What distances are the pros hitting..

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duncan mackie

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Listening to some of the commentary at the Players on Pga.com.. I just cant fathom how how far the pros are hitting.

Ryan Palmer: For his tee shot on the 13th (P3).. 176y used 7 iron to get to 10 feet of the hole

David Lingmerth: After driving 311y on the 16th (P5), for his 2nd shot of 184y used an 8i & then eagled it


Assuming I hit them well (rarely happens) my 7i & 8i only go 145y & 130y. Ryan P is the same height as me (5'11inch)while David is shorter (5'7inch). Even if I get all parts of my game working right, I just dont have the distance to match the modern day pros (nor do I have chance to par a championship course)..


<<More dejected>>:eek::mad:

probably best you don't play with jimbob.s - he's smaller than you and hits it about their distances.....the first 98% of the distance is about technique (clubhead speed) and hitting it from the centre of the club over, and over, again - with a precise clubhead path...only then does the extra bit associated with extreme fitness come in.

don't be fooled by some of the 'lesser hitters' like Luke D - he can hit it out there but has developed his game, and swing, around a more controlled approach.
 

Foxholer

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To me, the answer is 'whatever they want - up to a point'.

If normal 8-iron is 160, I'm sure they can deloft/belt it 170 or more.

Westwood hits Driver around 300 but I've certainly seen him unleash a couple out to 340 when he wants.

There's also a lot of instances where rubbish is spoken by commentators about what club they are hitting and even what distance some holes are actually playing!
 

chrisd

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Last night from Sawgrass they showed a super slowmo of a shot where the pro hit the ball and continued down the line through impact and beyond much longer than most of us ever would dream of doing. My pro showed me this move as, what he called " a really advanced top players move" if and when I can manage it I get an extra 15 yards as its sends a penetrating, lower flight to the ball, how many people learn these ways that the pro's do to gain extra yards? Lets be realistic, 99% of swings I see on a Sunday morning, my own included, do well to hit what we do!
 

harpo_72

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I was playing in the roll up there was a young 1 handicapper playing. It was a horrifically windy day but there was a 397 yard par 4 completely down wind. This lad drove the green and was chipping back. Turns out he has a swing speed in the region of 125mph. How can you compete against that? I remember playing at a high level and watching these boys and they weren't massively longer but there is no way I can get near this distance. I can imagine that the speed is turned down for the irons whereas smashing one off a tee is full on. But it's a different game and not one I remember seeing.
One of the other guys was saying that the roll out on the US tour was on average 80 yards, add that to my average carry and I am only sub 300 yards ... So course set up is critical , also the tv fails to show you the altitude changes so this should be considered.
 

jimbob.someroo

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The other thing not mentioned here enough is the wind ... I'm pretty sure a few of those shots were hit last night with a a lot of following wind.

The pro's probably hit it 10-15 yards further than a good Cat 1 golfer of similar size and stature, so maybe 1 less iron. The difference is the consistency of the strike and the accuracy. The 17th yesterday was playing somewhere between 135-140 I think and the players where hitting either 9 irons or wedges. Hitting a 9 iron, 140 yards isn't particularly spectacular, but doing it consistently and managing to hit that tiny green is!
 
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vkurup

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Crickey.. i thought I was getting better.. looks like a whole field is in front of me.

3 yrs ago when I picked up the game, i had cheap dunlop sticks. My graphite 7i would do go 130. When I moved to TM Burner 2.0, the 7i was 'flying' 145y. I was over the moon. So now to hear forumers hitting 9i to my 7i is a bit deflating.

The only good thing is that I can only improve from here. One of my biggest weakness is the lack of backswing. Years of cricket does not bode well for backswing. I only take my clubs to about 12O'clock position. But am able to accelerate from there to get my driver to 95-105mph. Now if only I can make a full turn and use more of the big muscles rather than the beer belly..
 

cs1986

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I always think golf is much more about accuracy than distance. Id rather be able to hit my 7 iron 150 yards and get it to go exactly where I want it rather than say 170-180 yards and have the odd slice or the ball going in the trees.
 

