Why I don't play hybrids

When I began my golfing journey about 10 years ago my favorite club in my bad was a G15 22-degree hybrid that I “borrowed” from my dad. This club was my go-to for everything club. I could hit it dead straight off the tee, I could hit it into greens on par 4’s and 5’s, I even used it for the bump-and-run shots around the green. I loved this hybrid, and it helped me really get into the game of golf and experience the joy of hitting good shots. Then, I began to really work hard on hitting my driver and fairway woods. I have always had an aggressive downward attack angle, and hitting up on a ball was very hard for me to accomplish. Many times, I would tee my ball up nice and high and feel like my left shoulder was pointed up to the clouds. Then, as I finish my follow through, I see my ball bouncing towards the red tees, with a crater in the ground just ahead of my tee. That is why that hybrid was such a weapon for me and helped me get the ball in play. I began to break 100 regularly and ad confidence in my game. When I began working part time at a golf course, I would often play with the other pro shop attendants for a quick 9 after work. These guys were WAY better than me, and one of them later became a teaching professional. One day he gave me a swing tip on how to better set up to be successful with the driver. He showed my drills to help keep my chest and weight behind the ball, and swing more with my arms leading the swing. I began to see my ball take off in the air, and fall just slightly to the right and be right in the middle of the fairway. This also translated to hitting my woods off the tee better, for those safer shots that did not require driver distance.

A side effect of hitting my driver better was I was closer to the hole and began to hit more irons and wedges. I began to have success with those clubs and my hybrid became obsolete. Then when I tried to go back and use it, I struggled. I then decided to just take it out of the bag and carry and extra wedge instead. I would much rather carry and extra wedge and never use it than have a hybrid in the bag that I will struggle with. My handicap dropped from a 22.8 down to a 12.8 (at the time of writing this article). I haven’t gained crazy speed, more muscle, or flexibility. My putting hasn’t gotten that much better, and short game is still below average. All I have done is take out the clubs that I don’t hit well and added clubs that I do hit well. It is much easier to say no to hitting a 3 or 4 hybrid off the deck when that club is still sitting in the garage. I have seen others adopt the same principle and have success.

I’ve seen bags with 4,5, and even 6 hybrids in them. I’ve seen bags that don’t even have a driver, just a lower lofted 3 wood instead. One of my all-time favorites was a bag that consisted of a mini driver, 3/5/7/9,11 woods, 5 cavity back wedges, a chipper, and an armlock putter. This gentleman by the way shot an 81 which was only 3 higher than his age. By taking out hybrids from my bag I have given myself a better chance of completing my goals on the golf course. Now in order to getting better I do need to work on the areas mentioned earlier, but that will come in due time. So I hope that if you are reading this and are worried about changing your bag make up and being ridiculed or laughed at by your playing partners, understand that there is no one way to build a bag.