Club distance selection

Dave G

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Just curious...
I have tracked all of my club distances so I know my longest, shortest and average for each club. When I select a club I usually base my selection on longest. For clubs 9, P, G, S, L that works. Everything from 8 up I'm usually short, sometimes on and never over. It's finally occurring to me that this is a area I might be able to improve.

How do you select your longer clubs?
 
I have a range that I usually fall into when selecting distances. For me, they are increments of 10 yards for each club with the exception of the AW, which doesn't fall as neatly with the rest of the group. For example: the 7i will be my go to for distances between 155-165, unless there is trouble on the front/back or wind for/against; I'll err on the side of caution and club up/down depending on where the trouble is.
 
i used to be the exact same way. ok, if i catch this 7i perfectly it will be 180 so i will play for that 1-in-a-million shot. oh wow, i came up short. again!

now i let arccos tell me the distance to the middle of the green, and the closest club to that distance. i might make an adjustment, but it's great to know those averages. i have also completely abandoned my rangefinder. now, it's just distance to the middle and select accordingly.
 
I completely understand where you are coming from. I am also usually short, sometimes on, and rarely over.

I have started taking at minimum 1 extra club, but not taking a full swing. 1/2 to 3/4 I have found works just as well due to a better strike, and have been finding more greens. Still working on the "right on" portion though
 
Anytime i feel like my swing is way off or if i am coming up short I will club down and just swing easy, making sure i get it to at least pin high. For me a stock 7 iron avg is 175'ish. If i'm not feeling any confidence in the game at that time I will take a 6 iron and choke down on it about an inch and just swing easy, helping make sure good contact is made. I've done it full rounds and played well as well in the middle of the rounds. Maybe try taking an extra club, choke down on it a bit and just swing easier/smoother and see what results you get.
 
I have gotten into the habit of taking one extra club and swinging easier. I prefer to do that than try to really step on the lesser club. If I do for some reason go over, it won't be by far.
 
I look at front / middle back distances, and pin location. Under normal conditions I'll take a club that SHOULD reach the back of the green. Knowing there is a good chance i might leave it short leaves me at least on the front of the green. Do I risk flushing one and going long - you bet. Does it happen often - not so much.
 
I play to the middle of the green and average distance with the club. That way the perfect shot is on the back of the green and a shorter shot is on the front. My average distance is much closer to my max distance with the lower clubs because they are easier to hit, which is why your strategy is working with those clubs. Example my average with an 8i is between 130-135 and my max is 140-145. With a 5i my average is 165-170, but my max is 180-185. If I play my max on an 8i I will still hit my fair share of greens, but if I play my max on my 5i I will miss a lot of greens short. The best strategy over time is to play average distance. Although I am not an expert golfer (pull and top a lot of shots), I am a trained actuary so I know a lot about probability and I can guarantee this is your best bet.

Remember if your average is let's say 15, but your max is 160, you are hitting just as many balls 140 as you are 160 so playing for that flushed shot is really hampering your scoring when your just as likely to hit it shorter than your average.
 
I can miss most often left/right but be pin high. Of course there are my shorty's too but usually the result of poorly struck shots. For the most part Im using the club that (when struck well enough) gets me the distance. I find on most courses that being long is usually the more penal of the 4 misses. So I have little issue having the long as my least miss of the 4 green misses. Also Im not the best at checking the ball up so with a back pin im mostly looking at mid or mid back with expectation of some rollout. Except on a day when Im strking the ball really well. On those days Im hitting a tad further than average and also checking better and so I adjust accordingly. Of course recent lessons and swing changes have been troublesome for me this year and this has been a non issue..lol and thats another topic.
 
Never select your club based on the longest distance, you should always use your average - If you start gaining distance, your average will then increase as well

When selecting any club, I will look at the lie of the ball, the yardages to F/M/B of the green and what hazards are around it, and whether I am hitting into wind or not

If I am hitting into wind, depending on how strong it is I will pick a club that, when hit nicely, shouldn't clear the back of the green - for example, if my average distance for my 8i was 140yds and my 7i was 150yds and I had 140yds to the middle of the green, I would pull my 8i if it was a calm day, but would pull my 7i if I was hitting into wind, with the opposite if I was hitting with a tail wind
 
i used to be the exact same way. ok, if i catch this 7i perfectly it will be 180 so i will play for that 1-in-a-million shot. oh wow, i came up short. again!

now i let arccos tell me the distance to the middle of the green, and the closest club to that distance. i might make an adjustment, but it's great to know those averages. i have also completely abandoned my rangefinder. now, it's just distance to the middle and select accordingly.

thats where arccos shines and where i think Cobra has a leg up over other companies. Thats gotta be awesome to have all that data at your fingertips
 
In the distant past, I would go over the green. Invariably, it would be caused by wind or bad yardage judgment. Nowadays with GPS devices, I almost never go over. Just recently I figured that I need to start aiming for a spot behind the pin. If the pin is middle, aim for back middle. If I have a perfect shot, I'm a few yards past the pin and still putting. A mishit and I may still end up on the green in the front.

