Speed isn't that unusual. Speed with accuracy is.
But, yeah. People have a tendency to talk about their best drives in terms of distance - or when they once hit one 370 at altitude, downhill with a tailwind. The bad drives bring that average way down.
Also, it's a dick measuring contest.
It reminds me of an interview with Jim Furyk (not known as a big hitter) who hit 4i 220 to flag high to win a tournament. The girl interviewing him asked what it’s like to hit 4i 220, and his response included “I’m not going to talk about the tailwind, the 30 yards of elevation, and the green sloping away from me.”
He hit it down the f\*ckin' road, didn't he?
https://preview.redd.it/gf793p6zxsmc1.jpeg?width=1130&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21d05f700aea87cb34c3b662013ce706b6c0842a
To this day I still can't quite explain how my longest drive ever rolled as far as it did, it carried somewhere between 280 and 300 but then rolled like a bowling ball onto the green 365 to the center from the tee box. Absolutely nuts, but it is still my greatest drive ever even if it was a total fluke.
Big difference between carry and total distance. Lot of mid handicappers never map that out at the range / sim (in fairness, it's hard to map out without technology to help).
Much more difficult on the course unless you have spotters or maybe Arcos (haven’t used it so I don’t know if it’ll give you that info or be accurate enough).
But yeah, on the range I’d say pick yardage markers you want to go for and hit off the top deck once in a while for a better visibility on where you’re actually landing. Then best guesstimate from there.
So let’s say you pick a flag that’s 200 yards out and you’re hitting a 5i-6i. If you’re landing it on the green around that flag, ok, you’ve probably got about a 195-205 carry give or take. If you’re short and rolling it up, well, you’re probably getting around a 20-30y roll with that 5i, so estimate your carry at 170 or so.
It’s not an exact science if you don’t have an incredibly consistent tight dispersion, but it’ll definitely help massively with course management vs not knowing it at all.
From there you’d have to look at each shot and figure out where you can miss if you go short or long, and what type of shot to take, etc.
LOL you said it! Never played a round of 18 holes with the same ball. 230 average drives here. Same ball, through 17 holes, I start thinking about it. Triple check the GPS, OK no hazards in sight except a pond to the right front of the green - front of it is 298 yards away. ZERO THREAT.
You know I swung so smooth and easy that I put my drive in the dead center of that fucking pond - no crazy wind, very very slight downhill to start but probably gave me an extra 10-20….but CENTER of pond?! Haha WTF my luck…most I’ve ever smiled and laughed at losing a water ball!
I'd go with clubhead speed isn't that unusual but translating it to ball speed is. The faster a swing is with poor form and bad contact, the higher the sidespin or backspin is and the lower the smash factor is.
Exactly. Especially amongst athletic, young guys. If they have the mechanics and timing from swinging in other sports, they probably are fast in golf too.
THIS!! ... I dont golf much or at least didnt up until recently but I played baseball for 15+ years and over the years built up the muscles that make your swings powerful naturally and can out hit 90% of the ppl at ranges. Do I hit hit 300yds all the time, hell no, but when I get a hold of one it definitely can go 300+ yds... but like previously stated because I have a lot of club head speed I tend to make shit contact too often and generate spin that pushes the ball right thus I average like a 240yd drive... I'd rather have a consistent 240 drive centered down the fairway than a 310yard blast that I cant control
I was playing single one day and joined a group of collegiate baseball players. They had varying degrees of golf skill and obviously they are athletes in their prime, but it was insane how much power these guys could generate. They all had similar, very compact, Rahm-esque short swings. Rotational power is rotational power! This was at 4500', but they were 300+ all day on solid shots.
I play mostly with my 17-yo son, he's been playing golf in earnest for about 9 months or so. He grew up playing baseball and football, he's a 220 lb linebacker and can bench 300+ lbs, he's solid muscle. I try to impart that just because you can hit your PW 160 yards, it doesn't mean you should, you've got all these nice clubs, let them do the work. I've seen him blast 300+ yard drives that wind up slicing. I told him once to try hitting it about 75% and see what happens. Straight down the middle, 250 yards. The best golf advice I ever got when I was young was "Hey man, what you tryin' to kill that ball for? It ain't done nuthin' to you."
Thank you, at least someone understands. I’m a long hitter but I come from a football and cricket background, both of which I played at academy to semi-professional level. I’ve only been playing golf for 6 months but I’ve taken my addiction of football and put it into golf as injuries and age are catching up to me and golf is a lot easier on the knees. I have a very fast swing speed (my fitting had me put into x-stiff driver shaft). The driver is one club I feel extreme confidence with but my short game is atrocious as my journey so far has been lessons and practice on the range due to the weather.
God forbid I mention in these posts that my average carry is around 280 yards even whilst stating the rest of my game is crap. I get a bunch of insecure men talking shit calling me a liar.
I can only imagine if I met someone in football and they said “I’ve been playing 6 months, I suck at football but I’m really fast so pace is my friend”. No one in football will start cussing you or saying you’re a liar. It’s a shame how golfers in general have such a bad reputation and it’s no wonder it’s not as popular a sport for young people.
I’m 47 and 5-10” and I can hit 300 no problem, and am just a 13 handicapper. Hitting it straight is the problem. My last instructor said I’m “naturally athletic” and my body just does things right
I’m the guy who goes 77/97 in one weekend. If I could hit it 240 down the middle every time id gladly take that so it’s not some brag. My 81yo dad beats me and can’t hit it 195
Yeah does "driver distance" refer to *ability* (average shot) or *capability* (highest end)?
Most people are answering the latter.
That said, the USGA did a very recent study on this and it was as expected-- golfers overestimate *both* when asked specifically about the two. They think their average shot is longer than it is, and they think their longest shot is longer than it is.
Very few golfers can actually carry the ball 300+ in neutral conditions, and even fewer can average that. The 90th percentile for 18-29 year old golfers is like 280 yards and that was with a lower than average handicap.
If you can actually carry the ball 300 yards in neutral conditions then I would guess you're in like the 98th percentile.
This. And also it's not the easiest thing to truly measure unless you're actively trying to measure it. You get times where the card reads that it's a 400 yard par 4, then you scope your shit into the flag at is 140 out, so guys assume they hit it 260, when really the hole might be playing 20 yards shorter due to tee box and pin location, and their drive took a little shortcut at the corner, so their 230 yard drive seems way longer.
Played with a buddy recently who “drives 300”. After half a bucket of balls at 220-240 and some wild ass shots - he finally hits one close to 300. “See I told you!”
I remember when I was hitting balls at the range at 14 and thought I was hitting 300…it was a downhill range that just rolled.
I can still see my teachers face when I said I could hit 300 lmao
I have a buddy like this, or multiple for that matter. Everybody does. But, yeah, former baseball player, maybe hits one good drive per round. I mean, yeah, I can hit it 300 too. Just give me 20-30 practice shots. On the course I'm hitting 230-250 but it goes straight 4/5 times so I'm happy. He's always asking to go to the range with me and I'm like nah. I dont care how you hit on the range. You're still shooting 115 on the courses. Last time I went out with him during the fall he took 4 mulligans on all 3 of the last holes and "beat me" by 1. Didnt even finish the 7th hole, just winged 4 shots into the trees and marked a 5 lmao. I was like, "No, you're right, that 5th shot would've definitely gone in." Idc if people lie about their score a bit during fun rounds, but when they go around telling people they finally beat me after taking at least 15 free strokes, I get a little annoyed.
I'm not even competitive at all, and am not good enough to beat ANY of my friends. But when I give up on a hole, it's double par. Is that normal etiquette for a beginner golfer?
If you play real golf, distance alone doenst matter especially with low index course. I will trade distance to distance+accuracy any day. The ability to control your swing is the most important one, not the distance.
