Why You Can’t Hit Your Hybrid (and How to Hit Them Better!)

 

Why Do So Many People Struggle to Hit Hybrids?

There are quite a few reasons why so many people struggle to hit hybrids. Some common reasons are given below.

1. Some golfers often play with hybrids like how they play their fairway woods and don’t consider them like irons.
2. They find that the hybrid tends to have upright lie angles and is very long.
3. They keep the ball too much ahead or behind in their stance and adopt a sweeping style for their swing that results in a left shot.
4. Some feel that the shafts of the hybrids are very light and the tip, soft, which makes the hybrid a difficult club to control.
5. They experience hooks especially if they are good at the game with reasonable swing speed.

 

How to Hit Hybrids Better

How to hit your hybrids better? To improve your hybrid swing, hit downwards on the ball and consider using a short shaft.

Below you will find common problems goflers tend to have with using their hyrbids. Tips and solutions are also added to help you.

How to Make Solid Contact with your Hybrid

Solution

1. Try hitting the hybrid after keeping the ball forward of the stance. Keep it in the same position you would place your golf ball for a 4-iron.
2. Make sure you hit down hard on the ball like how you would with an iron rather than doing a sweeping action off the ground as with a fairway wood.
3. Consider shortening the shaft length of the club to move the swing weight up.
4. Alternatively, you can try choking down a little on the hybrid. This will make it easier for you to hit the club as well as give you more accuracy. This also helps to solve the distance problem between clubs.
5. Try playing with another hybrid that has more offset than your current club. Most hybrids have little or no offset at all.
6. Hit the hybrid like you would hit a fairway wood and not a long iron. Although hybrids are considered to be iron replacements, hitting them like woods helps some players.
7. Don’t hit the golf ball the same way you would hit it with a driver. Take a three-fourth smooth and slow backswing and strike the ball correctly with a descending blow.
8. Check if you can get the lie of the hybrid adjusted. It may be too upright as is the case generally with hybrids.

 

Inconsistency with a Hybrid

Solution

1. The swing plane tends to get flatter as the length of the club increases. Check if the hybrid is longer than your 5 iron. If so, you may have to shorten the length and hit down the club like a 5 iron by flattening the left wrist and slowing down on the swing.

   Also, remember to keep yourself focused on contact and leave behind a small divot.

2. Choke up a little on the hybrid and hit it like an iron instead of a fairway wood. This makes it easy to hit the hybrid.
3. The hybrid needs to be controlled more than regular clubs because of its lightweight feature. Try shortening the swing and making it controlled. Also, remember to be aggressive when you swing through the hitting zone.

 

How to Stop Topping the Ball with a Hybrid

Solution

1. Consider keeping the golf ball behind your stance and hit them like you hit your irons. In some cases, positioning them in the center of the stance can also be helpful. You can practice hitting just one hybrid at the range for nearly 100 balls.
2. Avoid keeping the ball too far ahead of the stance and swinging down on them as these can cause topping up the golf ball.
3. Check to ensure that you haven’t placed the ball very high when you tee off with your Keep it like how you would position the ball for playing off the tee with an iron.

 

Keeping Missing the Golf Ball with Hybrids

Solution

1. Keep your hands in front of the club at the point of address. Also, ensure that you aren’t using the hybrid like a fairway wood as this can cause problems like hooks.
2. Modify your hybrid so that it matches the replacing iron in terms of the moment of inertia and shaft length. It may help to substitute the graphite shaft with a steel shaft. A hybrid that has an iron-like head rather than a wood-type head may also help to overcome the problem.
3. Match the swing weight and overall weight of the hybrid with that of the long iron it’s intended to replace. The lie must also be adjusted and flattened accordingly.

 

How to Hit a Hybrid Golf Club

The following steps will guide you on how to hit a hybrid on the fairway and off the tee more effectively and get the best results out of these shots.

 

On the fairway

1. Place the golf ball in the center of the stance like you would do to hit a long iron. However, keep in mind that doing this can make the ball go farther by about 4 to 12 yards than when using a long iron.

   You may need to make a slight adjustment if you don’t want this to happen. The large clubface of the hybrid makes it easy for you to hit the ball with the center.

Right-handed golfers who want to hit fades or slight curves to their right should consider positioning the ball a little ahead of their stance.

2. Position yourself in the stance that you follow for hitting a long iron. Balance your weight uniformly on either side and square the feet, hips and shoulders to where you want the ball to land. Keep your hands aligned with the center of the chest and the ball.

It’s worth keeping in mind that balls hit with hybrids tend to fly higher and land softly than those hit with an iron.

3. Hit the ball with a descending swing like a long iron. Your weight must rest on your left leg when you’ve finished your swing. A correct swing produces a divot just before the position of the ball after contact is made.

 

Off the tee

A hybrid club offers more accuracy and lesser distance than a driver when it’s used off the tee. It’s an ideal choice for playing a narrow Par 4 hole off the tee.

1. Place the golf ball so that its bottom is just above the grass and not higher. When the hybrid club is near the ball, only one-quarter of the golf ball must be above the top of the hybrid’s club head.
2. Use the swinging style that you would adopt for a fairway wood. Hit the ball using a sweeping and flat downswing. Remember to level out on your swing just before making contact.

