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Hybrid Golf Club Buying Guide (Top 9 Hybrids Reviewed)

Golf hybrid clubs are becoming more and more popular among amateur golfers, replacing long irons in the golf bag. You can’t argue this change either once you’ve hit a hybrid. The weighting in a hybrid helps promote high launching golf shots and the face on hybrids are much more forgiving, help golfers get the golf ball off the ground much easier than hitting irons.

Hybrid golf clubs also bridge the gap between distances golfers struggle with on the golf course. For example, if you hit your fairway wood 220 yards on average but only hit your 4 iron 190 yards, then you can find a hybrid to hit 200-210 yards to fill the distance gap, like on long par 3 holes.

In the guide below, I’ll be sharing everything to know about buying a new hybrid golf club and I’ll also recommend some different hybrids for beginners, mid-handicappers, and advanced golfers so you have a starting point of which clubs to check out.

Let’s first start with some common questions golfers ask when buying a new golf hybrid club.

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What to Know When Buying a New Golf Hybrid Club

Before you head over to Amazon or your local golf equipment store to shop for new hybrid golf clubs, it’s important to understand the features that separate a hybrid from other club like your woods and irons. Let’s answer some common questions as well.

Golf Hybrid Club Features to Look at When Buying

When buying a new hybrid golf club you should consider the following:

Grip
Shaft
Loft
Adjustable
Alignment Assistance

Grip – this is the only part of the hybrid club your hands make contact with and ensuring your have a solid grip on the club is important since you’ll be swinging it 80 to 120 mph. There are many types of grips you can choose from as well as many colors, textures, and wrap styles. We cover it all in this guide Beginner’s Guide to New Golf Grips

Shaft – the shaft flex will impact ball launch and clubhead speed so it’s important to pick out the right shaft that fits your golf swing tendencies. A general rule is that hybrid golf shafts should be more stiff than your typical iron club shaft. The material is usually steel but golf hybrid clubs may also use graphite for the shaft.

Loft – when picking out a hybrid club there will be many different options for loft. Loft is simply the face angle the club sits and higher lofted clubs provide better launch of the golf ball usually, helping you hit higher trajectory shots. Decide which distances you’re looking to use a hybrid club for and then find the appropriate loft that matches that distance range.

Adjustable Head – the newer hybrid models are offering an adjustable head feature, allowing you to change the loft or weight position of your hybrid to create different shot trajectories. For example, by adjusting your clubhead settings you could increase the loft to hit higher golf shots if you struggle to get the ball high off the ground normally.

Alignment Assistance – to help you better align your golf shot to your target during set up, hybrid golf clubs are now offering alignment assistant aids like lines painted on the crown (top) or specific shaping of the crown.

Why Use a Hybrid Golf Club?

Hybrids offer the best qualities of both long irons and fairway woods so that you feel like you’re hitting an iron but you still get the distance of a fairway wood.

In the past decade, golf industry research has been done studying the use of golf hybrid clubs and it has discovered that the number of players using hybrids doubled.

Hybrids aren’t just for amateur golfers either. Most PGA Tour golfers can be seen on TV pulling out a hybrid golf club to hit tee shots, shots out of the thick rough, as well as bunker and fairway shots.

It’s also a very useful golf club on long par 3’s that range from 190 to 240 yards, since it hits the golf ball with high ball flight to give softer landing like an iron, but you get the distance needed like a wood.

How Many Golf Hybrid Clubs Should I Carry in My Bag?

The number of hybrid clubs you carry in your golf bag is up to you but it’s not uncommon to see golfers carrying multiple.

In fact, we usually recommend beginners replace the 4 iron and 5 iron golf clubs with hybrids as well as find a hybrid to fill the distance gap between your fairway wood and 4 iron.

It’s not uncommon these days to see Senior golfers replacing an entire iron set with hybrid clubs instead to help them get more distance out of the clubs. Check out this guide sharing the best golf hybrids for seniors.

Why Hybrids Instead of Irons in Golf?

According to Golf Week, studies found that the hardest to hit golf clubs in your bag are the long irons. These include your 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron, and 5-iron depending which ones out of those you carry in the bag currently.

The design of the hybrid club contains a flatter face like you’d find on an iron to make it feel like your swinging an iron when you set up at address. But the overall designed of the hybrid and the loft of the hybrid make the club much easier to swing and perform well with.

Many beginners find the hybrid golf club more forgiving. They also like how the clubhead shape on a hybrid helps it make smoother contact with the ground and not dig like you commonly see with irons.

Overall, it’s personal preference so give them a try and see if you feel more comfortable playing irons or hybrid clubs.

Unique Features of Hybrid Golf Clubs

Hard & Flat Face

A typical wood or driver club head design will feature a rounded head shape on the face of the club. With hybrids, you’ll find that the face is flat like an iron, but it’s still hard like a wood or driver’s club face.

Why is face hardness important? It helps create more power on the golf ball which can add extra distance for golfers with slower swing speeds. In simple terms, the harder face can create a bigger rebound effect of the face making contact with the golf ball.

Wide Sole

Unlike an iron which has a thin blade sole, the hybrid features a wider sole similar to that of a fairway wood. This is beneficial to golfers because it can create extra confidence at address knowing that the wide sole will help prevent the club from digging. It will create better contact with the ball and ground as opposed to the thin sole of a blade iron.

Shorter Shaft Length

The length of the golf shaft on a hybrid club is typically shorter than the shaft length you’d find on a fairway wood or driver. This can give the player better control and help them find the club easier to hit, similar to your short irons being easier to hit than your long irons due to the shorter shaft length.

High Launch

Most golf hybrid clubs position the center of gravity low and deep in the clubhead which in turn helps the ball get airborne easier. Hybrids are known for the high launching ball flight they can produce and this is beneficial because it also means the ball will come down at a softer angle, helping it hold greens and not roll off like you find with fairway woods sometimes.

How to Pick the Right Hybrid Loft?

First, learn the existing lofts of your irons and fairway woods in your bag before deciding on which loft to buy for a golf hybrid club.

Most fairway woods feature a loft between 13, 15, or 17 degrees. The typical 4 iron loft starts around 23 to 25 degrees and can run as high as 29 degrees with some club manufacturers.

This leaves a potential gap to fill if you decide on a hybrid club that has a loft of 17, 19, or 21 degrees. Or if you plan to replace your 4-iron, then you can shop for hybrid clubs with a loft that matches your 4-iron, such as a 23 degree lofted hybrid.

Beware that not all 4-hybrid clubs have the same loft. Some club manufacturers make their 4-hybrid with 23 degree loft while others make make their 4-hybrid with 21 degree loft. Or it could vary from those numbers and be different so check into that when you are looking at hybrids from multiple brands.

Our Top 9 Recommended Golf Hybrids

Here are 9 recommended hybrid golf clubs. Scroll down to the ones that interest you most. Each link takes you to Amazon where you can read reviews, check the price, and order it off a safe website like Amazon with a nice refund policy.

Best Hybrid for Seniors – Powerbuilt Ex 550 Set
Best Hybrid for Women – Callaway Rogue (Women’s)
Best Golf Hybrid for Beginners – TaylorMade M4
Best Golf Hybrid for Mid Handicappers – Callaway Rogue
Best Golf Hybrid for Scratch Golfers – TaylorMade M6
Easiest Hybrid Golf Club to Hit – TaylorMade M2
Affordable Golf Hybrid Club – Pinemeadow Excel
Best Hybrid Overall #2 – Ping G400
Best Hybrid Overall #3 – Mizuno 2018 CLK

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