Finding your distance

[Gurra]

So I have a new set of iron incoming in a few weeks. I did a fitting and know what that said my carry with 7i was. Since I don´t have a launch monitor I´m just curious how you guys figure out your distances with a new set of clubs? I find that just going to the range is not optimal since I find it hard to know if the ball lands 165 or 175 if I have a flag at 150 and another at 190. Also at the range the range balls will of course not be my regular gamer so yea..

Going to an empty course and hit a number of shots from a certain distance is not optimal since finding an empty course in the middle of summer is not that easy around these parts. I do have arccos so I will in time get a good idea on what my total lengths will be but that will take a couple of rounds at least to get a good idea on all the clubs. 

So what is your go to way to find out your distances? I know some courses in my area is offering to rent a launch monitor for around 50$/h is that worth it? 

Edited June 5, 2020 by Gurra

[Guest Delete]

I use Golfpad GPS when I play. It allows me to keep score and track my shots. It also gives me yardages to the green and has an interactive map that shows me the hole. I can even touch the map to calculate the distance to hazards. 

I look at my game yardages to figure out future holes

[Kanoito]

You can either go early in the morning or before sunset when it's emptier.

Don't even have to hit all your irons. Take your 7i as baseline, drop the ball 165 from the flag and shoot at it. Move closer or further away from the green depending on where your balls landed.

Assuming your other clubs have the right loft gap to your 7i, you should be able to calculate their distances. 

This shouldn't take more than 20mins.

[Deadskins]

The problem will be you will not be using the golf balls you play with.  So, your distance will not be accurate.

[Kaplack]

Distance is strong a mystery to me. Whatever club I use still comes up short .

[RickyBobby_PR]

Play when nobody is out and hit multiple balls from a spot with one club and find what the bag is. 
 

Go to the driving range and hit each club to find the distance 

I expect about 10-15 yard gap between clubs, the more players type they are the closer to the 10-12 yard gap will be and more gi or distance type club starts getting into the 15 range

Use what you see on the course to adjust during the course of a round

[juspoole]

You can start with a rule of thumb until you are able to do more playing that each degree of loft change will be 2.5 - 3 yards of difference.   Also, check the lofts of your previous set to help you compare.   Since you did the fitting, I'm hoping that you compared your old set to new set.  Granted your new set might be more forgiving or provide more distance, but this can just be your start to get a ball park.

[ObsessiveIndecisive]

8 hours ago, Gurra said:

So I have a new set of iron incoming in a few weeks. I did a fitting and know what that said my carry with 7i was. Since I don´t have a launch monitor I´m just curious how you guys figure out your distances with a new set of clubs? I find that just going to the range is not optimal since I find it hard to know if the ball lands 165 or 175 if I have a flag at 150 and another at 190. Also at the range the range balls will of course not be my regular gamer so yea..

Going to an empty course and hit a number of shots from a certain distance is not optimal since finding an empty course in the middle of summer is not that easy around these parts. I do have arccos so I will in time get a good idea on what my total lengths will be but that will take a couple of rounds at least to get a good idea on all the clubs. 

So what is your go to way to find out your distances? I know some courses in my area is offering to rent a launch monitor for around 50$/h is that worth it? 

I’d say $50/hr is worth it specifically for dialing in distances. 

[Headhammer]

Find a pro that is certified on Trackman and book an hour of his/her time to work through your bag, it's worth it!

[Middler]

7 hours ago, Kanoito said:

You can either go early in the morning or before sunset when it's emptier.

Don't even have to hit all your irons. Take your 7i as baseline, drop the ball 165 from the flag and shoot at it. Move closer or further away from the green depending on where your balls landed.

Assuming your other clubs have the right loft gap to your 7i, you should be able to calculate their distances. 

This shouldn't take more than 20mins.

+1. I don't like hitting on a launch monitor, so probably not accurate for me, I wouldn't do it for free much less pay $50. You certainly don't have to establish distance on every iron. I'd hit a 4i, 7i & PW and interpolate from there for all the other clubs - should get you close enough to play. You can fine tune from there in a few rounds. It's rare that a course is so crowded that I couldn't drop 2-3 balls from 150 yds out and hit 7i's to see what my distance is. I bought new irons a couple years ago, and estimated how long they'd be using the new lofts compared to my old iron lofts, and came very close to knowing distances the first time out.

