Not long ago a standard 5-iron was 37 inches long and had a loft of 30°. The length then became 37˝” and 27° of loft. Today you can find 5-irons at 38˝” and 24°! No wonder golfers think they’re hitting the ball farther then ever, when the truth is their 5-iron is now built to the specs of previous 3-irons.
The problem is that today’s 3-irons are like old 1-irons, and very few golfers can strike the ball cleanly with such a club. So the hybrid replaces the new generation of long irons.
Head to head
Iron-style hybrids are more forgiving than a traditional long iron but they tend to be harder to hit than the fairway-style hybrids. The irons-style hybrids tend to be suited to better players as they are more workable, but the average golfer might find the fairway-style more forgiving. Their wider sole means a deeper centre of gravity, but golfers should not judge hybrids on distance alone.
This is the biggest mistake we see at demo days: golfers bashing away, looking purely at how far they can hit these clubs. It is no good a golfer hitting a hybrid 60 yards further than their longest iron – the golfer should simply be looking to bridge the gap between their longest iron and their shortest wood.
Another problem is that the golf industry has no standard hybrid specifications, so the hybrids from differing brands seldom perform in a similar way. The best solution for golfers is to try a broad range of hybrids before buying.
