If you want more enjoyment from golf, then check out the one thing that will help the most: hybrid golf clubs, sometimes referred to as rescue or utility golf clubs.

Naturally, your driver and putter are equally important, but hybrids can replace your hard-to-hit standard irons and make golf more fun. Simply replace any conventional irons you're having problems hitting with a hybrid of similar loft. Some manufacturers offer the flexibility of buying just one hybrid or a whole set, so you can get what you need when you need it.

Hybrids are designed with all the features of irons and fairway woods, giving the golfer the best of both. Hybrids provide versatility and ease of use, along with improved accuracy and forgiveness. They're effective from all kinds of lies and work very well out of fairway bunkers. Hybrid golf clubs, thanks to their wide soles, are also ideal for a sweeping swing rather than the downward blow needed to succeed with standard irons.

Hybrids are terrific option for men, ladies and seniors, and they're sure to enhance your game – even if you're a low-handicap golfer.

Your best bet for custom hybrid iron sets is an online golf equipment retailer.

More Information on Thomas Golf Hybrids

In some ways, golf equipment hasn't changed a lot in recent years.

Sure, clubs have gotten bigger and new materials have been used to give the clubs advanced performance characteristics, but the general makeup of the average set has stayed the same. Most players carry a driver, a couple of fairway woods, a long list of irons and wedges, and a putter. This has been the plan for many years, and the average golfer has seen no reason to change it.

While it is certainly possible for some golfers to succeed with this plan, it doesn't work for everybody. If you haven't been able to reach what you feel is your potential in this game, it might be time to look in a new direction. Specifically, you may want to consider the idea of using an entire set of hybrid irons. Rather than filling your bag with traditional irons, you will opt for hybrid irons, which have some of the best features of both irons and fairway woods. In the end, you may come away with a set that is easier to hit, inspires confidence on the course, and ultimately allows you to lower your scores.

One of the first things you will have to get over when thinking about this idea is any hesitation you have about being different than everyone else. If you opt for a hybrid iron set, there is a good chance you will be the only player at your local club using this set design. But that's okay. There is nothing wrong with being unique, especially if your decision pays off in the form of lower scores. The goal here is to play the best possible golf while staying within the rules of the game. If that means using a set that doesn't look like everyone else's, well that's just fine.

All of the content below is based on a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.

Why Use a Hybrid Iron Set?

Every change you make to your golf game needs to be made for a purpose. Most of the time, that purpose is going to be the intention of lowering your scores. Sometimes, you will make a change just because you think it will make the game more fun, and that is worthwhile, as well. However, the majority of the changes you seek to make will be done with one thing in mind – taking fewer strokes to make it around the course.

That is certainly the case when it comes to switching to a hybrid iron set. If you are considering making this change, it is because you think the hybrid iron set could help you play better golf on a round to round basis. Of course, playing better golf is likely to make the game more fun, so this change can be seen as a positive all around if it works out.

To help you understand what may be gained by using a hybrid iron set, we have listed some important points below.

• Forgiveness. The leading reason to make the switch is that hybrid irons are likely to be more forgiving than a traditional set of irons. On your poor swings, you may get a better result from the hybrid iron than you would get from a regular iron, and that is a valuable benefit. It would be great to make perfect swings all the time, but that just isn't reality in golf. This is a hard game, and you are going to hit bad shots along the way. To get more out of those shots, think about trying hybrid irons. The club heads themselves are designed to be forgiving on shots that miss the sweet spot at the moment of impact. If you feel like your current irons are 'punishing' you too harshly when you slightly miss-hit the ball, opting for hybrid irons may be a big step in the right direction.
• Height on your shots. Another big selling point for hybrid irons is their ability to get the ball up into the air with relative ease. If you are constantly struggling to get the ball more than a few yards off the ground, your game is going to suffer in a couple of ways. First, it will be difficult to get any meaningful distance on your shots, so you may struggle to reach greens in regulation. Also, it's hard to get the ball over hazards when you are always hitting it low, so courses with a number of hazards included in the layout will be tough for you to enjoy. Thanks to the performance characteristics of hybrid irons, getting the ball up in the air should be easier than ever before. Club designers focus on placing a large percentage of the weight of these clubs in the sole, meaning they have a low center of gravity and the ball naturally wants to climb into the air after it is struck. These kinds of clubs aren't automatic, of course – you still have to make the swing – but they can help many players overcome the problem of persistently hitting the ball low along the turf.
• Deal with a variety of lies. Over the years, some golfers who have struggled to play well with their irons have decided to use a large number of fairway woods to displace some of the irons they never could master. That is a plan that may work in some cases, but it has its limitations. Specifically, the problem with using so many fairway woods is that those clubs aren't particularly versatile. They work just fine off the tee and from the fairway, but they can run into trouble in the rough. The shape of the average fairway wood really isn't well-suited to dive down into the rough, unlike a hybrid iron. These clubs work nicely from a variety of lies, including the light- and medium-rough, and even the sand. You need to have as much versatility in your set as possible to achieve positive results on the course and using a hybrid iron set will help you find some of that valuable versatility.

