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

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

I hit my clubs the same distances as him as well, and my average drive is about the same as him and definitely not 260-270.

So when do we get together for a long drive contest?

I'd probably lose as you would out drive me by 20-30 yards, I'd go for a longest 8i contest, though.

[RGoosen]

The pros carry their 4i 205, I think @canth stated total distances as he alluded to "low screamer with lots of roll".

I think it has more to do with angle of attack. My 4 iron goes 190-195, 3 wood 240, and yet my driver goes 265 if I'm lucky. I just started with lessons to fix this. If you have a steep angle of attack you may get good compression on the ball and deloft the club which might account for good iron distances. However, if you not sweeping the ball off the tee you are creating backspin and popping the ball up accounting for shorter drives relatively speaking when comparing the distances with your irons.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

The pros carry their 4i 205, I think @canth

stated total distances as he alluded to "low screamer with lots of roll".

I think it has more to do with angle of attack. My 4 iron goes 190-195, 3 wood 240, and yet my driver goes 265 if I'm lucky. I just started with lessons to fix this. If you have a steep angle of attack you may get good compression on the ball and deloft the club which might account for good iron distances. However, if you not sweeping the ball off the tee you are creating backspin and popping the ball up accounting for shorter drives relatively speaking when comparing the distances with your irons.

Definitely possible, and my long irons like the 4i and 3i are basically low screamers as compared to my other irons and carry 10-20 yards shorter than my 5i and roll a long way to kind of "make up for it". I get that occasional nice shot with my 3i off the tee, but that's about it. . .

[Dave2512]

I'm not discrediting that 240 is a good driving distance. I just don't get a 205 yard 4 iron and a 240 yard drive. When I look at the "What's in your bag" section of Golf Digest, many pros hit their 4 irons 205 yards, but they also hit driver 275+. The ones who hit a 4 iron 220+ are driving the ball 300+. Heck, I hit my 4 iron around 190-200, but driver 260-270 and I suck. I wanted to see the insight from a low HDCP why he's happy with that seemingly small distance gap. Maybe something I could learn, that's all. It looks like he actually put a darn good shaft on his driver to get that distance out of the club.

I can only speak from my experience but the longer the club the more likely I will strike it poorly. My averages aren't indicative of my club head speed they are indicative of what the average of my mishits are, which is the majority of my shots. Pros have a lot tighter averages and gaps than we do. For example I use Game Golf and looking at my 4 iron numbers and figuring what wasn't some weird punch shot or something my worst to best spans from 137 yards to 216. My best 6 irons shots are in the 210 range with a much tighter best to worst because it's an easier club to hit.

I just yanked the 4 iron out in favor of a game improvement 4 hybrid. For a while my averages from 6 iron through 4 iron were just a few yards apart. I could probably go to a 5 hybrid and make it easier on myself but I only use it sparingly and mostly from the tee on par 3's. If I had to use long irons in the rough and fairway often I'd be hosed. Sometimes when I really need to get it close to the green and I fear a mishit due an iffy lie I'll hit a 5 iron from where I should be hitting a 7 just to be sure my miss travels a little further. Looking at my stats I rarely miss long, it's something like 3% long from 175-200 and 36% short. My short average is higher than any of them.

[Jeremie Boop]

I'd probably lose as you would out drive me by 20-30 yards, I'd go for a longest 8i contest, though.

I'll take you on for both those contests.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="Lihu" url="/t/18426/average-distances-how-far-do-you-hit-each-club-and-dont-lie/2160#post_1187298"]   I'd probably lose as you would out drive me by 20-30 yards, I'd go for a longest 8i contest, though. :-D   [/QUOTE] I'll take you on for both those contests. :whistle:

I think the point was that we both claim to hit the same distances, so a "contest" would make more sense. :-P

[Jeremie Boop]

I think the point was that we both claim to hit the same distances, so a "contest" would make more sense.

Well, that's no fun at all.

[ChrisWev]

If he's hitting his 4i 205 (which would be a very good hit, even as a hybrid) and driver 240 then the 4 is either rolling a lot (but you would also expect the driver to also) or he's not hitting the driver as efficiently as can be. It's probably the latter.

