- 9 hours ago
Deputy Editor Joel Tadman explains why there's a particular type of club that everyone, himself included, should probably have in their bag, yet only a very small percentage of golfers actually do...
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00:00This is a club that hardly anyone uses,
00:02but I think there's a strong case
00:04for every ability of golfer from single figures
00:06all the way up to high handicappers
00:08should put this in their bag
00:10in place of something that's in there already
00:12because I'm confident if they did,
00:14they would hit more greens in regulation on par threes,
00:17better scoring out of the rough,
00:19and they might even get up and down a few more times
00:21in tricky situations around the greens.
00:23But what is this mystery club?
00:25Well, it's time to find out.
00:33So what is this mystery club I hear you shouting at the screens?
00:37Well, it's actually a four hybrid.
00:39I think this is a club that a lot of golfers
00:41maybe let their ego get the better of them
00:44and often transition from a three hybrid into a four iron.
00:47But actually, I think there's a strong case for more golfers.
00:50Golfers have nearly every ability to make that switch point
00:53a little bit higher through the set
00:55and go from a three hybrid into a four hybrid
00:57and then maybe into a five iron.
00:58And I'm going to talk on exactly why
01:00I think that's the case in this video.
01:02So I've got two equivalents here
01:04in terms of that slot in the bag.
01:05I've got the new Titleist GT2 four hybrid,
01:08which comes in at 21 degrees as standard.
01:10And I've got the Mizuno Pro 243 four iron,
01:13which is a pretty standard four iron,
01:14comes in at 22 degrees as standard.
01:17But you'll see they're two very different looking clubs
01:19and they are set up very differently as well.
01:21The first thing you'll notice when you put them side by side
01:24is the difference in the length.
01:25So with a hybrid, generally speaking,
01:27you're going to have a little bit more length on the shaft
01:29versus an iron.
01:30This comes in around as stock,
01:32sort of one and a quarter inch longer than the iron.
01:35So in terms of comparing the two,
01:37what's that going to give you?
01:38Possibly a little bit more club head speed,
01:39maybe a little bit more volatility in terms of the quality
01:42of the strike because the club head is further away
01:44from your hands.
01:45But generally speaking,
01:46you should get a little bit more speed out of swinging a hybrid
01:49versus a shorter four iron equivalent.
01:51And what's great about the Titleist GT2 hybrid in particular
01:55is that you can adjust the settings on this
01:57to fine tune your ball flight.
01:58So you've got adjustable hosel here.
02:00You can adjust the loft by up one degree or two degree
02:03and down one degree.
02:04You can also change the lie angle settings
02:06to more upright or more flat.
02:07So what I'm able to do with this one
02:08is loft it up by one degree to 22 degrees
02:11and get that to exactly match the loft of this four iron
02:14at 22 degrees to see exactly how they compare.
02:18What's great about the GT2 hybrid in particular as well
02:21is that you've got adjustable sole weights here.
02:23Not many hybrids offer that on the market
02:26and that gives you the ability
02:27to really fine tune the ball flight.
02:29And there are some custom weights available as well
02:30through a fitting.
02:31There are like six different settings you can choose from
02:33so you can really dial in the ball flight to the nth degree
02:36if you're looking for a particular trajectory
02:38on your hybrid shots or you hit them
02:40from certain situations on the course,
02:41you can really dial that in.
02:43So clearly a lot more versatility
02:44in terms of how you can set the hybrid up.
02:46In terms of how they look down behind the ball,
02:48clearly two very different looking profiles.
02:51The GT2 four hybrid, much bigger behind the ball.
02:54Loads of loft on show.
02:55I love the full face grooves on here.
02:57Give you a steer on where your alignment is.
03:00But clearly a lot more real estate behind the ball
03:01versus a four iron.
03:03Obviously it looks a lot more compact.
03:05Pretty thin top line this one.
03:06This is a pretty standard better player four iron.
03:08So a little bit more intimidating than the hybrid.
03:11But there are some golfers who just like the look
03:12of an iron behind the ball versus a hybrid.
03:14I was that golfer and possibly still am.
03:17But as my ball striking skills are dwindling,
03:20I'm definitely sort of coming around to the idea
03:22of putting a hybrid in play versus a four iron.
