Do you consider yourself a 'big' hitter?

[golf_junkie27]

what is wrong with me? i seem to hit my irons long but not my woods. I hit driver around 245 in the summer, and pw about 130. However most ppl here who hit pw 130 have 280 drives. This seems to be a reoccuring theme because in golf magazine, i seem to hava the same iron distances as tim clarke but he puts his driver 280 and 3 wood 260 where as i myself am lucky to get 260 on a drive. Any thoughts about my distances? fyi my irons are r7's and the lofts are a little bit strong.

The longer the club the harder it is to hit. Maybe you should think about trimming the shafts on your woods and driver? What length are they, now? FWIW, I had my driver trimmed to 44 2/8 inches. Much better control and did not lose any distance. Ask your fitter for some advice.

[pshizz]

i already choke up, but i am 5, 8 so i dont think i should.

[NM Golf]

I would consider anyone who hits the driver over 285 yards more than 2-3 times a round to be long.

I hit the ball a long way, I try to not use monikers like big hitter because, well, they sound cheesy. I don't really like to brag about distances because most of the guys who do are lying, but I hit the driver over 300 yards most of the time and have on occasion even hit 3 wood in the 300+ yard range. I have competed in one national competition and hit 11 out of 15 drives over 320 yards with a standard length driver.

[twc]

I would consider myself somewhat of a long hitter with the driver. Especially for my size. I'm a towering 5'6" and 145lbs, and I average about 260 with my driver.

For all my irons though, I would say I'm about average.

[Ben]

Over time technology has made certain distances that once seemed unimaginable very realistic. What distances do you consider to be those of a long or big hitter? Do you consider yourself one? For me I think a long hitter averages the 285 mark with a driver (no thats not me). A long hitter also can hit a club off the grass (hybrid or wood) 225 or more ( that is me, but not consistently) and a big hitter pulls out a wedge from 140 (I go PW). To me those are the distances that constitute a long ball hitter, what determines it for you?

Me, not in the slightest.

And my idea of a long hitter is a bit different from you. I'd say I average 280, maybe even that 285 point. Last week I played in a match play event and the dude on our other team hit the ball farther than I've ever seen anyone hit it, ever. Dude cremated the ball, all the time, with every club. He really compressed like I've never seen, or heard, it was amazing. I'd say he hits his drives on average 315. On one hole he absolutely annihilated a drive that must have gone 340. Dude was about 6'5", good size build, mid 20s. Just a monster. That's long! Oh, and this was on a course in San Diego at sea level where I found that I needed one extra club on all my shots over the few days we played there. I also live by the saying, "Its not about how far, its about how many." Putts things into perspective when I can beat a guy like that.

[Doctorfro]

I don't. The potential is there. I've had people calling me that for years because I have hit some monsters over that time. And partially because I hit three wood past most people's drivers. But I have really scaled my swing back to try and keep the tee ball in play. When I do the scores are much lower.

[Righty to Lefty]

But you still have to play a different shot for each situation, I don't. My normal shots land softly with little or no spin back so I can attack most pins without making any changes. I CAN spin the ball if I so choose, but usually there is no reason to do so. All that does is add a measure of uncertainty to a shot (which is why the pros do their best to kill that excess spin). Even spinning back a shot to a front pin as you describe is a chancy proposition. It's too easy to hit a bit short and spin back off the green, right into those bunkers you were trying to avoid. I'd rather be trying for about 15 feet past the pin and let the ball die right there. If I'm a bit short, no problem... a bit long and I've still got a reasonable 2 putt. I almost never make more than a 3/4 swing with a wedge in my hands.

Playing different types of shots depending on the situation is what golf is all about. My normal shot lands and pretty much stops in place even with fairway woods and hybrids because I'm takin a 75% swing. If you watch alot of golf you would see that throwing a ball into the center of the green and spinning it back to a gaurded front pin is the best and safest way to attack the front pin because the trouble in the front is pretty much taken out of the the equation because your not trying to thread a ball in there to a pin that is 3 paces from the front. Sure every now and then you may overcook one or be unsure and not execute the shot fully but pros don't see bunkers as a hazard at all and they would rather be in a bunker than in the rough. And pros are disgusted with themselves if they have a wedge in their hands and aren't inside of 10 feet so their mindset is completely different. Our pro here has held a tour card and when he has a wedge in his hand he is pretty much autopilot birdie. His standards and execution are a step above and that is why he shoots mid to low sixties on the regular. Playing eighteen holes with him and him not having a putt OUTSIDE of 15 feet is something to see. Especially with a wedge he is thinkin score, and if he spins it back in the bunker so what, he'll likely hole out the bunker shot or have a tap in. Watching him play the game you learn how to create shots and make chances to score. It sounds to me that you become one deminsional when you have a certain distance and I'll hit any of the four wedges that I carry depending on the trajectory I want. Also if a pro has an accurate number to the middle of the green they aren't gonna miss that number by much very often. Damon is always hole high and he doesn't miss by much left or right of target either. He even tell people to play from the women's tees because it leaves you with distances that you should expect to score from. Playing from the tips makes you learn how to grind out pars and not how to get birdies. Just my take on thangs.

