Average Distances - How Far Do You Hit Each Club? (And Don't Lie!)

[Lihu]

I prefer to go with a more engineering method, go find the 85th percentile. It's what used for speed studies on vehicles, might as well use it for the driver

Shockingly I don't lie about my distance because when people see me hit the ball they go, "Oh yea, he can hit it that far". So I rather just be honest then undervalue my skills.

I would say higher handicappers OVER estimate their distance by a lot more than lower handicappers.

Joking aside, @flopster put it pretty bluntly that as long as you know how far you hit it doesn't matter how far you say you hit.

No one here doubts your distances. If someone else puts a bogus number down for their own distances, that does not take away from your statements.

I never noticed the association people place on distances relative to handicaps nor how much judgement is placed on a handicap until I got on here. I've never even had an official handicap, I just put down 4 cause last year it seemed like my avg. score was +4 for 18. I'm sure if it was a real handicap it would probably be higher because I don't consider the courses I frequent to be very difficult.

As far as club distances go vs handicap, I don't pay much attention. I get beat by guys all the time who don't hit it as far as I do. If a 20hcp'r says he hits it 300yds when he catches it I believe it, but I don't think he can repeat it very often or keep it straight. Oh well, I'm off to test a couple 48" shafts :)

There is a measured correlation between handicap and club head speed. That's why handicap is a good check.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/64681/handicap-versus-clubhead-speed-driving-distance

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15712503

[Jeremie Boop]

Joking aside, @flopster put it pretty bluntly that as long as you know how far you hit it doesn't matter how far you say you hit.

No one here doubts your distances. If someone else puts a bogus number down for their own distances, that does not take away from your statements.

There is a measured correlation between handicap and club head speed. That's why handicap is a good check.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/64681/handicap-versus-clubhead-speed-driving-distance

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15712503

Not sure I fit that graph well hah. Of course there are always going to be outliers in any group I guess.

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I prefer to go with a more engineering method, go find the 85th percentile. It's what used for speed studies on vehicles, might as well use it for the driver

Shockingly I don't lie about my distance because when people see me hit the ball they go, "Oh yea, he can hit it that far". So I rather just be honest then undervalue my skills.

I would say higher handicappers OVER estimate their distance by a lot more than lower handicappers.

If I went that same method then I would stick with the 250-260 range for my "average" drives. I don't lie because there are those of you that played with me who know how far I hit. I know my irons are skewed due to the lofts being strong on them so that could cause some confusion though.

[mosnas]

Those carry distance or with roll?

And 260 against the wind? That's pretty good, you're a definite long bomber!!!

Oh ya those distances are with roll, 290 carry would be ridiculous.  Honestly I was surprised too as I played the course quite a bit last year and I was consistently hitting a club or two less into the greens.

I would say higher handicappers OVER estimate their distance by a lot more than lower handicappers.

That is definitely true however I golf with a few guys (when we golf its more drinking than golfing) and those guys can pound the ball, mind you we are all fairly young (19-21) and in fairly good shape from hockey.  For higher handicaps it can be tough to guess an average distance because of mishits, maybe 1 in every 10-15 drives is straight, the other 9-14 are slices or mishits.

[late347]

Oh ya those distances are with roll, 290 carry would be ridiculous.  Honestly I was surprised too as I played the course quite a bit last year and I was consistently hitting a club or two less into the greens.

That is definitely true however I golf with a few guys (when we golf its more drinking than golfing) and those guys can pound the ball, mind you we are all fairly young (19-21) and in fairly good shape from hockey.  For higher handicaps it can be tough to guess an average distance because of mishits, maybe 1 in every 10-15 drives is straight, the other 9-14 are slices or mishits.

ok thanks for the extra info.

My distances are based on eyeball measurements at the practice range (look at the ball and compare to markers)

I sometimes get little mixed up with metres since those are the actual distances out there at my range. (so I have to always calculate the yardage conversion for you American golfers out there!)

So I calculate that I hit about 240 yards with driver, at minimum (all distances total distance let's say) -  and that's with a fricking bad hit and bad low  flight path for 10,5 lofted driver. (lots of topspin though, good roll I suppose on certain surfaces, sometimes rolling out to even as far as 260-270 yards)

and let's be honest 250-ish yards isn't exactly top quality long drive either, but it can keep you in the possibilities for a birdie or par

For vanity's sake let's say I average about  260 yards with driver as of now, as a high handicapper (with hopefully potential for medium handicaps!!!)

