If a senior golfer has lost confidence with their long or mid-irons, hybrid clubs could provide the answer. Long irons are notoriously difficult to hit, even some of the top professionals have ditched them in favour of hybrids.

The reason hybrids inspire more confidence is the club head design which features a deeper cavity than long irons allowing manufacturers to shift weight out to the perimeter of the club head.

It’s this shift in weight which gives hybrids a confidence advantage over long irons. Long irons don’t have the same amount of forgiveness as hybrids and are more likely to twist at impact reducing the distance achievable on off centre hits.

For a senior golfer, feeling the ball hit the toe of a club but see it fly high towards the target will boost confidence. The wide hybrid sole also helps give an extra boost out of rotten lies. It’s this quality which saw them originally termed rescue clubs by the golfing fraternity. The term hybrid comes from combining the depth of a fairway wood with the playability of an iron. By combining forgiveness and versatility, hybrid clubs have a wide appeal and attract the whole spectrum of golfers from junior to senior.

The best way for a senior golfer to see if switching to hybrid clubs will inspire more confidence, is to test long irons and hybrids out on the course.

A test of confidence

First of all, find a hybrid brand and design which you prefer, such as Thomas Golf’s AT705, and pick the loft needed to replace the problem club/s (22 degree hybrid to replace a 3 iron for example). On the course, find a distance of shot which you normally need a long iron for, this could be 170 yards with a 3 iron, for example.

Practice hitting a few shots to your target with the long iron and take note of the resulting shot, how the ball flew through the air, shot shape and more importantly, the confidence you had before the ball was struck, did you believe the shot would be a success?

Now repeat the test with the hybrid taking note of the same results and judging the amount of confidence you have over the ball. After this test has been completed, repeat the process from different lies, from light rough, heavy rough, sand etc. By directly comparing the results and levels of confidence, you’ll easily see if hybrid clubs breathe that extra bit of belief into your game.

Other confidence drills

Senior golfers should remember hybrid clubs are not just confined to long approach shots; they can be used to tackle other tricky situations. Another area hybrid clubs can be used is on short chip-and-run shots around the green. To test a hybrid chip and run, the senior golfer should adopt their normal putting routine. The hybrid club will slide through any tricky lies producing a low running shot releasing out to the hole. Try out some hybrid clubs and see if they help to improve your confidence on the golf course.