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Driving Distance


jmr
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I guess I don't have quite the downer attitude on high handicappers hitting it a long way, but they do seem to say they hit it abnormally far, and from what I hear on sites like this, most high handicappers hit it a long way and have terrible short games. I have not doubt that sometimes this is really the case, but not as much as some people seem to make it.

It's amazing how far they hit it in the clubhouse, isn't it!?

I generally outdrive the people I play with, and some of them are pretty big hitters for amateurs. I can't keep up with truly long hitters, not even a little bit, but there really aren't tons of them out there. I think a better measure of how far you hit the ball is how far you fly it. I can carry a totally flushed driver, no wind, temperatures over 70, and my astrological signs favorable, close to 260, but 90% of the time, it isn't more than 240. This translates into playably long drives if there's any roll at all, and downwind I might get 290 or more out of one (if the fairways are like concrete), but for some reason I'm generally in front of the people who claim to hit 270-280. And, on a corollary note, I'm always amazed that higher handicappers greatly exagerate how far *I* hit it! Hey, I know what long is, and I'm not it! People who DO hit it 270 or 280 are pretty long in my book! And then there are those guys I play with who AIRMAIL my best tee shots! And I think it's easier to keep up with the "big boys" with a driver than with the irons. I've often played with good players who are not hitting it much longer than me at all off the tee, but when we step up to our shots, side by side in the fairway, he's hitting a comforatble 7 iron and I'm pounding a 5 for all I'm worth! (By "big boys", I mean people who are "full size". I am 5'7", 135 lbs.)

"If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don't have to waste energy going back to pick it up." Tommy Bolt
Insight XTD 9.5°, Insight 14.5°, X16 P-4iron, Edge 3H

Powerbuilt 2iron and SW, Cleveland 54°, Odyssey Rossi II

 

 

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I just hit a drive from Riviera CC in California all the way to 21* Latitude 18 Lat Min North. & 157* Longitude 51 Long min West. That's a bout 255...1...

It was a slice, and it had some roll to it, but I made it over 300! Now what? Can I still play it from the sand with my 60* wedge if there is a coconut in front of it? Hahaha

In my Ogio bag.

Titleist 910D2 driver, Adams irons & hybrid, Callaway wedges & a Nike Method putter.

And a yellow ball.
 

 

The great irony of life: "If nobody gets out alive, what's holding you back!?"

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I might have said it before, but I've never heard a good player brag about how long he hits it.
40 years of experience on the golf course has also shown me that 220 metres is a very long drive and 250 metres is huge. On most courses, a drive of 200 metres is plenty long enough. Of course I have played with lots of players who hit it maybe 260 to 270 metres when they REALLY get one out there, but these are seriously low markers, and those drives are jaw-droppingly long.
Anyone who is not a pro who says they consistently hit it 270 yards and straight 80% of the time (but can't break 90) is just a fool. You can't have that kind of coordination and no short game or feel.

In the race of life, always back self-interest. At least you know it's trying.

 

 

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Anyone who is not a pro who says they consistently hit it 270 yards and straight 80% of the time (but can't break 90) is just a fool. You can't have that kind of coordination and no short game or feel.

Uh, straight or in the fairway?

In my Ogio bag.

Titleist 910D2 driver, Adams irons & hybrid, Callaway wedges & a Nike Method putter.

And a yellow ball.
 

 

The great irony of life: "If nobody gets out alive, what's holding you back!?"

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Anyone who is not a pro who says they consistently hit it 270 yards and straight 80% of the time (but can't break 90) is just a fool. You can't have that kind of coordination and no short game or feel.

Umm... yeah... Actually you can...

How many people do you know that can one putt everything? That'll lower your score... I really don't know what is so hard about believing that some people can be longer than average and still not be a tour player. Its just ignorant to think that way... Everyone is different. When I go out I keep track of my fairways hit, how many shots ive taken in the fairway, how many chips, lobs, pitches, and how many putts I take. I can honestly say that I hit a good percentage of my greens in regulation, and when I miss a green sometimes my chips suck too. Pair that with a 2 or 3 putt and wall-ah, 90 or worse. But who is to say that I cant shoot bogey on one hole and then birdie or par the next 3!? Really??? It doesn't matter that I hit my drives 240, 250, 260 or 270... if you chunk any shot after that its pretty hard to make even par! The last tournament I played in I didn't play very well, luckily it was best ball team play. We used my drive 80% of the time because they were further than my team mates 3 wood of 250. We took the approach of one gun, one canon... One to be safe and one to be reckless for glory. Doesn't despite the fact that I hit my fairways and was longer than him at 250. When we got to the par 3's I hit every single green except 1 of them (into the wind). And in fact I hit three of them within 5 feet of the flag stick. I was given the honors of making the birdie putts first, and sure enough, I missed all 3! Had I made them I would have brought my personal score down into the 80's, but I didn't, and I missed those opportunities. Does that mean that my driver should have missed as well? Does that mean that Im not a long hitter? This makes me a fool apparently? One name says it all: JOHN DALY "Grip it and rip it"... but can't make his putts... Does that make him a crappy golfer? Does that discredit his long hits? Does that mean he shouldn't play on the tour!? Is he a fool? Come on guys, think about your arguments... they're pretty lame...

