250 yards is a respectable carry distance

[motteler621]

From Ruggers vid, He is a pretty tall and big guy. I believe he can hit a long ball. Im not sure about the 250 4 iron thing though, maybe every once in awhile. I have some big friends who do crazy stuff like that alot and they suck, lol.

[Rugger]

Hey, guy. You're the one who came on here and posted your outrageous distances, then attempted to "prove" them by posting your swing. As one who has played with professionals who do hit their drives 280-290, I am pretty familiar with what is needed to move the ball that far. Without stealing any of Shanks' thunder, your swing, my friend, doesn't fall into that 280-290 category. Sorry. But you, too, are free to believe what you want.

I guess my GPS, cart gps, yardage books, sprinkler covers and yardage sticks are all free to make stuff up, too. I better tell my other friends who hit 290 that their markers, yardage books and clubs lie to them too. Get over yourself.

[Harmonious]

I guess my GPS, cart gps, yardage books, sprinkler covers and yardage sticks are all free to make stuff up, too. I better tell my other friends who hit 290 that their markers, yardage books and clubs lie to them too. Get over yourself.

No need to be so defensive. You made statements about your game, you attempted to show proof through video, you did what you could to make your case. If you didn't want any commentary about your claims, you needn't have made them on a public forum.

With that, I will turn the "distance discussion" back to people who care about such things.

[Shanks A Million]

I guess my GPS, cart gps, yardage books, sprinkler covers and yardage sticks are all free to make stuff up, too. I better tell my other friends who hit 290 that their markers, yardage books and clubs lie to them too. Get over yourself.

I'm going to have to agree with Harmonious. No way. Here's the thing:

Now, one of these guys we know for absolute certain hits his irons a long, long way, the other is in question. Compare the two for a second. Anything stand out? Yeah, claim denied. Next.

[James_Black]

shanks who is that in the video?
it looks a bit like rory but I'm probably wayyy off.

And a 300 yard drive isn't impossible, I was hitting 270-280 yard shots that ran down rock-hard fairways a few weeks ago.

But 280 yard CARRY is the problem. It's hard to keep the ball in the air that long unless you've put a lot of power behind the ball.

[mjtoal]

I'd love to see a swing that can hit a 3 iron 250 yards, that's probably asking too much I'm sure.

I played a round with a Tour pro and he hit that exact shot to a par 5 of 596 yards.

It took off like a turbocharged 8 iron and the ball almost whimpered in pain after being hit, but then just kept rising until its apex before gently fading about 2 yards in the air.

[ghalfaire]

I still don't understand why so many people have a hard time believing that others can hit 250-300+, especially those with higher handicaps. Maybe it's just the people I play with and I'm not used to the 'regular' golfer? I can hit 280 with a nice easy swing and have regularly gone 300+ when I really try and rip it. Of course accuracy suffers.

I am a high handicap and carry a skycaddie so I don't imagine my driving distance averages 260 with occasional 285 yards. I kept stats for the last year and the reason I'm a high handicap is my short game and lack of azimuth control with a driver. So I'm working on the short game and use a 3 wood (234-240 average) for the drive on every hole where a driver just isn't needed to get within a pitching wedge of less. Seem to help but plan on working on the driver when I get the short game figured out.

[mcfc_nick]

Yeah, then how come it's almost impossible to find someone with a fundamentally good swing that is more than about a 5 handicap? The fact of the matter is, short game is highly overrated. Tour pros go on and on about short game because that's what separates a winner from an also ran. But that's among players with amazing swings. But when you're a 10+ handicap, the vast majority of your improvements need to be in the long game.

I agree, my short-game is the best part of my game imo and still im in the teens handicap-wise

[bplewis24]

My other clubs average 3i 250, 4i 235, 5i 210, 6i 200-210, 7 195-200, 8i 185, 9i 175, pw 160, 52 140-150, 60 135.

I'm going to be as respectful as I can, as I'd like to get a sincere response from you. I'd like to know how you explain being a 25 handicap with these averages. I'll leave the driving distances to the other guys, but let's discuss this for a moment as these averages would be more impressive than claims of a 280-yard driving average, considering the smaller sweet spot of irons. You're gaming the MP32s, right? Those are blades, if I'm not mistaken. So if you're a 25-handicap, the assumption would be that you don't always hit your irons in the sweet spot. Would you say that's a fair assessment, or would you claim to be the rare exception who consistently ball strikes well with your irons, but somehow drops 1-2 strokes on and around 16 of 18 greens (3 and 4 putts? constantly flubbed chips?)?

You see, either you "average" 235 with your 4iron counting good and bad ball strikes and somehow still can't break 100 too often (which would be some sort of a remarkable feat), or you count slicing it into the trees into your distances and somehow still average a whopping 235 (great strikes then go 250?). I think most people talk about their distances in terms of average-to-solid ball strikes, thus the latter wouldn't matter to me (but I'd still doubt it). If you hit it 235 with an average-to-solid ball strike with your 4iron, I would expect you to be a handicap of no worse than the low teens. If I could hit it 250 with my 3iron on a solid-ball strike (I probably average about 205 or 210 max with my 3iron on solid ball-strikes, which tends to make most average people I play with swoon), I would never, ever pull out a driver or even a 3-wood unless I was trying to make the Tour or playing for money. I play on tons of courses, but mostly from the yardages of 6300-6700 yards. That means a lot of 350 yard par 4s. That means if I could average 250 yards with my 3iron, I could potentially have a wedge into the majority of greens WITHOUT having to worry about going out of bounds. That would make the game much easier, and I'd expect to be a low single-digit handicapper at worst.

