When To Replace Your Long Irons With Hybrid Clubs

I used to pride myself on hitting long irons. Hit ’em long and high. But as Father Time reminds me, the long irons don’t instill much confidence with my current swipe. So, I now have a 4 and 3 hybrid. And I love them.  It became far simpler once I learned that you hit it like an iron and not a sweeping fairway wood. So far the 5-iron is still in the setup, but I won’t wait very long if that club starts giving me fits.

Golfwrx.com posts an article on when you should try a hybrid. Sure, it’s not fully guaranteed equation as swing speed and club lofts can affect results, but I do think its a general helpful primer on when to give them a try.

When hitting a shot from the turf, golfers need to be able to first and foremost get the ball airborne. And when it comes to hitting effective long-iron shots, that takes ample club head speed. Most golfers fall short in that department, which is why hybrids were created. By design, hybrids are easier to get in the air. They create a higher launch angle, more spin, and more ball speed — all good things for golfers who don’t have a lot of club head speed.

I teach a lot of golfers who fall in the lack-of-speed category. I find that many of them are still trying to hit their 4 iron, or even 3 iron, from the fairway. This generally leads to poor habits — for example “hanging back,” or tilting the spine away from the target to help the golf ball in the air. In fact, using the wrong clubs is one of the leading causes of “hanging back.” It has the same effect as using shafts that are too stiff.

Hybrid/Long-Iron Guidelines

• If you hit a 7-iron 140 yards or less, a 6-iron should be the longest iron in your set.  The 3, 4 and 5 should be hybrids. Even the 6 iron is marginal.
• If you can hit your 7-iron 150-160 yards, think about nothing longer than a 5 iron; 3 and 4 should be hybrids.
• If you can hit your 7-iron 160-170 yards, nothing longer than 4 iron; 3 should be hybrid. (That’s me, but I use a 4-hybrid)
• If you can hit a 7-iron more than 170 yards, you can use any set make up you choose.