Is there something off about my distances?

[tuffluck]

I drive 260-285y every time and yet I only hit a 7 iron 160 at the longest, sometimes a little shorter. My 4 iron is only good for about 185. My buddy drives as far as I do, but hits a PW 150. I just don't get it. Am I hitting my irons proportionally to my drives? If not, then why?

[Datsyuk]

Originally Posted by tuffluck

I drive 260-285y every time and yet I only hit a 7 iron 160 at the longest, sometimes a little shorter. My 4 iron is only good for about 185. My buddy drives as far as I do, but hits a PW 150. I just don't get it. Am I hitting my irons proportionally to my drives? If not, then why?

Your driver is about 120 yards more than your 7-iron.

155(7), 165(6), 175(5), 185(4), 200(3), 270(driver)

What would you use to fill a 70+ yard gap?

Do your friend's yardages look like this?

150(PW), 162(9), 174(8), 186(7), 198(6), 210(5), 220(4), 235(hybrid), 250(4-wood), 270(driver)

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by tuffluck

I drive 260-285y every time and yet I only hit a 7 iron 160 at the longest, sometimes a little shorter. My 4 iron is only good for about 185. My buddy drives as far as I do, but hits a PW 150. I just don't get it. Am I hitting my irons proportionally to my drives? If not, then why?

Those don't seem ridiculously abnormal to me.  Especially the 7 iron to driver numbers.  Those are fine.  Ideally, I think, you'd probably rather that 4 iron be 195 or so - 25 yard total gap between 7I and 4I is a little low.  But for the most part, nah, you aren't in bad shape at all.

You have a few clubs between the 4I and driver, I assume?  3 wood, maybe a 5 wood and a hybrid or two?

[tuffluck]

I have a 19 hybrid I hit about 210 and a 3w I hit about 230. I fade my 4i pretty good. It flies 180 and stops on a dime. If I can learn a draw I can probably get another 10y out of it. I am just not there yet. Why do you think my buddy is hitting a PW 150, is it possible he is not catching all of his drives? I guess one of us is doing something weird since we hit only some clubs equidistant.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by tuffluck

Why do you think my buddy is hitting a PW 150, is it possible he is not catching all of his drives? I guess one of us is doing something weird since we hit only some clubs equidistant.

I have no clue.  I would have to see both of your swings and then ... well, I'd have to be a teacher and/or swing expert, and I am sadly neither.  Maybe you are a bit of a flipper, thus the bottom of your swing arc is slightly behind the ball?  Would be good for the driver, not so much anything else.  But, seriously, I have no idea.  (If you video yourself and start a "myswing" thread then you might actually get some feedback from a pro)

What type of irons do you and your buddy have?

[tuffluck]

i20s for me, no idea for him. I totally meant to video myself today but forgot. I will soon.

[imtomtomim]

Well, I actually have had the same issue nagging at me for the past 2 years, with close to the same distance as you.  On some holes that I've paid attention to my partners, I have noticed that I can out drive the group by 20-30 yards and still be hitting the same club into the green as the next guy behind me.  Although this is a bit disconcerting, remember, irons are for control and precision.  Shorter distances are a good thing.  Especially later in the rounds when I find a few holes to let the driver fly (290+ carry), it's nice to have lots of options for a full swing under 150 to the green.

I also think that shafts may have something to do with it.  My hybrid, wood, and driver all have graphite shafts in it so I might swing them faster than I would my steel shafted irons.  My 4i goes 195 in the air, but my 3h (24*) goes 220.  That's probably my biggest weakness in my setup and where my distance gap jumps up quite a lot, but it transitions into a 245 yard 4w (17*) and into a 270 yard driver.  All while my 8i is 155, like you.

I'm also not sure how much you practice, but I'm still using the set I started playing with.  When I started golf, I hit the range 5 days a week for about 2 hours a day.  I may have worn out the irons a bit.  Maybe I'll see new numbers once I update my set (in a few years once I'm done being a grad student), but really it's not that important because with these distances, I'm still on a continuing upslope of improvement in my game and my scoring.

[pipergsm]

Quote

Originally Posted by tuffluck

I drive 260-285y every time and yet I only hit a 7 iron 160 at the longest, sometimes a little shorter. My 4 iron is only good for about 185. My buddy drives as far as I do, but hits a PW 150. I just don't get it. Am I hitting my irons proportionally to my drives? If not, then why?

with those numbers and a 20 handicap, you concern should not be distance, but accuracy!

focus on what really matters.

you could be playing scratch with 20 yards less on both your 7i and driver!