In my Ogio bag.

Titleist 910D2 driver, Adams irons & hybrid, Callaway wedges & a Nike Method putter.

And a yellow ball.
 

 

The great irony of life: "If nobody gets out alive, what's holding you back!?"

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Umm... yeah... Actually you can...

You're missing the point which I and others have made throughout this thread. Sure, it's absolutely possible for some athletic guy who cannot break 100 to be able hit a drive 280+. But, I've never in my life seen anyone that is a high handicapper that can

AVERAGE that. Being able to hit one drive per year that goes 280 yards is a long way off from averaging that. The other point is that 99% of high handicappers overestimate their driving distance. I've played with a lot of golfers in my 23 years of playing and I've only come in contact with about four guys who can consistently hit the ball longer than I can and I only carry it around 265; surely if it's as common that a 20 handicapper hits the ball 300 as it seems to be on this forum, I'd have come in contact with a few of them? Also, anyone that feels like they have to factor wind, roll, etc. into their distances knows they are shorter than they claim to be. Carry distance is all that matters. Hitting one 220 in the air and then getting 60 yards of roll on a concrete fairway isn't actually hitting one 280.
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Well what do you call AVERAGE then? Do I measure every drive? No. But when I go to my local driving range that measures 275 or 280, and Im landing at the flag at the 250 mark and it bounces to the back wall uphill 7 out of 10 times, I would call that consistent...
Denial... its what I call it...

In my Ogio bag.

Titleist 910D2 driver, Adams irons & hybrid, Callaway wedges & a Nike Method putter.

And a yellow ball.
 

 

The great irony of life: "If nobody gets out alive, what's holding you back!?"

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. . . the point which I and others have made throughout this thread . . .

I picked up a rangefinder last night so that I wouldn't have to find the yardage markers - a lot of reasons to buy one - anyway . . . I marked fairways, greens, putts, club used off the tee, driving distance (when I had clear line of sight), yardage to the pin, and approach club.

Since I used whichever club put me in the best position to attack the flag - allowing for the occasional pured or off line shot - I only used driver 3 times on the front 9 and 4 times on the back. On the other 7 "driving holes", I hit everything from 5-iron to 3-wood (twice). I didn't calculate my "driving average", becaue it's not very relevant is it?!?!? The important stat, is 7 fairways hit on the front and 4 on the back - for me, 11/14 rocks.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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Well what do you call AVERAGE then? Do I measure every drive? No. But when I go to my local driving range that measures 275 or 280, and Im landing at the flag at the 250 mark and it bounces to the back wall uphill 7 out of 10 times, I would call that consistent...

Here's the definition of aveage for you:

"the result obtained by adding several quantities together and then dividing this total by the number of quantities"

That's what I call average. If you hit one drive 280 and then your next ten are either sliced off the planet about 180 yards out or topped down to the forward tees (which high handicappers are prone to do), you do not average 280 yards.

Those same people that overestimate their average distance also get those averages from the driving range which are notorious for being inaccurate. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever been to a range that was accurate (I have a rangefinder). The back flag on my range is 300 yards and I was carrying it out to it the other day, but that still doesn't mean I average 300+.
I picked up a rangefinder last night so that I wouldn't have to find the yardage markers - a lot of reasons to buy one - anyway . . . I marked fairways, greens, putts, club used off the tee, driving distance (when I had clear line of sight), yardage to the pin, and approach club.

Correct, the scorecard doesn't know how far you hit or what club you used, just how many total shots it took is all that's needed.

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One name says it all:

You've just received the biggest shipment of fail ever delivered. Are you actually comparing John Daly to a 15 handicapper who says he drives it 300? John Daly is a two time major winner with 5 PGA tour wins, and he drives it an average of 289.5. This argument fails on so many levels.
But, I've never in my life seen anyone that is a high handicapper that can

Exactly. The high handicapper is a high handicapper because he lacks consistency. How somehow he can suddenly pure a driver 300 yards is beyond me.

Well what do you call AVERAGE then? Do I measure every drive? No. But when I go to my local driving range that measures 275 or 280, and Im landing at the flag at the 250 mark and it bounces to the back wall uphill 7 out of 10 times, I would call that consistent...

That's not average. Average is X+Y+Z/N=A. If you hit two drives 200, and one 300, you're averaging 233 yards. If you toss in a topped 50 yarder, then you're at 187.5. Not so easy is it to average 300 is it? So, for the idiots who say they average 300, they either pure every single one perfectly, or they his most of them 400 yards, and then the rest are tops and slices that go 100 yards, cause that's how it would need to be.

