Ideal Carry Distances

[bacchus]

Sometimes I catch myself in day dreams about ideal carry distances, so I'm curious to see what other people's thoughts are.  When I say ideal, I think about it context of what is realistic/what is possible given all aspects of your game from your ability to strength, etc. Apologies if there has been a thread like this recently, but I did a search and couldn't find anything.

 

You can be as specific or general as you would like, but definitely try to give some context around what type of golfer you are.  I am going to leave woods out of it and the higher lofted wedges since not everyone uses them for full swings.

 

I am a 28 year old high handicapper (coming down) in pretty good shape, who definitely could get some more distance with club upgrades (upgrade Regular shafts to stiff/xstiff) and lessons to get better form/efficiency, but my driver swing speed is just north of 110.

 

At a high level, I would like to have 1 iron I can hit from 200 yds and I would like my high lofted irons to be pretty close to 10 yard gaps.

 

                 Current Est Carry Distances                            Ideal Carry Distances

19.5H -                  210                                                                    230

4 -                         200                                                                     215

5-                          185                                                                     200

6-                          170-175                                                              185

7-                          165                                                                     175

8-                          155                                                                     165

9-                          140-145ish                                                         155

PW-                      135                                                                     145

[Rusty1885]

If you are a short hitter, it's possible to have a 10 yard gap between clubs. As you get longer the gap gets larger. I remember back in the day I used to have 9-10 yard gap on my short and mid irons and 5-4-3 irons gap is much smaller. Then as I get better my gap started to widen to 13-15 yards.

 

Can that be done? Sure you just have to tweak the loft of the club til you hit your desired range, similar to close ratio transmission. It can get expensive. Not to mention that your distance vary a bit from day to day, golf is about managing misses. There are rounds that I just hit my avg distance and some rounds I get extra juice from the distance and I just run with it.

 

Your ideal carrying distance is not impossible but not practical.

[Canucklehead]

With a swing speed that fast, a 15 yard gap between clubs is more realistic than 10. I'm 105 or so and have maybe a little under 15 yards between clubs.

 

Sent from my E6853 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[chershey]

Yeah, your current estimated carry distances are probably not ideal, but 10 yards between clubs is also not necessarily ideal also for a faster swinger. I have a 15 yard gap between each club in my 8-PW and about 12 yard gap between the rest of my irons. To me it's easier to take a little distance off of some of my shorter irons by gripping down, etc than it is with my longer irons, so I definitely like it that way. You seem to have some really short gaps in the shorter irons. Maybe getting your lofts checked will help you figure out why the gaps are so short? 

[jaskanski]

This question gets asked a lot, but I'm glad you made the distinction of being realistic in your approach.

What I mean is - play with what you have and make that work, rather than trying to chase a figure that won't.  You current actual distances are pretty decent, albeit with some quirky gapping, but if you can attain those sort of figures on a regular basis then you have the makings of a golf game.

Your "ideal" figures on the other hand would be more at home on Tour and would be difficult to achieve by anyone who isn't a competent ball striker, so I would treat these with the same realistic approach you suggested.

Get lessons and get fitted by all means, but never lose sight of what is achievable over what is "ideal" - they are two different things. But yardages on the other hand are the same the world over and how you achieve them is entirely up to you - for example if your "ideal" 5-iron is 200 yards, then why not hit your actual 4-iron to achieve the same yardage? 

Play with what works and play smarter and pretty soon your handicap will get lower.

[bacchus]

Thanks for all the advice! I didn't realize 15 yds was more normal for high swing speed players.  I didn't even think about that train of thought chershy.  Definitely true that its easier to take a little off, although it takes practice and touch.

 

Right now I am definitely inconsistent with regard to form, starting to slightly flip every once in a while and such. Basically all the reasons I'm a 20s handicapper.

 

I think part of the inconsistent gapping right now is both technique and how high I hit my irons.  I was told by someone that going from Regular shafts in my irons to a x-stiff or stiff (on the high end) shafts can add anywhere from 5-15 yds onto my carry distances, give me a more consistent carry distance, and a more consistent ball flight.  I definitely am not going to chase those "ideal numbers", especially if its a falsehood that i can gain that distance from finding the right shaft and other custom fitting options. 

[Reesedw]

I'm going to guess, that with a 22 handicap you do not hit those numbers consistently.. How do I know, because I have almost the same swing speed.. and I have only small difference in handicap.. Once you start hitting the ball more consistently your distance gaps will stabilize, at which point then you'll be able to make a decision on you gaping and adjust from there. 

 

Right now worry about consistency and the rest will fall into place.. You'll know when to start looking at other things.. 