I have read stuff online that you should basically use a half club more than where a good shot would optimally put you.

Regardless, when I gave up on the idea that I need to set my distance such that a perfect shot gets me pin high, it really helped.
 
I like to be able to hit 2 or 3 clubs to the same distance so I can adjust to the particular situation and shot. I don't like to pigeon hole myself into one club for one distance.
 
Anytime i feel like my swing is way off or if i am coming up short I will club down and just swing easy, making sure i get it to at least pin high. For me a stock 7 iron avg is 175'ish. If i'm not feeling any confidence in the game at that time I will take a 6 iron and choke down on it about an inch and just swing easy, helping make sure good contact is made. I've done it full rounds and played well as well in the middle of the rounds. Maybe try taking an extra club, choke down on it a bit and just swing easier/smoother and see what results you get.

That is what I TRY to remember to do. When I do, I usually get good, and on occasion really good, results. I'm getting better at it but still don't think about it or talk myself out of it. It's the smart play for me. A friend has told me that I need to put a sign on my bag that says "hey dumba**, take one more and grip it down."
 
I will usually play to the middle of the green. Right now I am having an issue though with 7-AW I seem to be hitting the ball much further than usual with all those clubs than usual (not complaining) but have to get used to the new distances. I seem to be hitting my 7 as far as my 5 or 6 now. My lower irons are the problem right now not hitting them well and hybrids aren't working either, need to work on this.
 
Play my selection to my average distance for that club. If I miss it (usually low on the face), it is obviously going to come up a little short. If I hit it dead solid perfect, chances are I will be a little past the pin.
 
I like to be able to hit 2 or 3 clubs to the same distance so I can adjust to the particular situation and shot. I don't like to pigeon hole myself into one club for one distance.

This is me too. I have fairly consistent full swing distances, but I like to have options depending on what the situation/wind is giving me.
 
thats where arccos shines and where i think Cobra has a leg up over other companies. Thats gotta be awesome to have all that data at your fingertips

and when you have the caddie feature on, there is a distance adjustment elevation and wind. how bada$$ is that?! what's also freeing about focusing on the middle of the green is that you can visually see that the pin is up or back, and adjust based off the middle. when using a rangefinder, i was getting so focused on the exact number to the pin that my misses were often short (mishits happen). so by starting with the middle then making small adjustments, my mishit will be short of middle but still on. it's great!
 
I have a range for each club in the bag. At the top of my bag 6-4w I will always club up when in doubt and that usually gives me the distance I am looking for depending on the shot.
 
Took some of Panda's advice, as well as some other's here in the thread and club up distance wise. If it's 150 to the pin, I'll take my 160 club and choke down and give it a nice smooth swing, and more often than not end up in a much better position than trying to hit that one in a million shot.
 
I think it makes sense to play to the middle of the green, and use the club with the avg. distance for that shot. That way if you mishit it (short) or crush it (long) you've still got a chance of being on the green. If you hit your normal shot, you'll have a good look at the pin no matter where it is.
 
I use my game golf typical number and then adjust for temp, wind lie and go from there.
 
I think suggesting playing to average is something that is not something that should be taken literally 100%. That average imo cannot include bad and poor screwups and misfits.

I feel that average has to mean ones average of their well enough hit shots. Not the rarer best ones but the good ones in general.

I mean our goal as we hit each ball is basically to execute the shot. That's the plan. And so you can only average in the shots thare hit efficiently enough and not the bad or poorest ones.

We don't make club distance choices based on our poor play, we make that based on how far we hit when we make good enough contact.

The higher the caps, the more chops, flops, blades, chunks, all kinds of poor misfits we make. One shouldn't be using a 5i for 9i distance because he averages all that in. You still need to it use the9 based on your average decent to well struck 9 iron.
 
I think you've hit one of the big areas of improvement for amateurs. Trouble around/behind the green should be taken into account (most greens slope back to front so being on the front is often preferable), but we are rarely going to hit our irons to our max distances so we come up short a lot. Making sure that we get on the green should be our primary objective so if it takes an average extra 1/2 club-1 club, go for it.

I like to be able to hit 2 or 3 clubs to the same distance so I can adjust to the particular situation and shot. I don't like to pigeon hole myself into one club for one distance.

My buddy at work says that he has 6 or 7 clubs that he can hit 150 yards. :bulgy-eyes:
 
I never take a short miss into account unless there is danger short. Going long usually results in a worse lie than coming up short.
 
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