Who loves their hybrids? ... looking for advice ..

[kamandi]

So I bought a hybrid a long time ago when I didn't know what to look for, and just got it on the suggestion of a friend. What I liked about it was it's versatility for shot making and tough lies; unfortunately, the face was too closed at address for me (Sonartec Md).

Now, I see an Adams Idea Black Pro hybrid calling out to me from e-bay. The head looks compact, which I like. The face angle looks pretty neutral at address. I'm hoping there's some good weight that I can feel in the head, but I wouldn't know. There's a 20*, 18*, and 16*.

I have a Sonartec ss-3.5 3 wood in the bag, so I'm thinking this hybrid will be my 2nd distance club. I'm tempted to get the 16* for the distance, but I'm wondering with the limited loft, will it become less serviceable in the rough and the bunkers. I'm also wondering if manipulating distance and trajectory will be much more difficult with this loft than with the 20*, or if it's relatively comparable. I'm assuming the 16* hybrid should still be more forgiving than a long iron, or that defeats the whole purpose of the hybrid.

Besides the Pro Black series, the other Adams hybrids look pretty good too. If the only difference between them is a more penetrating ball flight for the Pro Black, the friendlier ones may be better. I just want to make sure I don't make the same assumption mistake I did like when I bought my 5 wood; I got the Sonartec ss-2.5 5 wood model, thinking the ss-2.5 was designed to be easier to hit and fly than the ss-3.5 models, but it didn't match my swing, and now I end up hitting my 3 wood better than my 5 wood.

Anyway, any thoughts/experiences (not necessarily on Adams, even the current hybrids you're using)? Thanks.

[gmbtempe]

I have the Adams Pro Gold that preceeded the blacks....they are less hook biased (so I have been told) with a higher flight which appealed to me. Very solid club.

I hit the TM TP 2009 hybrids and thought they were great and really long.

[Richie3Jack]

I have a Mizuno Fli-Hi CLK 20* loft, with a steel shaft in it. It’s a very effective club to have because I can hit it out of the rough and off the tee pretty well. The only trouble is getting it to stop on the green from the fairway. If it’s a par-3 and I need to take a little yardage off, I usually just tee it a tad higher and get it to go a little shorter and land softer, but from the fairway that can be a bit difficult to do.

One thing I would recommend is looking at hybrids with steel shafts. I think like irons, the steel shafts play more consistently and more accurately and in essence, that’s what the hybrid is really about….accuracy, consistency and distance control.

I’d also make sure to try some of these hybrids out. I was hitting a Cobra baffler hybrid, same specs…about 20 yards shorter than the Mizuno. I’d say the Mizuno goes about as long as a 1-iron when teed up on a tight fairway. 2-iron length when hit from the fairway or the rough. And can go as far a 3-iron if I try to get some more loft to it. So at 16* loft with your hybrid, that’s going to go a bit further than my 20* club which takes my 3-iron out of the bag.






3JACK

[gmbtempe]

agree on the Specs

I hit the 4H which is 23 degrees like a 3 irons, or about 215 for me, and I hit the 5H like a 4 iron or 200 yards.

I also echo about the spin, easier to hit but tougher for me to get high with spin.

[kamandi]

Thanks for the info, guys. I guess since both of you agree that hybrids won't get the same bite, I'm now leaning towards getting either the 20* or the 18* lofts, for a higher trajectory for softer landing.

gmbtempe, how does the headweight of your adams feel? Is there some weight you can feel, or is it super light? Glad to hear that the orientation isn't hooky; I have a tough time setting up with a club that has a draw bias.

@richie3jack, how long is your 20* hybrid shaft when you compare it to your iron set? Is it the length of your 3 iron? The ones I'm looking at has stock shafts in them, but I do have an extra True Temper shaft here so it shouldn't be a problem to change later on. If someone on e-bay was selling just the head, I'd buy it and shaft it with the true temper. Btw, my extra iron shaft is taper tipped; is that an okay fit, or does it need a parallel tip?

Also, good to know that you can effectively mimic the length of up to 3 clubs with the hybrid. That will make it much more useful.

Thanks.

[kamandi]

Hmmm, I've been taking another look at my Sonartec hybrid again, and I'm thinking maybe my problem has been not setting up properly with it. The face has a bit of a bulge, so that might have gotten my perception off. Also, I used to try to make the face pint directly at the ball so that makes it have a huge hook bias, with the shaft really leaning forward. If I just lay it on the ground, it actually looks pretty square ... the face just looks likes it's pointing up at the sky. Also, I felt the lie angle was extremely steep, but as I look at the score lines, it actually goes somewhat diagonally across the rectangular face, not parallel to the rectangle shape; making the score lines parallel to the ground, instead of the rectangular face parallel to the ground, makes the lie angle flatter. Also, I noticed the sweet spot is not exactly center, but a bit towards the heel.

I just assumed that if I followed the shape of the club, that's the square set-up. When the weather clears, I'll give this another shot before buying the Adams.

[gmbtempe]

I have the Aldila Proto shaft and I feel like they are plenty heavy in the head, does not feel lite to me....feels normal.

I researched the whole draw biased hybrids because I hook the ball and this is what people told me was best. I do like the TM TP because you can set it up to 2 degrees open.

[gmbtempe]

also hyrbids have no hold in value because there is so much out there. You probably can stuff pretty cheap

cgi.ebay.com/ADAMS-IDEA-PRO-GOLD-HYBRID-24-26-ALDILA-VS-PROTO-REG-/200502147419?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Golf_Clubs&hash=item2eaedbf95b#ht_1573wt_911

[kamandi]

Thanks, man. Good to know about the swing weight, the face angle, as well as the older model as an option. It actually looks pretty good.

As I was looking for info on the Adams Black Pro Hybrid, I saw the swingweight was D2.

The black actually looks even slimmer than the gold model; I wonder if there are some performance weaknesses from that. I'll keep on the lookout for more reviews.

[gmbtempe]

I think the Black has a slightly smaller profile from the face on. I have not hit the Black, only the gold.