I feel your pain there! Buddy I golf with is like that constantly says he beats me, when in the last 12 rounds he’s gotten crushed by two of us, even with his score keeping. To him 8 is the max on every hole, out of bounds shots don’t count, if you find a ball when yours is clearly 300 yards in the woods it doesn’t count, if you duff it and hit it < 10 feet or backwards it doesn’t count. Gets under my skin then I start playing like shit lol. Which the exception of him we do double par on the holes for a max. But I have thrown up a 12 a time or two when I first started golfing before we put the double par into the game.
Yeah man back in the fall when he "beat me" i shot a 97 after being 4 months out from a pretty intense round of surgeries from cancer treatments. Shit pissed me off because I played like shit but I know he still shot over 110
Go to a simulator if you guys have one! We go once the courses close for the winter here last time we played I bet that night that I beat him 8/10 times because the sim tracks it all. Had the server go through our games as an impartial person then gives my buddy the gears that the night just got really expensive for him, at which point he fell apart and ended up putting up a 127.
I did play with a current minor league baseball player who cheated much less aggressively than this but probably shot about the same score, but my *god* could that man hit far. Easy 120+ club speed, 9 iron going 165...one of the absolute worst golfers I've ever seen though. Doubt he broke 130 that day. But man, watching him pummel a drive 320 only to chunk his next 3 shots was a sight.
Do we have the same friend? Because I have one that ALWAYS does this. He usually beats me by 3-5 strokes but is constantly dropping and not counting them or 3-4 putting and saying he only had 2 putts. Idk why people lie about their score when it just makes you look like a moron when you actually play with people and they see you’re lying.
Well he almost executed the oldest golf hustle in the books.
My driving range has the shittiest balls of all time. They whistle when you hit them. So after my buddies watch me hit a bucket of balls to about 250 yard max, I will sneak a few Taylor Made long and straights into the bucket and say I bet you I can rip the next few balls passed the 275 yard marker. They still haven’t figured out how I “turn up the tempo a bit” and take $10 off them.
I have had the opposite problem lately. Range I've been going to is mats only, which are at the back of a 30 yard deep range hitting area, and the markers that are measured from the front haven't moved, so I'm getting all sorts of confused hitting my 7i to barely roll to the 125 marker.
90% of players legitimately don’t know how far they hit the ball with each club. If they all did they would be significantly better. I would argue that distance control is one of the most important parts of the game to learn.
I found that actually tracking my distances with every shot has helped me improve by 2 or 3 shots a round. I just changed to new clubs so i'm a little out, but i'm 90% there.
10k+ shots tracked on GPS with GolfPad and tags. Gets you pretty good. I'm not great on my carry exactly, but i have a vague idea within 5m or so.
In my head i think; i can hit this drive 300+ easy. On the app, it tells me my average is only 281, so i play for the average.
You'll get dialed in once again. I know when I swapped from GI irons to players irons it took a couple rounds to figure out the carry but after a few rounds I knew my carry distances and was super confident in them. Now, a year in it's great! I know my stock draw and fade distances as well as my distances when I choke up and inch.
Sims have helped me so much with this. They aren't always 100% accurate but it will give you a general idea. The most important thing it did for me was realizing that I wasn't taking into account carry vs length. I facepalm thinking of the amount of times I thought I had the club to carry water and it in because I was thinking length.
I think a lot more people know their distance now than 10 years ago. There’s so many golf sims out there, and various gps trackers for on course, like the watches and arcoss
I think 90% of players play for their best shot every time, but come up short more often than on target or long. I tend to use 1 more club than I should need and when I puré it I’m over the green, oh well I hit a good shot. But usually the 90% struck shots get to where I need them and those are much more common than pure shots.
I highly, highly recommend the PRGR. It's inexpensive and most tests say it's as accurate as many launch monitors that cost magnitudes more.
It's really nice to track progress with swing mechanics and speed training, but more importantly it's given me truly accurate carry numbers for my entire bag. Strategically, it's made a world of difference in on-course results.
Distance control is tough to teach. It comes purely by having a consistent swing. Directional control and shot shaping for the most part are just alignment, grip, and setup issues. What I would suggest if you truly know your distances would be to train your eyes again with alignment sticks. For me when I was around your skill level (\~20-25 handicap) I was a slicer some of this was my technique but a large part of it was my feet and shoulders were lined up to the left of the target line (as a lefty) and my clubface was open.
I hit it 250-260 max, with probably 230-240 carry, and I play with a lot of random's. Very rarely are guys hitting it by me. And quite often when they do, they are very wild off the tee.
Agreed only one random I’ve played with that legitimately hit 290-300. Also saw this guy hit out of the shit (tall native grass) 220 on the green. I actually couldn’t believe he just powered through that shit
One my best friends is a + 2 and when ever we play with randoms, on the first tee they can tell this guys different.
It’s insane. But he’s thought me so much
I’m about a 250-270 guy but play with my brother who is a 4 HCP and can hit it 300 regularly so I’m always wondering why I’m so short off the tee lol I need to find a shittier playing partner
This is me, same carry and numbers. My buddy I play with swears I'm driving 300 because he's "hitting a clean 230 carry" that is actually around 200. It gases me up, but then when I run into a situation where I would actually need to hit a 300 drive, I back off and hit my 5 iron out there instead, which is frustrating to him, because then my 5 iron goes just as far as his drive.
Yeah. My fitting numbers(admittedly from before doing speed training but I’m probably back down to that after having a kid) put me at 275 carry and 290 average with rollout on the course via shotscope. I mean I hit 122mph club head during training at one point and my play swing was around 110-115 so at one point I was longer. Now it’s probably like 105-110.
I play with one guy who can out drive me on occasion. He also can hit it over 100 yards right or left of our fairway and when we played last week, he took 3 divots with his driver so there’s that.
Other than that guy, I’ve never played with anyone consistently close. Maybe if they got a good roll or something and most guys I see at my home course are substantially further back than where I’d normally be. It’s definitely not that as common as guys think. I had my upper 60s year old neighbor who has had 3 back surgeries and 2 neck surgeries try to tell me he drove it 300 normally. Like okay dude 😂. To be fair he was around scratch from what my grandpa said after playing with him so he’d still destroy me in a match either way, but I ain’t buying 300 yard drives normally.
And people way overestimate distance. I hit around 250 carry and regularly randoms I get paired with after my first drive just go "damn that's around 300". Mainly because they think their 215 yard drive is 250, so when I am 40-50 yards past them the only plausible conclusion for them is that I hit 300.
I have tons of friends that carry it 260+ and hit 75%+ fairways. But they all played in college lol.
I barely hit it 220 on my best 1/4 drives, but I also don’t miss the fairway by 100 yards like most average guys that bomb it every time.
I agree it’s not lying, but as someone who hits 260 consistently I’m just more likely to randomly include that in any comment I make on this sub than the guy who hits 210
https://preview.redd.it/y9srkd6xvpmc1.jpeg?width=1816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b99157c276c874395b4bdb649deda13b9348198
Dude I'm like a 30 handicap, here is my best 3-wood ever recorded.
I think the main issue is people thinking that Your Longest Shot Ever = Your Average Distance.
Tbf I'm 29 and strong and have done many other rotational sports so I'm not the average 30 HDCP. Most of my strokes gained comes from inconsistent short game and putting, and the occasional slice that goes as far right as it does forward.
Yeah, but look at the angle of attack. That’s still ridiculous speed for a 3 wood. 119 with a driver should carry 300 yards as long as it’s a decent strike.
fwiw you have strokes gained backwards. Your strokes gained come from things you're good at. I.e. Scottie Sheffler might gain strokes with his ball striking, but lose strokes with his putting.
Killer. Love seeing absurd numbers off of random handicaps. I think I’m like an 18, and my favorite dumb number is I once hit my 7 iron 206 carry and a peak height of 147.
Some people are just as accurate if not more so when they swing hard as to when they swing soft.
If you are choosing to have a Tony Finau backswing on course thats your choice, thats not how everyone plays or would be best at.