More useful clubs. Let's be honest – most amateur golfers don't use their long irons. Or, if they do use them, they don't get very much production from them in terms of positive outcomes. Long irons are hard to hit, and as a result, they remain in the bag most of the time for the average player. This is a shame, as the rules of golf only allow you to carry 14 clubs during a round of golf. With a limited number of spots available in your bag, it is a waste to carry two or three that you really can't hit. By switching to a hybrid iron set, there will suddenly be more clubs in your bag that are a viable option when the time is right. You'll be able to simply pick the right club for the shot at hand, rather than having to work around certain parts of your bag just because you don't trust those clubs to get the job done.

Once you start to look at what hybrid iron sets can do for your game, they become a pretty easy sell. These kinds of golf clubs can make the game easier for some players, and that should lead to those players having more fun on the course. With all of this said, hybrid iron sets aren't right for every golfer. Are they right for you? Let's take a look at that question in the next section.

Are You a Good Candidate?

So far, we've made the idea of using a set of hybrid irons sound pretty appealing. And, to be sure, it is appealing. But as we mentioned at the end of the previous section, these kinds of clubs aren't going to be a good fit for every player. Before you do any shopping, it is worth considering whether or not you fit the mold of a golfer who can benefit from hybrid irons.

We are going to work through this by process of elimination. In other words, if you fit any of the descriptions below, you may not be a good fit for what hybrid irons have to offer.

• You already hit your irons well. This might be an obvious point, but we need to start out list here just to be clear. If you already play well with your current set of irons, why would you change? Some golfers fall into the trap of thinking that the grass will always be greener on the other side when it comes to equipment, but that simply isn't true. If you've got something that is working nicely for you, stick with it until further notice. Even if you get hybrid irons and they also work pretty well, what will have been gained? Your iron play wasn't a problem to begin with, so you won't be any closer to reaching your goals. If you already consider iron play to be one of your strengths, don't worry about making the switch to hybrid irons and instead focus your efforts in other areas.
• You have plenty of swing speed. The players who stand to benefit the most from using hybrid irons are those with a relatively low swing speed. That category of player tends to hit the ball too low, so the ability of hybrid irons to get the ball up in the air will be a welcome addition. With a high swing speed, however, getting the ball up into the sky probably isn't something that gives you trouble. Rather than making an equipment change, work on making your swing as consistent as possible so you can repeat your ball flight over and over again.
• You are a low handicap golfer. This last point falls into a similar category as the first two – if it's not broken, why try to fix it? Obviously, if you are a low handicap golfer, you are doing a lot of things well on the course. You regularly shoot respectable scores, and you post the occasional great round. Making a dramatic equipment change like swapping out your entire set of irons is unnecessary, since what you are currently doing is working so well. If your handicap moves in the wrong direction down the line and you think this option might make sense for you at that time, go ahead and consider it then. For now, keep playing great golf and enjoy the skills you have developed to this point.

So, with the three points above, we have eliminated some people from the population of golfers who will benefit from hybrid irons. But here's the thing – most golfers don't fall into any of the three categories above. Most players don't love the way they hit their irons, most players don't have a high swing speed, and most players don't shoot low scores. In other words, many golfers stand to benefit from using a hybrid iron set. Unless you happen to count yourself among the golfers who fit into one or more of the categories listed above, keep your mind open to the possibility of adding a hybrid iron set to your bag.

As we wind down our article about hybrid iron sets, we have a few more quick points we would like to touch on. Please find those below.

• Shaft flex is crucial. Don't just buy the first hybrid iron set you find without first thinking about the shaft you would like to have included in that set. In many ways, the shafts you pick are more important than the actual club heads themselves. If the shafts in your hybrid iron set are too stiff, you'll still struggle to get the ball up off the ground, even though the design of the club head will be working for you.
• Give it some time. Just like any other equipment change you make in golf, you shouldn't expect immediate results when you move from a traditional iron set to a hybrid iron set. Spend plenty of time practicing with these new clubs and be patient as you watch for signs of progress along the way.
• Be open to adjustments. If you have been playing with traditional irons for a long time, there is a good chance that some adjustments to your swing technique will be needed. You might need to stand a little farther back when using a hybrid iron as compared to a traditional iron, for example, and you may need to move the ball up in your stance as well. This is another reason that it is important to give yourself time when making this change – it will take some experimentation before you are able to settle on the right swing to make these clubs work properly for you.

Hybrid iron sets may not be as old as some of the other types of golf clubs, but that doesn't mean you should dismiss their value or potential. For the right golfer, this type of set can be a great boost on the course. Think about your game and whether or not picking up a hybrid iron set would be a wise investment in your golf future. Good luck!