Should you have a fairway wood or hybrid or long iron in play?

So many golfers make the mistake of sticking to a traditional golf bag set-up. A set of irons from pitching wedge to 4-iron, a driving iron, a 3-wood and a driver. But is this the optimal set-up to get the most out of your game?

How to gap your golf bag: Fairway wood or hybrid or long irons?

So when it comes to picking a fairway wood or hybrid or long iron, how do you know which one to put in play?

Well, the first place to start is to find out how far your irons go. Most high handicappers are carrying numerous irons that are travelling the same distance.

There is a logical reason for this. Longer irons have a longer shaft and less loft which makes it harder to hit the sweet spot and means the ball typically doesn’t launch as high. All this leads to less distance and consistency.

According to ShotScope data, the average 20 handicap hits their 6-iron 131 yards yet their 4-iron or hybrid only travels 130 yards. 15 handicappers carry their 6-iron 134 yards and their 5-iron travels a grand total of 5 yards further at 139 yards.

There is no point carrying a 6, 5 and 4-iron that all do the same thing. If you are at a fitting it is worth hitting all your irons and working out your carry distances. If your 7, 6, 5 and 4-iron all go the same distance, take the 6, 5 and 4 out and add something in as a replacement.

Titleist actually recommends you try to aim for an extra 5mph of ball speed per club as you move up the golf bag. This is a great benchmark to use when testing different equipment. If you can’t get this from your current iron set-up why not try moving to a more forgiving model in your long irons? I have Titleist T100s from PW to 6-iron, a T200 5-iron and a U505 4-iron to get equal gaps in my carry distances.

If you can’t get the correct gapping with irons its try to test out fairway woods or hybrids and see what they can offer.

If you have optimal gapping between all your irons you are in luck and it may be worth looking at a driving iron to complement the rest of your iron set.

How to gap your golf bag: Higher lofted fairway woods

Higher lofted fairway woods are much easier to hit than your typical 3-wood. Yet golfers are insistent they need a 3-wood in their golf bag. Most players will find a higher lofted wood such as a 4-wood or 5-wood goes just as far as a 3-wood as the extra loft, and a shorter shaft improves strike and launch, giving you more carry distance.

Over the last few years, a wide variety of hybrids and fairway woods have been released and become hugely popular amongst amateurs and tour pros. If tour players like Dustin Johnson are gaming 7 and 5-woods, it is probably worth trying it out for yourself.

Although hybrid clubs are very much on trend at the moment, the larger head of a 7-wood can be more forgiving and also give you more distance so are well worth testing especially for higher handicaps.

Following my fitting I put a 5-wood in play for the first time and I am loving the ball speed and forgiveness.

By opting for the smaller Titleist TSR3 model, I still get some of the workability I got from a hybrid and feel it is a small enough club head to get in behind the ball in the rough.

If however you are someone who wants more workability and versatility a hybrid is possibly a better bet.

How to gap your golf bag: Shorter shafts

Like choosing the lowest lofted wood, lots of players make the mistake of only testing clubs in a standard length shaft. Most tour pros have shorter shafts in their woods as it makes hitting a fairway wood much easier as you can control strike better. If you want to hit the ball more consistently getting shorter shafts in your long irons, hybrids and fairway woods is a great option.

Personally, I have a 5-wood shaft in my 3-wood and a 7-wood shaft in my 5-wood. Not only had it made my strike better I actually hit these clubs further due to having a better smash factor.

So if you are looking to put new golf clubs in the top of your bag make sure you include a variety of clubs that are doing different things. Don’t add long irons for no reason and be open-minded about rescue clubs and fairway woods.

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