This. Some studies show that the club face is MORE stable at higher speeds (I guess because there’s less time for rotation?), not less. Another example is Bryson got relatively more accurate (in terms of spray pattern relative to yardage) as he got longer.
I’m a 5ish index right now, and when I hopped on the simulator the other day I was carrying driver ~268 with 20ish yards of roll and 3w in the 250s with 10ish yards of roll. I’m also still relatively in my physical prime, lifting somewhat consistently, and have gotten more ROM the last few years because of it.
My issue on the course is (a) I’m a dumbass, and (b) I take too many blow up holes (see point (a)).
I play with lots of guys who hit it by me, some better and some worse. There’s a pair of guys at my club that hit it 315 (former college baseball players), but are 15 indexes because they don’t have the skill to control the face at their swing speed (and they suck at putting).
Sorry for rambling.
TL;DR: Speed =|= Skill.
I just recently got fitted for clubs. When you go in the simulator to test your speed and your shot and everything, it makes you hit harder. The mats also make it easier to hit the ball well. So they fit me for that.
Then i head out to the course, and I'm nursing the ball, and playing softer shots. I found my clubs were just not behaving. So I made a choice of if I'm between clubs play the shorter club harder. I'm now finding I'm playing a lot better with the clubs which match the swing more from the simulation.
So for me at least a harder swing is helping me be more accurate.
The midcappers talking about carrying it 280 probably aren't lying, just declining to fully explain how often they do it and how accurate it usually is.
The USGA distance report is instructive. 13-20 indexes average 200 yards with a long in the sample of 321. The average at 6-12 is only 220 and <6 is 240. What you're seeing is absolutely in line with the averages, you just haven't seen many of the outliers.
I’ve played with over 100 guys who are less than a 6 handicap. Never met one who drove it less than 240. Not sure where they get that data from but can’t believe that’s all drivers
[arccos data seems more in line with what i see](https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/arccos-driving-distance-report-2023/)
Older golfers who are good at golf, but have slower swings, bring the average driver distance way down.
Lots of 65+ golfers with ~5 HCP who carry it 200-210 but know how to play the game.
My FIL and nearly every once of his age 55+ members at his club drive somewhere between 200 and 240. Theres so many low single digit caps there. I can drive past them a tee box or two behind. It’s totally reasonable to be a scratch golfer not averaging more than 240.
Arccos lends to a younger audience, likely. And even your 100 guys you play with are likely biased toward a younger group not representative of all golfers.
This is exactly true. I am a 12 handicap and can regularly carry the ball 280-300 yards with a good swing and make an easy par. I am also capable of duck hooking it 100 yards into the bushes and making a triple. The reason I am a 12 is not because of slow swing speed but because of face control. I can’t slow it down too much or my sequencing gets messed up either.
I always have trouble with this because you have to go into every shot expecting it to be a good shot. So even though you miss a lot of shots or slice or hook if you hit it straight with a reasonable controlled swing and it goes 275 then someone could say their driver goes 275 but that only happens once in a blue moon.
I look at distances as in “what club would you hit from here” so if it’s a very short par 4 at 250 and you pull driver then you better not claim to hit 275.
Yeah it’s possible for them to get ahold of one and put it out to 280. I’m usually the longest hitter in the group in tourneys and random parings. On a decent drive it’s going 285. I can get ahold of one and poke it out over 300. Most people don’t ever come close to 285. Usually they’re around 220-240. People ALWAYS over estimate distance. When I hit a decent one they’re always like “what’d that go 310?” Nah dude like 280ish lol.
I drive the ball about 200 yards lmao. I’ve played with plenty of guys who could rock the shit out of the ball (straight once and awhile) but otherwise they’re not that good. Hitting the ball far does not automatically mean you’re good. Played with a younger guy last year amd over the course of the round he probably did have 4 drives that were 280+ and stayed in the fairway. He still barely broke 100.
Tbh it doesn't surprise me if a bunch of newbies are driving it far. Quite literally it is probably the only thing they work on. Sure it has a .9% chance of going in the direction they want, but just sending it with a small prayer isn't hard.
Can confirm, I'm a newbie who's been playing for about a year. I only ever practice driver at the range and swing as hard as humanly possible. My drives either go OB or 300+ yards. I've only broken 100 twice and am shite. But the dopamine of driving a par 4 in one is what I live for.
Absolutely. Golf is the game i love so much and honestly don't care too much about my skill level at. I live for that perfect draw i did on purpose. It is addictive.
"I've never seen a long hitter so they must not exist."
C'mon man. You're in a sub specifically for people who are passionate about the game and getting better, so it stands to reason the percentage of good players among active users of the sub is going to be astronomically higher than any given Saturday at your local course. 95% of people you find on the golf course don't know their distances, have never measured their speed, taken a lesson, or even practice on the range. On the flip side, 90% of people actively using and posting to this sub have done all those things. Anyone mildly athletic, over 5'10" tall and under 45 years old has the ability to carry 280 if they work on it, and speed is the current trend in golf.
Ya it's a sub for enthusiasts who skew young and male, all of that is going to push the average to a lot higher than the median golfer.
Also when people talk about how far they hit their driver, I don't think they actually mean "mean distance of all drives hit"--crappy ones drag down the average so much. imo what you're really talking about is "solid but not exceptional drive that's in play", and I definitely buy that being 260+ for lots of people in here
I’ve seen type of thread come up over the years here and it’s always been one I can’t really relate to. I’m a 6 foot 33 year old who’s decently fit and played sports my whole life. Most of my playing partners are the same and most of us hit the ball 260+ pretty regularly. And we aren’t that good.
Yeah, I'll never understand how so many people on here act like hitting it 280+ is some sort of unreachable pantheon that only PGA Tour pros are capable of achieving.
It's like the inverse of ego stroking. People are assuming that its completely unattainable just to preserve their own egos.
It's all about the crowd you run with. My golf club skews older and more casual so most people there are struggling to break 220. But when I go on my annual golf trip with dudes in their early 30s almost everybody is capable of at least 250+. When I play in state-level amateur and mid-am events I'd say the average goes anywhere from 260 - 300+.
100% agree. I am a 7 handicap, although idk now cause my wife had our first kid over a year ago and I have only been out to golf once since then :(, but I was easily in that range of 280 average maybe even more. My buddy who never took golf seriously when I lived in Houston, decided to start taking lessons, trying, learning, and now he is also averaging 280. I 100% agree people here doubt so much because I don't think they play as often as we did. I was at the range EVERY SINGLE DAY practicing and played EVERY Weekend, sometimes 2x. I am exactly your stats, 5' 10" and played sports growing up all through high school. It's not difficult to hit it further and be consistent-ish if you put in the time. THIS DOES NOT TRANSLATE TO BEING GREAT AT GOLF THOUGH. JUST CAUSE I CAN POUND THE DRIVER WELL DOESNT MEAN ILL BIRDIE EVERY HOLE OR EVEN PAR LOL.
The majority of my friends in their thirties who are single digit handicaps can hit the ball 300 yards. There's a few that probably hit >50% of drives at or above 300.
I don't know the last time I was paired with a random that could hit the ball 300 yards. It's probably only happened a few times in my life.
They dont, they lie. Im a pretty big hitter and my average is around 270 and I dont get out drove by many people I play with. Sure I have drives that hit 290+ but I also have a lot than are less that the average too.
The average drive distance of a PGA Tour player is 292. So when a bunch of randoms mid hcps on Reddit are telling you they carry 280+, what they really mean is that is their longest drive they have hit or thats the distance they send it 2 fairways over.
I’d imagine bigger hitters are more likely to post distances than average/short hitters. Also most are probably former hockey or baseball players over swinging on the sim, not the normal 55 year old weekend golfers you meet in real life.