03:25I'm going to touch on sort of some of the other areas
03:28of performance that golfers really look for in this video.
03:30But before we sort of get into the data
03:32and how they actually compare,
03:33let's just hit a few or a couple of shots with each,
03:36or maybe one shot with each to see exactly how they compare.
03:38Maybe we'll start with the four iron first.
03:40So remember, these are exactly the same loft,
03:42slightly different shaft settings,
03:44but hopefully we can sort of see the difference
03:47in the trajectory.
03:47We've got a flag down here on the beautiful second hole
03:50on the links course at La Haffienda Golf Links in Spain.
03:54It's about 200 yards away,
03:55which is typically where I would sort of have
03:58a four iron finishing, maybe slightly short of that.
04:01But let's just see where this goes.
04:07See, I hit that a little bit toe-y
04:09and the ball flight was pretty straight,
04:11just turned over a little bit.
04:12Looks like it's just come up short
04:14on the front of the green.
04:15So that's something I think you're probably going to see
04:18with a four iron, is a little bit more sort of volatility
04:21on the carry distance.
04:22When you don't quite strike it,
04:23you might see a bigger drop off in distance,
04:25but also that's a pretty flat trajectory there
04:28with a four iron.
04:28Now let's see how the four hybrid compares
04:31with a similar, or the same loft setting.
04:34A little bit longer shaft.
04:41Well, hopefully you can pick that up there.
04:43The trajectory is chalk and cheese.
04:45That is about six to eight yards higher in trajectory.
04:49And I think there are a lot of situations
04:51where that's going to be beneficial for you.
04:53If you're hitting into long par threes, the greens are firm.
04:56If you don't quite strike it properly,
04:58that little bit of height,
04:59it's going to mean you lose less carry distance.
05:01But let's dive into some of the data,
05:03just give these a proper test on a launch monitor
05:06to see exactly how they compare
05:08and what the key differences are.
05:10Right, before we get into the nitty gritty
05:12of how these clubs perform on the course,
05:13I just want to present to you the data
05:15that I got when testing these.
05:16Two clubs on a launch monitor here
05:18at La Hathienda Golf Links.
05:20We were using range balls,
05:21and we were using a FlightScope Mevo launch monitor.
05:24So maybe take some of the numbers
05:25with a pinch of salt, but there are some clear trends
05:27that stand out from the data that we got.
05:30The first one is the ball speed output
05:31with the hybrid of the equivalent loft
05:33versus a four iron is a lot higher.
05:36It was a significantly higher ball speed
05:37I was getting from that four hybrid.
05:40And then the other one was the height I was getting.
05:41The trajectory was clearly significantly higher,
05:44around about 15 feet higher
05:45with the hybrid versus the four iron.
05:48And the other thing I would definitely note
05:49from the numbers was that there was a lot less volatility
05:51from the hybrid versus the four iron.
05:54When I didn't strike the four iron,
05:55the carry really dropped off a lot.
05:57When I didn't quite catch the hybrid as I'd like,
05:59I didn't see those big drop off in ball speeds
06:01or carry distances, which is going to help
06:03a lot of golfers out.
06:04You think when you're hitting an iron shot into a green,
06:06or an approach shot into a green,
06:08the thing you really want to get right
06:09is the carry distance.
06:10And if you're not deviating too much
06:12from where you think you've been carrying your shots,
06:14that's going to really serve you well
06:15and help you to score better out on the course.
06:17And clearly, a four hybrid is delivering that consistency,
06:20whereas the four iron, if your ball striking's off,
06:23there's going to be a lot of volatility
06:24in your carry distances.
06:27Just going to take a short break from this video
06:29to remind that if you're enjoying it,
06:31do click the like button and subscribe
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06:36And if you'd like the look of this particular hybrid,
06:39and you want to get your hands on one,
06:40put some handy links in the description below
06:42where you can get one for the best price in your area.
06:50So I think this is the situation
06:52where a four hybrid is really going to come into its own,
06:55out of the rough.
06:56We see we've got a ball sort of semi-sitting down in the rough.
06:58You can, with a short iron,
07:00often get flyers that fly too far.
