Tweet
I recently purchased on ebay an 18* Ram FX "recovery" hybrid for $25. I already own an inexpensive 22* hybrid, which I can hit 180 yards or so from the fairway.
I don't hit a really long ball off the tee. If I use my driver and am lucky enough to get a straight shot, my best drive is 250, but usually I'm short of that. Usually I use the 3W about 220 yards.
So I wanted a club that I might be able to hit 200 yards or so on the fairway, and I thought the 17* Ram hybrid might be it. So far, however, I'm finding I don't hit any farther with it than I do with the 22* hybrid: about 180.
So, unless this situation changes, I'll probably put the club back on ebay.
But it raises a more general question. Although I occasionally drive the ball 250 yards, more commonly I don't drive it much farther than I can hit it with the 3W. Seeing the same thing repeated with the different lofted hybrids, I'm wondering if, below a certain loft, you need a certain minimum (but faster than mine) club head speed to get any advantage out of lesser lofted clubs.
I've read in more than one source that many amateurs don't hit any farther with the driver than they do with the 3W, because they don't hit the ball hard enough to keep the ball in the air long enough to take advantage of the driver's lower trajectory. That tells me that people who swing below a certain speed probably shouldn't even carry a driver. Maybe the same thing is true for fairway clubs? Maybe 180 yards is my maximum fairway distance because when I use a less lofted club my swing isn't fast enough to give the ball sufficient flight time to go farther.
It seems that this would be worth knowing, and it also seems to me that the answer would be well known by now.
I don't hit a really long ball off the tee. If I use my driver and am lucky enough to get a straight shot, my best drive is 250, but usually I'm short of that. Usually I use the 3W about 220 yards.
So I wanted a club that I might be able to hit 200 yards or so on the fairway, and I thought the 17* Ram hybrid might be it. So far, however, I'm finding I don't hit any farther with it than I do with the 22* hybrid: about 180.
So, unless this situation changes, I'll probably put the club back on ebay.
But it raises a more general question. Although I occasionally drive the ball 250 yards, more commonly I don't drive it much farther than I can hit it with the 3W. Seeing the same thing repeated with the different lofted hybrids, I'm wondering if, below a certain loft, you need a certain minimum (but faster than mine) club head speed to get any advantage out of lesser lofted clubs.
I've read in more than one source that many amateurs don't hit any farther with the driver than they do with the 3W, because they don't hit the ball hard enough to keep the ball in the air long enough to take advantage of the driver's lower trajectory. That tells me that people who swing below a certain speed probably shouldn't even carry a driver. Maybe the same thing is true for fairway clubs? Maybe 180 yards is my maximum fairway distance because when I use a less lofted club my swing isn't fast enough to give the ball sufficient flight time to go farther.
It seems that this would be worth knowing, and it also seems to me that the answer would be well known by now.
Comment