How far do you hit your clubs

[JT77]

Driver - 260
3 wood - 240
Hybrid - 215
3 iron - 210
4 iron - 195
5 iron - 185
6 iron - 175
7 iron - 165
8 iron - 150
9 iron - 140
PW - 125
52 - 110
58 - 90
Happy enough at the minute, trying to swing more consistently than 'flat-out' and it's working for the most part.

 

[One Planer]

I tend not to hit my clubs, but I can helicopter a wedge around 25 yards

 

[MadAdey]

Hi

I am 24 handicapper and have been playing for about a year now. I am curious to see how far people hit their clubs and whether I should persue more distance in order to enter into the teens.

I currently hit the following distances.

Driver 220-230
7 wood 160-170
4 hybrid 150-160
7 iron 130-150
8 iron 120-130
9 iron 110-120
Pw 100-110
Gw 80-100
Sw 50-80

I actually believe that in order to lower my score i need to remove all silly shots and sharpen ahort game even further (its not too bad presently).

Thanks

That's not that short TBH. IF you are looking at getting your handicap down then looking at playing better golf would help you. Look at your own course and see how many holes you can't comfortably hit in regulation. I would be surprised if it is any more than 5 or 6. So if you go on that theory then with your distances you could get down to single figures easily.

Do not get too caught up on distances, especially if you have only been playing for a year. You will find as your swing gets better and you start striking the ball correctly that you will naturally find some more distance. There are some of the old boys in my Sunday Role-up that are only hitting their driver around 240, but they are still shooting in the 70's. There is one of them that I played with a couple of weeks ago that shot a 70 (2 under) and he barely hits it much further than 240 yards off the tee.

I think people have touched on this, but when a lot of players say how far they hit the ball it is a load of BS. Keep going with what you have and learn to hit your wedges better, they will drop your scores more than squeezing out another 10 yards from your driver.

But in reply to your original question:

Driver = 270-280
3W = 250
3h = 230
4i = 200
5i = 190
6i = 180
7i = 165
8i = 155
9i = 145
PW = 135
GW = 120
LW = unknown............

 

[Oohmeoldbacksknackered]

Hi

I am 24 handicapper and have been playing for about a year now. I am curious to see how far people hit their clubs and whether I should persue more distance in order to enter into the teens.


I actually believe that in order to lower my score i need to remove all silly shots and sharpen ahort game even further (its not too bad presently).

Thanks

If your short game is ok, then you have all the tools you need to play 17/18 or less.

Plan on getting down in three from 50 yards or less - make sure you have a decent (consistent) pitch for something like 50 yards and 30 yards and get a chipping stroke that doesn't thin it across the green.

Aim for the green with your 7I or less - all the longer clubs are just played for position (if at all)

Then plan your way back from the green.

EG If the hole is 400 yards: in order to play a 7I in you'll need to drive at least 250. Not gonn a happen so keep the driver in the bag. Plan on a 50 yard pitch getting you in two putt country. Means you have 2 shots to get 350 yards up the fairway. Two 7 woods will get you there nicely.

Going forward you may want to get a 190-200 yard club (probably a 3W or 4W) then you'd have a choice of tee shots to play.

Try that sort of thinking and you'll get round the monthly medals in very decent numbers.

But I'd put money on you getting bored with playing like that all the time - hitting the driver is much more fun

 

[asru1927]

Thanks peeps this has actually been really useful and confirmed I am heading down the right path. There are a few guys I play with that when stepping on a tee turn it into "who's got a bigger one" contest and try to smack their driver out of the park... For me the important thing is hitting fairways and keeping ball in play. This year I have mainly practiced chipping in the garden along with putting and I think that's made are a real difference to my game. The fact that some people have actually played single figures with these distances is very reassuring!!!

 

[MadAdey]

Thanks peeps this has actually been really useful and confirmed I am heading down the right path. There are a few guys I play with that when stepping on a tee turn it into "who's got a bigger one" contest and try to smack their driver out of the park... For me the important thing is hitting fairways and keeping ball in play. This year I have mainly practiced chipping in the garden along with putting and I think that's made are a real difference to my game. The fact that some people have actually played single figures with these distances is very reassuring!!!

