distance margin between driver and irons

[threejack]

I hit my driver an average of 260-270 with a lot of 290s and 300s per round so I can definitely hit it my driver far. However, I hit my 7i an average 150. I am not necessarily complaining but I feel like i should be getting at least another ten yards. Any thoughts?

(I'm looking to get my swing on here soon but Ive been in class, all week. going to the range tomorrow so maybe ill get some footage)

[mvmac]

hmmm, do you hit really high with your irons or get shots that balloon on you?

[threejack]

no not at all. lately I haven't been hitting my irons well at all but my good shots are just right, nice trajectory, just not as far as I would expect. I've been playing golf for about 4 months and I play consistent bogey golf. Never have had a formal lesson but my best friends sister is a pro at the local country club so I am having my first lesson tomorrow. I'll ask her about it.

[mvmac]

cool, let us know what she says

[tristanhilton85]

I have a feeling that you may be a bit off on your driver yardage.  My 7 iron is also my 150 club and on average I hit my driver 240-250 with a good swing.

[BIGTRUFFLE]

Could it be that you swing your driver faster than your irons?

[threejack]

i do swing my driver a lot faster

[Stewie007]

I find that its not worth worrying about an extra 10 yards with a mid iron when I can just use the next iron up and swing slightly lighter for the desired result. I'm no swing analyzer, as I have my own issues (you probably noticed my swing thread), but perhaps your release is happening a bit earlier. I don't mean to say that you are doing something wrong, as to me it doesn't look like that at all. I'm just thinking about my experiences with adding distance to my irons. A lot of it for me has to do with lag and thus when I release the club.

[threejack]

i had a lesson yesterday and I changed a lot about my swing. I'm now hitting my 7 iron a pretty easy 160 and my 6 was going about 180. So i love that! However I am trying to put this new swing to use with my driver so I probably will lose some distance until I get used to it. Tristan I promise you that average is not exaggerated, last week when i played I had 2 300 yard drives and 5 over 280.

[Stewie007]

I suppose the only way to know for sure is if you use a GPS device. If you already do then that's cool. What he is reacting to is a common golfer claim that they can hit the ball further than they really do. Its hard to tell who is full of beans and who isn't here on the internet.

[threejack]

ya i use a gps so I'm not full of it. Im a 19 year old of course I can swing the club with all sorts of power!

[Stewie007]

Originally Posted by threejack

ya i use a gps so I'm not full of it. Im a 19 year old of course I can swing the club with all sorts of power!

Wasn't trying to say you were full of beans, just that a lot of people are. :) It has nothing to do with being 19, though. I'm 30, and I can hit the ball that far.... Although, I am not so consistent with my driver yet since returning to the sport. However, my best 5 wood shots will hit the 240 - 260 range with a lot of carry and a high trajectory. The rest will tend to drop around 240. My furthest 5 wood of the year went approximately 270. So if I can do that, then I have no problem believing you can hit as far as you say with your driver.

[threejack]

haha i know i know. i find it weird that people think 300 is like reaching the moon, its not that long this day and age with these drivers

[Stewie007]

I tend to favor a somewhat old school driver (at least to today's standards). Its one of the Tight Lies drivers before the 440-460cc days. I haven't found its upper end though, but I suspect that next year after improving further I'll be locating that number. I dunno, I just feel weird using the big head drivers... call me a purist... hehe

[imtomtomim]

Wow, it is a relief to find someone with the same concern that I have.  My 7i carry is 155 but my driver carry is 270, increasing to normally 285 by the turn.  I was so discouraged at first because a lot of times when I get paired up, I'm usually longest off the tee, yet I'm at least one club, if not more, stronger than everyone else on the par 3's.  It wasn't a huge deal because I'll go pin high and knock it stiff knowing my numbers are dead accurate, but it was bugging me that everyone was hitting a weaker club in, especially when the duffer I'm playing with hits the green and blurts out "easy knock down 8" when I'm hitting 7i.  That, and the fact that I'm getting to some of the par5's in 2 and there is no way they will get close.  It's taken me a few months, but I've gotten used to it and I'm happy sticking it exactly where I want.

Actually, one revelation about the ball helped me a lot.  My ball is the Penta, but I'll play good condition premiums I find first, so I have less attachment to them.  Anyways, I ran into a Burner TP last week playing a new course, realizing I had left most of my ball stash at home and decided, if I lose one, I wouldn't care as much.  I overshot every single green I played that ball, even when I was playing the front of the green.  I mean, I was hitting my 7i 180, my 52* 125 (usually 99).  Since no one was out there in the rain, I pulled out one of my balls and hit the same shot over.  Almost stuffed it in the hole.

Just got to live with those numbers, you'll get used to it.  Play what you got.  I'm just glad I'm not the only one with that feeling.

[mdl]

I've had this problem in the past.  I've found it to be going away slowly.  As an ex-baseball player playing with modern ultra-forgiving drivers I found I could lay into my driver swing and still at least have some days where it was consistent, but I had to really dial it back and not chase mechanics that would allow for maximum possible swing speed with the irons or else I'd hit no more than one or two good iron shots per round.

There was a time when I'd carry 265-270 on my best driver shots, with penetrating ball flight that would give me roll out past 300, but hit 7i 150-155.  I got new irons recently, so it's hard to compare, but my new 7i is lofted more like a 6.5i, and I hit that 170+ now.  My old 6i at one point went solidly less than 170 for sure.  My driver distance has pretty much stayed the same through all these changes in iron distance.

[threejack]

well i posted this thread before a lesson and after my lesson I actually clubbed up. I am hitting my 7 about 160-165 now so thats good! I also am now working on the proper driver swing so my distance is going to be way down for awhile. so not really much of a margin for now, at least until I get more comfortable with this swing