Handicap and Distance

[Sid Rixon IV]

I'm off 28.
I frequently out drive much better players.
I slice too many drives.
I misalign too many great shots.

I used to go to the range to "bomb" drives.
When I last went I took a hybrid and three wedges.

I had a lesson today.
I was made to slow my swing and appreciate accuracy over distance.
I'm beginning to understand.

 

[williamalex1]

Got the same problem with distance, never been a long hitter but honed my short game to a reasonable level. Would i like to be able to 'bomb' it? yes but not at the cost of control or direction.

:thup:Send me a PM we'll arrange a game .

 

[Liverbirdie]

I think I used to bomb it years ago.

I probably used to regularly hit it 250 plus and up to 300, but it would 1 in 5 at best. I started as a typical 19 year old and used to smash it as hard as possible, and had a massive slice. My driving got slightly better over the years.

However, 18 months ago I had my first lesson (when off 9) and lost 30 yards off drives, but I am much straighter and more consistent, although still play a slight fade.

I'm now off 6 and have probably lost 30-50 yards in the last 5 years, but my scores are much better and more consistent. Yep, 30% of golfers may hit it further than me, but i will score better than 80%, I'd like to think.

To answer the question, yes, sometimes I will hear people say - you hit it a mile for a xx handicapper (and I've also said it myself), but golf is a game of many facets.

As Marge Proops says, length isn't everything. Glad she answered my letter.

 

[Lump]

Is it also not the case that high handicappers can't judge distance aswell as lower hcp players.
I play with a lot of 18-21 handicappers. The amount of times I'll give them a distance and then they proceed to hit 2 clubs less and then ponder why it comes up short.

 

[mchacker]

Longest hitter I've ever seen is a 12hcp, but the last good drive I saw from him was on the 6th, everything else was sprayward. And what happened after the long drives was rarely worth waiting for

 

[JustOne]

I know 2 guys off scratch that don't hit it more than 235yds.

(that's probably why they've never joined the forum)

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I guess I didn't word the question very well.

I'm not asking how a high handicap can get lower, or why a 5 is better than a 15.

All I want to know, is why high handicaps aren't believed when they say how far they hit their driver, or carry a 6 iron etc.

Because normally they don't hit it as far as they say. When someone says they carry a driver 275-280yds it has to be taken with a pinch of salt because most of them don't. That goes for low and high handicappers. I'm not saying none of them do, just that there are so many that don't. It's something that has to be seen to be believed normally.

Also, lofts are jacked on so many iron sets these days if someone claims to hit a 6i 170 yards, thy probably do, it's just not really a 6i

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

If I were playing with a 28 handicapper who smashed the ball 260yds down the fairway but plays to 28 I'd think he's got a great foundation for a good game. If he does same in a match with me [playing well and gives me a dog licence I'd wonder a bit about his a handicap. I have absolutely no issues with the former being able to hit a good ball off the tee - lots of good cricketers taking up the game can do that easy.

 

[CMAC]

I know 2 guys off scratch that don't hit it more than 235yds.

(that's probably why they've never joined the forum)

Now that's a very hard h/cap to adhere to with these distances, they wouldn't even reach many par 4's on long courses or in soggy conditions!

My cousin hits it ridiculous distances, I can't get near his PW with my 8 iron, his driver just leaves me with my jaw dropped and I'm no slouch, he's off 19!

 

[MashieNiblick]

I guess I didn't word the question very well.

I'm not asking how a high handicap can get lower, or why a 5 is better than a 15.

All I want to know, is why high handicaps aren't believed when they say how far they hit their driver, or carry a 6 iron etc.

I think there may be a bit of historical baggage when it comes to hitting the driver. In ye olden dayes when drivers were small bits of wood on the end of steel shafts with faces usually set about 2 degees open, hitting it long and straight with the "furniture" was the preserve of the low h'capper.

460cc computer designed heads made from titatium and carbon composite aero space materials with precisely placed MOI, faces set up squarer or even closed and lightweight shafts have changed that. IMHO the driver is now one of the easiest clubs to hit when it used to be one of the hardest.

So I don't have an problem believing a higher handicapper can drive the ball 270. I have seen great driving from many high handicappers. Didn't stop them eventualy making double bogey though for a heap of other reasons.

Just to divert the thread a touch, I'd think it would be more unusual for a 20+ handicapper to have a deadly short game or be brilliant from the sand. I know some are, and I've seen it, but they are often (though not always) older players who have played off a lower h'cap.

