Knowing your distance - right or wrong?

[adamk15]

Hi I recently decided to finally buck up my ideas and go to the range and painstakingly yard out the carry and roll on each club in my bag. It took over an hour I'll tell you that.

Now I have a a full set of notes on how far I hit an average shot with each club (including 1/2 and 3/4 swings with my wedges) Ive taken a raincheck and am now wondering if this will take the 'feel' or 'imagination' away from my game. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[haplesshacker]

"wondering if this will take the 'feel' or 'imagination' away from my game"

Wouldn't have thought so, probably add if anything.

 

[ColinR]

Adam, to get into the serious handicap figures, this is an absolute necessity IMO. You still need feel and control as you have other factors to take into consideration, wind, the slope of the green and overall gradients. I bet if you use the info correctly it will really bring your game to a new level.

Good luck.

 

[adamk15]

Cheers thats seriously solved my doubts.

In march I recorded my first card (122) but since then my handicap has plundered to 29 with almost no course management skills and knowledge of my game. Hopefully this will take me down furhter next year. Thanks again guys.

In a slightly sideways direction I was just wondering if the distances I recorded are decent for my age and ability?
Heres a few samples:

9 iron: carry 70yds total 75yds
5 iron: carry 120yds total 145yds
5 wood: carry 130yds total 160yds
Driver: carry 160yds total 200yds

I'm 15, 5ft 8' and have a handicap of 29.

Cheers guys.

 

[Imurg]

Hi Adam

Don't worry about distances yet. Its all about getting the ball in the hole. Yeah its great to cane one 300 yards but whats the point if you double-bogey. Learn course management now and when the distances improve you'll tumble that handicap.

Don't forget on a 500 yard par 5 if you hit a Driver ,5 wood and 5 iron decently you've got a chip and a putt at worst for par.

Concentrate on straightness and management. The rest will come.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Its not how its how many. My advice would be to focus on the short game. If you can chip and putt well it will make a load of difference to your score.

Keep plugging away and remember those yardages are only a guide and you need to factor in pin placements, the lie of the ball and the weather

 

[theeaglehunter]

It is always nice to know your distances but the main reason I have never bothered spending considerable time working out my exact yardages is because I currently have no device to tell me exactly how far I am from the hole. If I owned a Skycaddie or something similar then I would definitely do so. But whilst I play my way round estimating my distances using only my eye and the 150 markers to produce an educated guess I don't really see the point in finding exact distances. I know for example my 7 iron goes about 160 yards, so if I reckon I am about 10 yards short of the 150 marker I will take this club and hope it lands on the green (At my level anywhere on the green will do). Until I become a very consistent ball striker I doubt I will buy a GPS device (other than for the kudos it may bring ) and therefore I doubt I will bother working out exact distances. I am not a pro and not consistent enough to warrant talking in terms of 2 feet or 3 yards- within a 10 yard circle is accurate for me and will continue to suffice until I reach single figures. In my opinion anyway.

 

[Herbie]

Everyone who has played a while and particularly made it to a good standard of play will know with each club how far they can hit every club with varied swings with a clean contact and the only time it varies is with a slight mis-hit or muscling up to a shot or taking a different type of shot from the standard with a particular club.(Punch shot for example)

Dist judgement comes into play with weather and air differences that you will find through the yr along with judging elevated tees or greens and of course yardage judgement on a course if you dont have accurate measurement from a given spot.

But it should only enhance your game rather than the oposite

 

[Cernunnos]

Distance will come with time & practice & as the right muscles build up the necesary strength & resilience to give proper coil the more you play. You are carding decent figures for the distances you are currently getting I really wouldn't worry about anything. Keep plugging away & most of all have fun.

 

[medwayjon]

It is imperative to know your distances so it is very dilligent of you to have done it.

So many of us are wrongly (me included) obsessed with distance.

Just keep playing and practising and as you develop both physically and as a golfer, the extra distance will come with time.

 

[Smiffy]

Knowing how far you can comfortably hit each club in your bag is something you pick up with experience. So many things have a determining factor though, that it is almost impossible to be that cut and dried.
Wind direction, lie, weather conditions etc.
During the colder, winter months your ball will not fly as far as during the warmer, summer months (what summer!!). Out of a rough lie you can either take too much grass with the ball and come up miles short, or get a "flier" and see your ball whistle over the green or your intended target if you are just looking to get back to safety.
Course management will get your scores down much quicker. Knowing when to go for broke or swallow your pride and play safe is the key to lowering your handicap.
If you want to see course management in action, play with an old guy who now plays of maybe 17 or 18 but was at sometime in his "career" down to low single figures. He won't hit the ball as far as you, it's impossible for him to do so because of his age and the restrictions that brings. But he will usually be straight, and will use the shots that have been given to him very carefully. And his putting and chipping will usually be the last thing that deserts him.
I'd rather play a youngster off of 5 than an experienced old boy off of 18.

