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Distance Perception vs Distance Reality

Bryndom

Bryndom

2023 Grandaddy X!!!
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Jul 8, 2019
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Location
Houston, Texas
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GHIN 15
With the amount of data in our hands from launch monitors, on course trackers, gps, etc - I am being forced to rethink and recognize my club distances aren’t as long as I remember....

Does anyone else struggle with remembering that one perfect shot and picking clubs based on that memory instead of the realistic averages? How do you check yourself on the course?
 
i use course markers and my range finder if i'm looking at/for distance stats (which i've quit looking at for the most part)...
 
I have a fair idea of how far I can hit each iron. Along with my gps I then I have a good idea of what club to hit
 
I’m having some distance issues this year. I use a rangefinder and GPS app. I check where the pin is and focus on distance to front and back to make my club selection. If I’m really unsure, I just pick the club that would give me the better miss.
 
I’m one of the few that have found since recording my data, that I actually hit it further than I thought. I’ve always considered myself a short knocker, but it appears I can get the ball out to about 275 on a good day (I actually have a 341 drive registered, and although the location on the map is correct, I can’t for one minute believe I hit it anywhere near that far. I think it was a ShotScope brainfart.)
 
Arccos is my distance bible. While I think a lot of the newer enhancements are worthless, the distance tracking is perfect. The best part is that I can see trends and adjust accordingly.
 
I know how far each club goes with a normal swing within reason. No, I can't say I am going to hit this 8 iron exactly 153 yards rather than 151 yards, but I don't remember that one time at band camp that I hit a 165 yard 8 iron and try to do that every time. But honestly, I do remember the days when I averaged 290 yards with the driver and I sometimes try to get it out there again....;)
 
I'm still adapting to distances, now have a good idea on the flat with calm conditions, but my new clubs are so much stronger I sometimes over club if I have a shot downhill or with the wind. I guess it's a good problem to have.
 
Haha, you know? I've never been able to walk 300 yards so quickly.:ROFLMAO:

Drives- less than 200 yards.
9iron - less than 100 yards.

Distance issues. I've got them.:D
 
Bryndom said:
With the amount of data in our hands from launch monitors, on course trackers, gps, etc - I am being forced to rethink and recognize my club distances aren’t as long as I remember....

Does anyone else struggle with remembering that one perfect shot and picking clubs based on that memory instead of the realistic averages? How do you check yourself on the course?
Click to expand...

Always. I think I just hit a bomb off the tee and when I get to the ball the yardage on my watch shows 210 yds. Wishful thinking on my part I guess.
 
I don't see yardages anymore. I just look at what's in front of me, and pick a longer club than my ego says I need. If I see a 7i landing area, I pull a 6i. This usually works out pretty well for me.

Why I don't see a 6i landing area in the first place, I have no clue. Probably that ego thing like I mentioned before.
 
Bryndom said:
With the amount of data in our hands from launch monitors, on course trackers, gps, etc - I am being forced to rethink and recognize my club distances aren’t as long as I remember....

Does anyone else struggle with remembering that one perfect shot and picking clubs based on that memory instead of the realistic averages? How do you check yourself on the course?
Click to expand...
I pretty much know my averages with my clubs so the one perfect shot doesn't affect me. Course markers, range finder, and watch and flags positions are used. I also use a launch monitor along with my range finder to get my club average yardages and I am getting much better now at my yardages. As my swing speed has increased my yardage has and I have had to compensate for that.