You may want to stand closer to the ball than when using a fairway wood because a hybrid has a shorter shaft.

 

Swinging a hybrid club

The following tips can help you to swing a hybrid without any problem.

1. Keep the toe of your hybrid against the left heel in such a way that the clubface points towards the body. Also, place the ball opposite to the hosel of the club.
2. Set up a narrow stance as this helps to deliver descending blows easily. Position your feet so that they under your armpits.
3. Focus on establishing a ball first, ground second contact. Keep your hands pressed forward until they are aligned with the left thigh.

 

Hitting Hybrids Too Low

Some reasons for hitting hybrids too low along with their fixes are given below.

Problem with swinging action

Solution

1. You have a very steep angle of attack. Consider adding a little width to the swing.
2. Ensure that the bottom of the swing is ahead of the golf ball just like how it is when you swing an iron.
3. Adjust your swing so that it’s more through the ball if your hybrid has the loft of a 7 iron.

 

Problem with club loft or ball or player position

Solution

1. You can consider lowering the loft of the hybrid a little and try hitting the ball. Delofting helps the ball go higher with the club.
2. If you’re positioned in such a way that you keep your eyes on the ball at the time of impact and make sure that you compress the golf ball when you hit the hybrid down, the ball will go high. Try to make a small divot after establishing ball contact.

 

Problem with hitting style

Solution

1. You are hitting your hybrid more like a fairway wood instead of like how you would do with an iron. Hit down on them rather than doing a sweeping action.
2. You tend to put more pressure than required on the hybrid. Try minimizing the effort you put on the club.

 

Hitting Hybrids Too High

Some reasons for hitting hybrids too high along with their fixes are given below.

Problem with ball spin

Solution

The club has a spinning issue. You can consider seeking the assistance of a professional club maker to correct the problem.

 

Problem with club trajectory

Solution

Check if your hybrid has a very high trajectory. If so, consider replacing it with one that has a low trajectory.

 

How to Hit a Hybrid Club High Off the Ground

The following tips help you understand how to hit a hybrid off the ground without any problem.

• Keep the golf ball in your stance to the left of the middle as you would position the ball for a 5 iron.

  Alternatively, the ball must be positioned ahead in your stance in such a way that it’s inside the lead heel by a few inches.

  The latter position gives extra time for the clubface to square at impact as the ball is up in the stance.

• Ensure that your shoulders are level to the ground at the setup position. You will have to stand slightly upright than when you swing a short iron or a wedge.
• As you indulge in a swinging action, hit the ball followed by the hitting tee present before the ball. Avoid hitting up on the ball. Focus on striking or hitting down on the ball.

 

How to Hit a Hybrid Off the Tee

The following list highlights some problems golfers face when they use a hybrid to hit off the tee and a few solutions to the problem.

 

Problem with teeing up the hybrid

Solution

1. Check if you tend to tee the hybrid up like a 3 wood when hitting it off the tee. If so, consider teeing it up just above the grass like how you would with a 7 iron.
2. Check if you’re teeing the hybrid very high. Consider teeing the hybrid as low as possible. This means that the ball will be almost completely covered by the clubface. It can be lower than when teeing up a fairway wood.

 

Problem with positioning yourself

Solution

Position your lead shoulder inwards a little so that it doesn’t open out very early. Ensure that you render a descending blow as well as follow through the swing.

 

Best Ball Position for Hybrids

 

The ideal ball position will be slightly ahead of the center of your stance. In other words, the ball will be a little behind where you will usually keep it while playing with a 3 iron or a 4 iron. This position will help to achieve solid contact with the hybrid.

Make sure that your stance is not wider than the outside of the shoulders and hit the ball with a descending blow.

 

How to Hit a Hybrid Straight and High

The following are some problems encountered when trying to hit a hybrid straight high.

• Playing the hybrid like a fairway wood with the clubface open.

Solution

If you’re doing this, you’ve to start playing the hybrid like an iron and position the club like how you would keep an iron in your stance. Ensure that you form a small divot when you strike the ball.

 

• The club is very lightweight causing players to lose track of which direction the clubhead is headed to.

Solution

Try opting for a hybrid with a steel shaft and make use of adjustable weights to get the desired weight for the club.

 

Why Do I Keep Topping My Hybrid?

The following are some reasons for topping your hybrid and some fixes for the problem.

 

• You use a sweeping stroke similar to that with a fairway wood.

Solution

Opt for a descending swing and hit straight down on the golf ball rather than delivering a sweeping stroke that causes overswinging and results in a bobbing or moving head. Play the ball behind your stance and try and leave behind a little divot after the ball as well.

 

• You’re hitting the golf ball right at the top.

Solution

Hitting the ball in the middle of the clubface can help to solve the problem.

 

• You have a very tight grip on the hybrid club.

Solution

Loosen the grip and swing at three-fourths of the normal swing speed. Keep your head steady and facing downwards to focus on establishing solid contact with the ball.

 

Conclusion

Hybrids combine the functionality of irons as well as the look and feel of woods. They offer results that are more consistent and are easier to hit with when compared to long irons.

Players need slow and steady swings to get the best out of their hybrid clubs. The clubs are equally good for non-fairway and off the tee shots.