Replacing Irons And Woods With A Hybrid?... How To Decide The Equivalent Number Loft

When hybrids were first introduced they absolutely revolutionized the game, making it easier and far more enjoyable, especially for women. With our slower swing speeds it’s even more useful to ditch a low lofted iron that’s incredibly hard to get airborne for the best women's hybrids equivalent that’s designed to effortlessly launch the ball higher due to the size, shape and center of gravity location low and deep inside the head. 

You’d be forgiven for thinking that if you’re going to get rid of a 4-iron then a hybrid stamped with “4” is the right choice. Wrong! Unfortunately it simply doesn’t work like that. A 4-hybrid can have a totally different loft to your old 4-iron. It might also go a lot further than your old 4-iron because of its modern design. 

Either way, doing a like-for-like swap based purely on the number could leave you with a massive distance gap between clubs in your bag. The solution is to get custom fitted by a professional who can use a launch monitor to track how far you hit each club in the bag, get your distance gaps spot-on, and recommend the correct replacement loft hybrids for the irons or woods you want to ditch out of your bag. 

That’s what I did about five years ago and I now carry three hybrid woods, a 17, 19 and 22-degree. The longest iron I cary is a 5-iron (although as I get older and weaker I’m also tempted to replace that) and the only wood I carry, other than my driver is a 3-wood. I fell in love with the hybrid club and I knew it offered me the most versatility and playability out of any club I could carry at the top-end of my bag.

The Right Loft

A fitter will help you choose a loft that suits your swing speed and the distance you want to achieve, so that it doesn't overlap an existing fairway wood or long iron in distance, or create a gap in distance. It is always easier to change the club loft for the golf swing than the golf swing for an incorrect loft.

Swap Your Woods For Hybrids

A lot of women struggle to hit their fairway woods. The longer shaft, smaller head and lower loft make them harder clubs to hit, especially when swung at our naturally slower swing speed. If you are in the situation of carrying say a 3-wood or 5-wood in your bag but rarely using them, then I would definitely suggest making the switch to a hybrid. 

Several equipment manufacturers have identified that women need this helping hand and have built bespoke iron/hybrid/wood sets in recent years. Examples include the TaylorMade Kalea Premier and the Ping G Le3.

A Hybrid Loft For Anything

There’s a common misconception that hybrids are just long iron replacements. In fact there are many, many hybrid loft options and a low-lofted hybrid, ranging between 14° to 17°, is ideally suited to replace your 3-wood or your 5-wood. 

The smaller head size makes it easier to hit from all course situations, including out of the rough, than the bigger footprint of the fairway wood. If you carry a more lofted 7-wood, a moderate-lofted hybrid (around 22°) can replace this club. This hybrid loft is the equivalent substitute to a 4-iron.

Will The Equivalent Hybrid Go The Same Distance

No. Even with the same loft, a 5-wood will go further than the equivalent 3-hybrid. It’s due to the way a fairway wood is built and designed, which allows for greater ball speed, lower spin and therefore a different trajectory ball flight and more run-out upon landing. 

A fairway wood flights like a rainbow, a hybrid flights much higher, like an iron. That means a well-struck fairway wood will yield greater overall distance. That’s not to say that the equivalent hybrid distance is a lot shorter, we are talking just a few yards here, but nevertheless for most women their fairway wood distances will be greater.

Hybrids Are Helpful

One of the things I love about hybrids is their versatility. I can play little low punch shots into the wind, or as a longer recovery option if I am under the branches of a tree and need to play a long chip and run or low drilling recovery shot out. I can also shape my shots with a hybrid like I can with an iron, far easier than with a wood in my hands. I also find a hybrid easier to hit than a long iron off the fairway.

A Beginner's Dream

A 5-hybrid is more versatile than a 5-wood, and easier to hit than a 5-iron, making it the perfect choice for a beginner. At the entry level of the game, our miss-hit ratio is much higher. A hybrid will give you more confidence. It has a bigger footprint than an iron, has the added loft and the center of gravity can be positioned low and deep inside the head to help you get the ball airborne more easily. As a beginner I would suggest you carry at least one hybrid in your bag.

In summary, selecting the right hybrid loft to replace an iron or a wood is critical to correctly filling a gap in your bag so you don’t have any awkward distance jumps. Use the expertise of a professional fitter using a launch monitor to provide the data to guide them. It’s critical that you get this tiny bit of help as you’ll be guessing the loft of your hybrid otherwise!