Buying guide for Best men’s hybrid golf clubs
Sometimes with sports terminology, the name of an item tells you nothing about it. Golfers try to score a birdie, hockey players try for a hat trick, and baseball players…well, baseball has its own language. But when it comes to hybrid golf clubs, the name tells you exactly what it is. A hybrid golf club is simply a combination of more than one type of golf club.
Men’s hybrid golf clubs represent a relatively new concept – they’ve only been available for a couple decades. If you aren’t yet using a hybrid club (or two), we’ll explain how these clubs work and why you may want one.
If you’re ready to buy, check out our top recommended hybrid golf clubs, too.
Key considerations
You’ll find three primary types of men’s hybrid golf clubs: iron/wood, iron, and putter.
Iron/wood hybrids
The iron/wood hybrid golf club is the most popular type of hybrid. This club aims to deliver distance similar to what you’d see using a long iron, but the club looks a bit more like a wood. The iron/wood hybrid club gives you a more forgiving swing path than a long iron, making it easier to hit the ball squarely. Inexperienced players can often hit more consistently with a hybrid club than with a long iron.
Iron hybrids: Iron hybrids are designed to replace all of the irons in your bag, not just the long irons. If you find that you have more success with hybrids than long irons, you may want to try some short iron hybrids. These hybrids have the same loft (angle of the clubface) as their short iron counterparts. You’ll even find some short iron hybrids to replace pitching wedges and sand wedges, too.
Putter Hybrids: A putter hybrid makes chipping around the green easier. If you’re someone who likes playing a bump-and-run game around the green, you might want to try a putter hybrid. Rather than a 5-iron, the putter hybrid is more forgiving for this type of shot. You also can use this type of club for full swing shots from the fairway in place of a wedge if desired.
Men’s hybrid golf club features
Before purchasing a hybrid golf club, you’ll want to understand some of the features common with hybrids. These features help explain why less experienced golfers have more success with this type of club.
Center of gravity
With the hybrid clubhead’s center of gravity placed toward the back, beginners can use more of a sweeping swing. An iron requires you to have a steeper angle, digging into the turf. With a low center of gravity, it’s easier to gain loft on the ball, too.
Clubhead technology
A hybrid club may have features like rails that allow the club’s sole to slide through long grass. It works nicely out of the rough. (With an iron, the club’s sole may get caught up in the rough.) Additionally, some clubheads allow you to twist a screw and adjust the angle of the clubface by a few degrees either way.
Flat face
A hybrid club has a flat clubface, more like an iron. This allows you to keep the ball on line more successfully than with the slight curvature of the face of a fairway wood or driver.
Lighter weight
Hybrid clubs weigh less than fairway woods or drivers. For golfers who struggle to generate clubhead speed, a lightweight club helps to get more distance.
Shorter shaft
Hybrids have shorter shafts than woods, which makes them easier to control, especially for high-handicap players.
Wide sole
The wide, flat bottom on the hybrid club gives inexperienced players more confidence. Some players overswing with an iron because of its narrow sole – they feel like they need to swing harder to get more distance. But novice players tend to swing normally with a hybrid’s wide sole.
Did you know?
The most common type of hybrid club looks like a smaller fairway wood.
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Men’s hybrid golf club prices
Inexpensive
Hybrid golf clubs vary quite a bit in price. You can expect to pay $40 to $100 for the least expensive hybrid clubs. These clubs don’t have any significant advanced features, but they’ll work for beginners.
Expensive
High-end hybrids cost anywhere from $100 to $300. Expect these clubs to have features like adjustable clubface angles. You’ll also find high-end materials in the clubface that deliver extra ball speed and distance.
Set
Finally, you might want to consider a set of hybrid clubs containing five to nine clubs for $200 to $700, which makes the cost per club pretty low.
Tips
Try using the hybrid club off the tee. If you’re struggling to hit your driver, or if you’re facing a really narrow fairway, hybrids work well off the tee. You won’t get the distance that you would from a driver, but the hybrid provides amazing accuracy. Don’t tee the ball as high as you would for a driver or fairway wood.
Address the ball properly. A hybrid club is slightly longer than an iron and slightly shorter than a driver or fairway wood. Adjust your stance and address the ball accordingly.
Understand the lie in the rough you have. When deciding whether to use a hybrid or iron in the rough, study the lie and the grass. An iron with its sharper face works better in extremely thick grass. A hybrid club has a better chance in sparser grass.
Chip with a bump-and-run technique. When using a putter hybrid for chipping, you’ll want to bump and run. This means landing the ball toward the edge of the green and letting it roll (run) across the green to the hole.
- Plan for the roll. While an iron allows low-handicap golfers to put backspin on the ball, this is less common with hybrids. The ball is going to bounce forward more with the hybrid than with an iron. Adjust your aiming point accordingly.
FAQ
Q. Are hybrid clubs useful for experienced players and pros?
A. Quite a few professional golfers have added a hybrid club or two to their bags in the past few years. Certainly, some low-handicap golfers avoid hybrid clubs, thinking they’re primarily for beginners. But hybrid clubs allow even great golfers to simplify some tougher shots from bad lies. Female pro players and male senior pro players have adopted hybrids more readily than traditional male pro players.
Q. As a beginning golfer, should I just stick with hybrids?
A. For typical beginners, having a variety of club types in the bag is a good way to learn. It’s best to work with different clubs both in practice and on the course. You then can figure out which types of clubs you hit consistently. You may find you only need one or two hybrids in your bag, or you may find you love hybrids and want several of them.
Q. What are the common types of clubs that hybrids usually replace?
A. Golfers commonly struggle with hitting long irons. In fact, golf club sets and iron sets rarely include 1- and 2-irons anymore because so few golfers hit these clubs successfully. Some golfers struggle with the 3- and 4-irons, too. Hybrid clubs most often replace these long irons in the bag.
Q. Is it better to buy a set of hybrid clubs or buy them one at a time?
A. This decision really depends on personal preference. If you know you’re going to want a lot of hybrid clubs in your bag, buying a set will save you some money versus purchasing one at a time. However, it’s more common to purchase individual hybrid clubs as you find a need for a particular one.
