Should You Hit Fairway Woods Or Hybrids?
19 March 2024
When it comes to picking the right combination of fairway woods and hybrids it is important to know the differences between each type of club and how they can fit into your game.
Fairway woods and hybrids fill the gap between your driver and your longest iron and the aim is to get the right combination to suit your swing speed and what you intend to use the club for.
The Difference Between Fairway Woods And Hybrids
The two main differences between fairway woods and hybrids are the head size and the shaft length.
Fairway wood heads tend to be more rounded and deeper which makes them more forgiving as they have more back spin. Hybrid heads are generally not as deep and more compact. However they are more versatile from uneven lies or semi-rough as the centre of gravity is lower and closer to the face.
The shaft on a fairway wood tends to be longer than that for the equivalent lofted hybrid and therefore you will be able to generate more club head speed and therefore more distance. Hybrid shafts are shorter and therefore offer more control, but with custom shaft fitting it is possible to blend the shaft type and length to suit your game.
How To Choose A Fairway Wood
Fairway woods are ideal for the second shot into long holes or trying to hit a tight fairway from the tee. The range in loft from 13° to 27° but the most popular choices in our fairway custom fitting are 3 woods and 5 woods.
From the tee a 3-wood will probably be a good option as it is more forgiving than a driver thanks to the shorter shaft and higher loft. However, things may be different from the fairway as the ball is being hit lower in the face. If you do not have the right club head delivery or speed than you might struggle to get enough carry from a typical 15° fairway wood. This is because the modern design of clubs has tended to create less spin with a higher launch and with balls pinning less too, then getting the ball airborne is harder with less loft.
Many golfers may find that an 18° 5-wood might carry further than a 3-wood because it launches the ball higher at certain speeds. If you are using your fairway wood to hit approach shots too, then you need a high landing angle to enable it to stop. Therefore a lot of players are looking 21° 7-woods to give them the performance they used to get from a 5-wood.
How To Choose A Hybrid
As their name suggests, hybrids are a blend of the forgiveness of woods and the accuracy and playability of long irons. In our hybrid custom fitting they can be set up to hit the same distances as 5-woods and 7-woods, but they will do so with a slightly lower flight. The flight will still be higher than the equivalent lofted iron and with the extra forgiveness from the larger head, the best way to think of hybrids is as a more forgiving driving iron.
Again, the decision will come down to how you deliver the club head and your swing speed, but most players should have at least 1 or 2 hybrids in their bag. Slower swing speed players such as seniors or women golfers may have more than with their irons starting at 7 iron or lower.
It is all about finding the right blend of hybrids between the longer end of the bag and your longest playable iron.
How To Choose Between Fairways and Hybrids
The simple answer is you don’t. The fairways and hybrids choose you. Coming along to a custom fitting session for fairway woods and hybrids at SGGT will clearly show the right combination for you. Our expert fitters will use Trackman and Titleist Pro V1 golf balls hit outside to determine the right loft, shaft length and set up for your fairways and hybrids to split more fairways, hit more greens and save you shots.
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