Yardage gaps, filling them in with JDM

[K2_2]

Does anyone here keep a chart of the yardages you hit different clubs, and if so, would you mind sharing it? In particular, I'm interested in everyone's mix of woods, hybrids, and long irons.

I found the following Tourstage and Mizuno charts as a starting point (Chris/T, let me know if it is/isn't okay to post these up).

I won't put mine up because I'm going to redo my bag over the next month... okay, I'm actually missing some clubs AND yards, and atleast one forum member would know just how many yards I'm missing!

[ajaykkr]

Does anyone here keep a chart of the yardages you hit different clubs, and if so, would you mind sharing it? In particular, I'm interested in everyone's mix of woods, hybrids, and long irons.

I found the following Tourstage and Mizuno charts as a starting point (Chris/T, let me know if it is/isn't okay to post these up).

I won't put mine up because I'm going to redo my bag over the next month... okay, I'm actually missing some clubs AND yards, and atleast one forum member would know just how many yards I'm missing!

All distances are average and clubs I will hit for that yardage in a normal round of play when something is stake. for off the deck distances, add 10 yards for the tee shot...

driver (10.5*, 45") - 260-280 yards (sometimes longer than 280 with a few over 300 yards, but 90% of the shots are within the 260-280 yards range)

3 wood (13.5*) - 240-250 yards...(off the tee) deck - 230-235 yards

5 wood (18*) - 220-225 yards (off the deck)

#2 hybrid (18*) - 210-220 yards (off the deck)

#3 hybrid (20*) -205-210 yards (off the deck)

7 wood (20*) - 200-210 yards (off the deck)

3 iron (22*) - 200 yards ( off the deck, mostly carry, with a few yards of roll)

4(25*) - 190 yards, 10 yards difference until 9 iron (140 yards); PW (48*)-125-130; 52* - +-100 yards, 60* - +-70-75 yards or less

Edited September 24, 2007 by ajaykkr

[K2_2]

Thanks Ajay(kkr),

That is helpful, and it is also interesting to see someone go from woods to hybrids back to a wood before getting into their irons... good stuff!

[jacksonlui]

Ajay,

there's a large gap between your PW and 52.

do you grip down? gripping down never works for me for some reason.

[ajaykkr]

Ajay,

there's a large gap between your PW and 52.

do you grip down? gripping down never works for me for some reason.

No...i dont grip down... didn't work well.... just use a slower / shorter swing...its basically based on feel, but I have got it down.... PW downwards i can play a shot that will land within 3-4 yards of what i ma hitting without any roll (or a small roll backwards)...

the gap appears because the PW distance is full shot - which i do often.. i never hit the 52* with full force....

[clevelaand]

Sure, it is extremely important to know the yardages of the clubs you hit. My yardages listed here are for a smooth, easy swing. I can shorten or lengthen the yardages by a few yards with a shorter or harder swing. But these yardages are my standard yardages for calculating what is needed for each shot.

Driver-260+

3-wood - 230

Rescue club 17* - 210 (In place of a 2 iron.)

3-iron - 195

4-iron - 185

5-iron - 175

6-iron - 165

7-iron - 155

8-iron - 145

9-iron - 135

pw - 120

gw - 100

sw - 80

The yardages are not as long with my wedges because I try to swing a little easier so that I can control the distances and trajectories better. Have to get as close to the pins as I can with these clubs.

Doc

Edited September 25, 2007 by The Doc

[jacksonlui]

seems like your driver yardage is a lot longer as compared to your 5 iron yardage . I have the same 5 iron yardage with a 48 degree pw at standard length, but my driver can only go 260 with lots of roll, downhill!

what gives? Either you're swinging out of your shoes with your driver or tone down your irons, or I just suck with my driver.

[Forte]

My yardages:

D (10.5) - 270-310

3W (15) - 230

5 (24) - 195

6 (27) - 180

7 (31) - 165

8 (35) - 150

I am a sweeper with no divots.

[ajaykkr]

seems like your driver yardage is a lot longer as compared to your 5 iron yardage . I have the same 5 iron yardage with a 48 degree pw at standard length, but my driver can only go 260 with lots of roll, downhill!

what gives? Either you're swinging out of your shoes with your driver or tone down your irons, or I just suck with my driver.

actually swinging less with my driver and its going further.... takes some getting used to. Took me a year before I could bring myself to not whack it.. irons, i play them full. I am trying to bring the speed down there.

i actually should be getting 20 more yards from my driver.... but I need to do a better release of the club....i tend to hang on to it. i can get my 3 wood to 250-260 yards and be on the fairway.... so the driver needs to be 20-30 yards longer.... but thats a project for next year.....

i want to shoot par before that... so i end up using the driver on only 7 /18 holes at my course..

