I asked what was in his bag because there is no way to know if he has any long irons, multiple fairway woods or what. Although you are right, of course, that ideally he'd get both a 3 and 4, the question involved only being able to get one right now.

I also now start with 5i, though my 4h carry distance is 35-40 yards less than yours.

Really soon I'm going to replace my 4i with a 4h. I just have way more confidence in my 5i compared to my 4i.

So you have Bo who is a + handicap and myself who is a 2 that (not that I am in the same galaxy as Bo though) will be carrying no more than a 5i in their bags. That should say something, right?

Awesome really appreciate the feedback guys!

When I played the round I used a 5H. I left my 5i home which was stupid because I had a couple par 3 I wish I could hit my 5i off the tee.

I own a 4i but don't think I've ever actually used it. I'm only really comfortable 6-9 and even those I still duff once in a while. 5i is hot or cold. Somedays I can hit it some days I can't. The hybrid flew out of the rough and was a fun club to hit. I had trouble hitting it out of the fairway for some reason though.

I also don't hit the ball very far. My 9i right now is maybe 110-120 if I hit it cleanly. For like a par 3 170 I use my 5i and don't quite get there. (I don't take a full back swing most of the time to make sure I'm actually making contact with the ball)

I'm sure there are sites better than Dick's but I have GC to Dick's so would you recommend any of their hybrids? Maybe a first, second and third choice so I can choose one that's available in my local store? Playing Wednesday. Thanks so much you guys are super helpful

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/f/hybrid-golf-clubs

Sorry just to clarify my bag is 4i-9i, PW, GW, SW, a driver and a wood. I'm pretty sure it's a 3-wood. Like I said I don't like using the longer irons

Hybrid choices:

1, Ping G410
2, Ping G400
3, take golf money to casino and play keno

Ping hybrids are just too easy to hit due to their unique soleplate. They fit tour players and 30 handicappers. No other hybrid comes close. Every player is different, but short of a detailed fitting, I would recommend this hybrid across the board. Ditto with their fairway woods.

My suggestion would be to replace the 4i with a 4h. If you like the 4h, you could then consider replacing the 5i with a 5h as well. With the distances you gave, 6i should probably be the longest iron in your bag.

Just a general note regarding long irons and hybrids.

As already noted, I carry 5i 190 and it's the longest iron in my bag.

Two guys I play golf with multiple times a week are 2-3 handicappers, the longest iron in their bag is a 6i. One guy carries 3,4,5 hybrids while the other carries two hybrids with the lofts spread out a bit.

To properly strike a long iron you have to have two things. Consistency and high clubhead speed. Otherwise the ball just isn't going to launch high enough and with enough spin. Personally, I would fight being able to launch a 4i high enough to be effective. But I can launch a 4h literally as high as I want to and stop it on a dime from over 200.

So unless you play for a living, can stop a 4i on a dime from over 200, or are extremely unique with your swing, the longest iron in your bag should be a 5i, or perhaps a 6.

Enjoy!

10 handicap (34 years old driver swing speed 100) and I dropped the 4iron this year too. Can't hit it consistently compared to a hybrid.

Excited to check out a ping fwy based on Bo's post!

If you happened to find a demo, I'd add the Titleist 818H1. It's last year's (and the year before) model so they shouldn't have any new stock - or if they do they should be marked down a bunch. Of all the hybrids I've tried it was the first to give me consistently good results.

Got the Titleist T200s this weekend. It feels like cheating. My Ap2s I hit my 4-iron 180-185 maybe. Hit one on the 230 yard par 3 just to measure how far it went on Saturday.... 10 feet from the hole. (pin on front so 218 yards measured). I hit a 4-iron on the next tee just to confirm it wasn't super flukey....fanned it a bit right but okay contact....212.

Hit driver 7 iron into the 460 yard 10th...just so easy. In the past, I'm coming in with a 3/4 iron and trying to pull off a perfectly carved in long iron. Now it's like "smooth 7".