You just need to remember one thing, they might knock it past you off the tee, but when you clean the money up with the best score, you'll have the last laugh.

Another thing to put in your mind is this. I play a standard 4 par 3, 4 par 5 and 10 par 4 course. It measures at 7000 yards. I only hit 7 drivers a round, so for 7 holes I'm not going past the 250 mark from the tee. But I can knock it round in 70 still.

If you take nothing more from this thread then remember one thing, hitting it long does not mean you will score well.

 

[chrisd]

I do know my yardages as I do a gapping session at least once a year. My distances really only matter to me because I rely on a Bushnell or Golfbuddy watch to measure how far I have to hit,and, if I'm to hit that distance I prefer to know which club will get me there

I can't see why it's said on here that it's a "willy waving exercise" - I need to know which club to choose for the distance I have to go, if for me that's a 7 iron I don't much care if it's a 5 iron or a wedge for someone else, but without yardage I'm just guessing and I'm certainly not forum average when I guess

 

[bobmac]

Hi

I am 24 handicapper and have been playing for about a year now. I am curious to see how far people hit their clubs and whether I should persue more distance in order to enter into the teens.

What make and model are your irons?
That may have an affect on how far you hit them

 

[jusme]

Thanks peeps this has actually been really useful and confirmed I am heading down the right path. There are a few guys I play with that when stepping on a tee turn it into "who's got a bigger one" contest and try to smack their driver out of the park... For me the important thing is hitting fairways and keeping ball in play. This year I have mainly practiced chipping in the garden along with putting and I think that's made are a real difference to my game. The fact that some people have actually played single figures with these distances is very reassuring!!!

PLEASE don't get hung up on chasing distance. The irony is that if your focus shifts to a better swing (take lessons) your distance will almost always increase as a side effect. Be accurate, be better, distance will take care of itself.

 

[mcbroon]

If you take nothing more from this thread then remember one thing, hitting it long does not mean you will score well.

Absolutely. You only need to look at Rory this season to know that is true.

These are my distances for a well struck shot. Obviously, I hit plenty of bad ones, so the average would be lower. I don't like to measure the bad ones, though

Driver - 250
3w - 225
2i - 205
3i - 190
4i - 180
5i - 170
6i - 160
7i - 150
8i - 140
9i - 130
PW - 120
52 - 105
56 - 90

Against the 2 guys I play with most often, I'm the shortest hitter. 1 club shorter than a guy off 13 and 2 or 3 clubs shorter than a guy off 18. But I'm straighter, a better putter and take on fewer stupid shots then either of them.

 

[HowlingGale]

Went people say their average, it usually means once down wind down hill:rofl:

Downhill? My average drive was measured when I played the third hole at Tehidy in Cornwall. Uphill hole. 45 mph wind, straight behind. Smacked it, the ball hit the yardage plate on the fairway and bounced miles. Ended up greenside. 320 yards all in...

True story.

 

[duncan mackie]

I do know my yardages as I do a gapping session at least once a year.

Am i the only one who considers every round a 'gapping session'?

I know when I've hit it normally, I know how far it's gone. I know the conditions I hit it under (temperature, humidity, elevation and wind).

Or to put it another way my distances are a constant dynamic database rather than a chart created at one moment in one set of conditions that I reference religiously and watch my 7 iron fly the green on a hot summers day but come up short in the bunker in February.

And yes, I do believe that the differences are that significant.

Back to the OP - the distances quoted suggest you will benefit most on making a better swing/contact on your longer clubs because you aren't getting the proportional distance increase associated with those clubs physical attributes. However, this is a very normal situation for even quite experienced players.

Don't try and hit it harder; hit it better.

 

[chrisd]

Am i the only one who considers every round a 'gapping session'?

I know when I've hit it normally, I know how far it's gone. I know the conditions I hit it under (temperature, humidity, elevation and wind).

Or to put it another way my distances are a constant dynamic database rather than a chart created at one moment in one set of conditions that I reference religiously and watch my 7 iron fly the green on a hot summers day but come up short in the bunker in February.

And yes, I do believe that the differences are that significant.

Back to the OP - the distances quoted suggest you will benefit most on making a better swing/contact on your longer clubs because you aren't getting the proportional distance increase associated with those clubs physical attributes. However, this is a very normal situation for even quite experienced players.