[Shankster]

I always take the shot at hand and add 5-7 yards to what I think it is, which almost always is a club up. But a smoother pass at the ball and it usually within that 5-7 yard buffer zone. For example:

 

Say I have a 170 to the center shot with level ground, if the pin is in the middle or front I'll go with a 7 iron, anything beyond that and I'll take the 6 iron and choke down a touch and make a deliberate swing. Instead of trying to "extend" a 7, I'll "shorten" a 6. Or whatever the case may be. Just need to be realistic with my distances, and my game gets a lot better.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[TBT]

At your swing speed a 15 yard gap is more likely, I'm at 10 and my swing speed is between 95-100 most days

[yungkory]

You should experiment with different shafts in your irons. It's odd that you're playing a 6.5 in your driver/fw and an R-flex in your irons, I think the stock shafts are 85g as well. I'm no fitting expert, but based on my two fittings, seems like you would balloon the hell out of the ball, especially if you're not covering it well to reduce the loft?

[Kor.A.Door]

you don't have to buy "high end" stiff or xstiff shafts, there are plenty of lower cost options that will do the same thing that are made from decent companies other than the big names. Research some stuff flex iron shafts. Most if not all tour weighted shafts will have a high kick point, which are designed to help with a lower ball flight. With higher swing speed like your's, you should have no problem being able to use the heavier shaft with a stiffer flex.

[silver & black]

Sometimes I catch myself in day dreams about ideal carry distances, so I'm curious to see what other people's thoughts are.  When I say ideal, I think about it context of what is realistic/what is possible given all aspects of your game from your ability to strength, etc. Apologies if there has been a thread like this recently, but I did a search and couldn't find anything.

 

You can be as specific or general as you would like, but definitely try to give some context around what type of golfer you are.  I am going to leave woods out of it and the higher lofted wedges since not everyone uses them for full swings.

 

I am a 28 year old high handicapper (coming down) in pretty good shape, who definitely could get some more distance with club upgrades (upgrade Regular shafts to stiff/xstiff) and lessons to get better form/efficiency, but my driver swing speed is just north of 110.

 

At a high level, I would like to have 1 iron I can hit from 200 yds and I would like my high lofted irons to be pretty close to 10 yard gaps.

 

                 Current Est Carry Distances                            Ideal Carry Distances

19.5H -                  210                                                                    230

4 -                         200                                                                     215

5-                          185                                                                     200

6-                          170-175                                                              185

7-                          165                                                                     175

8-                          155                                                                     165

9-                          140-145ish                                                         155

PW-                      135                                                                     145

Your PW is my 9 iron.

[bacchus]

You should experiment with different shafts in your irons. It's odd that you're playing a 6.5 in your driver/fw and an R-flex in your irons, I think the stock shafts are 85g as well. I'm no fitting expert, but based on my two fittings, seems like you would balloon the hell out of the ball, especially if you're not covering it well to reduce the loft?

I just got fit for a driver a couple weeks ago. The irons were bought when I started to get serious about playing golf. I had no clue I needed anything other than stock up until last year when my friend gave me a Stiff flex driver, then the pro fit me into x-flex this year. Irons or shafts are up next when I can afford it.

 

I do balloon the ball, if it's windy out I really struggle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Shankster]

Speaking of carry distance. Why in the heck is my 60° Wedge carrying farther than my 56°? And only 7-8 yards less than my 52°, busted out the trusty TM wedges again.... what gives?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Shankster]

I just got fit for a driver a couple weeks ago. The irons were bought when I started to get serious about playing golf. I had no clue I needed anything other than stock up until last year when my friend gave me a Stiff flex driver, then the pro fit me into x-flex this year. Irons or shafts are up next when I can afford it.

 

I do balloon the ball, if it's windy out I really struggle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

What kind of ball are you using?

 

 

- Alan

[Kor.A.Door]

I just got fit for a driver a couple weeks ago. The irons were bought when I started to get serious about playing golf. I had no clue I needed anything other than stock up until last year when my friend gave me a Stiff flex driver, then the pro fit me into x-flex this year. Irons or shafts are up next when I can afford it.

 

I do balloon the ball, if it's windy out I really struggle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

m

Unless you feel like you need to play the big name shafts, KBS, TT, Project X, or Nippon. There are plenty of lesser known shaft makers who make pretty good shafts for way less, it doesn't have to cost 100's of dollars to switch shafts, I switched mine for about 60 dollars. 5-PW.

[Rusty1885]

I just got fit for a driver a couple weeks ago. The irons were bought when I started to get serious about playing golf. I had no clue I needed anything other than stock up until last year when my friend gave me a Stiff flex driver, then the pro fit me into x-flex this year. Irons or shafts are up next when I can afford it.

 

I do balloon the ball, if it's windy out I really struggle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

That's not really the function of the clubs but more of impact, at best you are catching the ball at the bottom of your swing. Ideally the bottom of your swing should be 3-5" in front of the ball. That would lower the ball flight and generate more distance.

