How hybrid clubs can improve your game

Over the last 10 years, hybrids have increasingly become a staple club among regular golfers. If you’re iffy about adding one to your own bag, here’s what you should know.

What are hybrids, exactly?
Hybrid clubs are those with a design borrowing from both woods and irons. They’re forgiving and far-hitting like woods but retain the familiar swing mechanics of irons.

The weight of hybrid clubs is concentrated low in the head of the golf club and toward the back. Compared with long irons, the clubs they typically replace in your bag, hybrids have more loft and longer shafts. These characteristics allow you to hit the golf ball higher and further when compared with a long iron and more consistently than a wood.

How to hit a hybrid
Hybrids should be played like an iron and not a wood. This means you shouldn’t try to sweep the ball but instead hit at a downward attack angle. Hybrids won’t usually take divots, but you should strike the ground after the ball as though to take a divot.

As for ball position, you should line up as you would with a 3-iron: with the ball toward the front foot, but not as far forward as with a wood.

Other uses for hybrids
Hybrids are also great for punch shots and hitting from difficult lies, which is why they’re also known as rescue clubs. Moreover, they can be used for pitch shots around the green. This requires that you choke down on the grip and use a putter-stroke.

If you’re looking to take a few strokes off your scorecard, using a hybrid club may be the answer.