Driving Distance

[sean_miller]

Since I already posted my 7-iron distance, I can now post my Driver distance as I just got back from my launch monitor session. Average carry was 230 meters, or 250 yards, clubhead speed was 99-104.

The launch monitor says my average is somewhere between 280 and 310. Can I bring a launch monitor on the course with me?

[IceDave]

The launch monitor says my average is somewhere between 280 and 310. Can I bring a launch monitor on the course with me?

Think the general rule is that you do not delay play, normal laptop battery is around 2 hrs, so you probably would delay play on the second nine.

[deronsizemore]

That is correct. But you should be using the median, not the mean.

Why should the median be used and not mean? Median is not the average...

[Lloyd Braun]

Why should the median be used and not mean? Median is not the average...

I'm not a stats whiz by any means, but if the idea is to find the middle value, then I believe the median should be used if we are talking about an amateur golfer's distance. For example, if someone hits ten 300 yard drives but has one 150 yard drive because he hits an overlying tree limb sticking out in the fairway, you would use the median (or mode) in this instance. Otherwise, you're skewing the data far lower than what the person normally hits if you average out those numbers. Conversely, if someone has ten 200 yard drives and one 300 yard drive, you would still use the median because the mean would skew the data too high.

[zeg]

Why should the median be used and not mean? Median is not the average...

Right, but as Lloyd said, the average will be skewed by that 1 in a dozen drive that goes anomalously short. You really don't want to reflect that, or the one you hit on a 2 club downhill with a 2 club tailwind, in your planning for distance. For the bulk of your drives, the mean ("average") and median will be very similar, but the median is much less sensitive to outliers like that. You can also achieve this just by tossing outliers, or using other measures (the mean of the central 50%, etc)...

[SVTGolfer]

I give up... There's always one or two intraweb Gods on every site that whatever they say is the troof and everything anyone else says is taken out of context. Alright man, you win. I guess I only hit it 187.77789 yards each time... Happy now? God, its like talking to a rock... A skinny little rock, hiding behind a picture of a huge rock, but a rock none the less...

[pinhigh27]

I've read most of this thread, and your not a 300 yard consistent driver. And if you are I feel bad for you, because your not smart enough to score better than 90, after hitting 300 yard drives on average, and 80 percent being straight. Wow you must have alignment troubles! Can't wait till next year when your on tour! Man when you nut it, it must be at least 350?!

[USA 79S]

My friend went to look at drivers the other day at DSG. I tagged along. Using the launch monitor and after hitting 10 shots he then removed the best 2 and worst 2 shots of the bunch. The remaining 6 were varied by yardage but mostly within 2-5* lateral trajectory and 270-290 yards. I know it's a "virtual" and not the real world, but the take away point here is the removal of the best and worst and taking what remained as a comparison pool. I think it makes sense to exclude the best and worst of the day and see what's left. If you're hitting 275-300 then it will still reveal that, and if you're hitting 250, you'll know that too.


If you are a confident 300 yarder then move the white tees on a short par 4. If you are pitching back towards the tees on your second shot , there's not a lot to dispute then? Buut, if you're 30 yards short that's what it is...

[Shanks A Million]

My friend went to look at drivers the other day at DSG

Using in store launch monitor data = priceless.

I talked to a guy who took his elderly father into a store, and it said he was hitting his 7 iron 170 yards. He left, and went to another store, same dad, same club, 125 yards.

Dude, you compared

John Daly to a 15 handicapper! Are you daft? Yeah, he's struggled a bit, oh noes! His struggles and trials out on tour are because he went from a +6 to a +4 handicap or so, not because he's a 15 handicap. Even on a bad day, he would lay waste to most members of this forum. The problem is that you're just not in touch with reality. A guy out on tour who's eating cat food, bunking with 5 other hackers, and struggling in the fall season just to keep his card is still a +5 handicap. The difference between John Daly and a scratch golfer is still enormous. The problem is, when you watch golf on TV, it seems so easy. After all, these guys walk around casually shooting par under the toughest conditions there are. The last PGA tour event of the year is held at Magnolia in Disney, which is considered "beneath" most of the elite players, is on a course rated at 76. That means a scratch golfer will shoot a 76 (I'm not even going to count differential scores). The PGA tour pros obliterate this thing, the CUT was -2 ! That means they shot -1 (71) each day on average. That's 5 shots better than scratch. If you don't get that by now, there's nothing that will make you understand. The playoff was between three guys at -18, that's -4.5 per round, or 8.5 shots better than scratch without differential added in! So, using that math, it appears it takes a weekend of shooting at about a +8.5 handicap to win a PGA tour fall season event! Can you imagine how amazing a +8.5 handicap is? Now imagine that that's an event that's considered easy. What about a major? Daly won TWO majors! And you compared him to a 15 handicap!

