Should I Replace My Fairway Woods With Hybrids As A High Handicapper
This is a question we get all the time and the answer is that it depends on your particular game. Yes, it’s true the hybrids have gradually been introduced to golf and now are a staple of many bags. They have replaced irons and woods in many cases but today we are going to address whether you should still carry Fairway Woods or if hybrids have you covered.
The question is usually asked by beginners and high handicappers who might be struggling and make life easier for themselves. Hybrids can be better than fairway woods for beginners and they usually easier to swing and hence control. The truth is both clubs have their advantages and disadvantages and different players will have different swings, styles and hence preferences when it comes to irons, hybrids and woods.
Why Hybrids May Be Better For High Handicappers
Hybrids have shorter shaft lengths typically and when you are new to the game this can make all the difference. The longer the club, the harder it is to swing correctly and right behind your driver, your fairway woods come in as your longest club.
Hybrids have much shorted shafts, typically like an iron and most people would find an iron easier to control and hit straight, especially as a beginner.
Is there any case for going with Fairway Woods For High Handicappers
Yes, absolutely, it really depends on your swing and which you really prefer. If you find that you hit a 3 wood or 5 wood easily and straight, then you should keep that in your bag 100%. If you can hit the 3 wood better than your driver, then you should hit that off the tee as well.
Fairway woods can be easier to hit higher because of the design and this can make us feel better about our game. If you land on the fairway, and the ball is sitting up nicely, it can feel great to lash it as far as you can with the 3 wood and hopefully make the green on the second shot.
What About Carrying Hybrids And Woods
A mix of the two clubs can be exactly what the doctor ordered and a lot of golf club sets come with a wood and a hybrid nowadays. If you get to try out different hybrids and woods on the course, you will quickly find situations in which you prefer hitting both clubs.
You might hit a 3 wood very well off the tee and hit a 5 wood very well off the fairway. When you are in the light rough your hybrids can come into play or if you are aiming for the green, you may have more control over the ball with a hybrid. If you are slightly obstructed by a tree or have an uneven lie, a hybrid or a wood can come in handy. They don’t call the hybrid the rescue club for no reason.
Both clubs have their uses and with the variety of shots you face, keeping a mix of the two can be an excellent choice.
Should High Handicappers Get A Club Fitting
It has been said that beginner golfers are the ones who can most readily benefit from a club fitting in terms of its impact on their scoring but most beginners ever do get a fitting done although it is something that we highly recommend.
If you can visit a club and ask them to test out new clubs, you can get expert advice on which clubs suit your swing and which ones should get. Many clubs will charge a small fee for a club fitting and you can usually claim this back off the purchase price of the clubs.
We always recommend going for a fitting, no matter what level you are at to help improve your game.
Is there any beginner golf sets you would recommend for beginners.
Yes there is a few golf club sets that out perform the rest and the name always comes out on top of the list is the Callaway Strata although they are not the only quality set for beginners.
Callaway Strata
We are going to rank the Callaway Strata as the best beginner clubs we have tried to date and that is the view of almost everybody in the golf business. What’s even more cool for the purposes of this review is the fact that you get a 3 wood and a 5 Hybrid rescue along with a driver, a putter, irons and wedges depending on what version of the Strata you go.
The clubs are solid and forgiving for beginners. They come from a strong brand in callaway and they live up to the hype.
Get The Best Price On The Strata Here:
The ProSimmon V2 Golf Clubs For Tall Beginners
These clubs are perfect for the taller golfer and they come will steel shafts for better control and accuracy. The Prosimmon also comes with a driver and 2 hybrids so it is missing a fairway wood.
That being said with the 3 and 4 hybrid, and the other clubs in the bag you have more that enough to get around the course with a quality score.
Get The Best Price On The ProSimmon V2 Here:
The Wilson Ultra Golf Club Set
The Wilson Ultra Golf Club Set is also one of the best. They come with big club heads that are forgiving to high handicappers and you get 9 clubs, 3 head covers and a carry bag. You get a driver, wood, hybrid, irons, pitching wedge and a putter for under $150 which is incredible value to get started.
Get The Best Price On Wilson Ultra Golf Clubs Here:
Other Ways For High Handicappers To Improve
If you are a high handicapper and you know that golf is the game for you then by all means get a club fitting or buy the best beginner clubs. These will have a great impact on your game but what you really need as a beginner is practice, and lots of it.
Practice Makes Perfect
I remember when I first seriously got into golf. I knew how to play since I was a child but me and a couple of buddies got really good one summer and it was all down to us playing every day. The old saying is true, practice makes perfect.
So, if you want to improve the you need to get on the course as much as possible and if not on the course, go to the driving range. Try to find a range where you are hitting off real grass and tees as this is closer to reality. Try hitting your three wood instead of your driver of the tee. See what it feels like to use each club and get a feel for your best ones in each situation.
Golf Lessons
Golf Lessons can be a blessing for any would be improvers. Your local pro should be able to correct your swing, iron out any issues and turn you into a GUR machine! It can feel unnatural to change your swing but stick with an you will be a better all around golfer.
Training Aids
There are plenty of training aids that can help you become a better golfer and improve your swing.
The Sklz Gold Golf Swing Trainer
This is perfect for getting the tempo and rhythm of your swing perfect and this translates into cleaner, smoother swings and strokes. It’s perfect for warming up as you can get your body in synch with your swing, leading to an all around better game or round.
Get The Best Price On The Sklz Trainer Here:
Launch Monitors
If you can’t make it to see a coach or you want to practice while on your own, a launch monitor can be your best friend. There are plenty good one on the market include Skycaddie, Mevo, Garmin G10 and more. We recommend the G10 as it doubles as a GPS device.
Get The Best Price On The Garmin G80 Here:
A Good GPS watch or device.
A quality golf watch like the s20 or the s60 led to a huge improvement in my game when I started, tracking my distances. I started to know what club to hit every time and it took all the guess work out of my game. The watches track all your shots automatically and you can go through all your data with the Garmin golf app.
Get The Best Price On The S20 Here:
Conclusion
So it is not readily clear that you should replace all your fairway woods with Hybrids but you should definitely test both and see which club types suits you better. A combination of Hybrids and woods has never personally let me down.
Hybrids may be easier to hit due to shorter club lengths, but woods can have huge advantages of the tee and when you have a sweet lie. Hitting a wood high and straight off the fairway is one of the most pleasurable feelings in golf and we definitely done recommend the end of the fairway wood.
Out advice is to get a good set of clubs and practice like crazy. Also remember that half of your strokes are going to be putts and that is if you are good at putting!
Hi, I am Matthew, a mid handicap golfer who likes to play as much as possible. I love trying out new gear and this blog is where you can find all the gear I have tested over the years!
