In regards to hitting an iron vs a hybrid vs a wood. Can someone explain the difference in swing.

My thoughts:

iron - hit down on it
wood - sweep across the ground
hybrid - I have no idea which of the above I should do

FYP.

The only time you shouldn't hit down on it with a wood is off the tee with a driver. You should hit your hybrid the same as you would an iron. The difference is that as the club gets longer you are hitting slightly less down on the ball. You hit more down on a 9i than you do a 4i, etc. If it makes more sense to you to think you're sweeping the grass with a wood, then I'd say do the same with the hybrid as long as the ball is sitting up, but if it is down in the grass you need to go after it. Either way you should be hiting down on the ball, but it is less than you would with an iron. Hope this makes some sense.

I hit my hybrid pretty much the exact same way I hit my fairway wood.

I would like others opinions on how they hit their hybrid as well. I have tried both sweeping it and hitting down on it leaving a bit of a shallow divot when hitting it off of the tee. I am a bit more consistent with a shallow divot but I have no idea if that's correct or not.

Stock shot I hit a little bit down on with ball between my belt buckle and my left shoulder (right handed player). That leaves me a little wiggle to change the ball position on non stock shots. I hit more down out of the rough compared to a fairway.

by down do you mean you place it more far back in your stance as opposed to fairway? because i think if you keep a similar setup but purposefully try to hit down, thats a mistake.

Both, in the rough I put it about an inch farther back and have the FEEL like I am hitting down a bit more, so I may or may not actually hitting down on it more, either way I don't really make a big swing change from the two shots.

the thing is its almost impossible to purposefully hit down without screwing up your shaft plane- flipping, casting etc etc. i guess a really gifted player could hit down with maintaining repeatable motions.

I swing irons, hybrids, and fairway woods exactly the same way and with none of them do I have the feeling of "hitting down". Obviously we actually do hit down with all our clubs if we've swung well because because the club head starts high and descends toward the ball, and you certainly can't hit it on the way back up.

I think the divots just get shallower and shallower as a result of club length increasing and changing the ball position, but I'm not actually trying to swing any different.

im similar. except with a driver i do have the thought of sweeping it off the tee. for some reason if i dont, i have a tendency to catch the driver too high on the face, and my results suck if i dont catch it center. "sweeping" keeps me from getting the club face too close to the ground at impact.

Here's a pretty good, albeit short, video from Shawn Clement explaining the philosophy of hitting fairway woods. that sound at the end..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq5gzmIeRQ8


And a longer video focusing on hybrids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmxyEz7vjIM

There is a good chance I don't hit down on the ball much more than normal even though it feels like I do. That said I am not sure it really is that hard to do. Just need a slight amount of spine tilt towards the target in the same way you have spine tilt away from the target with the driver.

Will try to remember to get a few face on videos of both next time out to see if I am even doing what I think I am.

Good vids. So like a poker hand, it depends.

Hey, I'm caddying for a friend for Euro Q school (Vienna) next week. I've never caddied before, and obviously want to make things the least stressful as possible for him. What do I need to know/do/not do? I golf fairly often, but not competitively.

ship---this is the person you want to talk to.

I hate to be cynical, but I would say lend your friend some money so he can hire an experienced caddie.

Random question I just thought of watching the FedEx Cup: how do they blow the horns before weather problems? Like do they somehow know no one is mid swing? Cause that'd be distracting. Random interest, Ty.

They will tell the players when they are going to blow it before they do

I had it typed out but felt like a dick posting it, so I didn't earlier....but now that it's been said, you might want to have your friend get a professional caddy or at least someone that is very well versed. It might make his experience a lot smoother not having to tell you how to do your job all day so he can focus on playing. There is obviously something to be said for his comfort of having a friend around, but I know the times I've played in things with a non-caddy caddy, it's always been a distraction because I was too worried about him getting in the way of the other players, etc.

Ya, tbh I'm surprised he asked me. He said he usually just snags a random from the local course. Iirc, he's around ~1000th in world and has Aussie PGA card, so he's had experience. We have 2-3 practice rounds to go over ****. I'm not going to bail on him now and basically just don't want to get in the way on the course. Any help? It's ok if ifs dicksish

IMO... your friend knows you're inexperienced, so it's on him to guide you. His (and your) job should be to limit how much of a distraction you are to the playing partners. He should talk to his playing partners ahead of time and let them know you are a friend and not a professional. Also, google for how to be a caddy to get the basics. And have fun!

I think the obvious thing would be to consider yourself a golfer in this foursome and think of the ways you would behave if you were playing in the group. Don't get in someone's line of sight, don't talk when it's someone else's shot, be very careful walking around the greens that you don't step on a partner's line. Although you're working for your guy exclusively, caddies like to help each other out. If another player's caddie is in a greenside bunker raking up after his man, don't be surprised if the guy throws you his ball to be cleaned. On that note, you should not have any spare balls on your body, period. Don't even let yourself be in the position of confusing which ball is in play and which isn't.
When you reach the green, pay attention to where the next hole is and drop the bag strategically; follow the other caddies leads on this.

That's all i can think of for now.

tyvm spotts&rexx!

good stuff, also half the towel wet half dry, make sure you have any club cleaning tools you might need. Don't carry anything not allowed by accident like a compass ect. Don't be the guy who cant lift the bag up without making a ton of noise.

Don't stand behind him when he's hitting or putting, whether you're trying to help him line up or not. As in a direct line with the hole. You are allowed to read it, but not to get him lined up. I think.....