Edited September 25, 2007 by ajaykkr

[ajaykkr]

Thanks Ajay(kkr),

That is helpful, and it is also interesting to see someone go from woods to hybrids back to a wood before getting into their irons... good stuff!

right now my bag has a 3 wood (epon 13.5*), #2 hybrid (gfield 18*), and a 7 wood ("gfield) and then 4 iron onwards... the hybrid is only for from the rough to reach the green. on the fairway, its either the 7 wood or the irons... the 7 wood gets replaced by a 2 iron or a 3 iron in the summer....

[+TourSpecGolfer]

The optimal thing to do would be going to a high end fitting specialist and having your distance gap analysis done so you know exactly where your yardage gaps are. then you decide if you want to fill them in by changing lofts, using woods, driving irons or whatever. Also make sure if you have different shafts in your FW's or UT's that two are not too close in distance.

Another few things to consider is if you hit Irons better than you hit wood style clubs, also do you hit FW's better or worse than you hit UT's? Many times you will find you put a different swing on different clubs without noticing it or perhaps even on purpose.

Myself, I enjoy fairway woods over utility woods and deep faced ones at that to avoid a pop up when i have the fierce descending blow. There are many aspects to take into account but honestly step one if you have not already done this is to take a dozen lessons within a 3 month period and work very hard on your swing to get the ball down the line.

Right now Im playing 3,5, & 9 AF201 woods with Mach Line stock stiff shafts. Had to toss the 7 wood because it was shafted with a roddio and it was flying as far as my 5 wood.

Most people have gaps just above the 5 iron and below their last wood.

[jacksonlui]

hi Chris,

the Type S PW is 46 which goes about 125, the next club down is 52 xwedge which goes 95.

I've tried weakening the loft of the PW to 48 which is now about 115. If I wanted to keep the 46 PW, what club would I insert to fill between the 125 and 95?

[Forte]

Jack, I see you are using a 2 wedge system (52 & 58) excluding your PW.

You could always try your PW 46 with 51, 56, 61

[ajaykkr]

hi Chris,

the Type S PW is 46 which goes about 125, the next club down is 52 xwedge which goes 95.

I've tried weakening the loft of the PW to 48 which is now about 115. If I wanted to keep the 46 PW, what club would I insert to fill between the 125 and 95?

something is not right- for the 6* of loft, you can't get a 30 yard difference... and then have the iron distances you have from PW up... if your PW is 46* your 52* should go 105-110 yards..on a full shot..

[jacksonlui]

yeah it's strange,

with my old CG10 52 with the true temper wedgeflex, i get 100 yards

but with the epon x-wedge 52 with px 5.5, I only get 95.

not really sure why.

[K2_2]

Thanks again to everyone for posting!

Chris, I would love to spend some time with a fitter as described. One of my friends is going to help me look for shops around Shikoku, but if you know of a place worth travelling to for said service, give me a shout.

To be honest though, whatever shafts and lofts I was fit for right now would be a bit different than what would suit when I am practicing regularly; with my longer irons and woods I am just not compressing the ball as much as I normally do. Club length and lies wouldn't change, but I would definitely not fit to the same flex now that I was playing last spring.

Ideally, if I could find a set up (driver, wood, and hybrid shafts) that would not baloon and go left when I am swinging well, but still allow me to get some decent loading of the shaft when I wasn't swinging as quickly, I would be in golf heaven.

I am leaning towards and currently playing something like the following;

Driver (250)

4 wood (225)

? Nice Gap

Hybrid 3 - 195

Hybrid 4 - 185

5 iron - 170

.

.

On down the list

[idrive]

My yardages stack up this way... obviously these are average conditions. I have learned to hit my Driver with a nice high fade on soft fairways and lower draws on harder fairways to try and get the most distance possible. As a general rule I hit the ball mostly straight.

Driver 275ish

3 wood 230-240 - 15*

5 wood 215-225 - 18*

9 wood 190-210 - 22*

4 iron 180-185 - 24*

5 iron 170-175 - 27*

6 iron 160-165 - 31*

7 iron 150-155 - 35*

8 iron 140-145 - 39*

9 iron 130-135 - 43*

PW 110-125 - 47*

GW 80-100 - 51*

SW 60-75 - 55*

LW under 60 - 60*

Around the green I use just about anything and everything depending on the lie and how much Green I have to work with.