I have been noted of coming too short to the front of the greens, but since SS improvements I often am going over now and have to be more mindful of club selection. I had two people tell me the last time out that I needed to club down some more. The only thing is, I will hit it soft or way too hard sometimes and mess up. Such is golf.
 
fairwaynut said:
Always. I think I just hit a bomb off the tee and when I get to the ball the yardage on my watch shows 210 yds. Wishful thinking on my part I guess.
Click to expand...
Don't it bug you when you hit a drive and the trajectory is next to perfect, ball flight and direction are spot on, strike sounds perfect, and when you get up to the ball, you look over and see it is around 200 and all the while you knew you hit it about 240-250. That sometimes make me raise my eyebrows a good bit as it is one of those unexplained things. :ROFLMAO:
 
Luchnia said:
Don't it bug you when you hit a drive and the trajectory is next to perfect, ball flight and direction are spot on, strike sounds perfect, and when you get up to the ball, you look over and see it is around 200 and all the while you knew you hit it about 240-250. That sometimes make me raise my eyebrows a good bit as it is one of those unexplained things. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Yes, it bugs the you know what out of me. Makes me wonder if I used driver or something else and didn't realize it. :laughing:
 
I recently got back to hitting my irons the usual distances. For the past few months though, I've had no problem grabbing one or even two extra clubs to try and give myself the best opportunity to score.

I've also started using the ground more on my drives, hitting lower trajectory draws for max distance.

For irons though, distance control is HUGE. Not only knowing your distances, but having the ability to hit them consistently, is crucial.
 
I’m doing a bit of self reflection here as well. It’s become far more pronounced as I’ve began watching my stats. I’m constantly reminding myself to rethink my selection
 
I have a 'great swing' and 'just ok swing' distance for most of my clubs. Having a GPS watch that tells you exactly how far you hit your last shot is both super informative and a little humbling!
 
this is why the good Lord created arccos. no guesswork. you know exactly how far you typically hit each club in your bag. sometimes the truth hurts though.
 
I know my distances pretty well from my fitting in December. Coming home I adjusted slightly because of elevation change and haven't had any issues.
 
LOL, and then there is the other side of the coin. The one where you really do hit a bomb that when you see the yardage of 260 yds, you're still doubting it. :laughing:
 
I know my yardages, but I also know that with the erratic kind of game I have I'm not always going to hit them. I play to the situation, front pin at my normal 9-iron distance, I might go with the 8-iron, back pin at my normal 9-iron distance I might club down one, or just take a bit off. Of course with either one of those situations I might put a poor swing on it and have my playing partner asking what the heck I was thinking. :confused2:
 
My Garmin G60 watch tells me distances I've hit my club.

I use it, and sim hits, to dial in distances. I am pretty confident I knwo how far I will hit each club, but of course there are random really good/bad shots.
 
I've only been playing golf since the early 1990's and fairly early on the laser rangefinders arrived on the market. I was an early adopter and have the long-time habit of lasering enough shots that I'm not able to have any illusions about my shot distances.

If I laser the flag at 148, strike a 7-iron dead solid perfect and when I get to the green I'm 9 paces short of the hole then that's a 139 yard dead solid perfect 7-iron innit?

Repeat that for several shots a round, 120 rounds a year for 20 years and it's impossible to say with a straight face "My 150 club is a 7-iron".

The problem I had with Arccos is it does not know how far you actually hit the ball versus how far it bounced and ran. The Arccos Caddie used to suggest absurd things like me hitting 8-iron on a 150-yard shot with no hill and no wind. I looked back through the data and it had plenty of shots recorded where I overclubbed and the ball bounced off our rock hard greens then down a big hill behind the green. It seems to know about ignore seriously mishit shots that end up 20-30 yards short. But it accepts as valid an 8-iron shot that was hit on a 130-yard hole but rolled into the woods behind the green 160 yards total.

Or maybe that wasn't it. All I know is my 7-iron at the time was going about 142-144 yards. According to Arccos's club stats my expected distance with 7-iron was 147 and Caddie would routinely suggest hitting it on shots much longer than 150 yards. Then again I gave up after 20-odd rounds so maybe Caddie really got to know me.
 
McLovin said:
this is why the good Lord created arccos. no guesswork. you know exactly how far you typically hit each club in your bag. sometimes the truth hurts though.
Click to expand...
How does Arccos handle hitting the club varying distances? As an example my stock 8 iron goes 162. If I need to step on it, I can hit it 175 or if needed I can choke down and chip it 130.
 
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