5 Wood vs 5 Hybrid: Which One Should I Carry?

The great news for many golfers is that a 5 wood and a 5 hybrid are both great options.

Which one is best for your game comes down to different factors. We will take you through the top 3 reasons to choose the 5 wood and the top 3 reasons to choose the 5 hybrid.

We highly recommend testing out the different options and ensuring you have the best 14 clubs for your game and your swing.

Golfers have different swing speeds, angles of attack, spin rates, launch angles and play a variety of courses that might make one of the clubs better for their specific situation. Taking everything into consideration is important.

The bottom line…you really can’t make a bad decision here! Both clubs are easy to hit and easy to launch high. The extra height and distance often makes both of these clubs ideal options to replace a 3, 4 and sometimes even a 5 iron.

Which one should I carry a 5 wood or a 5 hybrid?

Many golfers prefer a hybrid over a fairway wood because of the ease at launching the ball high and maybe even hitting a slight draw due to the offset setup of most hybrids. The hybrids often give a golfer great confidence standing over a shot. The more traditional golfer might prefer the feel of a fairway wood and would go with the 5 wood.

Here are the pros of both the 5 wood and the 5 hybrid.

Top 3 Reasons to carry a 5 wood.

Easier to hit off of the tee.
May have a bigger yardage advantage.

Won’t hook as easy as the 5 hybrid.

Top 3 Reasons to carry a 5 hybrid.

Greater versatility out of the fairway and rough.
Potentially provides a higher lofted option.

Will be easier to hit a draw with.

Below we will provide greater detail on each of these reasons listed above. Here we go!

Many golfers prefer the 5 wood off the tee vs the 5 hybrid.

5 Wood: Easier to hit off of the tee

Many golfers prefer the look of a fairway wood over a hybrid off the tee. The extra thickness in the fairway wood provides the golfer extra confidence especially when they are able to tee the ball off the ground. The fairway wood is just a smaller version of a driver in the shape of the club. This gives the golfer the confidence needed to make a quality and committed swing. While this can be restrictive when the ball is sitting on a tight fairway lie, it does provide an advantage off the tee. The golfer should consider if they plan on hitting the club they select more off the tee box or more from the fairway and rough.

5 Wood: May have a bigger yardage advantage

The 5 wood will fly carry further than the 5 hybrid. Due to the longer shaft and slightly less loft, the golfer will more than likely see additional yardage compared to the 5 hybrid. If distance is important to you and you have a gap in your yardages around this distance, then the 5 wood might be the better option for you. One thing to consider is if the course you play requires certain shots off the par 3s or into longer par 4s. Would you be better served with the distance of a 5 wood or the accuracy of a 5 hybrid.

5 Wood: It won’t hook as easy as the hybrid

Some lower level handicap golfers might struggle with the hook when hitting a hybrid. The 5 wood will more than likely hook less than a 5 hybrid due to the offset that the 5 hybrid has. Also, the hybrid can feel really light in the hands, causing the golfer to over swing, resulting in an overdraw or even a hook shot. The 5 wood, if weighted properly, will allow the golfer to make an aggressive swing.

One way to test out the two options here is the 9 shot challenge. Which clubs can you hit a variety of shots better with?

5 Hybrid: Greater versatility out of the fairway and rough

While the 5 wood can be easier to hit off of a tee, the 5 hybrid provides greater versatility in the variety of shots that a golfer might face. When you consider the variety of shots that a hybrid excels at for example out of the rough, a fairway bunker, and from a tight lie in the fairway one might fall in love with the versatility and the ease at which one can hit a hybrid from in a variety of situations.

5 Hybrid: Potentially provides a higher loft option

If you are someone that struggles with hitting shots high enough from farther distances and holding the greens, the 5 hybrid will often allow the golfer to hit the ball higher when compared to the 5 wood. Once again, do you plan on hitting approach shots with this club or more shots off the tee. If you are hitting approach shots, the 5 hybrid can be the better club if you struggle with holding the green. Also, the 5 hybrid might be easier to hit a more consistent ball flight where one can control the start line and the curve of the ball better.

5 Hybrid: Easier to hit a draw with it

Many golfers fight the slice or the over fade. The hybrids of today are often built with an offset feature that creates a draw bias. If you are someone that struggles with the slice, the hybrid is the club for you. I play a lot of golf with a golfer that fights the slice and he is great with his hybrid. If you put him 175 yards out on a par 4, I have great confidence he will hit a quality shot. The hybrid is a game changer for many golfers, but especially the higher handicap golfer that fights the slice.

The 5 wood and 5 hybrid are both great clubs on 2nd shots on a par 5 to setup quality wedge shots into par 5s.

5 Wood vs 5 Hybrid: What To Do Next?

Go Out and Test It Out

Still undecided or even leaning towards a certain club. I would recommend going out and testing both clubs. Head to your local golf store that has a simulator and test both out. Items to watch for include club speed, ball speed, curve and spin rate. Be careful the spin rate isn’t too high. The range should be between 3500 and 5500 on spin rate. Anything more and you are losing distance and have too much on the spin rate for a club in this category.

The most ideal is to find a friend that has a 5 hybrid or a quality 5 wood and test the difference. Try to hit at least 5-10 shots to get comfortable to see what is best for your game.

Things to consider:

Which clubs hits further?
Which club hits higher?

Which clubs is more versatile for your swing?
What do you need out of this club?

Make sure you hit plenty of shots, preferably on different days when your swing might vary. On certain days you might find the 5 hybrid to be superior to the 5 wood and maybe the opposite on other days. One option is to own both clubs and select the one that is best for how you are swinging or the course you are playing.

Maybe Get Both Clubs

How do you hit your long irons? Do you struggle to make solid contact and get them in the air? You might be best off carrying multiple hybrids of mid range fairway woods. Check out the clubs in a LPGA players bag and see how many hybrids they are carrying. Many seniors, as their swing speed decreased, might be best off getting rid of the 3-6 irons and replacing them with the appropriate hybrid options. The hybrid is an easy to hit club that gets the ball in the air and can be played more like an iron as far as holding a green is concerned.

I know many golfers that own 18-20 clubs and pick the clubs for that round based on how they are swinging, the length of the course and overall conditions they are faced with.

Be Honest

If you are able to test out on a variety of days, you might want to collect some data on carry and total distance as well as spin rate. Be honest with yourself and your current game. Which club will be best for your game? Which club will be best for the course you play most frequently? This can be a difficult decision, but with the right data and considering the different variables will help you make a decision.

Test Out on a Launch Monitor

My favorite place to test out a variety of club options is on my Skytrak. The data I receive with each and every shot is fantastic. This includes:

Carry and total distance
Launch Angle

Spin Rate
Spin Axis
Ball Speed

This data in combination with the shot tracer helps me visualize the shot I am hitting with key data at my fingertips.

Here are the top 3 options for launch monitors to check out:

SkyTrak Launch Monitor

FlightScope Mevo+ Launch Monitor

Mevo Launch Monitor

Have you ever consider building a golf simulator? It is a complete game changer! Play golf 365 days a year with quality feedback.

Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better

What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:

1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:

Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:

George Gankas

2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:

Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:

3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:

We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.

How to Break 70

4 – Practice Frequently

Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:

Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?