That would be like saying baseball players with sub 200 batting averages can't hit homeruns.

Actually, it's more like saying baseball players who drive in less than 50 runs a year probably can't hit a lot of homers.

Brandon

[sean_miller]

If I could hit it 250 with my 3iron on a solid-ball strike (I probably average about 205 or 210 max with my 3iron on solid ball-strikes, which tends to make most average people I play with swoon), I would never, ever pull out a driver or even a 3-wood unless I was trying to make the Tour or playing for money.

The 250 yard 3-iron makes sense to me (or it did until I saw his swing). The 135 yard 60 degree wedge sure doesn't though (unless he blades it on purpose - hard on balls). Either way, if I hit my 3-iron 250 every time and was

only hitting my driver 290, I'd get a new driver. Regarding hitting a long iron off every tee, that get pretty GD boring after a while.

[bplewis24]

The 250 yard 3-iron makes sense to me (or it did until I saw his swing). The 135 yard 60 degree wedge sure doesn't though (unless he blades it on purpose - hard on balls). Either way, if I hit my 3-iron 250 every time and was

True, it probably wouldn't be much fun. I actually used to do this 2 years ago when I first started playing. It wasn't as much boring as it was torturous. Back then, I could probably only make a solid strike with my 3-iron a few times out of 10, and would occassionally hit it 25-50 yards. Try hitting three 3-irons in a row on a par 5...brutal. I didn't even own a driver or a 3-wood though, so that was my only option. I avoided most par-72 courses back then for this reason. These days, I hit more 3 woods off the tee than drivers (probably 3-8 drivers per round is my range) and occassionally hit 3-5 iron off of any par 4s under 320 yards or so, which is maybe 1-2 per round. If I could hit those iron distances above, I'd probably mix in more irons than drivers at least.

And you're right, if I could hit my 3-iron 250, I'd hope to hit my 3-wood about 290 and my driver 310+. In fact, that would probably be a good topic for discussion: expected driver distances based on specific iron distances. Brandon

[NCSU_MSE]

I'm going to be as respectful as I can, as I'd like to get a sincere response from you. I'd like to know how you explain being a 25 handicap with these averages. I'll leave the driving distances to the other guys, but let's discuss this for a moment as these averages would be more impressive than claims of a 280-yard driving average, considering the smaller sweet spot of irons. You're gaming the MP32s, right? Those are blades, if I'm not mistaken. So if you're a 25-handicap, the assumption would be that you don't always hit your irons in the sweet spot. Would you say that's a fair assessment, or would you claim to be the rare exception who consistently ball strikes well with your irons, but somehow drops 1-2 strokes on and around 16 of 18 greens (3 and 4 putts? constantly flubbed chips?)?

Bogus distances aside, you only need look at his swing video to see. He's nearly flat-footed at impact, his hips are closed, and his double-chicken-winged. I'm guessing that he hits his irons dead-right (same as my typical miss) with an occasional flip that causes a hook, and his driver is probably a massive slice (same as my typical miss).

[golfro]

god i love these discussions. its the most entertaining part of this forum.

I swing at 113-118 mph average and carry 260-270 average. what of it?

anyway, my take on distance...don't dismiss it. Distance can be a GREAT thing. Anybody watch Bubba Watson smash it 340 yards this weekend leaving him with a wedge shot to 2 inches from the pin during the sudden death? Then anybody else watch Corey Pavin hit it 220 yards then have to hit a long iron straight into the bunker? (btw, congrats to Bubba, he deserved it)

Point being, i don't know why people dismiss the importance of distance. It's a great advantage to have when its the difference between hitting a 9 iron 140 yards versus hitting a 4 iron 220 yards. Sure short game is important, I won't deny that but I'm baffled by how many people say "work on your short game" to a high handicapper. Yes, work on your short game, but work on your swing too. Playing devil's advocate...whats the use in being able to 1 or 2 putt on every hole, if it takes you 5 strokes to get on the green in the first place? It's a two way road my friends, putting, distance, and accuracy are all crucial in lowering your handicap.

I find it interesting how people don't practice at the range but want to get better. I spend 4-5 days out of a week at the range hitting 150-200 balls each day, meticulously scrutinizing my swing on every single ball I hit. I would be no where near single handicap if I didn't put in the practice that I do. Thats how you get better at the game, not just by putting all day long. Again, yes putting helps, yes accuracy helps, and yes distance helps.

[mjtoal]

god i love these discussions. its the most entertaining part of this forum.

But your carry distance is very believeable for that swing speed.

Distance is great, but between you and me, these fora are full of fantasists who say they carry it hit it X yards, but what they mean is one time, with a lot of run and some wind behind, they hit it that far.

[saevel25]

118-120 can give you anywere from 265-290 carry, depending on smash factor, but 118-120 is fast.

[Shorty]

My other clubs average 3i 250, 4i 235, 5i 210, 6i 200-210, 7 195-200, 8i 185, 9i 175, pw 160, 52 140-150, 60 135.

People always put their foot in it when they post a distance for a 60 degree wedge.

[Shorty]

I'm 230-240 off the tee. Shot 82 on Bethpage Blue yesterday. Probably should have been a 77.

There has never been a round of golf that "should have been" anything other than what it was.

[max power]

There has never been a round of golf that "should have been" anything other than what it was.

Ha Ha! Good point.