High Loft Wood vs Low Loft Hybrid

Canadan

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I've had an 18-19* hybrid in the bag for quite a few years now. I am not really sure the justification around it, beyond the fact that it's pretty versatile, I can work the ball with it, and it operates as a great tee shot for probably 4-5 holes on my regular tees.

That said, I've got a higher lofted fairway wood coming and I am pretty excited to give it a rip. With these new 'heavenwood' style woods, it almost seems silly to give up a bit of forgiveness in order to bridge the gap between wood/iron, or maybe even extend it a bit further to replace a 4 iron with a hybrid down the road.

What's your reasoning for your setup?
 
I like the higher lofted fairway like the Heavenwood more mainly because, for me, as the clubs get longer the larger head is more confidence inspiring as far as KNOWING the ball is going to get up like I want it too. Plus, more mass in the fairway head makes for a pretty significant jump in forgiveness in my time spent with both.
 
For me I really like the set up of a 17/18 hybrid and a 20/22 hybrid from the same oem it gives me the distance and gapping I'm looking for. Also I seem to hit a lot of fw fat when I'm on the turf and from that distance I would use it I wouldn't feel very comfortable going for the green and I don't like to lay up often.
 
I'm gaming the higher lofted fairway woods because they provide the confidence I need. The technology is there with the larger heads for forgiveness, in the case of Callaway, the warbird sole helps a lot & the confidence they inspire over the ball is second to none IMO. I know with these clubs in my hand the ball will launch, mishits will bot be as bad & the best part I enjoy hitting these clubs. As someone who owned hybrids in the past, These have surpassed them for me because of versatility and playability.
 
I just bought what Jason Finley told me to. I wish that was an exaggeration.
 
I like the hybrid better. It is typically smaller in size and I have more confidence that I can get it in the air easily. Maybe not as long but I also find them more accurate as they are shorter in length.
 
I realize this is mostly in my head, but I stink hitting fairway woods off of the deck and I can elevate a 19 degree hybrid so much better than a fairway wood. I have not tried something like a Heavenwood or a similar club recently, but I had a 7 wood in my bag a few years ago and I can hit the hybrid so much better. It might be due to the fact that I can hit it more like an iron, and the shaft on the hybrid is going to be shorter than the fairway wood.
 
I've always played a fairway over a hybrid. The smaller footprint of the hybrid just doesn't give me the confidence that a fairway wood does.
 
I've had an 18-19* hybrid in the bag for quite a few years now. I am not really sure the justification around it, beyond the fact that it's pretty versatile, I can work the ball with it, and it operates as a great tee shot for probably 4-5 holes on my regular tees.

That said, I've got a higher lofted fairway wood coming and I am pretty excited to give it a rip. With these new 'heavenwood' style woods, it almost seems silly to give up a bit of forgiveness in order to bridge the gap between wood/iron, or maybe even extend it a bit further to replace a 4 iron with a hybrid down the road.

What's your reasoning for your setup?

an 18* FW I've found is much more consistent both off the tee and turf distance wise than an 18* hybrid for me. It's a little longer in general having a longer shaft, but it's also just more consistent. So the larger head being more forgiving is probably having an effect with me.
 
I probably haven't given hybrids a fair shake for a chance in my bag, but I've had a 5w in the bag up until recently when it was replaced by a driving iron. I didn't use the 5w much off the tee, because I wasn't comfortable with it off the tee for whatever reason, but it was my go to club from the fairway for going after par 5s in two. I ended up going with the driving iron because I found myself playing courses where I didn't need a driver or 3w off the tee and just needed something to get out there and in play and the driving iron has been very good at for me.
 
During my fitting the option of a Heavenwood came up but i just hit the 4H better. It was a surprise to begin with because i wasnt a huge hybrid fan but it really is a good fit for my game
 
I've had an 18-19* hybrid in the bag for quite a few years now. I am not really sure the justification around it, beyond the fact that it's pretty versatile, I can work the ball with it, and it operates as a great tee shot for probably 4-5 holes on my regular tees.