 

Bobby Clampet did a study, he found that every inch that golfer make at impact in front of the ball it translates to 4 strokes of handicap improvement.

 

For example a 20 handicap may consistently strike the ball about 2-3" behind the ball. If he can bring it to just 0" he'll save 12 strokes. Going forward a few inches he'll be a scratch. It's a basic measurement of ball striking quality. The better ball striker you are the better player you'd be.

 

Nowadays there are shortcuts training aids and programs like strike plan, dst compressor, and tour strikers to name a few. This would dramatically improve your ball striking quality by noticeable amount. Or you can just watch Lee Trevino on youtube and get all that for free.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[bacchus]

What kind of ball are you using?

 

 

- Alan

 

Pro V1x

 

Get them from lost golf ball websites

[Shankster]

Pro V1x

 

Get them from lost golf ball websites

These might spin up for you too much. Especially if you have a steep AOA. Check out impact bag drills or the DST. Helped me a ton.

 

 

- Alan

[bacchus]

Yeah I am not entirely sure of the the difference between Pro V1 and Pro V1x before 2017. Just seemed to be what most of my buddy's who are similar to me (but much better) played. Didn't they change the Pro V1 quite a bit from 2016 to 2017.

 

 

I'm definitely going to get some lessons at some point, either in middle/late august, or start of next season. Hopefully gain consistency and be able to create a better ball flight. The DST is interesting to me though.

 

I have dropped 6 strokes off my handicap in the last two months though, so I'm also tempted to see how far I can keep improving my swing on my own. Definitely much improved since early this year.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Mingerd]

Sometimes I catch myself in day dreams about ideal carry distances, so I'm curious to see what other people's thoughts are. When I say ideal, I think about it context of what is realistic/what is possible given all aspects of your game from your ability to strength, etc. Apologies if there has been a thread like this recently, but I did a search and couldn't find anything.

 

You can be as specific or general as you would like, but definitely try to give some context around what type of golfer you are. I am going to leave woods out of it and the higher lofted wedges since not everyone uses them for full swings.

 

I am a 28 year old high handicapper (coming down) in pretty good shape, who definitely could get some more distance with club upgrades (upgrade Regular shafts to stiff/xstiff) and lessons to get better form/efficiency, but my driver swing speed is just north of 110.

 

At a high level, I would like to have 1 iron I can hit from 200 yds and I would like my high lofted irons to be pretty close to 10 yard gaps.

 

Current Est Carry Distances Ideal Carry Distances

19.5H - 210 230

4 - 200 215

5- 185 200

6- 170-175 185

7- 165 175

8- 155 165

9- 140-145ish 155

PW- 135 145

.

 

I wouldn't focus on carry distances so much. To be honest you really don't need more distance out of your irons if you are hitting the driver long off the tee. I'm presuming you hit the ball 265-275 carry with a 110 mph swing speed? I would as a higher handicap focus more of your time dialing in your 150yd and in gaps. This is probably where where most of your time will be spent any how. You should determine what your 85% swing is on the ball and those will be the yardages you will want to play off of. Hitting the ball far with irons is great to say but you should find what yardage gives you the most consistent shot dispersion from that 150yd in mark. If you are already there then you have the ideal distances. I can hit a PW 155yds if I step on it, but I am way more accurate when I play it to 135yds which keeps me way more steady in pressure situations. So ideal really is a relative term to the individual golfer. Find your most reliable swing and play off that. There are tour players who play x driver shafts yet only play a S400 iron shaft because irons you don't really need to be swinging full board at. If you are that is probably the reason for many errant shots. I see so many times guys say they can hit a PW 150 but that's with there ideal strike at more than 85% power and time after time they come up short of the green because they are trying to play this ideal yardage they think they should be hitting the ball.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[bacchus]

Yeah the driver is typically around there with my old driver. When I was getting fit, I was hitting it about 270 carry with a 1.35 1.4 smash factor, so need to get a better driver swing.

 

My current irons distances are about 80-90%. For example, I went full tilt and hit my 8 iron the other day at a flag that was about 163 and got pin high. It's more consistency is what I struggle with from a left right and hitting it fat standpoint. So you may be right that I am at my ideal distances already, just have to learn how to hit different distances with every club.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Zylem]

I agree with what others have said, work on getting consistent with your game first then start trying to get more out of your clubs. Don't worry about the ball going further, worry about playing how far you make the ball go currently and game around that. Your current distances are great and could carry you to a much lower handicap if you get a consistent game.

 

 

 

Sent from my Pixel using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[scooducks]

Speaking of carry distance. Why in the heck is my 60° Wedge carrying farther than my 56°? And only 7-8 yards less than my 52°, busted out the trusty TM wedges again.... what gives?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

Two words... dynamic loft.

