With all of the different club selection choices on the market, it can be hard to find the perfect combination for your golf bag.
One of the decisions golfers have to make is choosing the correct number of woods and hybrids.
It is certainly good to have a mix, but which should you have more of?
When the lofts on the hybrids start to overlap the lofts on the woods, you will have some decisions to make.
7 Wood vs. 3 Hybrid
The three hybrid will be a bit more versatile than the seven wood, and therefore, it is a better choice.
There are some additional considerations for this decision.
They include the type of player you are, where you play, your handicap, and your equipment budget as well.
Let’s break this decision down a bit more and help you figure this out.
Benefits of a Seven Wood
The most significant benefit you will notice from the seven wood is that it is going to give you more distance.
A seven wood is hit similar to a driver, and you will swing with more of a sweeping action.
This sweeping action helps to get the ball up in the air, and there is very little interaction with the turf.
The biggest benefit of the seven wood is that it can fly a long way, and you won’t have to do much more than sweep it off the ground.
If you find that you are very strong with your woods and driver, the seven wood is the better choice to go with.
A seven wood sometimes costs a bit more money than a three hybrid, but that is not always the case.
Making your decision based solely on the price of the club is probably not the best idea.
Another reason people like the seven wood is that it is also great as an alternative to the tee.
If you tee the seven wood up slightly, you can get quite a bit of distance out of it and use it as an alternative if you are struggling with the driver.
Although you can also do this with a hybrid, it is quite a bit easier with a seven wood.
Benefits of a Three Hybrid
The most significant benefit of a three hybrid is going to be the ability to hit shots out of the rough.
There is no club quite like the hybrid when it comes to hitting shots out of the rough.
You will be very impressed with the capabilities of the three hybrid, even when your ball is in the rough.
In addition to the bad lie, a hybrid is easy to launch, and most of the time, you will be able to stop the hybrid on the green a bit faster as well.
With a fairway wood in your hands, the ball can sometimes roll through a green.
The trajectory tends to be a little lower and can cause a bit more roll.
This is, of course, what makes the three hybrid better on a par three as well.
If you want to hit a shot directly to a pin, the hybrid will be a better choice over a seven wood.
If you are looking for pure distance on a par five, then the seven wood is a great option to consider.
Factors to Consider When Choosing Between a Seven Wood and a Three Hybrid
Now that you know the major benefits of the seven wood and the three hybrid, let’s look at a few factors that will help you choose the right one for you.
1. Handicap Level
Most of the time, a higher handicapper is going to enjoy the fairway woods over the hybrids.
The fairway woods tend to be very lightweight, and their larger club face makes them more forgiving as well.
If you are a higher handicapper, the seven wood will likely be the better choice.
Make sure you choose something with plenty of loft that plays like a true seven wood and not like a weak five wood.
The more loft a club has, the easier it is going to be to hit.
Loft is a major consideration for the higher handicappers.
Low handicappers are going to prefer the hybrid because of the accuracy and the playability.
With a hybrid, you can hit a draw, fade, or keep it straight.
You can also get a hybrid to stop on a green where you need it to.
These are all significant benefits a lower handicap player is going to look for.
Lower handicappers also look for a smaller clubhead to play with.
A three hybrid is going to be much more workable than a seven wood, which will appeal to the lower handicappers.
2. Equipment Budget
Most of the time, a fairway wood is priced a bit higher than the hybrid.
This is mostly because of the material used in the fairway wood as compared to the hybrid golf club.
The difference in the price of the two clubs is probably going to be about $50 most of the time.
Another thing that is important to mention is the fact that the seven wood can be a bit harder to find.
Not all manufacturers will make a seven wood in all of their club models.
Some of the models will be made in the three wood and five wood, but they will leave out the seven wood.
This is because the seven wood is not quite as popular a seller, and some golfers don’t feel the need to carry one in their bag.
Another issue which has resulted in fewer seven woods on the market is the increase in adjustable five woods.
Golfers now have the ability to change the loft on their five wood to act as if it were a seven wood.
Therefore, golf manufacturers do not need to produce quite as many seven woods to keep up with demand.
3. Strong Points of Your Golf Game
Another factor to consider when setting your golf bag up with the proper equipment is the strong points of your game.
If you are more of an iron player, then the hybrid will be a better choice.
If you are a golfer who does better with your driver, then the seven wood is likely the better choice.
People have different types of golf swings, and if your swing tends to sweep the ball a bit more, the seven wood is the perfect option.
If you like to hit down and through shots, you will do better with the three hybrids.
It is essential to consider the strengths in your game so that you have an easier time hitting the types of shots you want.
Although you can likely learn to hit with either club, it is best to choose one that plays to your strengths.
How Many Fairway Woods Should I have in My Bag?
Knowing the perfect set makeup for your game is very important.
Understanding what clubs work for you will take a bit of time and trial and error to figure out.
Most golfers are going to carry two fairway woods in their bag.
It is standard to carry a three wood and a five wood.
Carrying a seven wood will not be quite as common as carrying the three wood and five wood.
Most golfers carry the three wood as a backup for the driver.
The five wood is an excellent option for hitting approach shots on a par five.
This leaves the seven wood in kind of a difficult spot.
It doesn’t have the exact roll and definition that the other fairway woods have.
People will be unsure when to use the seven wood unless they need it for par fours.
This is why you see many of the higher handicappers using the seven wood.
How Many Hybrids Should I Have in My Bag?
Most golfers are going to carry one or two hybrids in the golf bag.
The hybrids are usually going to replace the three and the four irons.
As the hybrids have made their mark in the golf world, players have realized they are much easier to hit than the long irons.
A three hybrid is a popular club to have, but the most popular is probably going to be the four hybrid.
A four hybrid is a staple in the golf bags of most average golfers.
In fact, as the hybrid technology continues to improve, we are seeing more and more five hybrids start to appear in a golfer’s bag.
Overall, the hybrid is a favorite among most players.
Is a Three Hybrid Easy to Hit?
Knowing how difficult a three iron is to hit, some golfers worry that the three hybrids will be just as difficult.
Luckily, this is not the case.
A three hybrid is not nearly as hard to hit as a three iron.
With a three hybrid, you will have a much lower center of gravity, which will help to increase the ball flight and the forgiveness as well.
The sweet spot on a hybrid is also much larger than that of a three iron.
Although golfers with higher swing speeds will be able to hit the three iron, they will have more consistency than the three iron.
If you are working on lowering your handicap, you will want a club in your hand that produces consistency.
The three hybrids will be more consistent than the three iron.
Of course, if you have a shot buried in the rough, you will probably not get a perfect hybrid shot, but it will be much better than the three iron.
Overall, golf is a game of misses.
If your misses can get better, you will have an easier time scoring and be able to lower your overall score.
Adding a hybrid to your bag as opposed to a three iron will undoubtedly help with this.
When you want to compare whether the seven wood or the three hybrid is easier to hit, it depends on the lie and the player’s ability.
These two clubs are about equally easy to hit.
Conclusion
As you can see, the seven wood and the three hybrid will be very closely related.
Most of the time, golfers are going to go with the three hybrid because of its versatility.
That extra forgiveness out of the rough is something that will certainly come in handy.
Although players like to get plenty of distance from their shots, accuracy is more important in the end.
If you are already carrying a three wood and a five wood in your bag, it makes more sense to put the extra hybrid in.
As your game improves, you will be able to hit even more shots with the hybrid to lower your golf score.
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