 

[Hunka Turf]

Ive sometimes been suspicious of very high handicap players claiming to hit it a very long way because I think it takes good technique to be able to hit the ball a long way consistently. It's not just a case of lashing at it. And if their technique is sound, they should be able to get their handicap down.

Im definitely insecure about my distance though, I don't get the most out of my swing.

 

[Robobum]

Its not the isolated or occasional big one that is hard to believe (The sun shines on every dog's arse once a day!! ) - but if I hear that they are knocking it out there at 270 and in play the majority of time it becomes harder to believe.

It's harder (for me) to believe or 2 reasons:

To hit hit 270 and be in play, the ball has been hit pretty squarely close to the sweetspot. If you have the ability to do that with the longest and fastest moving club in the bag, it makes no sense that you are then chunking blading and shanking your irons from there. At 270 off the tee, you are hitting short irons into an awful lot of holes.

The other reason is that I have never seen it. Seen plenty of big hitting high handicaps, but after hat big one will follow one that doesn't hit the golf course, one that is topped, one that scars the paint on the roof....etc.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Its not the isolated or occasional big one that is hard to believe (The sun shines on every dog's arse once a day!! ) - but if I hear that they are knocking it out there at 270 and in play the majority of time it becomes harder to believe.

It's harder (for me) to believe or 2 reasons:

To hit hit 270 and be in play, the ball has been hit pretty squarely close to the sweetspot. If you have the ability to do that with the longest and fastest moving club in the bag, it makes no sense that you are then chunking blading and shanking your irons from there. At 270 off the tee, you are hitting short irons into an awful lot of holes.

The other reason is that I have never seen it. Seen plenty of big hitting high handicaps, but after hat big one will follow one that doesn't hit the golf course, one that is topped, one that scars the paint on the roof....etc.

This pretty much sums it up

 

[User20205]

I was 20 yards longer off 18 than I am now off 8.

I'd go to the range and hit 100 drives, it's all I practiced. I couldn't hit an iron to save my life. I would have a decent 9 holes, then the wheels would fall off big time.

There is a fella in the society I play in who is similar. Plays off 20, hits it a mile, his irons are awful, his short game non existent!!

 

[Foxholer]

There's a lot of difference between 'I can hit it 270' and 'I normally hit it 270'! Then add the 'and on the fairway' and you can see why there's an issue with belief.

I played a few times with a 22 (just reduced from 24 and now 17 or 18) capper who drove past the pin (even through the green once) on a 296 yard Par 4. So I have no problem with the 'can hit' statement. Only problem was that he was just as likely to end up in trees right (occasionally left) or on the adjoining fairway!

And as many high guys only use the range to 'practice' (smash) Driver, it's not unreasonable that that is their 'best' club.

 

[JustOne]

One of the longest hitters AND best ball strikers (irons) I've ever seen plays off 20.

Direction is his problem, also his chipping isn't great, nor his bunker play.

 

[upsidedown]

My brother gets hung up on higher handicappers than himself not being able to play certain shots where IMO we are all capable of playing as good a shot as a Pro just that it's rarer than hens teeth it happens.

On the subject of ball striking, is it the strike of the ball or the accuracy? Surely if you've struck it perfectly the ball will end up where you wanted it, but how many times do we get a really clean strike to only watch the ball sail into the cabbage. Great strike but rubbish result.
So therefore to be a great ball striker do we have to be accurate too? For me I'd answer yes.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Anyone can hit the ball a long way, the lower handicappers know where to hit it, that's all

 

[Slab]

Why is there such a prejudice about the higher handicap you are the shorter you should hit the ball?


Any other theories?

Yup, there are far far far too many achieved driving distances quoted (in the clubhouse or online) that translate to 'on a good hit' or 'when conditions are right' and because the low handicappers are (I suspect) a little more realistic (& accurate) in quoting their average length, then the diff between them is reduced or unclear

& I'm in the high handicap camp... but I've said it before, 190 yards is a good drive for me and guess what? This puts me only 18 yards below the 208 yrd average driving distance last year

This also means that almost without exception everyone I've met in the 19th and read about online are above average drivers...what are the odds!

Either that or somewhere out there is an 18 hole par 3 course with 10,000 members that are bringing this stat down!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

One of the longest hitters AND best ball strikers (irons) I've ever seen plays off 20.

Direction is his problem, also his chipping isn't great, nor his bunker play.

This is an interesting one and a conversation I've had with someone before. Can you be a great ball striker if you can't keep it in play? I would argue not.