[Mingerd]

Yeah the driver is typically around there with my old driver. When I was getting fit, I was hitting it about 270 carry with a 1.35 1.4 smash factor, so need to get a better driver swing.

 

My current irons distances are about 80-90%. For example, I went full tilt and hit my 8 iron the other day at a flag that was about 163 and got pin high. It's more consistency is what I struggle with from a left right and hitting it fat standpoint. So you may be right that I am at my ideal distances already, just have to learn how to hit different distances with every club.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Based on what you've said above, I would keep those yardages as they are respectable yardages and work on fine tuning your game in areas of knock downs. When out practicing on the course there are times where I will be smack dab on my PW distance but will take out the 8i and learn to hit that knock down shot on the course. I've learned that doing that has come in handy plenty of times and most guys don't understand why I'm a good wind player and I owe the benefit of that to those types of practicing rituals. I find that my rounds are much more enjoyable doing things like that any how by trying to be creative. Best of luck to ya in working on your game.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Canucklehead]

Great points I couldn't agree more with about not needing to increase your yardage. That's almost to tour length. Accuracy is what will help you score better. I've spent lots of time the last month and a half working on my alignment and it has helped so so so much. And learn the knockdown shot can save your butt big time in the wind

 

Sent from my E6853 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[TxRedMan]

If I get the premise of your OP, it sounds like you simply want to be able to pull iron on a 200yd shot,

i.e., it sucks pulling a hybrid from 204 on a par three.

 

I'm 35 and I definitively relate to some of what you said. Fwiw, I'll bet you're coming out of your posture, adding dynamic loft relative from your 8i, static 8= 38 DL= 35, 5i static =27, DL= 28.

 

Just my $0.02.

 

I'll add in something that's not necessarily popular but- if you desire smaller gaps in your set, consider testing with 0.25" increments and 1degree of additional loft in your short irons, but keep in mind this will inevitably lead to the necessity of being able to manage a 20yd gap in full swing speed between your 5-6 or 6-7.

 

Also, go game improvement on your 4 and 5i. I carry a 20* jpx 900 hm 4i, and its 11yds longer on all strikes than my 21* 3i.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Hackabilly]

.

 

I wouldn't focus on carry distances so much. To be honest you really don't need more distance out of your irons if you are hitting the driver long off the tee. I'm presuming you hit the ball 265-275 carry with a 110 mph swing speed? I would as a higher handicap focus more of your time dialing in your 150yd and in gaps. This is probably where where most of your time will be spent any how. You should determine what your 85% swing is on the ball and those will be the yardages you will want to play off of. Hitting the ball far with irons is great to say but you should find what yardage gives you the most consistent shot dispersion from that 150yd in mark. If you are already there then you have the ideal distances. I can hit a PW 155yds if I step on it, but I am way more accurate when I play it to 135yds which keeps me way more steady in pressure situations. So ideal really is a relative term to the individual golfer. Find your most reliable swing and play off that. There are tour players who play x driver shafts yet only play a S400 iron shaft because irons you don't really need to be swinging full board at. If you are that is probably the reason for many errant shots. I see so many times guys say they can hit a PW 150 but that's with there ideal strike at more than 85% power and time after time they come up short of the green because they are trying to play this ideal yardage they think they should be hitting the ball.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

This is my most recent epiphany. I am a high handicapper as well and my bad shots and inconsistency come from trying too hard. I recently quit trying to kill it, and found that I was suddenly much more consistent and only lost 5 ish yards of carry. It honestly feels more like letting the swing happen than making it happen. I played my first round today with this more relaxed swing and was amazed at how much more consistent I was. I didn't have a single fat shot, although I did top 2 or 3 off the tee with the 3 and 5 wood, all my irons shots got up in the air. Even had a couple of gentle fades! Now I just have to work on being less directionally challenged.

 

just starting to build my set

irons: Adams pro A12 3-pw KBS tour

woods: zenith orbiter 3 and 5

driver: Bombtech Grenade 9* Stiff

wedges: tour edge 56*

[Mingerd]

This is my most recent epiphany. I am a high handicapper as well and my bad shots and inconsistency come from trying too hard. I recently quit trying to kill it, and found that I was suddenly much more consistent and only lost 5 ish yards of carry. It honestly feels more like letting the swing happen than making it happen. I played my first round today with this more relaxed swing and was amazed at how much more consistent I was. I didn't have a single fat shot, although I did top 2 or 3 off the tee with the 3 and 5 wood, all my irons shots got up in the air. Even had a couple of gentle fades! Now I just have to work on being less directionally challenged.

 

just starting to build my set

irons: Adams pro A12 3-pw KBS tour

woods: zenith orbiter 3 and 5

driver: Bombtech Grenade 9* Stiff

wedges: tour edge 56*

 

Nice! Stick with that swing it will pay you dividends and your back will thank you as well!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy