Iron distances for beginners

[moonducks]

Hello all,

I know this is different for everyone, but I'd like to know if hitting a 9 iron around 110 yards and 6 iron around 130 is decent for a very beginner golfer?

thank you

[CallawayGolf25]

I would say if you're hitting a 9-iron around 110, your 6-iron should be up around 150, give or take... It depends on a variety of factors tho, your technique, swing, etc. It's hard to say... it's going to be a little different for everyone.

[clearwaterms]

Don't worry about how far, worry about how consistent, distance will come in time. Can you put it on the green from 110 using a 9 iron? That is what matters

[link3220]

I agree with Callaway, the gap in yardage between your 6 and 9 irons doesn't leave much room to use your 7 or 8 iron. Hopefully that will improve as you play more. By "decent", if you mean "I won't be embarrassed by how short I hit it", don't worry, your 9 iron distance is pretty good for a beginner, and most golfers aren't worried about how far you hit a certain club, anyway. If your buddies give you a hard time for using a 5 iron while they're hitting a 7, putting your ball on the green while they're 10 yards off is always a good way to shut them up!

[Chunky]

If the gap in your nine iron and six iron is only 20 yds, then you only need one iron at most to fill the gap between them. At this point it all depends on how serious you are about golf. If you intend to play two or three times a week you will gain distance and the gap between the nine and six will increase. Otherwise, just go have fun.

[MS256]

There isn't very much correlation between how long somebody has been playing and how far they can hit a golf ball (with any club).

Somebody that is a strong and fast athlete that is used to hitting things (like baseballs, softballs, or 20 lb. sledge hammers) are going to hit the ball a lot farther from day one than somebody that's not.

Whether they know where it's going after they hit it is another story.

There are exceptions. A guy I know wanted to try golf for the first time so I invited him to my club. He was 24 years old and looked like a good athlete and had played high school baseball so I figured he would do OK. He absolutely couldn't hit the ball at all. There was an insignificant 100 yard carry over a pond on the first tee and after about 10 tries in the water I told him we would just go around the pond and start. It never got any better the rest of the round.

After the round he asked me if I was that bad my first time. Without really wanting to hurt his feelings but not being much for sugar coating things either I just told him no.

[dennyjones]

As a beginner, if your clubs are hand me downs, the loft could be significantly off on some of your clubs.   With my old clubs, I consistently hit the 7 and 8 iron the same distance.

What you will find over time, you are losing a lot of distance because you are releasing your power before the club bottoms out.  Look at the women's tour, some of the ladies hit the ball a mile and I'm sure you could beat most in an arm wrestling match.   Technique is key, not strength when it comes to distance.

[Meltdwhiskey]

It is difficult in golf to not worry about how far you are hitting the ball.  It affects just about everyone and we all want to hit it a certain distance - some of us care more about it than others.  That said - I wouldn't call you a long baller, but you're doing fine.  If I had to pin an average on people I play with that are grown men under 55 - I'd say we all like to think a well struck 7-iron is our 150-yard shot.

More importantly, and as previously stated, how close is it to the hole after it travels the yardage.  The contrast of golfers in my regular rotation of partners is glaring.  The longest hitter in our group is an OK golfer, but wow is it important to him to hit it long.  And important to make sure everyone was aware that he hit 7 when someone else hit 5. And he swings so hard.  But he will only ever score but so well because he gets into real trouble a few times every round trying to drive a short par 4 or carry a creek off the tee or carry a pond instead of lay up.

Conversely, there is another guy who is super short.  If I hit 7, he definitely hits 5 or 6. The difference? The guy just never misses.  He quietly and happily crushes us every time.  He is zen - seems to have been able to leave his ego behind entirely.  Don't know how he does it.

[dbuck]

How is your consistency? Generally speaking and pretty much what others have said, for an adult average male, 110 9 iron not too bad, and 130 6iron is a little short. Depends on how long you have been playing and how consistent these are. Like a lot of average guys, my rule of thumb is a 150+/- yard 7 iron. Generally the 5-6-7-8-9 irons should be about 3-4 degrees loft apart and about 1/2-3/4" difference in length, so if you are consistent in your distance, you might check this. As others have said, keep playing and distance will come.

[moonducks]

thanks for all the info guys

i have just recently picked up golf again after learning as a kid.

so basically i would say im a beginner.- only hitting balls at the range for a few weeks

i definitely need to work on consistency and preventing the ball from slicing.