Think ‘5-iron swing’ to crush your hybrids

One of the most frequently asked questions I get from my amateur students is: Should I hit down on the ball with a hybrid or sweep it off the turf like a fairway wood? For the answer, think about the club it’s replacing, which is typically a 4- or 5-iron. You want to set up and play the shot just like you do a 5-iron, hitting down and through the ball and taking a small divot.

To do that, assume your normal 5-iron setup. Position the ball just forward of center in your stance, opposite the logo on the left side of your chest (top). Your hands should be slightly ahead of the ball, with only a few degrees of spine tilt away from the target. More spine tilt comes when you play the ball up in your stance, like with a 3-wood. If you use that forward ball position with a hybrid, you’re much more likely to hang back and try to lift the ball, often hitting behind it or catching it thin on the upswing.

To train the correct swing for a hybrid, practice with a small towel down on the ground about six inches behind the ball. To avoid the towel, you need to swing more up and down than around your body, similar to an iron swing, hitting down and compressing the ball. If you can consistently avoid the towel and carve out a small divot on the target side of the ball (above), you’ll hit it flush and get to a lot more greens.

Jordan Dempsey, one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in Florida, teaches at the PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.