends & your intial percpetion of somebody will either be proved right or in most cases proved wrong.

John.

Alex, you have not disappointed me at all as all I have said in this thread and which I have tried to defend, was that it was impossible to hit a ball off the deck on an upswing, no matter how far forward you place the ball.

To hit on the upswing the bolttom of the arc has to bebefore the ball is contacted and although it is easy off a tee peg it is an impossibilit off the deck.

I have no control over whether you will understand that or not.

Russ,

I questioned your name purely for the reason we have had imposters on the site & most of them were attacking John P.

It seems you are a decent chap so I apologise.

John.