07:02You get into the mid-irons,
07:03you sort of average itself out,
07:05but when you get into the long irons,
07:06it's really easy to hit.
07:07That shot from the rough that just comes out dead,
07:10no spin, just drops out of the sky,
07:11and it can be really difficult to get that precise strike
07:14out of the rough, whereas with a four hybrid,
07:16it's a completely different story.
07:17So let's demonstrate one for you now.
07:19I've got two golf balls here on the ground,
07:21pretty similar lies.
07:22I'm going to hit with the four iron first.
07:24I'm going to try and hit these pretty hard
07:26and see if I can strike them as cleanly as I can.
07:28This is the sort of thick Bermuda rough here,
07:31so it's going to be tricky to get them out,
07:33but let's see how well they come out.
07:37So you see how that sort of came out quite flat.
07:39It's gone a little bit left.
07:40I struck it okay.
07:41It's been interesting to see where it's finished.
07:43It's just gone on that mound on the left-hand side.
07:45So that's the iron shot, not overly clean, similar lie.
07:49Let's try the four hybrid now,
07:52and hopefully we can see there's a slight difference
07:55in the quality of contact you can get from the rough,
07:58but also just the technology in the head
07:59and the design of the head,
08:01just getting able to pop the ball out so much more easily.
08:04We see majors like US Opens, US PJs,
08:07where the rough is long and thick.
08:09A lot of tour players switch out their long irons
08:10for seven woods and nine woods.
08:12It's a similar sort of concept.
08:13That's a wide sole, added loft on a metal wood.
08:17It really helps just pop the ball out
08:18without losing too much distance.
08:24That's a classic example there.
08:26So much more cleanly out of the lie there.
08:30And I can see it's carried a good five yards
08:32further than finished, five or six yards
08:34further than where the four iron finished.
08:36So clearly, you know, if you're missing a lot of fairways
08:39and you find yourself in the rough a lot,
08:41a four hybrid is really going to help you out
08:43in these tricky situations
08:44if the ball's slightly sat down
08:45versus a four iron equivalent.
08:51So let's see a few more shots here
08:53from just a pretty standard lie here
08:54to this flag, 200 yards away,
08:56because I think there's a few areas to cover.
08:58The first being the feel of the face,
09:00but also the turf interaction you get
09:02when you're striking off a tightline like this.
09:04And thirdly, I think arguably the most important thing
09:07that people would be worried about
09:08if you switch from a four iron to a four hybrid,
09:11is that ball flight getting too high
09:12when you're hitting into the wind.
09:14You don't want to see that ball ballooning up
09:16and losing significant carry distance.
09:18But my hunch would be
09:19the added ball speed output you get from a hybrid
09:22would offset the drop in distance
09:24from hitting into the wind.
09:25And this is a perfect example.
09:26We've got a shot here, it's 200 yards away.
09:28We are hitting into a slight wind.
09:29So be interested to see exactly how these shots compare.
09:32I've got two balls with the hybrid,
09:34two balls with the four iron equivalent.
09:37Let's hit a couple of shots
09:38and see where they finish down on this hole.
09:40So I'm going to start with the hybrid
09:43and hopefully you can pick up
09:44sort of the difference in the sound and feel of this club.
09:53I've hit that really nicely
09:54and I think there's a little bit low on the face
09:56and that's probably something you're going to get with a hybrid.
09:58A little bit more margin for error.
10:00If you do sort of catch the ball a little bit low on the face,
10:02you're not going to be penalised as much
10:04with a hybrid versus a four iron.
10:06Let's see if we can hit this one properly.
10:12Oh, I've struck that really nicely.
10:14A lot higher that one.
10:16I'm pretty happy that that felt really solid.
10:18So that's the shots with the hybrid.
10:21So let's just move back into the four iron.
10:23I do think with a long iron like this,
10:25you do have to be a bit more precise with your ball striking.
10:27If you do catch the ground a little bit heavy,
10:29you're not going to get away with it as much
10:31as you do with a four hybrid with that wider sole.
10:34You know, definitely places a bit more of a premium on good ball striking.
10:42I've hit that pretty nicely.