Stuey01

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Vkurup, you're hitting with a 3/4 swing... Of course it's not going as far as some others.
With your driver 105mph is pretty quick (95 isn't - that's a big variance, which is it?), imagine how far you could hit it if you actually used a full swing.
 
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vkurup

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Vkurup, you're hitting with a 3/4 swing... Of course it's not going as far as some others.
With your driver 105mph is pretty quick (95 isn't - that's a big variance, which is it?), imagine how far you could hit it if you actually used a full swing.

Dependent on the weatabix count..
105 is on a good day & I have warmed up after a few holes (generally by the 18th)... 95 is usually on the first tee after I have done a runner from the car park and still catching my breath...
 

Stuey01

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Sounds like you have potential to hit it much further just by working on your technique and getting to a full swing, are you doing anything about it? Lessons?
 

jimbob.someroo

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To me, the answer is 'whatever they want - up to a point'.
If normal 8-iron is 160, I'm sure they can deloft/belt it 170 or more.
Westwood hits Driver around 300 but I've certainly seen him unleash a couple out to 340 when he wants.

This also seems to be quite true. Our pro was telling us a story of when he played in an event with Ernie Els and was impressed that he was managing to keep up with Ernie's driver. That was until they reached the first par 5 and Ernie actually hit a full one which flew 30+yards past our poor pro.

Their emphasis is definitely on control over distance!
 

Stuey01

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This also seems to be quite true. Our pro was telling us a story of when he played in an event with Ernie Els and was impressed that he was managing to keep up with Ernie's driver. That was until they reached the first par 5 and Ernie actually hit a full one which flew 30+yards past our poor pro.

Their emphasis is definitely on control over distance!
LOL... Ouch!
 
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vkurup

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Sounds like you have potential to hit it much further just by working on your technique and getting to a full swing, are you doing anything about it? Lessons?

Did a few lessons last year.. havent done this year. But need to. Otherwise I will have to stay content with being a third division gofer..
 

MadAdey

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I always think golf is much more about accuracy than distance. Id rather be able to hit my 7 iron 150 yards and get it to go exactly where I want it rather than say 170-180 yards and have the odd slice or the ball going in the trees.
Totally spot on. If people worried more about hitting it straight than hitting it long, then they would probably get on a lot better. I would say I hit everything at about 80% of my maximum, but at 80 % is where I find I have the most control over the clubhead. I can rev it up and hit it further but I loose control, so I prefer to hit it with a shorter more controlled swing.
 

Rooter

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like the guys above, i have reigned it right in. i feel like i am hitting my irons about 30% power!! however, i have lost a little distance, accuracy is up by more in % terms! anyone that has played with me before will say i hit a long ish ball (bit off of forum average!) but these days, its not how far, its how many! hitting nice easy 7 irons about 160 now, 5 iron is 180 max. used to hit a 5 iron way over 200, but 1 in 3 would go where i wanted! just need to get this mentality with my driver, for some reason i still have the wrong psychology with it and try and smash it into the next county!
 
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vkurup

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like the guys above, i have reigned it right in. i feel like i am hitting my irons about 30% power!! however, i have lost a little distance, accuracy is up by more in % terms! anyone that has played with me before will say i hit a long ish ball (bit off of forum average!) but these days, its not how far, its how many! hitting nice easy 7 irons about 160 now, 5 iron is 180 max. used to hit a 5 iron way over 200, but 1 in 3 would go where i wanted! just need to get this mentality with my driver, for some reason i still have the wrong psychology with it and try and smash it into the next county!

Thats what happens when ur become a '-IER'
 

srixon 1

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How are you people measuring these distances? Do you have a GPS device?

Hitting a 7 iron to a 170 yard par 3 and coming up short, and then rolling out 20 yards to the middle of the green doesn't mean you are hitting the ball 170 yards (even though technically you are). For irons it should be about how far you hit it through the air (carry distance). If you know what distance you carry each iron then you will become a lot more consistent.
 
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