My worst drive let's say is 240, best drive is there at 275, so average is just under 260. (rounded up to 260)

Fairly good for my size and skill level at the moment, I think. (I'm 5foot8 and 216 lbs, working on losing lot of fat at the moment to get into the shape of my life and stay there)

Never had any clubs fitted but I hit that one drive with 275 yards carry this week. I hit it with increased dynamic loft at impact. So, estimating by a chart optimal launch parameters for 10,5 driver - my clubhead speed would be at about 105 mph (that's an estimation based on the chart)

[dkolo]

D 10.5°: 225

3w 15°: 215

5w 19°: 205

4h 24°: 200

5i / 6i: 188

6i: 175

7i: 163

8i: 150

9i: 138

PW: 125

52°: 115

56°: 100

60°: 80

Notes:

These are numbers I've worked out from the driving range or par 3s, I don't really have any way to knowing exact yardages on the course, but my range has markers every 50 yards, and I've used Google Earth to measure out which stall on the range the numbers are most accurate from (I'm obsessive, I know, haha).

Of the woods, the only number I can vouch for is my 3w. 225 for the driver is a best guess for when I'm not fighting my slice, which is why I mostly use the 3w off the tee. The 5w I really only use for second shots on par 5s from the deck because I struggle with getting the 3w in the air from the deck, so it's more of a "let's just have it go far in that direction" club for me. I'm planning on getting a lesson just for driver in a few weeks, because I feel like I have a lot more potential there based on my progress with the irons.

I've spent the past few months working almost exclusively on my irons to get them working after the worst case of the shanks, so I'm proud to say that the numbers for the irons are accurate. I saw a very big spike in my distances with them in the past 3 weeks as a few things clicked. Easily about 15 yards more with each iron than last year, especially the longer ones, which I could never get up in the air consistently before.

The 5i / 6i number is based off of the fact that I have a 5i that came with my Costco Callaway X-24 set, but I also got a 6i from Taylormade with their Speedblade giveaway earlier this year. Since that 6i has a stronger loft by about a quarter of a degree than my current 5i and the same length, they go about the same distance, and I've put that 6i in the bag because it's a little easier to hit, and, heck, I just love the way it looks and sounds, replacing the 5i in terms of gapping.

[late347]

Dkolo good job with the irons and wedges. You could use some more practice on the driver, sorry to be rude like this :D Is that carry or total distance? Often for me its easier to get total disrance at the range. And try to estimate carry from the total average. Kind of bqckwards for me but i feel its harder to get the carry distances sorted out. At my range theres sort of a bump or a ridge in the middle of the hitting area so you cant always see the carry impacts so well.

[dkolo]

Absolutely, I know, haha. I've spend so much effort curing my shanks that I just haven't had time to work on my woods.

I just count where I see it first bounce. The range I tend to frequent is sort of the opposite, in that it's extremely flat and open for the first 180-200 yards, but it dips down after about 200 yards straight ahead so it's hard to see where the longer hits land in the 200-250 range before flattening out as it heads to 300. So I have a very good idea about my iron distances, but the woods would be a best guess. These numbers for the driver definitely fit in with what I've experienced on the course when I happen to land by a yardage marker and do some math. I've had too many bad slices, so I've focused on just doing what I can to keep it in play, which definitely doesn't help distance. I'm looking forward to working on the driver and woods soon, and hopefully be able to put much nicer numbers up as a result, haha.

[suchjosh]

This might be a bit OT, but how do you all go about getting good yardage estimates? My range doesn't have really good markers, so it's pretty tough for me to map out my yardages.

[Hammer 4]

This might be a bit OT, but how do you all go about getting good yardage estimates? My range doesn't have really good markers, so it's pretty tough for me to map out my yardages.

95% are all made up...lol

Mine range doesn't either, they go from 75 to 107 to 120 to 145/152, then to 187 and that's it..of course it depends on which stall your in also, so those yardages will vary.

[Jeremie Boop]

This might be a bit OT, but how do you all go about getting good yardage estimates? My range doesn't have really good markers, so it's pretty tough for me to map out my yardages.