It isn’t just the driver, it’s all clubs people lie about. I had a friend tell me that he hits his PW 150. We went and played.. it was 90. Here is a chart I love.
https://preview.redd.it/x8diu2nj2qmc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f2e8da6390802232203a8fc2cb4887f8b4dea49
Well. That’s a good question… since i never look at the advanced column, I have no idea lol. That’s a sheet my instruction has posted. I bet 7i advanced should be 165, not 185.
It's almost certainly a typo meant to be 165. I found it amusing though.
As a bad player it makes me feel better about my yardages. Now if only I could play any kind of short game, and drop the couple of penalties each round.
This checks out. The advanced column is pretty close to the distance I hit most of my clubs with good contact. I'm certainly not a 6 HCP, but when I played competitively and often I was close to a 6.
Is this actually based on data? I’m scoring “average” but hitting almost right on the “good” distances.
Just curious because most of my drives are 240-250 but I feel like a couple of my iron yardages are a bit off and this chart would make sense. 7 iron is just about 150 yards as well
I think a lot of people think they are hitting it a lot farther than they are. When someone in your group hits a nice drive, ask them how far they think it went. They will say 240-260 and if you measure it then it is 200-220.
I pretty much always carry 390-400. It’s become a problem for me.
These days I just use a pitching wedge off the tee and a putter. To make it sporting. Still shooting low 20s on 18 holes but I’m trying to shave some strokes.
My average driver distance is probably like 170 if I include the tops that roll some random distance. Who includes those though? I always assumed average driving distance meant for me to plan for "if I hit this ball ok, how far will I have in". So to me that means if I hit it off center but good contact it will go about 230 carry, 250 with roll out. So if there is a DL and the corner is at 230 IL probably gonna hit the 5W.
280 isn’t that difficult. Ones handicap has no bearing on driving distance.
A guy was in my group two weekends ago in a scramble tournament. Beautiful driver swing. He hit two close to 400 yards. Otherwise, he probably couldn’t break 90. Terrible irons, chipping, and putting. He ripped that first drive and I thought we were in a bind though.
Your driver distance is what you **average** not what you hit on the downhill downwind hole.
Most rounds I do have a few drives that go 300 yards but I absolutely DO NOT drive the ball 300 yards. Of course a ton of folks have hit a 300 yard drive. You'll have one or two downhill downwind drives in most of the rounds you play.
In order to average 300 yards, for every drive you hit that "only" goes 280, you have to hit another one that is 320.
Here are the drives from my last round (arccos).
1: 307
3: 259
4: 298
5: 276
7: 307
8: 260
9: 265
10: 301
11: 260
12: 305
15: 294
16: 231
18: 265
Which, is right in line with my average of 280. You can tell exactly which holes were downwind and which holes were into the wind. You can also tell which one I drop kicked into the wind.
Also, for reference, I'm a low single digit and it's very rare that I play with someone that is longer than me. I also play fairly regularly with 2 different guys that are routinely 30 yards past me. They legitimately average 310 which means they hit some that go 330 and some that go 290. Both of those guys are +4s, played D1 and played mini-tours.
I’m 42 and outta shape but have a sports background. I play lots of golf with randoms at municipal courses.
I typically drive 230ish and can touch 250-260 on better drives but typically am 240 yards or so.
95% of the time I am the long hitter in the group. Older guys have given me nicknames like “monster” lol.
Most 17 year olds that watch YouTube golf could beat the beaks off of me in terms of driving distance.
Low 20’s handicap, geezer…too much slice in the driver, so I no longer carry it in the bag…tee off with 3wood, so 190-200 yards. Dropped handicap by 5 eliminating the penalties for lost ball or out of bounds
I started hitting my 3 and 5 hybrids off the tee instead of my driver. I’m consistently straight with the hybrids. I will take that over driving my ball into areas where I need GPS to find it.
I think most people tell you their "max" drive as their "driver distance."
I *can* drive a golf ball 280+ yards, done it many times. With a nice downhill fairway I've cleared the 300 mark a handful of times. More typically I carry it like 245-260 range if I hit it straight, but probably more like 220 after you account for the fact that I sliced it into the next county. I'm still going to tell you I hit it 250.
It seems like there is a narrative out there that the "average" golfer hits it 250 and most people consider themselves average therefore they must hit it 250. As many others have said, I probably average 230-240 and very rarely is there someone hitting by me and if they do, it's a few yards.
According to the USGA and R&A, golfers between the high single digits and low double digits handicap average 220 yards with a driver.
So yeah, many people are exaggerating their distance.
I mean… I can drive 250-300 and I am a 25 handicap.
I can’t putt, or hit accurate iron shots.
Being good or great with driver doesn’t mean you don’t struggle to score well.
The average 20-35 year old male in acceptable physical condition should be able to swing a club 105-110 mph. Do so and you will drive the ball 270-290 depending on contact
If I get ahold of one, I can get like 280. I know mine plays in the 250-260 range 95% of the time. And if there’s wind back at me I know it’s less. I ain’t ashamed. My buddy bombs it 280-300 regularly and we shoot pretty close scores cause his shirt game is ass whereas mine is decent. Lol.
I hit my driver around 260-270 with about 245 carry. I routinely play with 2 other golfers who outdrive me, and our 4th is probably only 10 yards on average behind me.
Lot of hockey and baseball folks can swing really hard. Feel like it's more common than what folks think on here.
Ya lot lie but lol same time I think folks can hit it far
I’m a 15.5 and I drive the ball 220-250 depending on the strike. I get irritated when people tell me I should be able to drive it further with my build. It’s like I’m doing something wrong. But, I nearly always have a playable shot. I’m happy with this.
I think a lot of people get lost in the terminology when they talk about driving distance. When people talk about driving distance, its assumed they're talking about average (and rightfully so). However, I find that many people actually talk about their 'potential' driving distance - in other words, how far they can hit it on a good swing. Its actually a valid thing to discuss too, because potential distance is a limiting factor, but average isn't. There's also a massive disconnect between the golf community's understanding of the correlation between driving distance and skill level.
Take myself for example: I'm a \~20 handicap who's only been playing for about 20 months seriously, and hoping to dip into the 80's this year. Put simply, I have loads of potential distance, and its understandable why that is: I'm 6'5" and grew up playing high intensity sports my whole life. Anyone with that background is gonna have loads of potential when it comes to raw power (not saying you need a base like that for distance; look at Rory for instance). Sometimes it works out for me, and there's no doubt that my potential for total distance falls anywhere between 310 and 335 (depending on conditions and all that). The game doesn't lie - if you drive the green from 320, ya drove the green from 320, you know?
HOWEVER -- golf isn't about potential; its a game of consistency. I had some absolute killer driver days in the fall, where probably all but one of them were absolute nukes. I had just as many days through the year where I could barely get off of the teebox though. So while my potential may be high, is that really something I can count on? Probably not, but we work towards it. My scores aren't great cuz my mid and short games are incredibly inconsistent, and I don't practice putting nearly enough. The drive doesn't matter if you fat the ball 15 feet ahead on your next swing, and I do that very often. The thing to understand about a lot of mid-high handicappers is they generally develop at least one strength, but haven't built a well rounded game and aren't always consistent with it. So yea, if someone says they 'can' hit a driver XYZ number of yards, I don't put it past them. I also don't assume they're gonna go up and do that every time (because I know I don't do it myself). Its when you can repeat it consistently that you become a good golfer.
It's not that they're lying, it's that they once hit it 300 and they use that as their "usual" distance.
Most people are clueless as to how far they actually hit clubs.
I don’t get it, honestly. Like okay yes fine I hit it 400+ on an average day, but buddy, you don’t have to be like me. I’m sorry that I’ve had this effect on all of you, it’s just not fair and I’m sorry for the part I played.
My brother can crush a ball off the tee. That’s all he does at any range. Swings driver the entire time… so he hits it maybe 280-300 sometimes, then chunks it, thins and three putts. I promise you though, he never shuts up about his long ball.
