Dear Guru,

Over the past few of months, I have ditched my 3 and 4 iron for a couple of hybrids and the main thing I have found is that I get a better flight with them. They have been a revelation I think as my long iron play has become more confident and I enjoy pulling out the 21 deg hybrid as opposed to the 3 iron. Thing thing is, when I need to hit a low shot from say 170m out with the hybrid, and it is into the wind, I find it difficult to keep the ball low. I do put the ball back in the stance an inch or so but it still ” balloons” at times. I do not use a tee with my hybrids as I just stub up some grass on the tee area. I actually never tee up my ball on a par 3 as as I just try to find some nice grass. Is that a bad thing? I see people tee up their ball with say a 7 iron and it is too high for example. If you tee the ball up too high with an iron or a hybrid, that is not correct?I am a 6/7 HC golfer if that helps. Gonna ask more questions soon okay. Thank you in advance.

Teeing anything other than a driver is purely to get a clean shot at the ball with as little grass between the face and the ball. So the tee should be pretty much level with the top of the grass. Those who tee up high are those who are usually trying to get under it rather than hitting down on it.

If you have a .335 shafted Hybrid its going to be more tip soft than a .370 iron so will probably fly the ball more by design. On a windy day well, if you can play it back in the stance and rotate the face closed fast it will stay down with a running hook sort of shot with a hybrid but will still fly higher than the same iron.

If its ballooning beware that the face is rotating closed and not doing a ‘bunker’ type face action through the ball (aka a Vertical Hinge).

As Jack Nicklaus said, if theres a tee to be used, then it should be used :)

And as for ballooning, why not grip down on a 3 wood if thats your next club of choice after a hybrid.

Hitting a stinger shot is hard for most as it requires practise and confidence.. next easier step is to grip down a 3 wood and hit a comfortable swing.

wats a stinger shot?

Bradley,

The stinger is a lower slightly shorter shot with authority being the prime quality. Easy to learn.

You can learn a lot about “the stinger” ( a lower speed higher thrush impact ) by using your normal swing or hit but cutting you finish as short as possible. Two or three feet past the ball.

It is a sound and simple shot to play and very instructive.

It is useful in certain physical and psychological situations.