I've just decided to start using golf shot app to start "accurately" mapping my club distances on the course. It's probably the most precise way I'll have. Using it today at the course I saw that my drives were around 240-250 carry because the ground was so soft the ball would bounce and stop. Every drive was within a few feet of the ball mark. Same with my irons into the greens. My 6i was about 189 carry and my 8i was right at 168 carry. AW was around 130. These distances are all pretty much what I was expecting but to see "accurate" gps measurements confirm it was nice. Also, taking the time to stop and tag each shot's starting position and get a good reading to front/middle/back of the green helped me feel more confident over the shot that I had the right club in my hands. It's strange how much that seemed to help me focus on just hitting the ball. This was my first time out with the app so hoping to get a good sampling of all my clubs distances over this season.

[MS256]

This might be a bit OT, but how do you all go about getting good yardage estimates? My range doesn't have really good markers, so it's pretty tough for me to map out my yardages.

A range finder is probably the most accurate and a GPS is pretty close (closer than my distances are consistent from day to day anyway).

Course yardage markers can be off and you also have to take doglegs into account but over time it's easy enough to get a pretty good idea which club goes which distance.

I don't have the opportunity to go to ranges very much but most of the ones I have been to have inconsistent distances to the flags because they rotate the teeing area without changing the flags. Plus many times I can't tell exactly where the balls are ending up with the longest clubs anyway.

[David in FL]

This might be a bit OT, but how do you all go about getting good yardage estimates? My range doesn't have really good markers, so it's pretty tough for me to map out my yardages.

Play golf. Hit ball....observe how far it goes, rinse and repeat. Many, many times.

[suchjosh]

Play golf.

Hit ball....observe how far it goes, rinse and repeat. Many, many times.

Yes, I'm finding that using the courses themselves is working best for me, but it would be nice if I didn't have to fly a green or three while playing to figure these things out.

[dkolo]

I use the ruler function on Google Earth to figure out the yardages to the range markers so I know how accurate they are. I hit the same two or three ranges and stick to the same stall most of the time, so it's not as extreme as it may sound. Laser rangefinders, if you have them, would also work well. The best way, though, would be to get on a good launch monitor and use that to figure out each club's distances. And precision isn't important in an absolute sense, since you'll probably rarely be hitting that exact yardage during a round anyway because you'll try to hit one harder, softer, higher lower, maybe move the ball. It's just a good starting off point for when you're playing on the course, really.

[flopster]

Play golf.

Hit ball....observe how far it goes, rinse and repeat. Many, many times.

Honestly would not mind going back to that, used to enjoy pacing off a marker and then go through my progressions seemed to get me more in tune.

[Lihu]

Play golf.

Hit ball....observe how far it goes, rinse and repeat. Many, many times.

Yes, I'm finding that using the courses themselves is working best for me, but it would be nice if I didn't have to fly a green or three while playing to figure these things out.

I use the ruler function on Google Earth to figure out the yardages to the range markers so I know how accurate they are. I hit the same two or three ranges and stick to the same stall most of the time, so it's not as extreme as it may sound. Laser rangefinders, if you have them, would also work well. The best way, though, would be to get on a good launch monitor and use that to figure out each club's distances. And precision isn't important in an absolute sense, since you'll probably rarely be hitting that exact yardage during a round anyway because you'll try to hit one harder, softer, higher lower, maybe move the ball. It's just a good starting off point for when you're playing on the course, really.

Honestly would not mind going back to that, used to enjoy pacing off a marker and then go through my progressions seemed to get me more in tune.

You guys make excellent points.

Actually, ever since I could hit "far enough" I stopped caring about how far I can hit.

[phillyk]

You guys make excellent points.

Actually, ever since I could hit "far enough" I stopped caring about how far I can hit.

You should always care about how far you hit!  On any given hole, you want to know where the trouble is and stay away from it given your "normal miss."  If you have a 220 carry over water and more water after 260yds, you'd want to choose the club that lands and stops in between those yardages. I think you see my point.  Those who lie about their accuracy on these averages will only hurt themselves when it comes time that they need that carry for a certain shot.

[Lihu]

You should always care about how far you hit!  On any given hole, you want to know where the trouble is and stay away from it given your "normal miss."  If you have a 220 carry over water and more water after 260yds, you'd want to choose the club that lands and stops in between those yardages. I think you see my point.  Those who lie about their accuracy on these averages will only hurt themselves when it comes time that they need that carry for a certain shot.

I should probably have worded that a bit differently. I meant that I don't care about how far I hit on an Internet forum, nor about how far anyone else hits on the forum. 100% agree that you need to know how far you actually hit. Furthermore, if you don't hit as far as you report on the forum, don't get upset with yourself. My bad wording.