Yes, the 19 can be changed to 21, but you are still playing a longer shaft, making it that much more difficult to be perfect. PLUS, for many better players, hybrids in general seem to have a tendency to go left without adding any draw bias setting. I know for me, if I'm going to hook something massively, it will be my hybrid.

My understanding is that lofting up to 21 from 19 will give you a slightly closed face. Contrary, from 21 down to 20, will open the face a bit. IMO it's better to go with a 21*. Besides, a 21 * hybrid is not necessarily the same as a 21* iron. I would think a 21* hybrid would go further than a normal 21* iron, simply due to the added length of the shaft.

I play T200s (PW-5i) at present, but I still use a custom-shafted 22* AP3 4 iron (standard length) ALONGSIDE a 21* 818H2 hybrid. The hybrid is roughly 10-12 yards longer, on average for me, when comparing each with well struck, center contact strikes.

Can't say if any of this helps, but hopefully there's something above to assist you in your considerations.

Thanks, this confirmed my suspicions. I didn't think about the face closing when adjusting the 19 to 21. When demo-ing hybrids I did notice the draw/hook bias so I'd rather open the face.

I should've mentioned in my original post that fitting options are limited where I am. Official Titleist Thursday fittings are shut down near me and stores I've visited didn't have the loft and shaft demo options for me to compare 19 and 21.

I did a Club Champion fitting a couple of weeks ago, which was an awful experience for me. He fit me into a 19 degree Sim2 Max hybrid without exploring other lofts or talk about gapping. At the start I told him my 4 iron was bent to traditional loft but he seemed to keep forgetting that and assume it was modern loft. I was pretty frustrated with the fitting to that point so I gave up on explaining my situation. Unfortunately my new set of irons were delayed so we couldn't do a distance comparison - CC assured me that wouldn't be a problem but it definitely was.

Anyway, based on everyone's feedback here I'm going to go with the 21º. I'm looking for a reasonable yardage gap for scoring shots above the 4-iron, not a distance rocket. Same rationale went into going with 16.5º Si2 instead of a 15º.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Face degrees are only one factor that will impact distance. Club length and head shape will also have an impact. My suggestion would be to go to a fitting or find a facility that has all to test on the range or even in an indoor environment (less desirable but better than nothing) and find what best fills your gap. Sounds like you are already doing that so it doesn't really matter if some of us like a 19 degree and others like a 21 degree. What is important is what works for you. Cheers!

I agree with Doug. Don't know him but what he says makes sense. I have a 19 degree TS2 hybrid that fits between my AP1 4 iron and a 15 degree fairway TS2. It gaps well, but I do yank it left now and then. I tried an old 816 21 degree hybrid shaft about 1/2" shorter and it made a notable difference. Looking at finding a newer shaft in the shorter length with a bit stiffer tip now.

Get a fitting and test both. Hit a half dozen decent shots with your 4 iron and check the ball speed and trajectory windows. You want at least 5mph ball speed difference between clubs. See what ball speed you get with the 19* vs 21* and compare to the gap to your 4 iron. I would also check the ball speed with your 16.5* - you should get a bigger gap - even 10mph ball speed more than your hybrid is ok. Also worth noting what your intended use for it is - do you want a distance chaser off the tee or something that lands soft for long approach shots - there's your answer.

Hi,
For me, I prefer 21 deg over 19 deg.
I think the a 19 deg. carried a lot more than your 4 iron and you will have a big gap here between the 2 clubs.

Another reason is, if I remembered correctly, when you change loft on club, it has an influence on the face of the club also. When you add loft, it is closing the face and when you reduce loft it is open the face. With a hybrid, my missed are on the left side so I do not want to have a club with a close face.

I found that hybrids for same loft of irons are making more distance.
If you find the right shaft for the hybrid, the 21 degree, should do the job.
But, nothing is better then a good fitting session.

Best regards,

I've got the same set up; 16.5 fairway-hybrid-24 degree 4iron.I also had the exact same dilemma; should I go 19 or 21.I chose 21.Here's why (and Doug is correct again, by the way); it's a shorter shaft so a little easier to control. It's naturally a little more open than the 19 and thus (in my opinion) more versatile especially from the rough.