Dan Parker takes an in-depth look at the key differences between a 21° 7 wood and a 21° hybrid to see which club you should consider utilizing to get the most at the top end of your bag. After going through some of the key stats that differentiate these clubs, Dan then takes you through a few shots out on the course to show the potential benefits and pitfalls of a 7-wood and a hybrid.
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00:00I have got some fascinating data about whether you should be using one of these, a 7-wood,
00:05or one of these, a hybrid.
00:07Or maybe both.
00:08Let's get started.
00:17So before we get to hitting a few shots on course and talk about the data, let's talk
00:20about the characteristics of these two clubs.
00:22What is the difference between a 7-wood and a hybrid?
00:25Let's talk about the 7-wood first because that is sort of the main star of the show
00:28today.
00:29As you can see with the characteristics of this 7-wood, the head is a lot bigger and
00:33that means the centre of gravity is deeper and lower compared to a hybrid.
00:36And that means the ball gets up in the air a lot quicker and a lot higher.
00:41So where these uses come in is for approaches to greens, if you want more stopping power,
00:45if you find yourself on a lot of par 3s at 180, 200 yards, depending on how far you hit
00:49these sort of things, it's really useful for that compared to a hybrid.
00:53So we'll look at the hybrid now.
00:54Obviously, we know what a hybrid looks like.
00:55It's got a lot smaller head and that ball flight is a lot lower because that centre
00:58of gravity is in a much different position.
01:01Another thing to note about hybrids and whether you want a hybrid or a more lofted wood in
01:05the bag is that a hybrid tends to have a bit more draw bias on them.
01:09They'll turn left to right for me as a left-hander, right to left if you're a right-hander, which
01:13is great for some, but some people want to shake the ball both ways and that's where
01:17the control of a 7-wood, which is a lot easier to shake in both directions, comes into effect.
01:21So even though they might have the same stated loft on there and they say they're the same
01:25number, that dynamic loft at impact is very different and the characteristics are very
01:30different, which we'll come and talk about in just a second.
01:33So let's talk about some of that data that I found in my testing.
01:36I'm going to flash up a table now.
01:38I've had about two or three range tests comparing these and I picked about 20 shots that I think
01:42were most representative to get these averages from.
01:45And we'll talk about the similarities first.
01:47So you can see the ball speed, very similar, 134 mile an hour to 131.
01:51Not too much there.
01:52And that then led to an average carry distance of 208 yards on the 7-wood and 207 with the
01:574-hybrid.
01:58So very, very similar, which is what I expected actually.
02:00So I was pretty pleased to see that during my testing.
02:03But the big difference is, and the benefits that some of you might see from going from
02:077-wood instead of a hybrid, comes in that peak height.
02:11You can see the big difference there, 30.5 yards on average, playing 24 yards on the
02:15hybrid.
02:16So pretty much six yards in the air difference, which is going to give that 7-wood a much
02:20steeper descent angle and way more stopping power than a hybrid.
02:24So it was fascinating to see that.
02:25I really enjoyed hitting it on the range actually.
02:27You know, hitting the 7-wood, it's going up like a 7-iron, or even a pitching wedge sometimes.
02:31It was really, really cool.
02:32And you've not lost that yardage as we've seen.
02:34They're going the same distance, but that ball flight characteristic was so different.
02:38We'll see that in a minute on course.
02:40And that's played out in the spin as well, 6,000 for the 7-wood, 5.5 for the hybrid.
02:46I'd expect that the 7-wood will spin the ball a little bit more.
02:50And then it comes down to that launch angle as well, 12.4 to 10.6.
02:54That 7-wood is naturally launching a little bit higher, all down to that center of gravity.
02:58So this is what I expected during my testing.
03:00I was pretty happy to see these results.
03:01It's the kind of thing I wanted to see as well.
03:04Similar lofts going similar distances, but with very, very different ball flight characteristics.
03:09So with all that data out of the way, let's get onto the course and see how these things
03:12act in the real world.
03:13Okay, so on the golf course now, and I found myself in an exact situation where this 7-wood
03:18versus hybrid debate comes in.
03:20We're 210 yards away from the green, which is just behind me over here.
03:23And I'm a little bit downwind, and I want a club with lots of stopping power.
03:28Now 210 yards away means I'm going to have to hit a wood of some kind, but I don't trust
03:32that hybrid to hold the green.
03:34So that's where a club like this, the 7-wood, really comes into play.
03:37Similar situations if you're on a long par 3 or approaching a par 5, of that sort of
03:42200, 210-yard distance, a club like this gives you so much stopping power and a lot more
03:47control.
03:48So let's see the comparison between the two.
03:49I'm going to start with the 7-wood, because that's the club I would go for if I was in
03:53this situation.
03:54Now, it's very cold today as well, so if I can hit this 210 yards, I'm very happy with
04:03myself.
04:05Okay, not bad there, a little bit drawy, but I think it had plenty of height on it to stop
04:12somewhere level with the pin, but a little bit to the right.
04:15Now let's compare that with the hybrid and see how much different that's going to be,
04:19because I can imagine it's going to be a lot lower ball flight running into that green
04:23with a little bit less stopping power.
04:25Hopefully though, I can get it that distance, about 210.
04:36Same sort of thing there, a little bit hooky, but you can see from the pro tracer, a lot
04:40lower ball flight from there, I can imagine that ball's scuttled on a little bit further.
04:44Let's head up to the green, see where those balls ended up, and I'll have some final concluding
04:47thoughts on the 7-wood versus hybrid debate.
04:50Okay, so up at the green, I think we've got a result here that really shows off the characteristics
04:54and the benefits of a 7-wood.
04:56I'm stood here by my hybrid shot, which as we saw, it was a bit toey, it was a bit hooky,
05:01but because of that and that lower ball flight, we've ended up back right at the green, whereas
05:05you can see behind me here, the 7-wood, which was a similar-ish strike, a bit toey, definitely
05:09turned over, still had that higher ball flight and much more stopping power to leave me a
05:14much more attractive birdie putt on the green over there.
05:17So some final thoughts on these, really, I love the 7-wood, it's been quite enjoyable
05:21to use, it offers you so much loft at address, it goes so high and still so far, that I think
05:26it could deserve a place in my bag at some point.
05:30It's not great off-tees, to be honest with you, because of that spin, you don't get much
05:33run, I'd rather use the hybrid, but it's a really interesting club, and one I really
05:38think you should consider potentially putting in that end of your bag.
05:41You've seen the data, you've seen how it works on course, make the decision for yourselves.
05:45Now, I'd love to hear from you, have you already got one of these in the bag, or are you thinking
05:49of putting one in?
05:51Let me know, let me know your experiences with this club, I would love to hear from
05:53you.
05:54But for now, from Prince's Golf Club, thank you very much for joining me, I'll see you
05:57next time.