How far should I hit my golf clubs?

Firstly, I will run through the average yardages of pro’s and amateur golfers and then I will let you in on a secret, and why you should let other peoples golf evaporate from your mind.

So Tour Pro Golfers, how far do they hit it? 

(Insert Chart)

Pretty impressive? Well, yes that is why they are pro golfers, they hit more golf balls in a season than we will hit in our lives, their strike, speed and consistency is on another level, their coaching is also of the highest calibre and the top players even have a team that travels with them to make sure they are always fine tuned.

However, these distances are great to see how close you are to hitting it as far as a tour pro, but totally irrelevant to your own personal golf game.

Amateurs, how far does the average amateur hit each club? 

(Insert Chart)

Not as impressive as the Pros? Well, maybe not but there is a much wider range of amateur golfers to pull data in from and a much more varied age range.

If you are not hitting it as far as the average amateur you should drink 5 protein shakes a day, do 3 gym sessions and eat nothing but Chicken and raw eggs (That is a joke, don’t really do this). 

The truth, however far other people hit it is irrelevant, you are not them and your body is not their body. We have all been there, on the tee and people ask what someone hit, in your head you think Jesus Christ really! Then proceed to pull the same club and swing out your boots. It’s never the right answer, EVER!.

Pros and amateurs are always searching for more yardage, Manufacturers are always marketing their equipment to deliver more yardage but at what cost does more yardage come?

Would you be prepared to accept 10% less accuracy for 10 extra yards off the Tee? 
Would you accept being 5 ft further away from the hole for 5yrds on your irons?
Because the reality is that is a risk we all take going looking for extra yards.

The key to yardages is your own! You have to know how far you hit it consistently. That doesn’t mean going on a launch monitor and taking the best one you hit and that is your yardage for that club. You have to take an average of 20 shots as a minimum, remove any pure miss hits and then take an average. This will improve your game more than any extra yardages will, distance control is the key to every golf shot! Including the putter.
If you don’t have access to a launch monitor, take some practice sticks and dig them in and measure to them with a range finder or GPS and see how many of the 20 balls are short or past and judge the average that way.

It’s true normally the more loft in your hands the more accurate you will be but this comes with a huge caveat, it’s only true when you swing naturally! If you swing a pitching wedge as hard as you can you will lose timing, balance and strike, meaning your stock 8 or 9 iron would have got you the yardage and improved accuracy rather than trying impress your playing partners.

Play with what you have, improve what you have and you will get more gains than trying to chase what somebody else naturally has. Yardage can be the devil if you focus on it alone, even Bryson Dechambeau is reversing his bulking and trying to get injury free as it’s took its toll.

If you want to increase speed in moderation do it over time using speed sticks, small Increments over time will help maintain accuracy but know your limits. 

One thing to keep in mind, Personal Launch Monitors have come right down in price and you can dial in your yardages for each club without leaving the back garden these days, Check out the prices on them here. We use the Garmin R10 and it has helped us immensely.