[Henry]

I suspect that i am the shortest hitter here when playing the course. On the course i hit it 220 with roll out because i don't need the distance because our course is so short less than 6000 yrds on the yellows but at the range i can crank my swing speed up to 107mph and hit 250 yrd but it flys like a banana

[atrapasuenos]

I don't consider myself a big hitter, eventhough some guys said that I am. When I'm swinging well my drives can carry 270 yards to the center my 6 iron usually goes 190 yards.

But one day I played with a guy that with every drive he easily pass my ball by 40 - 50 yards... that's for me a big hitter. :)

Regards!

[PiKapp23]

Do I consider myself a long hitter? No. I used to much longer than I currently am, but even then I didn't consider myself a 'long hitter'. My average driving distance (carry only, since roll is unpredictable with different turf conditions) would be around 225 to 235. I do not consider myself to be a short hitter, either, as I outdrive the majority of the people I play with. I sometimes can carry as long as 250+ but that's when everything in my swing is perfect. (Last weekend I hit a drive on short -but tricky - par 4 to a green that tee box marker said center was 248 and I was beside that marker. I pushed it slightly right where a 'finger' of water comes into play in front right of green and I assumed I had just driven it into that water. However, it hit at about 5 yards from back edge and stopped there, about 2 yards past ballmark because the greens were very soft. According to my GPS unit when I checked shot distance it registered at 256 carry!)

The question of distance has become pretty funny as I find most people overestimate, especially carry, by 10-40 yards almost everytime. A lot of times I'll ask someone after they hit what they thought their yardage was then check it with GPS - they are ALWAYS a lot shorter than they say. I can't tell you how many people swear they hit their drive 250+ and it ends up closer to 220. One guy even said 250-260 and it turned out to be just over 200!

As for question of 'what is long', I would say any drive over 275 carry (or so) is long. There are a lot of people that can hit that distance or longer counting roll, but not that many can truly 'carry' that distance. Heck, not that many professional players consistently 'carry' 275+. I think the driving average on tour is somethink like 280 and estimates (by people like Frank Thomas) are that roll accounts for 10-20% of the average drive for most players.

[sms316]

It's all relative. I'm longer than 95% of golfers, but of those of a similar handicap, I'm nothing special.

[bsnone]

I think I have average distance with my clubs. I hit the driver 240-260, 7 iron goes 150ish and my 100 yard club is my 52 gap wedge. I still can't beat my Dad who hits 4 iron at 150 and 8 iron at 100.

[kyldo]

It's funny, I don't consider myself a long driver, my average would be in the 290-300 range, namely because with I play with so many guys that are longer than me. I played a round with a buddy this year who averages 320-330 and told him to swing as hard as he could. Sure enough he caught it, and carried it 370 uphill into the wind with a fade. Most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. THAT is what I consider long.

However, I do consider myself a really long iron player, namely because I deloft my irons so much at impact. I hold the lag forever and trap the hell out of the ball, and carry my 7 195 average. If I swing out of my boots and catch it I can carry my 7 in the 225 range.

[mako224]

At my home course you are a long hitter if you can hit it over the fence at the end of the range and carry the practice area that is on the other side. You are really long if you can get it over the fence with a 3-wood.

The base of the fence is 245 yards from the Ts and the fence is about 60 feet high. There are only a couple of us at my course that hit it over and myself and one other are the only two I know of to carry it with a 3-wood. It has to be downwind to have any chance to get it with the 3-wood.

[shortgrass lover]

I used to consider myself a big hitter, until I got a gps unit. I thought I could hit it 300 yards...WRONG! i've only hit a few over 270, and average about 240-245. However, my irons are fairly long. I'm fifteen and play in junior tournaments. I play with a lot of guys who hit it longer off the tee, but not with the irons. My PW is about 125, 130 if I go all out and pure it. For my age, I may be on the long side, but after watching a PGA tournament in person... I found out that I won't consider myself "long" for a few years

[Shanks-a-lot]

I'm not a big hitter. I can get my driver out about 250 with roll so I'm probably only carrying 230ish. My irons are pretty short. I can only get my pw about 100yds or so, but I'm used to the distances so it isn't like I pull it when I'm 125 out and try to mash it. To me someone who averages their drives over 280 and can hit the pw around 130 is a big hitter.

[extremeld]

its all relative - sure its the same for most people unless someone can knock it past me by at least 20 yards i dont think oh he is a big hitter as i probably figure on my best day i could do that and i have never played golf with anyone who could hit it close to me anyhow.

so the guy hitting 220 sees 240 plus as big hitter and the guy hitting 280 sees 300 plus as big hitter.


IMO

[kyldo]

^ I agree. So many older guys think I'm like the punisher of the golf ball or something, yet the guys I typically play with who are in my range think meh.