I also have AutoShot on my Garmin to keep track of every shot I hit for further tweaking.

[The 19th Hole]

27 minutes ago, Middler said:

+1. I don't like hitting on a launch monitor, so probably not accurate for me, I wouldn't do it for free much less pay $50. You certainly don't have to establish distance on every iron. I'd hit a 4i, 7i & PW and interpolate from there for all the other clubs - should get you close enough to play. You can fine tune from there in a few rounds. It's rare that a course is so crowded that I couldn't drop 2-3 balls from 150 yds out and hit 7i's to see what my distance is. I bought new irons a couple years ago, and estimated how long they'd be using the new lofts compared to my old iron lofts, and came very close to knowing distances the first time out.

I also have AutoShot on my Garmin to keep track of every shot I hit for further tweaking.

I wanna play where you play...If I did that, I am pretty sure I might get balls being hit into me pretty quick.  

 

 

[PMookie]

I use my fitting iron’s average distance as the baseline, then I add or subtract 12-13 yards to the distance from the fitting club to each iron above and below. Then, as I play rounds, I start to formulate how accurate the 12-13 yard gap is and then make mental note of new distances. In the summer, I’ll go to the course around 6 or 7 pm and ask the pro to let me walk down the first hole with about 15 balls. I’ll drop them at various distances to see if I’ve got my distances slotted correctly in my head. I’ll go pick-up all of the balls, and then do it again.


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[Guest Delete]

On 6/4/2020 at 11:49 PM, Gurra said:

So I have a new set of iron incoming in a few weeks. I did a fitting and know what that said my carry with 7i was. Since I don´t have a launch monitor I´m just curious how you guys figure out your distances with a new set of clubs? I find that just going to the range is not optimal since I find it hard to know if the ball lands 165 or 175 if I have a flag at 150 and another at 190. Also at the range the range balls will of course not be my regular gamer so yea..

Going to an empty course and hit a number of shots from a certain distance is not optimal since finding an empty course in the middle of summer is not that easy around these parts. I do have arccos so I will in time get a good idea on what my total lengths will be but that will take a couple of rounds at least to get a good idea on all the clubs. 

So what is your go to way to find out your distances? I know some courses in my area is offering to rent a launch monitor for around 50$/h is that worth it? 

This just image is floating around on the web showing driver club head speed at the top and yardages:

 

[fixyurdivot]

I used a SwingCaddie 2.0 when I first got the G410's.  It quickly showed that these were a little more than one club difference than my PE2's (pretty much what the fitting showed). After a handful of rounds, I had their yardages fairly well figured out.  Not sure where your game is, but for those of us in the middle of the ball striker proficiency curve, the big challenge in consistency... or lack thereof.  I find a range with flags to be the most helpful and just hitting enough balls with each iron to find that average.  Like most I would guess, the yardages are pretty repeatable with the higher irons and more sporadic in the low irons.  

[Rickp]

The reply’s have a of great ideas for you to choose from. B4 I picked up a used LM I did pretty much what PMookie suggested.


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[juspoole]

28 minutes ago, TimoTe said:

This just image is floating around on the web showing driver club head speed at the top and yardages:

I can tell you, my Driver Swing Speed is 115 so right in between the 110 and 120 distances and this is pretty accurate for me.

[toehold57]

If you have a PGA superstore close by, book one of their indoor bays.

Is it perfect? No, but at least you can see some numbers and they will not use crappy range balls.

It will give you a starting point to work from.


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[PMookie]

If you have a PGA superstore close by, book one of their indoor bays.

Is it perfect? No, but at least you can see some numbers and they will not use crappy range balls.

It will give you a starting point to work from.


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Ahh! Forgot about this! In my previous job, when I traveled to Houston, I used to book an hour of time in the bay and use the Foresight they have. The one I went to had three bays at the back of the store that weren’t “fitting bays”, just used for people wanting to hit balls. It’s a great option if they’re nearby.

[Gurra]

Some really good suggestions here. Thank you guys! I think I have an idea on how to move forward when my new sticks finally arrive.. can´t wait.

[xOldBenKenobiX]

 

On 6/5/2020 at 8:53 AM, Kaplack said:

Distance is strong a mystery to me. Whatever club I use still comes up short .

I fell you, 140 to the pin, should just be an easy 8 or hard nine, better hit the seven iron.