Courtesy: Jazz Golf

I decided to upgrade my driver two years ago and bring it in line with modern technology. You don't want to know what I had been using before but it was VERY OLD.

Anyway, as you might expect, my distance off the tee increased. By about 25 yards, in fact. Like I said, my ex-driver was VERY OLD!

Now, my iron set is 4 through PW. I don't carry a fairway wood so I had a big yardage gap between driver and 4 iron.

Off I went to my trusty golf retailer and tried out some new hybrids that I have heard so much about. I wanted a 3 hybrid and time in their simulator showed me that I could hit that club about 210 yards. Good enough to close the yardage gap.

What amazed me about the hybrid was how easy it was to hit. If I had gone for a regular 3 iron, my chances of solid hits would have been vastly reduced. The hybrid has been a life-saver.

And Sandra Post, former LPGA star and now a sought-after teaching pro in the Toronto area, agrees.

Sandra, who's also a club designer with her own line through Jazz Golf, is a big fan of hybrids for women and older men, both of whom usually have reduced swing speeds.

"The days of buying the typical set of clubs, 3 woods and 8 irons, is over. Today, golf bags everywhere are filled with specialty clubs", she says. "These clubs can actually help the higher handicapped golfer the most"

She told me that golfers who tend to sweep the ball into the air have found hybrids and fairway woods like the 7 and 9 very friendly. "The recreational women and senior male golfers who have a difficult time holding that angle of attack on the downswing need clubs that have more weight at the bottom".

And when you combine that with the plentiful loft of the hybrids plus, Sandra points out, a soft kick from the shaft at the bottom of the swing, then she says you'll have no problem getting the ball into the air.

She also pointed out that the 3 iron is often the first club replaced with a hybrid. Ahem.

Sandra also offers a key swing tip for the hybrid user. "If you are having difficulty with hitting your hybrid club, stand closer to the ball. I find my students pick up a hybrid and think it is a wood and stand too far away from the ball. This minimizes the loft and the result is a low, burning shot." Not the kind of trajectory you want coming into the green, in other words.

So, if you want distance, high trajectory plus ease of use, go for the hybrids. They are not expensive and it's money well spent!

For more information on hybrid club technology, check this site: http://www.pga.com/improve/tips/equipment/improve_wishon121404.cfm