With the driver, hitting it out of the heel, hitting down on the ball instead of 5 deg up, bottom groove etc etc can easily take that extra 30 yards away, which should be there.

The reason the pros go 205 and 270+ carry is because they hit it out of the middle, with the correct angle of attack and are just miles better than us all.

Either that or he's using a brand new hybrid and a 1980's driver

I use this chart quite a lot (based in this I swing about 103mph now which would be about correct, or I swing a little faster but don't quite hit the middle):

[Lihu]

If he's hitting his 4i 205 (which would be a very good hit, even as a hybrid) and driver 240 then the 4 is either rolling a lot (but you would also expect the driver to also) or he's not hitting the driver as efficiently as can be. It's probably the latter.

With the driver, hitting it out of the heel, hitting down on the ball instead of 5 deg up, bottom groove etc etc can easily take that extra 30 yards away, which should be there.

The reason the pros go 205 and 270+ carry is because they hit it out of the middle, with the correct angle of attack and are just miles better than us all.

Either that or he's using a brand new hybrid and a 1980's driver

I use this chart quite a lot (based in this I swing about 103mph now which would be about correct, or I swing a little faster but don't quite hit the middle):

Except for the first line, everything in this chart is carry . Very few people carry their 4i 205 yards on average . If they could they'd be scratch or better. So, I could only conclude he meant total distance with a lot of roll. He stated that he hit low flying screamers with lots of roll. . .

[ChrisWev]

Except for the first line, everything in this chart is carry. Very few people carry their 4i 205 yards on average. If they could they'd be scratch or better. So, I could only conclude he meant total distance with a lot of roll. He stated that he hit low flying screamers with lots of roll. . .

I know that, all of this would likely still apply:

If he's hitting his 4i 205 (which would be a very good hit, even as a hybrid) and driver 240 then the 4 is either rolling a lot (but you would also expect the driver to also) or he's not hitting the driver as efficiently as can be. It's probably the latter.

With the driver, hitting it out of the heel, hitting down on the ball instead of 5 deg up, bottom groove etc etc can easily take that extra 30 yards away, which should be there.

Either that or he's using a brand new hybrid and a 1980's driver

What I was getting at is if his 4 iron is rolling 30 yards and the driver is too (it's probably rolling more) then he's carrying 175 and 210 (which still is nowhere near a big enough gap, should be more like 50-60 yards)

The chart is a guide to carry distances and the reference was to pro's hitting 205y with a 4i (which would be what they carry, at least), Can't see many pro's having 205 total with a 4i.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Except for the first line, everything in this chart is carry. Very few people carry their 4i 205 yards on average. If they could they'd be scratch or better. So, I could only conclude he meant total distance with a lot of roll. He stated that he hit low flying screamers with lots of roll. . .

I know that, all of this would likely still apply:

If he's hitting his 4i 205 (which would be a very good hit, even as a hybrid) and driver 240 then the 4 is either rolling a lot (but you would also expect the driver to also) or he's not hitting the driver as efficiently as can be. It's probably the latter.

What I was getting at is if his 4 iron is rolling 30 yards and the driver is too (it's probably rolling more) then he's carrying 175 and 210 (which still is nowhere near a big enough gap, should be more like 50-60 yards)

The chart is a guide to carry distances and the reference was to pro's hitting 205y with a 4i (which would be what they carry, at least), Can't see many pro's having 205 total with a 4i.

You're right about the "1980s style" driver. Perhaps some people give up distance for accuracy?

It's still possible to consistently hit a 4i 205 yards with 170 carry and 35 yards roll, and still hit driver 240 total. I'm not going to guess the way he hits the driver?

There are also people who hit their drivers 240 yards and still need a hybrid from 170 yards. Not everyone fits into the perfect shot mold, unless someone is claiming to hit something like 280 yards on average. That takes some seriously good mechanics and solid contact, so the rest of the clubs are probably just as good or almost as good.

[ChrisWev]

There are also people who hit their drivers 240 yards and still need a hybrid from 170 yards

Yup, I've been there and I also see them often.

