For 2008 Nickent is building upon its successful 3DX line and has added some design features and enhancements that will be discussed below. If you are a person with unlimited funds to build your set of clubs, you can of course choose any brand you choose for your hybrids. If, however, you are like most of us and would like to put together the best possible set for your game at the most reasonable prices, I would recommend the products of a company like Nickent. Nickent is a serious golf club company for sure, but their brand name is not as dominant as some others. The result of this is that Nickent offers excellent clubs, and for a lower price than other companies do. The suggested retail for the hybrid golf clubs discussed below is $129. This is certainly in the upper echelon of quality/price considerations for hybrids. In addition, they offer an astounding number of hybrid choices so that a golfer is sure to find the correct club to hit the ball the required distance he is seeking. In addition, Nickent has made the logical move of essentially integrating its hybrid clubs with its line of fairway woods. The fairway woods have simply become hybrids with a larger head and sometimes less loft, as for example on the 3-wood.

2008 Features and Enhancements- Thinner Crown, Deeper Face, Increased COR, XW Weight Inserts
This section will give a brief description of the enhancements Nickent has added to its 2008 hybrid golf club product line, starting with a thinner crown. Of course almost all hybrid designs are trying to redistribute weight low and to the back of the club face, often to the back perimeter. This lowers the CG (center of gravity) of the club so the ball can get up into the air easier, and it also increases the club's MOI (moment of inertia), which allows more forgiveness on off-center hits. Nickent changed the material it uses on the crown of its hybrid clubs to lightweight titanium. This modification has allowed the crown to be substantially lighter and allows weight transfer for the reasons described above. The trick here was to bond the titanium with the rest of the steel head, and Nickent has solved that problem with what they refer to as a patented brazing technology.

For 2008 Nickent has also made the face of the club slightly deeper by 2mm and has increased the COR of their hybrids. COR is a measure of the spring effect that comes from the face of the club. This technology appeared some years ago in drivers and is now migrating to other clubs in the bag like fairway woods and hybrid golf clubs. Of course you can imagine that there must certainly be less spring or trampoline effect from the smaller face of a hybrid club compared to a driver with a much bigger face, but apparently the COR effect on hybrids makes a difference with regard to distance the club can make the ball travel. It would be interesting to see some data taken from an "iron Byron" type of machine hitting identical hybrids with more and less COR. In any case what matters with hybrids is that the golfer knows how far he can hit each club so that he can cover the distances between his fairway woods and his lowest numbered irons. The point of hybrids is to hit the ball more easily into the air and more consistently, not necessarily to hit it farther.

Nickent has used their XW weight insert system in previous years in both their lines of woods and hybrids. These inserts, which are placed into the back of the club with one toward the toe and the other on the heel side, are said to reduce vibration and also serve to adjust swing weight.

Hybrids Available from Nickent
Nickent has an almost astounding number of hybrids available for golfers. In their hybrid line, which they call 4DX IW, there are 16 different choices (!), with one club every 1.5 degrees from 14 to 29 degrees loft. Many of these clubs, but not all, are available women's and left-handed versions as well. This information can be found on the company's web site. One can also find there the graphite and steel shaft options that are available. All of these are from the top golf club shaft manufacturers. Grips are top-notch as well, produced by Lamkin.

As stated earlier, Nickent is a very serious golf club manufacturer. Their stable of Tour players is not huge, but they have some who are in the top echelons of the PGA Tour and other tours. Some of these players would be welcome additions to the teams of any club manufacturer, so the fact they chose Nickent says something. So for the golfer who is trying to build a good set of clubs without taking out a second mortgage, Nickent is surely worth a serious look for his hybrid golf clubs, and perhaps other clubs as well.

Walt Ballenberger is a life-long golfer and founder of Hybrid Golf Clubs, a resource site for golfers. For a Free Report entitled “How to Find the “Sweet Spot” on Your Golf Clubs in 10 Minutes” visit Hybrid Golf Clubs

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