In our forums, our members have been discussing the validity of setting up a 3-wood to act like a more forgiving driving iron. WRXer ‘Heckle’ states that he wants to “create a lower launch, low spin club” and asks our members would he benefit from “going to an extra stiff shaft to achieve a lower spin and launch and more accurate club”. Our members have their say.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

• Stinger83: “It depends on your launch. If you really want lower flight, I’d say go 2hybrid (I think they make a 17 degree) and then heavier in the shaft weight. But you may find you don’t like it as much going into greens.”
• mwcallison: “I have had great success using a 3H as a driving iron. I play a G400 19* with a Tour AD-DI 95s (driving iron version – not hybrid) at 40”. It’s nearly impossible to get it above mid-launch and spin. It rolls out more than my driver does. It’s a great change-up between my mid/high launching 4w and 4h. With my swing speed, I don’t have huge yardage gaps from Driver through 4h. So versatility is much more useful than exact gapping.”
• Myherobobhope: “I’m carrying a 9-degree hybrid and a 23-degree utility iron… both with Proforce V2 shafts in them. I think the hybrid launches higher, but haven’t actually tested it… If I need a knockdown shot, I hit the utility; I tee off with the hybrid more on par 4s.”
• ex0dus: “Hybrids typically launch higher than driving irons because the CG is farther back from the face. Smaller hybrids front to back will launch lower, like the Cally pro models. Ping i25 might be a good one too. Some of the old Adams hybrids were available at 16* loft, and they could hit bullets. This one, in particular, would be perfect in a driving iron role. I had this one before but didn’t have much use for it normally. It was great when the wind was up though.”
• mootrail: “A shaft is not going to change the launch and spin characteristics of any given head, and it’s not going to magically change a hybrid into a DI. A shaft switch can change your swing and delivery, and that’s where you might see better results. Like MWC, I’ve switched to an iron length and weight hybrid with a Modus 3 Tour 105. It works super from the tee and turf and your best bet to get DI performance out of a hybrid. Otherwise, I’d be looking at alternatives like the GAPRs, Crossovers or real DIs. You can spend the time and effort rebuilding yours with a shorter heavier shaft and a reweighted head, but no guarantees, except a much flatter lie angle.”

Entire Thread: “Using a hybrid as a driving iron”