Ping G5 Golf Review » hybrids

Pro Users – Hybrids

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 05:40:21 +0000

Hybrids: Tour Advice

Even the best players
use hybrids
The days of the 1- and 2-irons are coming to an end, even for the best ball-strikers in the world. Only 18 of these butter knives were in play at the 2006 PGA Championship compared with 57 in 2004. Although tour pros appreciate forgiveness on off-center hits just as the rest of us do, another reason better players are gravitating toward hybrids is versatility.

Jeff Sluman still plays one of the first hybrids he ever tried–a 20-degree Cobra Baffler. He discovered it when he was searching for a club that would be easy to hit and fill the distance gap after his strong 3-wood. Among the factors that are important to him are the shape of the sole and how softly it makes the ball land on the green. “I can hit it low or use it to putt from the fringe at the edge of the rough,” Sluman says. “It’s a multipurpose club.”

Says Rory Sabbatini of the 19-degree Sonartec MD he carries: “I can use it off the tee and control it like a 2-iron, but on par 5s I can get it up in the air like a 5-wood, so it really does offer the best of both worlds.”

Jim Furyk, ranked No. 2 in the world, says he knew he had found the right hybrid when it produced a ball flight with a high trajectory. “I don’t keep the ball in the air as long as some other players,” Furyk says. “The hybrid helps me keep the ball in the air without a loss of control.”

Despite widespread tour acceptance, certain players remain skeptical. The low CG of hybrids doesn’t jibe with Nick Price’s style of play. Consequently, he still carries a 2-iron. “The hybrid, I know this sounds funny, but it goes too straight,” he says. “I can’t cut and draw it as much as I’d like to.” That’s what you call a high-class problem.

Hybrids

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:34:11 +0000

Long irons continue their methodical retreat into history. Indeed, when Tiger Woods replaces his 2-iron with a 5-wood, as he frequently did last year, can a hybrid be far behind? Hybrids are that delicious hanging curveball; they’re easier to hit and almost certain to produce a better result than long irons, the sinking slider of golf clubs. On the PGA Tour, there are upward of 100 hybrids in play every week. Eventually (and thankfully), hybrids will be as ubiquitous as drivers and putters. Some choice examples for you (and Tiger) to mull.

Hybrid Theory

admin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:55:43 +0000

Illustration: Matthew Cooley

Hybrid Theory

Do these things really work?

Manufacturers are making them. Tour players are using them. Instructors, equipment gurus and even some golf publications are recommending them. The question remains, though: Do hybrids really work?

Gene Parente, Golf Digest Technical Advisor who orchestrates the testing at his San Diego-based golf research firm, Golf Laboratories Inc., has seen how hybrids work on his swing robot. “We’ve done a fair amount of testing where you set up our machine to mimic a swing that has a hard time getting long-iron shots in the air,” Parente says. “We’ve seen higher trajectory and overall better hits when we change the club to a hybrid.”

Mark Myrhum, an independent designer who has worked on hybrid designs for Tour Edge and Dynacraft, says how well hybrids work depends on a few factors, which means they may be right for you or they could be wrong for you.

“Because the center of gravity is farther back, there’s a higher launch angle, and because of the flat face, the ball spin rate is higher versus a regular iron head,” he explains. “The ball may carry slightly farther for average and lower swing speeds. The roll distance may decrease. These conditions are ideal for many slower swingers and those who do not consistently hit the center of the face. Now, for the better player to tour level, this increased spin and launch angle is not needed and makes the player a little shorter with these clubs.”

Golf Digest endeavored to give all that hybrid theory some real-world application. In a limited trial, we had a group of 12 amateurs test hybrids against their long-iron counterparts. What we found was more evidence that hybrids might be better for your game than long irons — even long irons that are designed to be forgiving.

The amateurs, selected from the Golf Digest Schools location at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., ranged in handicap from 7 to 37. For the test, players hit 3-, 4- and 5-irons and their hybrid equivalents taken from the Tour Edge Bazooka JMax Combo set. (The Tour Edge set is one of the few on the market in which the hybrid and iron versions of each club are designed to be interchangeable.)

On average, shots from hybrids outperformed their long-iron counterparts in distance and accuracy. About two of every three shots hit with hybrids flew farther than those hit with the corresponding iron.

Furthermore, hybrids on average were nearly eight feet closer to the target line. (See chart on previous page.) The hybrid hits were closer to the target line an average of three out of every four shots.

What can we conclude from this research? This was an isolated test, featuring only one manufacturer’s clubs and a small group of players. What it suggests is that hybrids are a viable option. If you’re not consistently hitting crisp shots with your long irons, anything might be an improvement, and hybrids might be the quickest short-term fix in the game.

So what’s a confused golf consumer to do? Consider all the data, the recommendations and, yes, even the advertising claims, and then go out to the range and the golf course and give several products a decent trial. Maybe the answer to your long-iron woes isn’t a hybrid. Maybe it’s a lofted fairway wood or a more forgiving collection of long irons. Maybe you would score better if you decided to lay up every time you’re 175 yards or more from the green. A lesson couldn’t hurt, either. If your long irons don’t work anymore, the clear move is to store them in the garage with the scythe, the basin-wrench and all that other equipment you never use, and find something you can use.

Like Cheating?

admin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:46:59 +0000

Like cheating

Hybrids to the rescue

Edited by Mike Stachura
Golf Digest

You want a perfectly legal way to cheat? Forget steroids, human-growth hormone and blood doping. Try a hybrid instead. These long-iron replacement clubs made of lighter, stronger metals and heavy sole weights make you feel like you’re getting away with something. Left to right:

PING Rapture. The mixed-material approach includes a traditional 17-4 stainless-steel body with a 475 steel face, a sloped crown and a tungsten-nickel sole plate (three lofts, $180, pinggolf.com).TOUR EDGE Bazooka JMax QL. The thin steel walls and crown combine with a tungsten sole weight (13 lofts, $100, touredge.com).

TITLEIST PT585.H. The multiple-steel construction has a 455 stainless-steel face balanced with a 20-gram tungsten rear sole plug (four lofts, $180, titleist.com).

MIZUNO Fli-Hi CLK. Designers have switched from a composite crown to a thin titanium piece chemically braised to the crown (four lofts, $180, mizunousa.com).

CLEVELAND HiBore. The scooped crown is designed to lower the center of gravity and redistribute saved weight to rear walls (six lofts, $200, clevelandgolf.com).

COBRA Baffler DWS. The larger head size utilizes a thin Carpenter 465 in the face; heavier heel and toe weights are placed in the sole (six lofts, $150, cobragolf.com).