Finding my yardages?

[Rukus43]

Today I was able to have just enough time to get two distances nailed down. 56* full and 3/4 swings. My smooth full swing with my 56 averaged 96yds, and my 3/4 averaged 85yds. My yard is about 350ft long (2 acres) all mowed and flat so I used a measuring wheel after hitting about 20 shots each time. I am really excited about knowing for sure what to expect, now I think I will be able to play much more strategically once I go through the whole bag like this. Also these are carry yards because my yard is soft right now and every shot either plugged or backed up a few feet. Thanks again for the suggestions!

[wmiller]

Or, you could do like my young(er) friend does when he plays with me: he has me measure his shots with my gps. After having played a dozen or so rounds, he is pretty comfortable with his club selection, only asking me for distances when hitting approach shots from non-fairway lies where he can't use the fairway markers.

'Course this only works if you know someone with a gps...

[lcfd42]

Glad to see that you are progressing in learning your distances. The previous poster spoke about gps. I use my sky caddie almost exclusively for yardages within 100 yds., and to measure shots occasionally. I carry a range card for my wedges, and whit those 4 clubs can hit most any range with a couple of yards. It's really nice to have that confidence when making shots with little to no green to work with and having to carry hazards form deep rough. Open the club and stance - let er rip.

[Rukus43]

Glad to see that you are progressing in learning your distances.

I had thought about that since I have confidence now at specific distances I really need to know specific yardages. The courses I play don't always offer the greatest yardage markers and even if there is one I still feel like the variance could be rather high, if I really get dialed in. How critical is it to have a gps or rangefinder, at least for 100yds and in?

BTW, I now have really solid numbers for my SW & GW. I need a bigger space for the rest of the bag. Is it good to have 1/2 and 3/4 swing distances on all irons? So far I have: 56* 1/2 52yds 56* 3/4 85yds 56* full 96yds GW 1/2 58yds GW 3/4 92yds GW full 103yds I think what I call 3/4 must not really be 3/4 of a swing. My reference point for my 3/4 swing was for my left arm to be parallel with the ground (I'm a righty)and the shaft was pointing straight up. For the 1/2 shots on the SW & GW I used a pitching stance and brought the shaft a couple of degrees above parallel to the ground.

[lcfd42]

Don't forget that you can do the same thing (ranging your clubs distances) by opening the club face about 45* and adjusting your stance to open. Take your 1/2, 3/4, and full swings this way as well. You will see you have an addtional 3 distances per club to work with. Also the ball will get up faster and higher while landing softer. Ex. - a half swing on your 56* gives you 52yds. but when you open it about 45* the trajectory will be much higher since you are delofting the club and your distance should be about half or 25 yds. Try it, its really helpful when you have to fly a hazard or get up onto an elevated green and stop the ball quickly. Have fun and keep practicing.

Oh, before I forget, it only works with the wedges. Its all about the bounce.

[SQ Bimmer]

Check out this link for yardage within 100 yards. You input your pitching wedge distance and it recommends club and swing for various yardage.

This thing is totally off for me as I am sure it is off for most people given different equipment, swings, etc. Maybe if they presented the idea of charting 10 yard increment shots from a full PW and down, and gave suggestions on how to do it and gave us a blank chart to fill in the club/swing and not even suggest what the distances are, it would have more credibility.

I hit my PW 120 yards and my SW 90 yards. Maybe I am over-swinging my 56*, but I suppose it works out well because 90-100 yard shots with my 56* are my most comfortable shots in my bag. Now that I have a gap wedge though, I will see about making my own chart down to 20.

[lcfd42]

Bimmer,
It's not about hitting a particular distance with a certain club because someone else or a book says thats how far you should hit this club. Learning these distances are merely for reference, even if you max a PW at 90yds. then you know that is not enough club for a 105 shot or is too much for the 80yrd shot. So you get the 9i for the 105 and a GapW for the 80. Thats all its about. Good luck getting yours charted. You will like having confidence in your distances.

[erock9174]

Get 40-50 decent balls. Go find an empty shortgrass pasture. pick-up one of those inexpensive measuring wheels(can be purchased for $12-$15). Now take a club from your bag and pick a target (a rock, clump of grass, etc...) and start hitting balls. hit 25 or more with that club. Don't worry about hitting your target as it is only a reference point for alignment. Just try to stroke the balls consistently.

I think the gps in my car has a walk feature. I wonder if you could so the same thing but instead of measuring with a measuring wheel if you could just chart the distance with the gps unit ?

[saevel25]

My GPS unit has a shot function, it will measure between two points for ya.

[erock9174]

My GPS unit has a shot function, it will measure between two points for ya.

I'm not talking Golf gps. I meant a gps for your car. like a garmin nuvi, Magellen, etc.