For the past decade one club has changed the golf bags of golfers every where as they search for an answer to consistency with their ball striking and that is the hybrid. The mix of one part long iron and one part fairway wood created a weapon that has been embraced by all skill levels. The rise of the use of the hybrid on the major tours is second to none and most amateur golfers have realized that they are just a little easier to get up in the air than that of the long irons. One brand has been at the center of hybrid movement and that is Adams Golf. They have been the #1 hybrid on tour for over 6 years and almost 50% of all hybrids played on the PGA, Nationwide and Champions Tour are Idea Hybrids. No matter if you’re a tour professional or a weekend warrior, they claim to have a hybrid to fit your game. Their newest addition to the line is that of the Idea Black Super Hybrid, and we were eager to get our hands on one ever since the a7 from last year won our 2009 Hybrid Shoot Out.
Tech Specs – From the Company
We’re introducing a new breed of hybrid, the Idea Black Super Hybrid that advances way beyond just long iron replacement. Idea Black is a hybrid on steroids; we made it bigger and more powerful. It’s built for players looking for a high performance hybrid that provides maximum distance while maintaining both forgiveness and playability.
Idea Black delivers mid launch and spin for more distance, more versatility and more forgiveness. An Aldila Voodoo NV graphite shaft and dramatic Ni-Cr (Nickel Chromium) plated surface finishes it out for a sleek, hot look.
*Large head, maraging steel face and longer shaft length combined to deliver 2.5 MPH more ball speed and 7 yards more distance.
*85-grams of sole weighting and 17% greater MOI provides increased forgiveness.
*Tri-level sole reduces turf interference. Use from the tee, fairway or rough.
Lofts – 15, 17, 19, 21
Swing Weight – D2
Available both RH & LH
Flex – X, S, R
Price – $199.99
Testing
We put this into the hands of a few testers on both the range and in play for a couple of rounds and each time a person got a chance to play it, we were more convinced that Adams had something special on their hands. At first glance most were a little confused with where the company was trying to go with the look of this new hybrid. It does look a little bit more like a fairway wood than that of a hybrid, and made quite a few of the testers say the same thing “Its a FW Wood on an iron shaft”. But when you begin to take a deeper look, there is far more to it than that in the looks department. First off, the headcover that Adams put together for this one is top notch and is something often overlooked in the hybrid category, so kudos to the company for making an effort to have something that works and looks good. The all black finish of the face and sole really adds to the level of confidence that the testers seemed to have as they set up with the hybrid in hand. Despite the rather bulbous head, the Super Hybrid remains sleek looking due to the finish and the overall look that is portrayed.
The playability is immediately recognized after just a few swings with the Idea Black Super Hybrid. The club is a “rocket launcher”! The higher handicapped players that picked the club up immediately saw an improvement in both ball flight and distance, as the forgiveness of this hybrid really shined through. Misses on the toe or the heel showed very little in terms of loss of distance, but something else was happening here. It seemed as though misses were few and far between! The weighting of the Super Hybrid was helping golfers at all levels get the club back square at impact and that is just not something we have seen much of in our testing. With it coming back square, many of the better players felt as though it would be a “hook machine”, but nothing like that ever really came up due to the very slight offset rather than the amount we have been seeing with many hybrids.
On the course it became a club that most people were relying on from shots everywhere. On the tee, the added distance (compared to other hybrids) was helping people hit more fairways, off the tight fairway lies the club really showed where the technology is special as we had nice mid-high trajectories with straight balls all day long. The only area that showed any problems for golfers was in the rough and once we changed out the grip, that was not a problem either. The issue many were having is that the stock grip did very little in terms of actual “grip”, so when the club head hit some turf in the rough, it was turning. THP changed out the stock grip and had no issues after that at all.
Overall
When it comes to hybrids, many golfers immediately think of Adams Golf and the company did not give us a let down with the new Idea Black Super Hybrid. Going in we thought that they had a nicely finished club that was a little thick in the club head, but coming out our testers felt as though Adams has hit a home run. Looks, Distance, Accuracy, and overall performance all came together and their marketing of a “hybrid on steroids” seems to be dead on. Adams Golf continues to churn out incredible technology, especially in their hybrid line each and every year, and this one is no different. For more information on the Idea Black Super Hybrid, check out their website at www.adamsgolf.com.
Till Next Time
Josh B.