 

[flandango]

Adam,

Recently I went without my driver whilst searching for a new one. I found that it was a good time to practice hitting different shots and using different areas of the course. eg, where I would use a driver and aim for the middle I would use my 5 wood down the right (leaving me a slightly longer shot but a better approach)

It's no good hitting long shots if they are the wrong ones!

 

[RGuk]

Adam....everyone seems to be throwing different ideas in your direction. If you are playing fairly well, hitting most shots solidly and wanting to make more pars and maybe birdies, then knowing your distances is really important.
Forget imagination and feel.....did Nick Faldo play by feel and guestimate the distances to the flags? I don't think so.

I pace out all my distances from the 150 marker or use the strokesaver/course guide on almost every hole. If I step up to a short par 4 I'll take the club off the tee to leave around 100 yards. So, on a 320 yarder, I'll most likely hit an easy 3 wood and then work out what's left. If it's 110, I pull out my PW and if it's under 100, either GW or SW.

On longer holes, I don't go completely mad and calculate the distance to the last foot, but I know if I have "approximately" 130, 140, 150 etc. Since there's less than 10 yards difference between a peachy and a regular 6,7 or 8 iron, I tend to hit plenty of greens or at least be pin high. I ALWAYS know the distance, and I ALWAYS select the club accordingly. When I think of all my best rounds (mid-70s scores, gross) they've been at courses where a) I know the distances and b) know when to go up or down a club for "local knowledge". For example, at the 15th at mine, the bell on the corner is 127. I'm nearly always 15-25 paces past this (leaves ave. 107) which would be a PW. BUT it's uphill and the front of the green rarely sends the ball forward. So, I take a 9 iron (unless I've hit a 240 3 wood or something special) and make more birdies here than anywhere.
So i.m.o. the trick is to know your yardages and use your experience to club up or down.

All this is of course a waste of time until the distances are consistent.

PS...the distances you are getting won't last long....you'll blow these out by miles in no time at all!
Good for you for trying it out and posting.

 

[golfcitydweller]

nobody should be critising u for trying to improve ur game, if ur comfortable with gettin ur distances/clubbing then good on u ..stick in and i hope u can get the rewards for it next season.. cheers

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I admire your tenacity for wanting to improve and it takes me back to my youth when I went out and made my own yardage chart for my home course (we didn't have one officially done) and it helped me a lot even if some of that was purely in the mind.

My only thoughts would be a) if you paced it out are you happy they are accurate. If possible try and borrow a skycaddy as this has a distance marking function (not sure if others makes do but if so choose whatever you can get your hands on) b) as you grow and improve your ball striking will improve and so will your distances per club and c) you its good to know the distances into a wind and down wind so my suggestion would be to do key clubs say PW, 9, 7, 5 irons and your hybrid/5 wood into a breeze to see what sort of difference you get.

I personally take a lot of confidence from knowing how far I have left and there si nothing worse than standing over a shot not 100% confident you have the right club. I'd keep going if I was you but don't get bogged down with golf by numbers. If you fancy hitting a fade on a shot it will run less than a draw but it is fun to learn to shape the ball and play these shots.

There a myriad of clubs you can use from <100 yards and it is great fun learning how to play low pitches, puchh shots, high soft floaters etc and this is what learning the game is about.

Go to a pro and make sure your swing basics are sound and maybe have a chat with him or a couple of club members about course management so you understand the skill of plotting your way around. Go get yourself a putting and short game to die for and you will be cleaning up the prizes

 

[brendy]

Ill just throw this advice into the ring.
You are 15, not to be patronising, you are still a young fellow who has a bit more physical development to come. Get the essentials right now (pitching and putting) and they will stand by you for a long time. I wouldnt worry about distances right now, yes you need to know roughly but this will be an ever changing variable until you are filled out and hitting the ball a lot further.
Here endith my tuppence worth!

 

[adamk15]

Thanks everyone this help is fantastic and heres a bit of feedback after todays round:

I played ten holes finishing up 5 shots under my handicap, the highlight of my round being a 5 at the long par 5 fifth. I feel knowing my distances definetly helped as I often found my self hitting a 4 iron where I'd normally guess a 5 or 6 and landing it in the middle of the green.

My club sells a yard book for £3 so I feel this will be a sound investment and mean I dont have to count under my breath for 50 yards.

Thanks for the advice and hopefully my good fortune will continue.