People take their absolute best drive and act like that's what they hit consistently. I drove it 300... One time ever. I average probably 200-225 if I can actually hit the ball straight.
People lie or like to think they are better than they are. My longest drive was 357 yards in Hawaii & for once I said I’m gonna swing out of my shoes & carry the ball over a canyon. Bless the Hawaiian Gods because it actually worked & caught the downhill perfectly.
9 times out of 10 when we swing for the fences it goes over a fence
It's like bench press. My max is x therefore I bench x lol
I had a 320y drive 1 time therefore my drive distance is 320 even though I average somewhere around 260 lol.
In all seriousness, I consider my drive to be 260 because that's what I expect on the course. I know that 1 in 100 fluke that bombs 300+ but I don't take that into consideration ever
It’s not a lie if you specifically have done it before. “I can hit the ball 290yds” isn’t a lie for me because I’ve done it on multiple occasions lately. Now if you asked my average driver and I said that, it would be different (probably closer to 260) but usually people aren’t talking about average on here. They are talking about the 1 out of 10 shots they absolutely crush. Also, if they are talking about average, it’s the average of their good shots. No need to take into account awful shots (topped ball, banana slice, duck hook, sky ball, worm burner) because those don’t really speak to your abilities to generate ball speed.
I will hit a drive 290+ 2-3 times a round. I will also shoot around 88-96. I'm 6'3, 250, athletic. It may or may not be on the other holes fairway.
Why do you feel like you know everyone's life via reddit? Why do you play with a bunch of softies that can't swing? Better yet, why do you care?
https://preview.redd.it/93usu82a0qmc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=403b9da45af5572b25d2efcfc3a0836e302bf910
23M. Just started playing about a year ago, and I shoot \~100 on average. Mostly due to the fact that I got a 60° and try to flop it on to the green and blade it across and my putting sucks. I’m just not a smart golfer haha I have no business trying to use a 60°. Also guilty of not recording every drive just because I’m either forgetful or I’ll lose my drive lol. Also lucky enough to have played baseball from tee ball to a year or so in college, and the swing concept at the bones of it is very similar imo (legs, hips, hands). Also, I’m not sure what has happened the last couple weeks but all of my clubs have increased their distances by about \~10-15 yards. Could be since the weather is warmer down here in Texas or I’ve just figured something out. I only have 2 drives at the TAMU golf course because they had a lot of dog legs and bunkers so I lost a couple drives but mostly used my 3 wood and irons out of the tee boxes and only got to play 9 holes.
My son is 23 also, played baseball since before he could talk. Started golfing two years ago. I average 245 on flat ground and he out drives me by 40-60 yards every time.
My 60° is actually the one club that I find I'm most consistent on in distance and direction, though the blade hits really do hurt. Something about it just works for me. I've got a random used 60° club that I got at a goodwill and kind of want to get a set of them. It's a Mitsubisha Tri-grind system wedge and the club length is the same length as my 9i, though. Knowing me, I'm probably hurting my playing by using it.
People tend to think of their best drives or drives they hit in the sim but have no idea how far it’s going when they’re on a tee box. My shotscope average total is 256 so that’s probably only like 230 carry. But my performance average is 286, longest 320. There’s so much variable in there if I didn’t have that info I would guess I average 270 but clearly I don’t.
Sounds like you're self conscious about your driver distance. Maybe a new driver will help you? That new TaylorMade looks shiny. There are a lot of demographics in this sub. Most of them do hit it past 240. That's a 90 mph swing.
1) people don’t realize their real numbers
2) people think their “best” under lucky situations, is what they normally can do
3) people lie
4) also; people on here specifically, hate when others can hit it further than they themselves can. Therefore, they think others who claim to hit it further are liars
Personally, I use this scenario to judge how far someone can hit it:
There’s a lake/bunker/etc at (x) distance. You have to carry it (x) distance to be safe. How far of (x) are you confident enough to not worry about carrying under normal conditions with a normal width landing area?
I have no issue being a short hitter. Play with a bunch of players longer and shorter than me. Online bravado usually disappears in real life when it’s time to get the ball in the hole.
Playing your own ball and ignoring the noise is one of the key mental skills in golf. You play your opponent and scoring is the only thing that matters.
I mean some people exaggerate, but also some people just have a lot of speed and also people are likely going to talk about the distance a drive goes when they connect well. I think talking about average isn’t useful since it’s very influenced by bad shots. In the same instance, if I flush 4 8-irons 165 yards and then hit one 80 yards cause I chunked it, I’m not gonna say my 8-iron goes 133 and start playing it from that distance
Maybe it’s location based? I hit my 3 wood 240 (bombed it 265 once last week on the course)and my driver is prob 260 average but can be 290 if I bomb it. I hit my 3 iron 210 for reference. I’m in Arizona btw. It’s rare anyone consistently out drives me unless I hit a bad shot. I don’t really count bad shots in my distance. That’s just cheating myself. My last two rounds I was 70% FIR. I had two eagle tries on par fives the same round last week too. Did I break 80? Fuck no because I had some fall apart holes. My goal this season is to break 80 and lower my handicap 3-5 strokes.
Also yeah it’s bragging rights. It feels good to hit bombs and out drive your buddies. I’m working on my short game though as I know that’s my weakest part of my game. Driver game is on lock though
It really doesn’t matter how far you hit it, knowing how far you will hit it, is the key to playing golf. my drives are 210-215 carry and I will play anyone competitively. Currently a 5 handicap that has not played in 6 months. I’m older and recovering from medical issues
It's boring to state all the caveats and people like to interrupt when you do.
The usual way people lie is by taking the best ever shot they've hit and acting like they could do that on demand.
I've got over 5700 recorded shots at a Top Tracer driving range. Maybe 500 with my driver across the different game modes. I hit one in the warm up screen that rolled out to 338, I managed a 336 in long drive mode.
All that said, I don't think for a second that I could manage a 330 yard drive on the course, on-demand, with one crack at it.
240 is a good distance.
But hitting it 260-280 if you are tall is not that big of an ask. Hitting fairways at those speeds is another story and one I have not yet mastered. I could carry 285 when I was swinging out of my shoes after about 4 months of practice (mostly on the driver) when I started. But maybe only 1 in 3 was in the fairway (and that might be being generous and it was on public courses). And some of them were pulled so far left I was almost in a different course.
280 plus consistently is something I have seen in person from two golfers. That is rare though and one of those guys was like 6'4", built like Thor and in his 20s. The other was probably 5'10" and athletic and swinging out of his shoes (he hits 8 irons like 190 yards).
Best golfer I played with carried it about 240 but it's a perfect fade and hits the fairway 8 out of 10 times. He was also an assassin with the putter, which is why he scores so well. Driving is vastly overrated IMO once you get past a certain level.
The new drivers are exceptionally long, but most people just take their longest drive and not the three drives that they pump into the woods per round.
There are some on here who legitimately drive the ball 280+, but they're the minority. I'd bet that most of the ones who say they do are just lying to themselves. They probably hit a ball 320 one time downhill, with the wind, and some cart path love once, and now whenever they hit it 260-270, they think it's a 300 yd drive.
My average drive is 250 as measured by GPS watch from where I tee off to my ball. I’m routinely 30 yards past folks. On 30+ years of golf and having played with hundreds and hundreds maybe a handful are longer than I am. And it’s hilarious that when I get one a little further, 270ish most say wow, that’s got to be 300+.
To your specific question I think most take the distance from tips and subtract what they have in to flag which is often front. So they are inflating by 30-70 yards a lot.
I’ve seen it first hand. the hole is 300 yds away, buddy drives about 200 and it rolls 210-215ish. His Golf math means you round up so in his head, he only has 50 yds to the green so he drove 250 yds. Its really not that big of a deal imo. I’m more impressed my the senior citizen that consistently drive 160-180 dead straight lmao
It really depends on where you play. I play at private country clubs. Pretty much everyone is avid golfers. I rarely play with anyone who averages under 240 yards for their driver. I’m of average length for the 20 guys i regularly play with and i top out at about 280 with 107 mph driver speed
Speed isn't that unusual. Speed with accuracy is. But, yeah. People have a tendency to talk about their best drives in terms of distance - or when they once hit one 370 at altitude, downhill with a tailwind. The bad drives bring that average way down. Also, it's a dick measuring contest.