[USA 79S]

Using in store launch monitor data = priceless.

Is there an alternative, other than buy and hope? Are there more reliable systems? Just seems that so many clubs are for sale/trade with little use because they don't meet expectations... how can this be reliably prevented?

[zeg]

Is there an alternative, other than buy and hope? Are there more reliable systems? Just seems that so many clubs are for sale/trade with little use because they don't meet expectations... how can this be reliably prevented?

Well, if your expectation is a huge yardage difference just by buying new clubs, I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Probably the best you can do is compare clubs side-by-side without changing simulator settings. The monitor can probably tell you which club you're hitting better, but I'd be wary of trusting much beyond that. They can probably tell you the raw numbers with some accuracy (depending on the model), but turning that into a real measure is really tricky.

Really, if your clubs are fit reasonably well, you're unlikely to get a huge improvement by finding a magic club. IMO too many people buy too many new clubs, at least if they're trying to spend money wisely to improve their game. If your clubs are way off, or if you have a lousy swing and are playing true blades, maybe you can get a big improvement by going to properly-fit GI irons or such, but otherwise, I'd be extremely skeptical of any claim from a person or machine that if I just switched clubs I'd pick up 20 yards....

[Shorty]

One name says it all:

Your arguments aren't lame, they're just plain idiotic. Daly is one of the most gifted ballstrikers in the history of the game, and a multiple major winner. We are talking about weekend golfers who claim to hit it further than Daly, but can't break 90. 1) You claim that there is no reason to doubt these people 2) And...you think there are people who 1 putt every green Get a grip..

[Mizuno Junky]

I'd be lucky to get mine past 240 haha

[saevel25]

Daly is a very underrated putter as well. I hope he gets back into form, he is fun to watch.

[Dr. Strangeclub]

Daly is a very underrated putter as well...

The Captain Big Voices (courtesy Dan Jenkins) have a rule that is never broken: If the golfer weighs over 200 lbs and makes a nice chip or putt, the announcers are required to say, "He has a really nice touch for a big man." If they don't, they have to chug one during the next commercial.

[sam004]

Rather than start another thread, I'll try posting here.
With 26 pages of posts, forgive me if this has been answered already.

I usually play in the Chicago and mid-west area with low elevation and thick humid air.

Played a course in Vegas recently, I noticed I was getting longer drives than
usual, which I would expect. Another guy I was playing with, was absolutely
hitting bombs. Several over 300.

My question is how much farther should I expect a ball to fly comparing the two climates ?
Let's say I hit 250 yds in humid air, how much of a difference should elevation [about 2500' in Vegas]
and low humidity 5-10% vs 40-60 % make ?

[Dr. Strangeclub]

My question is how much farther should I expect a ball to fly comparing the two climates ?

"Point, point, counterpoint, Shana!" In all these years of long distance threads, there are those that talk about making adjustments for altitude, others how much farther it goes in Colorado than New York and, like this thread, that deal with how far amateurs hit the ball -- and I have yet to see these personal stats "adjusted for altitude and humidity". It seems that people at sea level with soft fairways and a wet golfing environment are at a serious bragging-rights disadvantage compared with those in Denver, where the ball never comes down, and Dallas, where it never stops rolling!

[DavidFehertysBike]

Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that the really long drivers here all have relatively high hdcp's, and the "naysayers" all have very low hdcp's? I guess it could be that as one's handicap gets lower, they automatically lose distance. Or it could be that as one's handicap get lower, they actually know their true distance. Maybe that's because they can find their ball in the fairway.

Thats what happened to me. When i first started playing i was lighting up the links with 300+ yard drives. I would yell like the hulk after i punished drive after drive. Now that im fairly good i barley get 270. Geez.