[k-troop]

Not a big concern. My driver is about 280, and my 7i is 170. 4i is 205. Make sure you have all the gaps covered. Your 4i sounds weak, but that might be cured by trading for a hybrid.

[Bullitt5339]

I would have to say it's the way you swing as well, because I'm exactly the opposite.  I have a very steep swing path and hit my irons beautifully, but struggle to get any distance and control with the driver and fairway wood.  My average drive is around 245, but I hit my 7 iron 155-160 yards without the strong lofts of most GI irons.

[GixxerTed]

Originally Posted by k-troop

Not a big concern. My driver is about 280, and my 7i is 170. 4i is 205. Make sure you have all the gaps covered. Your 4i sounds weak, but that might be cured by trading for a hybrid.

My numbers are almost identical to this.  Sounds like your buddy is delofting and you are scooping your irons and not compressing the ball.

[Datsyuk]

Originally Posted by GixxerTed

My numbers are almost identical to this.  Sounds like your buddy is delofting and you are scooping your irons and not compressing the ball.

Were meaning to respond to the guy with the 280 driver and 170 yard 7-iron?

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Datsyuk

Were meaning to respond to the guy with the 280 driver and 170 yard 7-iron?

He quoted k-troop as his distances were similar.  And then was responding to the OP with the later part of his response given he mentions the OP's buddy comparison.

[Audaxi]

The numbers look fine for you. Perhaps a little low on the 4-iron, as others have stated, but not bad at all if they're consistent. And to reassure you that your buddy isn't this great amazing guy, the only good/great player I know of that hits a PW 150 is Bubba Watson, and it was when he delofted it to an 8 iron during the Masters and hooked it 30 yards onto the green. It's likely that you buddy just delofts his PW to an extreme degree, except that he does it consistently, or he could just have much better ball striking (a lot less likely), or a combo of the two.

[GixxerTed]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

He quoted k-troop as his distances were similar.  And then was responding to the OP with the later part of his response given he mentions the OP's buddy comparison.

Bingo.  Thank you sir.

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by tuffluck

I drive 260-285y every time and yet I only hit a 7 iron 160 at the longest, sometimes a little shorter. My 4 iron is only good for about 185. My buddy drives as far as I do, but hits a PW 150. I just don't get it. Am I hitting my irons proportionally to my drives? If not, then why?

Your numbers aren't far off from mine either, except you hit driver a little longer.  I'm still getting use to my new driver, but I'm getting it out around 240-245 total, although I did hit 2 that were just over 260 on Wednesday (either hit it just perfect, or got a LOT of roll!).

My 4 iron distance is the same as yours, 7 iron is my 150 club, and PW is the 120 club.  I'm an easy swinger, I don't really go after the ball hard.  I just try to make a nice smooth swing that is fluid.

I also don't get too wrapped up with how far I hit my X iron compared to the other guys X iron.  As long as I know what my distances are, and that I am consistent with those distances, I just play my game.  I also don't necessarily hit each shot with the idea of hitting it as far as I can, but I try to plan each one.  Like one particular par 5 at a local course...... I KNOW that I cannot be on it in two, and that I will (should!) be on the green with my third shot, so I will try to set up that third shot to be about 100-110 as that is my most comfortable shot.

I'm comfortable with my distances.  The putter.... not so much!

Oh, one other thing to consider besides just swing mechanics is the specs of your irons to his.  Depending on what he plays, the specs for his PW might be the same as or close to your 9 iron, or even 8 iron.  The loft, length, total weight, head design, etc are all going to be a factor.

[saevel25]

If i assume your 7 iron is a normal 7 iron and not a 6 iron, did your set of clubs come with a PW, AW? or is PW your most lofted iron? You can't judge distances on the iron you hit, you really got to know the stats of your clubs, some irons are stronger. Like Taylormade's game improvement 7 iron would be similar to a Mizuno 6 iron on there MP line

But you hit your driver 260-280, if i am assume a standard 7, meaning not stronger lofted, that's about right i think.

[Datsyuk]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

He quoted k-troop as his distances were similar.  And then was responding to the OP with the later part of his response given he mentions the OP's buddy comparison.

It makes sense now even though they're on the same line. The return key is your friend.