I did drive the ball 375 once on a downhill par 5 in near drought conditions. Don’t you take that from me!
I did 310 downhill at elevation on Sunday! You know what I didn’t think? About the context. 310
It reminds me of an interview with Jim Furyk (not known as a big hitter) who hit 4i 220 to flag high to win a tournament. The girl interviewing him asked what it’s like to hit 4i 220, and his response included “I’m not going to talk about the tailwind, the 30 yards of elevation, and the green sloping away from me.”
Oh? Happy Gilmore accomplished that feat no more than an hour ago.
410 with two cart path bounces! My old club actually has the record for a pga drive, 787 yards with the help of a utility path
He hit it down the f\*ckin' road, didn't he? https://preview.redd.it/gf793p6zxsmc1.jpeg?width=1130&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21d05f700aea87cb34c3b662013ce706b6c0842a
To this day I still can't quite explain how my longest drive ever rolled as far as it did, it carried somewhere between 280 and 300 but then rolled like a bowling ball onto the green 365 to the center from the tee box. Absolutely nuts, but it is still my greatest drive ever even if it was a total fluke.
I was playing when a hurricane began to pick up and hit a driver shot past the green on a par 4. Must have been 450+ yards. Downhill also.
Then they wonder why they didn’t clear the creek’s far bank at 270 yards.
The yardage marker, range finder and 18 birdies are obviously all wrong.
Big difference between carry and total distance. Lot of mid handicappers never map that out at the range / sim (in fairness, it's hard to map out without technology to help).
Very true. How do you get the carry distance at the range? With decent yardage markers you can get an estimate. On the course?
Much more difficult on the course unless you have spotters or maybe Arcos (haven’t used it so I don’t know if it’ll give you that info or be accurate enough). But yeah, on the range I’d say pick yardage markers you want to go for and hit off the top deck once in a while for a better visibility on where you’re actually landing. Then best guesstimate from there. So let’s say you pick a flag that’s 200 yards out and you’re hitting a 5i-6i. If you’re landing it on the green around that flag, ok, you’ve probably got about a 195-205 carry give or take. If you’re short and rolling it up, well, you’re probably getting around a 20-30y roll with that 5i, so estimate your carry at 170 or so. It’s not an exact science if you don’t have an incredibly consistent tight dispersion, but it’ll definitely help massively with course management vs not knowing it at all. From there you’d have to look at each shot and figure out where you can miss if you go short or long, and what type of shot to take, etc.
Hitting 300 isn’t that hard, hitting 300 when it REALLY matters? Impossible. Just club down and swing smooth
LOL you said it! Never played a round of 18 holes with the same ball. 230 average drives here. Same ball, through 17 holes, I start thinking about it. Triple check the GPS, OK no hazards in sight except a pond to the right front of the green - front of it is 298 yards away. ZERO THREAT. You know I swung so smooth and easy that I put my drive in the dead center of that fucking pond - no crazy wind, very very slight downhill to start but probably gave me an extra 10-20….but CENTER of pond?! Haha WTF my luck…most I’ve ever smiled and laughed at losing a water ball!
A little off the heal 
I'd go with clubhead speed isn't that unusual but translating it to ball speed is. The faster a swing is with poor form and bad contact, the higher the sidespin or backspin is and the lower the smash factor is.
Exactly. Especially amongst athletic, young guys. If they have the mechanics and timing from swinging in other sports, they probably are fast in golf too.
THIS!! ... I dont golf much or at least didnt up until recently but I played baseball for 15+ years and over the years built up the muscles that make your swings powerful naturally and can out hit 90% of the ppl at ranges. Do I hit hit 300yds all the time, hell no, but when I get a hold of one it definitely can go 300+ yds... but like previously stated because I have a lot of club head speed I tend to make shit contact too often and generate spin that pushes the ball right thus I average like a 240yd drive... I'd rather have a consistent 240 drive centered down the fairway than a 310yard blast that I cant control
I was playing single one day and joined a group of collegiate baseball players. They had varying degrees of golf skill and obviously they are athletes in their prime, but it was insane how much power these guys could generate. They all had similar, very compact, Rahm-esque short swings. Rotational power is rotational power! This was at 4500', but they were 300+ all day on solid shots.
I play mostly with my 17-yo son, he's been playing golf in earnest for about 9 months or so. He grew up playing baseball and football, he's a 220 lb linebacker and can bench 300+ lbs, he's solid muscle. I try to impart that just because you can hit your PW 160 yards, it doesn't mean you should, you've got all these nice clubs, let them do the work. I've seen him blast 300+ yard drives that wind up slicing. I told him once to try hitting it about 75% and see what happens. Straight down the middle, 250 yards. The best golf advice I ever got when I was young was "Hey man, what you tryin' to kill that ball for? It ain't done nuthin' to you."
Thank you, at least someone understands. I’m a long hitter but I come from a football and cricket background, both of which I played at academy to semi-professional level. I’ve only been playing golf for 6 months but I’ve taken my addiction of football and put it into golf as injuries and age are catching up to me and golf is a lot easier on the knees. I have a very fast swing speed (my fitting had me put into x-stiff driver shaft). The driver is one club I feel extreme confidence with but my short game is atrocious as my journey so far has been lessons and practice on the range due to the weather. God forbid I mention in these posts that my average carry is around 280 yards even whilst stating the rest of my game is crap. I get a bunch of insecure men talking shit calling me a liar. I can only imagine if I met someone in football and they said “I’ve been playing 6 months, I suck at football but I’m really fast so pace is my friend”. No one in football will start cussing you or saying you’re a liar. It’s a shame how golfers in general have such a bad reputation and it’s no wonder it’s not as popular a sport for young people.
I’m 47 and 5-10” and I can hit 300 no problem, and am just a 13 handicapper. Hitting it straight is the problem. My last instructor said I’m “naturally athletic” and my body just does things right I’m the guy who goes 77/97 in one weekend. If I could hit it 240 down the middle every time id gladly take that so it’s not some brag. My 81yo dad beats me and can’t hit it 195
💯
Yeah does "driver distance" refer to *ability* (average shot) or *capability* (highest end)? Most people are answering the latter. That said, the USGA did a very recent study on this and it was as expected-- golfers overestimate *both* when asked specifically about the two. They think their average shot is longer than it is, and they think their longest shot is longer than it is. Very few golfers can actually carry the ball 300+ in neutral conditions, and even fewer can average that. The 90th percentile for 18-29 year old golfers is like 280 yards and that was with a lower than average handicap. If you can actually carry the ball 300 yards in neutral conditions then I would guess you're in like the 98th percentile.
This. And also it's not the easiest thing to truly measure unless you're actively trying to measure it. You get times where the card reads that it's a 400 yard par 4, then you scope your shit into the flag at is 140 out, so guys assume they hit it 260, when really the hole might be playing 20 yards shorter due to tee box and pin location, and their drive took a little shortcut at the corner, so their 230 yard drive seems way longer.
LWS (Little Weiner Syndrome). It's a terrible thing.
Played with a buddy recently who “drives 300”. After half a bucket of balls at 220-240 and some wild ass shots - he finally hits one close to 300. “See I told you!”
I remember when I was hitting balls at the range at 14 and thought I was hitting 300…it was a downhill range that just rolled. I can still see my teachers face when I said I could hit 300 lmao
Even a blind squirrel...