Don't try and hit it harder; hit it better.

Not at all Duncan.

I do similar, probably like most, but, I like the numbers written down as they then they become the base numbers from which I adjust for conditions etc

 

[duncan mackie]

Not at all Duncan.

I do similar, probably like most, but, I like the numbers written down as they then they become the base numbers from which I adjust for conditions etc

Chris, maybe what I mean is 'why yearly?'. I find my baseline moves around from time to time with my swing so, whilst I might start any given round with an expectation of 7 iron at 146 (as an example) if I find it only goes 136 at the first hole with no condition factors I will take a 6 iron at the par 3 second of 146 yards (regardless of what's written down!).

Maybe it's semantic but it's another aspect of the reality I accept that I hit it as far as I hit it that day - maybe I'm just used to not always playing in the best physical shape nowadays!

 

[patricks148]

Downhill? My average drive was measured when I played the third hole at Tehidy in Cornwall. Uphill hole. 45 mph wind, straight behind. Smacked it, the ball hit the yardage plate on the fairway and bounced miles. Ended up greenside. 320 yards all in...

True story.

Played in the regional final of the Volvo match play at Newburgh on Ythan a few years ago.

i had won the hole before so as it was 509 yards ninth,s oo off the tee took driver, drilled this thing and it hit the path an took a big bounce left ish. the guy i was playing then too a hybrid and said that's lost narrows down the and runs out of fairway, no one takes driver.." thanks for nothing mate", i thought.

anyway he get to his ball hits it up to just short of the green as we get down towards the green there is a ball at the end of the path just short of the greenside bunker. something like 440 yards off the tee, was a chip and a put for eagle.

that will teach him:rofl:

 

[chrisd]

Chris, maybe what I mean is 'why yearly?'. I find my baseline moves around from time to time with my swing so, whilst I might start any given round with an expectation of 7 iron at 146 (as an example) if I find it only goes 136 at the first hole with no condition factors I will take a 6 iron at the par 3 second of 146 yards (regardless of what's written down!).

Maybe it's semantic but it's another aspect of the reality I accept that I hit it as far as I hit it that day - maybe I'm just used to not always playing in the best physical shape nowadays!

I guess it's just to get the base figures down in case they've changed - also, I change my clubs too often so the numbers will always change!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

...depends...

 

[Tiger man]

MILES!!

 

[Simbo]

Hi

I am 24 handicapper and have been playing for about a year now. I am curious to see how far people hit their clubs and whether I should persue more distance in order to enter into the teens.

I currently hit the following distances.

Driver 220-230
7 wood 160-170
4 hybrid 150-160
7 iron 130-150
8 iron 120-130
9 iron 110-120
Pw 100-110
Gw 80-100
Sw 50-80

I actually believe that in order to lower my score i need to remove all silly shots and sharpen ahort game even further (its not too bad presently).

Thanks

Nothing majorly wrong with those distances IMO. Slightly short but not much.
How did you measure the gapping distances? On a monitor or out on a proper practice range?
What was your dispersion like over the 20 balls?
Especially with the shorter clubs, 9/wedges. All fine and dandy being the biggest hitter in your group but youll score much better hitting the shorter clubs closer rather than further.

 

[Lazkir]

Thanks peeps this has actually been really useful and confirmed I am heading down the right path. There are a few guys I play with that when stepping on a tee turn it into "who's got a bigger one" contest and try to smack their driver out of the park... For me the important thing is hitting fairways and keeping ball in play. This year I have mainly practiced chipping in the garden along with putting and I think that's made are a real difference to my game. The fact that some people have actually played single figures with these distances is very reassuring!!!

Last year I played a 6 handicapper in a matchplay comp, I was off 16 at the time.
He took his driver off the first (a longish, downhill par 4). I took a 6 iron to the middle of the fairway and then hit my 9 iron to the middle of the green.
That got into his head and I won the match. He told me later, all he kept thinking was... how on earth can a 16 handicapper hit a 6 and a 9, when he needed a driver and a wedge?

It's all about playing within your own comfort zone. I know I hit my 6 iron long and straight so decided to not only keep it on the fairway but also try and get in his head.
It worked.
No need to smash it miles, just keep it straight!