Thanks!

Bo - any reason to consider a Ping G410 LST or SFT on the fairway woods?

I'm def gonna do this.


You're awesome. Gonna buy the ping 4h and hit that for a while. I'd love to never have to hit anything lower than a 6i

Thank you so much for your help!

Yes, with a small caveat. In my experience, a standard G410 Ping will help straighten your ball flight and lower your spin to some degree. So if you've just got a little fade or draw I don't think it would do much. The SFT should only be used if you've got a big move one way or another. Same thought process with the LST.

But if you're able to demo them, definitely give them a try. Nice to have those options.



No worries, hope it works out like you want. It is fun to see people when they first try a 4h compared to a 4i. It's like cheating. Just don't try to help it up in the air, it will get up just fine on it's own.

Ping 4H G400 ordered! Can't wait for it to get here

Can you explain why this is? Thanks.

Explained 9 posts up from yours, #2180.

What about keeping the 4i for punch shots out of the trees?

no reason why a 4h can't do the same thing...in fact it can actually be easier

lol 10/10

Put the 5 iron a touch further back in your setup.

I've been following the hybrid conversation, since I'm currently a 3-P player. I keep thinking that I should invest in at least one hybrid.

Sorry, BBV part of post.
Then, yesterday, I finally got to play. Muscles were tight, couldn't loosen up and played poorly. Mid-Round, I finally found a fairway with my driver on a par 5. From 230, I nutted a 3-iron to 25-feet. It felt good and looked good the entire way.

So, I'm all sorts of confused on how to proceed.

I watched a video yesterday about 5 shots a hybrid is perfect for. one of them was for punchouts.

others:
hitting out of a divot (i'd just move the ball)
fairway bunker without a steep lip
bump and runs

can't remember the other one

I think of it like an ev calc in a poker hand. For most golfers the hybrids will add consistency to contact and tighten dispersion - which should lead to overall lower scores. And it still feels awesome to nut a 3h - maybe slightly less so since you know that feeling of a well struck long iron but it's still pretty good when you mash the hybrid and it launches high right on target.

Good analogy. Totally makes sense. Time to research my next purchase.

if you get to play links courses with tight lies, choking down on a hybrid (even below the grip) and using it like a putter is money from up to 50 yards off the green. takes a bit of practice to understand how quickly it comes off the face but it can be much more consistent that trying to nip a 60* off of concrete.

I've been a 3-pw player my whole life even though I struggle with long irons. I never made the switch to hybrids because I tend to hook the crap out of them. For the past few years, I will play a lot of half swing/feel 5 woods instead of my 3 iron. Because I tend to hit a lot of 4/5 irons, it's actually become a little bit of a strength the past few months.

New clubs are hopefully going to make a huge difference. My 4-iron has gone from 180 to around 210-215, and I hit a lot better than my old 3-iron. I'm hopeful this will cut the half swing 5 woods out of my game. And I currently have 13 clubs, so I could probably add a hybrid although I don't really know because the gap between my 4 iron and 5 wood is only 15-20 yards apparently.

Thank you guys SO MUCH for the 4h hybrid recommendation.

Took it out yesterday and absolutely love it. My goal all summer has been to break around. I hit 101 once but other than that have been between 105-110. Yesterday I jumped on a shitty course last minute bc I wanted to use my new hybrid so bad and the good county courses were fully booked.

I shot a 91! 43 front and 48 back (finished bogey, double too so had a chance at breaking 90).

The hybrid makes missing the fair way not a big deal AT ALL and almost preferable. I can't believe how straight it went and how far i hit it. I have no depth perception as it is but found myself looking for my ball 20 yards short of where it actually end up a bunch of times. The caveat is that was my first time playing this course and it's definitely easier than county courses but I'm fully confident I can break 100 now. Thank you guys so much for the recommendation.