For some reason reading your description here made me think of this:



I've switched back and forth between an 18* hybrid and a higher lofted wood, in my case being a K15 7 wood I reshafted. Currently I am bagging the hybrid with my rationale being that conditions this time of year tend to be breezier and the lower ball flight of the hybrid would be affected less. The K15 head is also quite large so it isn't the best with tougher lies. That being said I faced a situation last Sunday where I was way right and had trees between me and the green. Had I had the 7 wood I would have been able to go over the trees and straight at the green rather than trying to bend the hybrid around.

I did manage to bend the hybrid, but it was on the wrong side of the trees :beat-up:
 
i struggled with consistent contact on hybrid, mostly due to swing flaws and same with fairway woods off the deck. I now have the heavenwood and a 4w in my bag and I feel confident with them over the ball compared to a hybrid. some of the hybrids that have come out this year like Apex and the Titleist H1 have me changing my mind on replacing a long iron with a hybrid while also keeping the higher lofted woods in the bag for the right gapping as i get to the top of my bag
 
I go the hybrid route, as I feel I can get address the strike the ball more like an iron with them and still get elevation, especially off the ground. I've learned I simply have too great a tendency to try to sweep my 4 wood off the deck and get too many shots thin.
 
I used to carry a 19* hybrid and never thought about having a wood higher than that, since then I've gone back and forth and I think finally I'm back to mostly hybrids, it just suits my eye better, I tried a heaven wood and couldn't get it to stick, I think I'll try a divine nine sometime soon though, so who knows, maybe I'll be changing my tune!
 
I'm a big fan of FW, Heavenwood is my next club purchase and low lofted hybrid will be out of the bag. I may go with a 5h and drop the 4i, but I like to have it for punch shots.
 
i've posted it a few times before, but i was told by a fitter that he usually sees that people fall in one of two camps: hybrid or fairway wood. i see it in my own game, where i really enjoy hitting hybrids but i often struggle with fairway woods. so for me, i'd bag (and am seriously considering it) an extra hybrid over an extra fairway wood.
 
I've become more of a high lofted fairway wood over the last year, especially on shots from the fairway. I'm still not that comfortable pulling fairway from anything more than the lightest of rough though, and that's where I will miss having the 3h in the bag now and then.
 
I actually prefer just the opposite of the Heavenwood type club. Even created what I call my Hellbryd since instead of more loft with a longer shaft I took a 16* degree fairway wood and cut the shaft down by 1.25". Basically to a 2 hybrid length. The Alpha is more of a "players" style head, smaller profile and lower launch, kind of like a hybrid. Which is why I used the head I did.

I typically make more consistent contact with hybrids than I do fairway woods, partially attributable to the longer shafts I think. Since none other of the OEMs made a 2 hybrid in a more GI type head I made my own and love it.
 
I've tried both sides of this, but I keep going back to a hybrid. I tried a 5 wood for a while, and maybe I just had the wrong shaft in it, but I just didn't feel the same confidence (I know, weird) that I had with a hybrid. To me, loosing a 3 iron for a hybrid was a no brainer, but I'm still not sold on looing my 4 iron....not yet.
 
I've played a 7 wood for quite sometime now, for me the turf interaction on that club vs a hybrid was better. Similar distance, no difference in forgiveness. The fairway wood is a little more resistant to getting knocked offline from wind but that's a ball flight issue. Just recently found a hybrid that will replace the 7 wood thanks to better turf interaction. To me that's the bottom line in that club and replaced the 5 wood with a 3 hybrid of the same model.
 
I've never gamed a higher lofted fwd and am not opposed to it, but the hybrid seems to suite my needs well. The hybo keeps the ball flight down for me, which is much needed in my game.

I'd like to give a higher lofted fwd just to tinker with.


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I've been trying higher lofted woods for most of this year including the Heavenwood, a TM and a Ping 7 wood. I can't hit any of them them for the life of me, which is totally confusing because I use my 4 wood off the deck often and have great success with it. I have a nice big gap between my 4 wood and 4 hybrid and I think I am resigned to filling it with a 3 hybrid.
 
I just put an 18* hybos in the bag this last season. It's slowly becoming my favorite club. It's very versatile and the first hybo I've hit that I can actually control the trajectory. Love it
 
I've always had trouble finding a 3w that I could hit consistently so I made the switch to a low loft hybrid. I think shaft length has a lot to do with my confidence in the hybrids.

Lately I'm getting the urge to try a 3w again because I feel like I'm leaving a little distance on the table.
 
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