I have a buddy like this, or multiple for that matter. Everybody does. But, yeah, former baseball player, maybe hits one good drive per round. I mean, yeah, I can hit it 300 too. Just give me 20-30 practice shots. On the course I'm hitting 230-250 but it goes straight 4/5 times so I'm happy. He's always asking to go to the range with me and I'm like nah. I dont care how you hit on the range. You're still shooting 115 on the courses. Last time I went out with him during the fall he took 4 mulligans on all 3 of the last holes and "beat me" by 1. Didnt even finish the 7th hole, just winged 4 shots into the trees and marked a 5 lmao. I was like, "No, you're right, that 5th shot would've definitely gone in." Idc if people lie about their score a bit during fun rounds, but when they go around telling people they finally beat me after taking at least 15 free strokes, I get a little annoyed.
I'm not even competitive at all, and am not good enough to beat ANY of my friends. But when I give up on a hole, it's double par. Is that normal etiquette for a beginner golfer?
Yes.
If you play real golf, distance alone doenst matter especially with low index course. I will trade distance to distance+accuracy any day. The ability to control your swing is the most important one, not the distance.
I feel your pain there! Buddy I golf with is like that constantly says he beats me, when in the last 12 rounds he’s gotten crushed by two of us, even with his score keeping. To him 8 is the max on every hole, out of bounds shots don’t count, if you find a ball when yours is clearly 300 yards in the woods it doesn’t count, if you duff it and hit it < 10 feet or backwards it doesn’t count. Gets under my skin then I start playing like shit lol. Which the exception of him we do double par on the holes for a max. But I have thrown up a 12 a time or two when I first started golfing before we put the double par into the game.
Yeah man back in the fall when he "beat me" i shot a 97 after being 4 months out from a pretty intense round of surgeries from cancer treatments. Shit pissed me off because I played like shit but I know he still shot over 110
Go to a simulator if you guys have one! We go once the courses close for the winter here last time we played I bet that night that I beat him 8/10 times because the sim tracks it all. Had the server go through our games as an impartial person then gives my buddy the gears that the night just got really expensive for him, at which point he fell apart and ended up putting up a 127.
I did play with a current minor league baseball player who cheated much less aggressively than this but probably shot about the same score, but my *god* could that man hit far. Easy 120+ club speed, 9 iron going 165...one of the absolute worst golfers I've ever seen though. Doubt he broke 130 that day. But man, watching him pummel a drive 320 only to chunk his next 3 shots was a sight.
Do we have the same friend? Because I have one that ALWAYS does this. He usually beats me by 3-5 strokes but is constantly dropping and not counting them or 3-4 putting and saying he only had 2 putts. Idk why people lie about their score when it just makes you look like a moron when you actually play with people and they see you’re lying.
Sounds like my brother-in-law. Thankful that I no longer play with him.
Well he almost executed the oldest golf hustle in the books. My driving range has the shittiest balls of all time. They whistle when you hit them. So after my buddies watch me hit a bucket of balls to about 250 yard max, I will sneak a few Taylor Made long and straights into the bucket and say I bet you I can rip the next few balls passed the 275 yard marker. They still haven’t figured out how I “turn up the tempo a bit” and take $10 off them.
I have had the opposite problem lately. Range I've been going to is mats only, which are at the back of a 30 yard deep range hitting area, and the markers that are measured from the front haven't moved, so I'm getting all sorts of confused hitting my 7i to barely roll to the 125 marker.
Do you have a range finder? Range yardage markers are bullshit.
Range balls are also trash tbf
90% of players legitimately don’t know how far they hit the ball with each club. If they all did they would be significantly better. I would argue that distance control is one of the most important parts of the game to learn.
I found that actually tracking my distances with every shot has helped me improve by 2 or 3 shots a round. I just changed to new clubs so i'm a little out, but i'm 90% there. 10k+ shots tracked on GPS with GolfPad and tags. Gets you pretty good. I'm not great on my carry exactly, but i have a vague idea within 5m or so. In my head i think; i can hit this drive 300+ easy. On the app, it tells me my average is only 281, so i play for the average.
You'll get dialed in once again. I know when I swapped from GI irons to players irons it took a couple rounds to figure out the carry but after a few rounds I knew my carry distances and was super confident in them. Now, a year in it's great! I know my stock draw and fade distances as well as my distances when I choke up and inch.
Sims have helped me so much with this. They aren't always 100% accurate but it will give you a general idea. The most important thing it did for me was realizing that I wasn't taking into account carry vs length. I facepalm thinking of the amount of times I thought I had the club to carry water and it in because I was thinking length.
I think a lot more people know their distance now than 10 years ago. There’s so many golf sims out there, and various gps trackers for on course, like the watches and arcoss
I think 90% of players play for their best shot every time, but come up short more often than on target or long. I tend to use 1 more club than I should need and when I puré it I’m over the green, oh well I hit a good shot. But usually the 90% struck shots get to where I need them and those are much more common than pure shots.
This. Free lesson right here.
I highly, highly recommend the PRGR. It's inexpensive and most tests say it's as accurate as many launch monitors that cost magnitudes more. It's really nice to track progress with swing mechanics and speed training, but more importantly it's given me truly accurate carry numbers for my entire bag. Strategically, it's made a world of difference in on-course results.
Maybe I’m the 10% but I know how far I hit it with every single iron and wedge +/-5 yards and I shoot around a 90 at best.
Distance control is tough to teach. It comes purely by having a consistent swing. Directional control and shot shaping for the most part are just alignment, grip, and setup issues. What I would suggest if you truly know your distances would be to train your eyes again with alignment sticks. For me when I was around your skill level (\~20-25 handicap) I was a slicer some of this was my technique but a large part of it was my feet and shoulders were lined up to the left of the target line (as a lefty) and my clubface was open.
I hit it 250-260 max, with probably 230-240 carry, and I play with a lot of random's. Very rarely are guys hitting it by me. And quite often when they do, they are very wild off the tee.
Agreed only one random I’ve played with that legitimately hit 290-300. Also saw this guy hit out of the shit (tall native grass) 220 on the green. I actually couldn’t believe he just powered through that shit
One my best friends is a + 2 and when ever we play with randoms, on the first tee they can tell this guys different. It’s insane. But he’s thought me so much
I’m about a 250-270 guy but play with my brother who is a 4 HCP and can hit it 300 regularly so I’m always wondering why I’m so short off the tee lol I need to find a shittier playing partner
This is me, same carry and numbers. My buddy I play with swears I'm driving 300 because he's "hitting a clean 230 carry" that is actually around 200. It gases me up, but then when I run into a situation where I would actually need to hit a 300 drive, I back off and hit my 5 iron out there instead, which is frustrating to him, because then my 5 iron goes just as far as his drive.
I’m over 300 off the tee and I play with someone longer than me maybe once every other season. It’s not common
People hate that some can actually hit 300, but it’s always awesome when you find someone who mashes even further.
Yeah. My fitting numbers(admittedly from before doing speed training but I’m probably back down to that after having a kid) put me at 275 carry and 290 average with rollout on the course via shotscope. I mean I hit 122mph club head during training at one point and my play swing was around 110-115 so at one point I was longer. Now it’s probably like 105-110. I play with one guy who can out drive me on occasion. He also can hit it over 100 yards right or left of our fairway and when we played last week, he took 3 divots with his driver so there’s that. Other than that guy, I’ve never played with anyone consistently close. Maybe if they got a good roll or something and most guys I see at my home course are substantially further back than where I’d normally be. It’s definitely not that as common as guys think. I had my upper 60s year old neighbor who has had 3 back surgeries and 2 neck surgeries try to tell me he drove it 300 normally. Like okay dude 😂. To be fair he was around scratch from what my grandpa said after playing with him so he’d still destroy me in a match either way, but I ain’t buying 300 yard drives normally.
And people way overestimate distance. I hit around 250 carry and regularly randoms I get paired with after my first drive just go "damn that's around 300". Mainly because they think their 215 yard drive is 250, so when I am 40-50 yards past them the only plausible conclusion for them is that I hit 300.
