Club selection and distance as the golf season progresses

[9wood]

I live up in the North which means I don't get to play any golf for six months of the year. Then winter finally comes to an end, and by May I'm back out playing golf for the next six months. Now I have noticed that as the golf season progress I have to change club selection for my shots because by the 5th month of the season I get more distance with my clubs than I did in the 1st month of the golf season. For example, in May I would have selected an 8 iron for a 120 yd shot, but by the end of August I would select that 8 iron for a 135 yard shot. I'm retired and play golf on an average of twice a week, and when I'm not playing, I'm in the yard practicing my swing. The one thing I notice that might make a difference as the season progress is that my biceps and arms seem to get stronger through the season after waiting 6 months for winter to come to an end.

Is this just me, or has anyone one else noticed the same thing?

[Gator Hazard]

I wonder if it is that as well as you are just hitting the ball better by  the end of the season because you have shook all the rust of winter off.  I have been making some big gains in distance recently with my irons and wedges mainly because I am just learning to set up, swing, and strike the ball better.  Not sure what effect humidity would have on your carry distance or other weather factors.  Good test would be to find a way to keep your arms and rest of your body in relatively the same shape through winter and then see how you are hitting them next spring.

[TimS65]

Air temperature. It can have a significant effect on ball distance. I believe that between say 5°c and 20°c there can be around 5 to 10% difference. Also the difference in roll on soft and hard ground.

[Dave2512]

I am happy just to hit the ball in the general direction of the target. Never know if it's going to be a great shot or a meh shot, my ball striking is erratic at best.

My Game Golf data tells me my most prominent miss is short. It gets worse as the distance increases.

From 100-125 10% short 4% long

125-150 17% short 3% long

150-175 23% short 3% long

175-200 36% short 4% long

200-225 64% short 0% long

[Patch]

Not a surprise I would think. As you progress through your limited season, muscles get better tuned for what your are doing. This offers more control, and more control can relate to faster swings, which gives you the added distance. Enjoy the game.

[Dave2512]

My guess is few gain distance unless they are specifically training to get faster. As the season progresses what appears to be a distance gain is really just more consistent ball striking. What you see is a reduction in the severity of your mishits and more balls traveling towards your max.

I've been working on my swing 3 years and I haven't gained any distance club to club, my swing speed has been the same season to season and it varies a good 2-6 mph depending on the quality of the swing. When I was frequently using FlightScope if I hit 15 balls with any club no two data strings were the same. Everything from apex to ball speed varied. If I took an extra club on every approach shot quite a few would still end up short of the target and I laser everything.

[DrvFrShow]

My most prominent miss is short. Game Golf confirms that.

Normal swing is around 80% - 85% max. Normal 8i distance is around 137-140 carry although I can pound one out around 150 if I dig down. Coach doesn't like the 100% swing effort - can lead to control problems.