10:43Just turning over a little bit.
10:45Be really interesting to see exactly where that finishes versus the hybrid.
10:50But obviously, you know, with a hybrid,
10:51you're getting that extra carry distance.
10:52So if you've got a long iron shot and you've got a bunker to carry,
10:56you could argue the hybrid is just going to give you a few more options
11:00and you're not going to be worrying about whether you're going to cover that bunker or not
11:04because you're just getting so much more speed and forgiveness out of it.
11:09Hit that pretty nicely as well.
11:12So yeah, clearly lower trajectory with the four iron.
11:15Slightly more steeper turf interaction with the iron shot versus the hybrid.
11:19More divots, got to be a little bit more precise.
11:22Let's go down there and see where those balls finish
11:25and whether you're actually sacrificing total distance when hitting into a breed.
11:30Right, so up by the green here, seeing where those four shots finished,
11:33two with each club.
11:34And you can see here, short of the green,
11:35this was the shot with the four iron that didn't quite hit as well as the other one.
11:38And that's come up notably short than the hybrid shots I hit.
11:42The first one being this one, this got pretty much pin high
11:45with the hybrid that I hit.
11:47And then over here, we have the other two shots.
11:49Now, this shot here was the one I hit a lot better with the four iron,
11:52but you can see even that one is still slightly shorter than where
11:55the two hybrid shots finished.
11:57Both of these finishing pretty much just short of pin high.
12:00So clearly, the fact that we're hitting into the wind
12:03has been offset by the extra ball speed and forgiveness and
12:07robustness we're getting from the strike of the hybrid.
12:09If you know you're playing in windy conditions,
12:12you have the ability to loft it down or two to really flatten that trajectory out a little bit more
12:16if you're concerned about that.
12:18So clearly, the conditions not having too much effect on the performance
12:22of the hybrid versus the four iron.
12:25Okay, so I know you're probably already really bored of me selling the benefits of a four hybrid,
12:29but I've got one more for you.
12:31And it's in this particular situation around the green,
12:33where I think a lot of golfers struggle, especially when they're chipping with a wedge,
12:37to get the precise contact from this sort of tight line and get the ball close to the pin,
12:41whereas a four hybrid like this is a really good option for golfers who struggle with this particular
12:46shot because that wide sole that you've got is really going to bounce against the grass.
12:50There's absolutely no digging whatsoever when you're striking this particular club from this lie.
12:56The other thing I like about using a four hybrid like this is that because there's a lot of
13:00spring-like effect and power off the face, you haven't got to make a very long swing at all.
13:04You can make a very short controlled swing and with a bit of practice,
13:08get the ball nestling up to the hole from this particular shot.
13:13I've just not, well, that's actually rolled out pretty well to about four feet,
13:18so I'm pretty happy with that one.
13:20So it's just a really good option, even if you don't quite strike it,
13:22it doesn't really matter because you've got so much forgiveness and stability from the face.
13:28You just pop it up there like that, let it release down.
13:32It's such a good, useful option to have versus a wedge or a longline if you're chipping from this
13:37particular situation. The margin for error is so sky high with this particular club.
13:42It's definitely worth considering if you find yourself in situations like this around the
13:46greens might help you get up and down a couple more times around.
13:53So there you have it, the four hybrid. I think this is the club that a lot of golfers should
13:57absolutely be
13:57considering replacing their bag and ditching one of these, the four iron, because as we've shown in
14:03this test, this is just going to give you so much more user-friendly performance in so many different
14:08situations out on the golf course. You're not going to see that bunching that you often get at the
14:12top end of your bag where your four iron and your five iron go similar distances, but more importantly,
14:16you're not going to see those big drop-offs in carry distance when you're not striking the ball properly.
14:21Let's face it, a four iron is pretty difficult to hit, whereas a four hybrid is going to give you
14:25that
14:25stability and consistency of carry distance that every golfer is really going to need when hitting
14:31into greens and different situations. We've seen how well it performs out the rough. We've seen how
14:35well it performs out the green. It could become a go-to club for you, so definitely some food for
14:40thought there. Well, that's all from me here from Lahat in the Golf Links in the south of Spain. I'll
14:45see you next time.
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