DonM I agree entirely in regard to both the "effort/rhythm" issue and the attempt to elevate the ball.
It is extremely common to see amateur golfers who are trying to elevate the ball by hitting upward on their fairway clubs (irons or whatever). The symptom is usually ending up with all or most of the weight on the back foot. You see it all the time on the practice fairway.
Similarly, most people swing too hard at their long irons. They feel like they have to swing the club harder, rather than letting the design of the club do the work. David Lake, the founder of 1IronGolf (the single length set that predates the recent popularity) claims that he has done experiments where he has given players a 3-iron and a 7-iron from the SL set and had them swing them. He says that almost every time the swing speed is higher on the 3-iron despite the fact that the two irons are exactly the same in every way: weight, length, etc. The swing speeds should be exactly the same.
As for long iron replacements, I have never been able to hit a hybrid. But recently I put a "Classic" (that the brand -- I know nothing about it) 7-wood in my bag in place of my 4-iron and I LOVE it. Last round I put the 9-iron in the bag to replace the 5-iron, which I usually like to hit. I only had the opportunity to hit one shot with it, but it showed the same promise as the 7-wood. The one issue I have is that I don't know how the FWs will perform out of a skinny lie or even when down in a depression. You can usually "go down after it" with an iron, but I'm not sure if this will be possible with the FW. I guess I'll find out.