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"the result obtained by adding several quantities together and then dividing this total by the number of quantities"

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

In the bag:
FT-iQ 10° driver, FT 21° neutral 3H
T-Zoid Forged 15° 3W, MX-23 4-PW
Harmonized 52° GW, Tom Watson 56° SW, X-Forged Vintage 60° LW
White Hot XG #1 Putter, 33"

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I can't say what my Average drive is really because I only recently purchased a GPS program for my iPhone (I'm using GolfShot). The other day my opening drive measured at 252, the weird thing is that I would consider that good for me...yet it felt horrible off the face, not pured....nothin, yet dead center of the fairway from a slightly elevated tee. My guess is really I likely hit it 210-230 on average now that I have something to measure my drives because as everyone else has stated, the markers on the course are like 80% wrong or maybe 5-10 yards off(no idea what the carry distance is though, not much likely). I'll still have a horrible pop up 150 yd skyball, or an equal length duck hook :P For the rest of the round I stopped measuring cuz it was killing my battery, and I stopped caring cuz my round went to hell quickly after the first hole lol.

:cobra: Fly-Z+ White
:callaway: XR 3 Wood
:adams: Idea Pro Black 21*
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It's amazing how far they hit it in the clubhouse, isn't it!?

Maybe if you're about even on drives then the difference with the irons is just the loft? If Bob hits 1 club stronger by virtue of loft, then that 8i he pulls when you grab your 6i might not be the real story. You probably don't care because your ego seems in check... but if he making a big show of it you might have some ammo to fire back.

Seems like if amateurs can hit a consistent 250 and FIR that's a solid achievement. Also seems that to take a 500/Par 5 down in two it'll take more than that unless you really beast the 3W off the deck. My typical drives are NOT in the fairway and it seems like when I do pop off a real good one it goes left, because I have compensated for the slice in my alignment by that point.

Swing - Mulligan - Repeat

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Maybe if you're about even on drives then the difference with the irons is just the loft?

I think it's more arm length and possibly hand strength added in. I have short arms, 31 inch sleeve, so I think the relative "gear ratios" of the longer shaft on the the woods lets me be a little closer, percentage-wise, to their swing arc. To take it to extremes, imagine a 6 inch club. A person with a 35 inch sleeve would have a 41 inch "wheel rim" while I would be at 37, a pretty big difference; with a 165 inch club, he'd be at 200, I'd be at 196, relatively not so much. There's also control of launch angle. I think I max out tee shots a bit more than most people, not by hitting it harder, but by flighting it better (low/high, fade with a left wind, draw with a right wind, hitting the "fast lane", cutting corners on doglegs, etc.) and making a little better contact. I do keep up, in general, but it's more of a "trick" than power.

"If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don't have to waste energy going back to pick it up." Tommy Bolt
Insight XTD 9.5°, Insight 14.5°, X16 P-4iron, Edge 3H

Powerbuilt 2iron and SW, Cleveland 54°, Odyssey Rossi II

 

 

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Here's the definition of aveage for you:

I still say that it's mental. I think shanks said something about coping mechanisms - and to use those words makes sense. If a golfer tees up with a driver 13 times and 5 are the good ones that go 260 and straight then 260 isn't his average. To count in the other 8 that were 175 and in the woods is hard on the ego, and so they get dismissed, whether consciously or not .

I think that even though 270-300 yards on the range might really be the case for some people, it isn't relevant towards stats and averages if it doesn't happen on the course. The reason I say that is because pressure increases when the scorecard is in play. Another way to look at it is if I land my 8i on the range target green does my GIR go up? If I one putt all over the practice green does my putting average decrease? If SHAQ makes 100/100 free throws in practice is he the new league leader for free throws?

Swing - Mulligan - Repeat

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Guess I'll chime in.

My 'Average' drive, who knows. Over the course of a week, I probably shave my average distance in half between the balloon block and the pull hook I'm trying to compensate for with the balloon block. I did recently have a Round of Perfect Driver and I was about 245 yards for my average. Longest was nudging 260, and probably around 225-230 carry. Pretty consistent with my monitor results, which has me in the 90's with the swing and 130's with the ball speed at 15* launch.

Lately I'm getting too MUCH distance with my irons, though. I've been having to club down to a 9 iron to keep from flying greens at 150. I've grooved a consistent benchmark iron with roughly 135 with my 10 iron (Nickent's 3DX offering of a 44* PW).

From putter to driver, though, it's a whole lotta what-the-hell with regards to distance. It seems I can boom it, but that's of no use to me when the consistency is crap.

Currently in my bag:  Under Revision

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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.

In my bag:Driver: 910D2, 10.25˚, Aldila RIP, Fairway: 904F, 15˚, YS-6FW+ Stiff, Hybrid: Titleist 910H, Irons: S-58, 4-PW, DG S300, Wedges: Wishon 52˚, 56˚, Putter: Odyssey Black series i 1

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Note: This thread is 3115 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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