Equipment
Golf equipment truths: Hybrids do a lot more than boost your distance
About 85 percent of LPGA Tour players use a hybrid. Because they swing at similar speeds as amateurs, maybe you should consider hybrids, too. Whether it’s hitting long shots from the fairway, blasting out of the rough or even saving shots around the green, hybrids are an important component of many players’ bags.
“It’s my favorite club,” says Jennifer Kupcho, who famously used a 17.6-degree hybrid to set up the eagle that led to her victory in the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur. “There’s more versatility with the hybrid, and it comes in higher and softer from those longer yardages than the 3-iron,” she says. “I don’t know why, but in competition, I hit it 215. When I hit it in practice, it just goes 200 yards. My other clubs aren’t like that. But with the adrenaline or something, it just makes it go.”
Although a hybrid should fit into a specific yardage gap, it might perform so well that it creates different yardage gaps in your set. Just like it’s a good idea to get a wedge fitting with your next set of irons, it’s just as valuable to understand how your hybrids might influence what and how many irons you play.