00:00I have got some fascinating data about whether you should be using one of these,
00:04a seven-wood, or one of these, a hybrid, or maybe both. Let's get started.
00:17So before we get to hitting a few shots on course and talk about the data,
00:19let's talk about the characteristics of these two clubs. What is the difference between a seven-wood
00:23and a hybrid? Let's talk about the seven-wood first because that is sort of the the main
00:27style of the show today. So as you can see with the characteristics of this seven-wood,
00:31the head is a lot bigger and that means the central gravity is deeper and lower compared
00:36to a hybrid and that means the ball gets up in the air a lot quicker and a lot higher.
00:40So where its uses come in is for approaches to greens if you want more stopping power,
00:45if you find yourself on a lot of par threes that you know 180 200 yards depending on how far you
00:49hit these sort of things it's really useful for that compared to a hybrid. So we'll look at the
00:53hybrid now obviously we know what a hybrid looks like a lot smaller head and that ball flight is
00:57a lot lower because that central gravity is in a much different position. Another thing to note
01:02about hybrids and whether you want a hybrid or a lot more lofted wood in the bag is that a hybrid
01:06tend to have a bit more draw bias on them. They'll turn left to right for me as a left-hander,
01:11right to left if you're a right-hander which is great for some but some people want to shape the
01:15ball both ways and that's where the control of a seven-wood which is a lot easier to shape in both
01:19directions comes into effect. So even though they might have the same stated loft on there and they say
01:25they're the same number that dynamic loft impact is very different and the characteristics are very
01:30different which we'll come and talk about in just a second. So let's talk about some of that data that
01:34I found in my testing. I'm going to flash up a table now. I've had about two or three range sessions
01:40comparing these and I picked about 20 shots that I think were most representative to get these averages
01:45from and we'll talk about the similarities first. So you can see the ball speed very similar 134 mile an hour
01:50to 131 so not too much there and that then led to an average carry distance of 208 yards of the seven
01:55wood and 207 with a four hybrid so very very similar which is what I expected actually so I was pretty
02:01pleased to see that during my testing but the big differences and the benefits that some of you might
02:06see from going from seven wood instead of a hybrid comes in that peak height. You can see the big
02:11difference there 30.5 yards on average playing 24 yards from the hybrid so pretty much six yards in the
02:17air difference which is going to give that seven wood a much steeper descent angle and way more
02:22stopping power than a hybrid so it's fascinating to see that I really enjoyed hitting it on the range
02:26actually you know hitting the seven woods going up like a like a seven iron or even a pitching wedge
02:31sometimes it was really really cool and you've not lost that yardage as we've seen they're going
02:34the same distance but that ball flight characteristic was so different we'll see that in a minute on course
02:40and that's you know played out in the spin as well 6,000 for the seven wood five and a half for the
02:44uh hybrid I'd expect that this seven wood will spin the ball a little bit more
02:50and then it comes down to that launch angle as well 12.4 to 10.6 um that seven wood is naturally
02:55launching a little bit higher all down to that center of gravity so this is what I expected during
02:59my testing I was pretty happy to see these results it's the kind of thing I wanted to see as well
03:03similar lofts uh going similar distances but with very very different ball flight characteristics so with
03:09all that data out of the way let's get onto the course and see how these things act in the real world
03:13okay so on the golf course now and I found myself in an exact situation where this seven wood versus
03:18hybrid debate comes in we're 210 yards away from the green which is just behind me over here
03:23and I'm a little bit downwind and I want a club with lots of stopping power now 210 yards away means
03:30I have to hit a wood of some kind but I don't trust that hybrid to hold the green so that's where a club
03:34like this the seven wood really comes into play similar situations if you're on a long par three or a
03:40poaching a par five of that sort of 200 210 yard distance that a club like this gives you so
03:45much stopping power and a lot more control so let's see the comparison between the two I'm going to
03:49start with the seven wood because that's the club I would go for if I was in this situation
03:54now it's very cold today as well so if I can hit this 210 yards I'm very happy with myself
03:58okay not bad there a little bit drawy but I think it had plenty of height on it to stop somewhere
04:12level with the pin but a little bit to the right now let's compare that with the hybrid and see how
04:18much different that's going to be because I can imagine it's going to be a lot lower ball flight
04:21running into that green with a little bit less stopping power hopefully though I can get it that
04:26distance about 210 same sort of thing there a little bit hooky but you can see from the pro
04:39tracer a lot lower ball flight from there I can imagine that ball's scuttled on a little bit
04:43further so let's head up to the green see where those balls ended up and I'll have some final
04:47concluding thoughts on the seven wood versus hybrid debate okay so up at the green I think we've got a
04:51result here that really shows off the characteristics and the benefits of a seven wood so I'm stood here
04:56by my hybrid shot which as we saw it was a bit toe-y it was a bit hooky but because of that and that
05:02lower ball flight we've ended up back right at the green whereas you can see behind me here the seven
05:06wood which was a similar-ish strike a bit toe-y definitely turned over still had that higher ball
05:11flight and much more stopping power to leave me a much more attractive birdie putt on the green over
05:16there so some final thoughts on these really I love the seven wood it's been quite enjoyable to use it
05:21it offers you so much loft at address it goes so high and still so far but I think it could deserve
05:28a place in my bag at some point it's not great off tee to be honest with you because of that spin
05:32you don't get much run I'd rather use the hybrid but it's a really interesting club and one I really
05:38think you should consider potentially putting in that end of your bag you've seen the data you've seen
05:42how it works on course make the decision for yourselves now I'd love to hear from you have you
05:47already got one of these in the bag or are you thinking of putting one in let me know let me
05:51know your experiences with this club I would love to hear from you but for now from Prince's Golf Club
05:55thank you very much for joining me I'll see you next time
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