I like to roll the ball as much as possible. I use the Putter from just off the Green when ever the lie allows me too.

Also, depending on the Golf course I pull either the 3 wood, 5 wood or 4 iron to keep the max of 14 clubs. If I absolutely need the longer clubs I will reluctantly pull the LW.

With the clubs I have in the bag at this moment my yardages have never been more consistent. One other thing that has helped my game as much as anything is a range finder. Knowing exactly how far I need to hit it has helped me dial in my

yardages and given me the confidence to hit the shot knowing I have the right club in my hand.

[Spoon]

my basic yardages up to a 6 iron are pretty consistent although my 4/5 are debatable. im also at the stage wherein my 4/5 irons are so close together in terms of distance that id be better of using my hbrids to space the gaps more evenly. for those i use hybrids although as my swing improves and i gain the confidence to use my long irons i will stick to my hybrids. i also use a epon 15* 3 wood of the tee when my driver is not working out. i mainly use the 3 wood of the deck only depending on the course. on certain days i will leave the 3 wood behind and bring the gfield 4 wood instead.

driver 10.5: around.... 250>

3 wood: off the deck...230-250

4 wood:.....................215-220

alternate: 18* gfield....200-210

20*.............190-200

22*............................185>

20*............................170>

will use the hybrids when im not hitting longer irons so well. depends on my mood but i ahev been using them a lot lately as my confidence in them is an added incentive. mostly use them off the rough or in soft fairways. if the fairways are hardpacked i will use my longer irons

4 iron.........................185>

5 iro...........................175>

6 iron.........................165>

7 iron.........................155-165

8 iron.........................140>

9 iron.........................120>

pw.............................100>

52..............................75>

57..............................less than 75

as you can see my distances are a mess and my problem is getting consistency in the 170 and above yardages. thats usually where my hybrids and long irons come in. with the shorter irons my problem is usually dialing in the exact distance but approximate yardages are there.

[MHLY99]

I changed my bag recently and went to the following:

Club Shaft Loft Length Yardage

Driver FT5 Xcon6 9.5 44 265-280

4 Wd Adams 505 F7M2 16 42 235-250

Hyb Adams Pro Infra 20 39.5 215-230

Hyb Adams Pro Infra 23 38.5 200-215

5i R7 Forged S400 26 37.5 185-200

6i R7 Forged S400 31 37 170-185

7i R7 Forged S400 35 36.5 160-170

8i R7 Forged S400 39 36 150-160

9i R7 Forged S400 43 35.5 140-150

pw R7 Forged S400 48 35.25 125-140

gap Epon Tech S300 51 35 115-125

sand Epon Tech S300 56 35 100-115

lob Epon Tech S300 59 34.75 85-100

I find that I use wedges and short irons a lot more than long clubs. My stats, 6 hc, 5'7, 106-110 SS

[tarheeldb]

No...i dont grip down... didn't work well.... just use a slower / shorter swing...its basically based on feel, but I have got it down.... PW downwards i can play a shot that will land within 3-4 yards of what i ma hitting without any roll (or a small roll backwards)...

the gap appears because the PW distance is full shot - which i do often.. i never hit the 52* with full force....

Maybe you should try to hit all your irons without full force if it works so well with the 52. 9 to 12 feet is better than PGA tour accuracy BTW.

[tarheeldb]

Driver 275

3 wood 245

hybrid 225

4 iron 205

5 iron 194

6 iron 183

7 iron 172

8 iron 161

9 iron 150

PW 46 139

GW 50 128

SW 54 116

LW 58 104

PUTTER ?

[ajaykkr]

Maybe you should try to hit all your irons without full force if it works so well with the 52. 9 to 12 feet is better than PGA tour accuracy BTW.

yeah, but i dont play on greens as fast and slick....so on those surfaces i am sure it will be more.....(despite that being the high point of my game)......

having said that i am trying....i have figured out with the driver and the woods.....now i just have to will myself not to hit the extra yards from an iron...

Edited September 28, 2007 by ajaykkr

[Spoon]

having said that i am trying....i have figured out with the driver and the woods.....now i just have to will myself not to hit the extra yards from an iron...

that is the hardest thing to do:)