Golf Tips: Use Your Hybrids for more than Full Shots

Nowadays everyone, well almost everyone, has a hybrid or two in their bag. These clubs were initially designed to replace the long irons in our bags. The difficulty of hitting a 4, 3, or 2-iron is not that it does not have a lot of loft, but in actuality it has to do with club head speed. These long irons require a rapid club head speed, which most people do not have, to get them airborne. The hybrid is built to be swung at a normal speed and still give you the distance of these long forgotten irons.

But, these clubs can be used for other shots as well.

One of my favorite shots to use a hybrid with is when you are in chipping range, the pin is cut right near you and you have very little green to let the ball roll out. To add to it you have a poor lie, perhaps on hardpan, or in a slight indentation in the ground. Logic would tell us to use a sand wedge or pitching wedge to chip with since the pin is so close. The trouble with these clubs is the lie.

As soon as you approach your ball and assess your lie, you will probably begin to fear the skull or the chunked shot. Not if you use a hybrid. Hold the hybrid like you would be chipping with it, so since it is a fairly long club, the shaft will run up the left side of your left leg for some people. You do not have to do anything more than just make contact with the ball for it to come out. It is great. Off of the hardpan it is virtually impossible to chip a sand wedge to that close of a pin because the bounce on the bottom of the club will not let the club get under it, and you will probably skull it.

The only practice this takes is getting the feel for how the ball comes out. Remember, you are chipping with a hybrid. The club is not designed to dig like an iron so can be used on any lie. When you are that close to green/pin all that the ball needs is a start to get it onto the green, the hybrid will do that you just have to get used to the feel for this new chipping club.

Have fun with this shot. I think you’ll be surprised how many go in or get very close!!