For me I try and work to that chart, although I know it's not an exact science.

When I was carrying my 7i 145 and carrying my driver 180 I knew there was a problem . Least I figured it out, now it's just starting direction I need to fix!

[ZappyAd]

I had my first TrackMan session today, partly as a result of seeing this thread and not knowing the answer for my own game!.  It is just amazing the swing information you can get out of it and if you have someone to interpret it who knows what they are doing then it is really useful.  Having been away from golf for a good while I am constantly amazed by the advances in technology that are available now.

My numbers today were (carry / total)

D           245   270

3W        228   252

5W        213   231

4I          182   191

5I          180   190

6I          171   178

7I          158   166

8I          143   149

9I          120   123

PW       103   106

50' W     98    101

56' W     73      75

60' W     58      58

Turns out I need to hit down more on my 4I and up more on my Driver, plus that 50' Glide wedge impulse buy might not have been such a good idea.

[Lihu]

I had my first TrackMan session today, partly as a result of seeing this thread and not knowing the answer for my own game!.  It is just amazing the swing information you can get out of it and if you have someone to interpret it who knows what they are doing then it is really useful.  Having been away from golf for a good while I am constantly amazed by the advances in technology that are available now. My numbers today were (carry / total) D           245   270 3W        228   252 5W        213   231 4I          182   191 5I          180   190 6I          171   178 7I          158   166 8I          143   149 9I          120   123 PW       103   106 50' W     98    101 56' W     73      75 60' W     58      58 Turns out I need to hit down more on my 4I and up more on my Driver, plus that 50' Glide wedge impulse buy might not have been such a good idea.

Huge gaps in your short irons and wedges?

[ZappyAd]

Huge gaps in your short irons and wedges?

Yes the gaps do change quite a bit as the irons get longer.   I thought possibly that I am was swinging a bit easier with the short irons and then building up exertion to peak at about 6i then easing off a bit (relatively) at 4i and 5i (plus maybe I was getting a bit tired as we started at the short irons and worked up).  So my PW-8I numbers were a bit less than I thought.  I guess I can look at the data and see if I can figure anything out from my dynamic loft and swing speed etc.

At the short end I'm going to see if I can get the loft on my 50' glide changed closer to 51.5' and then maybe regrip and extend by 1" the 56 and 60 (assuming those sort of changes are possible to make).   I've spent some time at the range trying to get more comfortable with my 4 iron and practicing hitting up on my driver and the driver especially felt much better so I just need to make the changes stick.  Will think about having another session in a few months to see if I've been able to change the picture.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Huge gaps in your short irons and wedges?

Yes the gaps do change quite a bit as the irons get longer.   I thought possibly that I am was swinging a bit easier with the short irons and then building up exertion to peak at about 6i then easing off a bit (relatively) at 4i and 5i (plus maybe I was getting a bit tired as we started at the short irons and worked up).  So my PW-8I numbers were a bit less than I thought.  I guess I can look at the data and see if I can figure anything out from my dynamic loft and swing speed etc.

At the short end I'm going to see if I can get the loft on my 50' glide changed closer to 51.5' and then maybe regrip and extend by 1" the 56 and 60 (assuming those sort of changes are possible to make).   I've spent some time at the range trying to get more comfortable with my 4 iron and practicing hitting up on my driver and the driver especially felt much better so I just need to make the changes stick.  Will think about having another session in a few months to see if I've been able to change the picture.

It takes more energy to swing longer clubs, but the relative feel is about the same for me. My short clubs have less gap than my long clubs. You have over 20 yards between the 9i and 8i. Given your driver distance, a lot of par 4s will have that nasty gap choice. That's the only reason I mentioned it.

[StefanUrkel]

lob wedge- 120

sand wedge-135

AW-150

PW-165

9-180

8-195

7-210

6-225

5-240

4-255

3-270

3 wood-330

Driver- 380

[Lihu]

lob wedge- 120

sand wedge-135

AW-150

PW-165

9-180

8-195

7-210

6-225

5-240

4-255

3-270

3 wood-330

Driver- 380

Are you an LDA competitor? Or do I have the wrong units?