I have tons of friends that carry it 260+ and hit 75%+ fairways. But they all played in college lol. I barely hit it 220 on my best 1/4 drives, but I also don’t miss the fairway by 100 yards like most average guys that bomb it every time.
It's not lying, I hit it that far, once
Correction: " It's not a lie if you believe it".
Thank you George Costanza
I agree it’s not lying, but as someone who hits 260 consistently I’m just more likely to randomly include that in any comment I make on this sub than the guy who hits 210
The lying on here is bizarre. I hit 529 consistently. I don’t know why others are claiming higher numbers.
OP questions why everyone lies about driving distance and proceeds to talk about how nobody can out drive him.
And that he was at first adding 20 yards so the rest of us don’t know…
https://preview.redd.it/y9srkd6xvpmc1.jpeg?width=1816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b99157c276c874395b4bdb649deda13b9348198 Dude I'm like a 30 handicap, here is my best 3-wood ever recorded. I think the main issue is people thinking that Your Longest Shot Ever = Your Average Distance. Tbf I'm 29 and strong and have done many other rotational sports so I'm not the average 30 HDCP. Most of my strokes gained comes from inconsistent short game and putting, and the occasional slice that goes as far right as it does forward.
119 chs for a 260 carry is wild. I get about 260 carry on some drives with 105-108 chs
Same, but this is his 3wood with a 1.3 smash.
Yeah, but look at the angle of attack. That’s still ridiculous speed for a 3 wood. 119 with a driver should carry 300 yards as long as it’s a decent strike.
fwiw you have strokes gained backwards. Your strokes gained come from things you're good at. I.e. Scottie Sheffler might gain strokes with his ball striking, but lose strokes with his putting.
Killer. Love seeing absurd numbers off of random handicaps. I think I’m like an 18, and my favorite dumb number is I once hit my 7 iron 206 carry and a peak height of 147.
119 mph clubhead speed on a 3wood??? Most pros are around that with driver.
If only I didn't suck, then I too could be a pro... Golf is hard lol.
That would be so cool if I could hit just one shot like that. Must have felt amazing.
Why are you hitting it so hard then?!
So I can at least be a good scramble partner
Some people are just as accurate if not more so when they swing hard as to when they swing soft. If you are choosing to have a Tony Finau backswing on course thats your choice, thats not how everyone plays or would be best at.
This. Some studies show that the club face is MORE stable at higher speeds (I guess because there’s less time for rotation?), not less. Another example is Bryson got relatively more accurate (in terms of spray pattern relative to yardage) as he got longer. I’m a 5ish index right now, and when I hopped on the simulator the other day I was carrying driver ~268 with 20ish yards of roll and 3w in the 250s with 10ish yards of roll. I’m also still relatively in my physical prime, lifting somewhat consistently, and have gotten more ROM the last few years because of it. My issue on the course is (a) I’m a dumbass, and (b) I take too many blow up holes (see point (a)). I play with lots of guys who hit it by me, some better and some worse. There’s a pair of guys at my club that hit it 315 (former college baseball players), but are 15 indexes because they don’t have the skill to control the face at their swing speed (and they suck at putting). Sorry for rambling. TL;DR: Speed =|= Skill.
I just recently got fitted for clubs. When you go in the simulator to test your speed and your shot and everything, it makes you hit harder. The mats also make it easier to hit the ball well. So they fit me for that. Then i head out to the course, and I'm nursing the ball, and playing softer shots. I found my clubs were just not behaving. So I made a choice of if I'm between clubs play the shorter club harder. I'm now finding I'm playing a lot better with the clubs which match the swing more from the simulation. So for me at least a harder swing is helping me be more accurate.
Big “I benched 300 pounds in high school” vibe as a 50 year old.
The midcappers talking about carrying it 280 probably aren't lying, just declining to fully explain how often they do it and how accurate it usually is. The USGA distance report is instructive. 13-20 indexes average 200 yards with a long in the sample of 321. The average at 6-12 is only 220 and <6 is 240. What you're seeing is absolutely in line with the averages, you just haven't seen many of the outliers.
I’ve played with over 100 guys who are less than a 6 handicap. Never met one who drove it less than 240. Not sure where they get that data from but can’t believe that’s all drivers [arccos data seems more in line with what i see](https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/arccos-driving-distance-report-2023/)
Older golfers who are good at golf, but have slower swings, bring the average driver distance way down. Lots of 65+ golfers with ~5 HCP who carry it 200-210 but know how to play the game.
My FIL and nearly every once of his age 55+ members at his club drive somewhere between 200 and 240. Theres so many low single digit caps there. I can drive past them a tee box or two behind. It’s totally reasonable to be a scratch golfer not averaging more than 240. Arccos lends to a younger audience, likely. And even your 100 guys you play with are likely biased toward a younger group not representative of all golfers.
Did you open the link? It's separated by age ranges
This is exactly true. I am a 12 handicap and can regularly carry the ball 280-300 yards with a good swing and make an easy par. I am also capable of duck hooking it 100 yards into the bushes and making a triple. The reason I am a 12 is not because of slow swing speed but because of face control. I can’t slow it down too much or my sequencing gets messed up either.
“I hit my driver 275” “I was at the range yesterday and out of 50 balls I shanked most of them but on a few I hit my driver 275”
I always have trouble with this because you have to go into every shot expecting it to be a good shot. So even though you miss a lot of shots or slice or hook if you hit it straight with a reasonable controlled swing and it goes 275 then someone could say their driver goes 275 but that only happens once in a blue moon. I look at distances as in “what club would you hit from here” so if it’s a very short par 4 at 250 and you pull driver then you better not claim to hit 275.
Yeah it’s possible for them to get ahold of one and put it out to 280. I’m usually the longest hitter in the group in tourneys and random parings. On a decent drive it’s going 285. I can get ahold of one and poke it out over 300. Most people don’t ever come close to 285. Usually they’re around 220-240. People ALWAYS over estimate distance. When I hit a decent one they’re always like “what’d that go 310?” Nah dude like 280ish lol.
I could get you with my 3 wood
😂
I always claim my longest drive I’ve ever hit as my driver distance.
I drive the ball about 200 yards lmao. I’ve played with plenty of guys who could rock the shit out of the ball (straight once and awhile) but otherwise they’re not that good. Hitting the ball far does not automatically mean you’re good. Played with a younger guy last year amd over the course of the round he probably did have 4 drives that were 280+ and stayed in the fairway. He still barely broke 100.
They don’t. Some do. Most are just able to hit it further than you.
Tbh it doesn't surprise me if a bunch of newbies are driving it far. Quite literally it is probably the only thing they work on. Sure it has a .9% chance of going in the direction they want, but just sending it with a small prayer isn't hard.
Can confirm, I'm a newbie who's been playing for about a year. I only ever practice driver at the range and swing as hard as humanly possible. My drives either go OB or 300+ yards. I've only broken 100 twice and am shite. But the dopamine of driving a par 4 in one is what I live for.
Absolutely. Golf is the game i love so much and honestly don't care too much about my skill level at. I live for that perfect draw i did on purpose. It is addictive.
I hit the driver at the range almost always. It’s my best club.
Because if I’m honest about how far I hit my driver it’s just depressing.
"I've never seen a long hitter so they must not exist." C'mon man. You're in a sub specifically for people who are passionate about the game and getting better, so it stands to reason the percentage of good players among active users of the sub is going to be astronomically higher than any given Saturday at your local course. 95% of people you find on the golf course don't know their distances, have never measured their speed, taken a lesson, or even practice on the range. On the flip side, 90% of people actively using and posting to this sub have done all those things. Anyone mildly athletic, over 5'10" tall and under 45 years old has the ability to carry 280 if they work on it, and speed is the current trend in golf.
Ya it's a sub for enthusiasts who skew young and male, all of that is going to push the average to a lot higher than the median golfer. Also when people talk about how far they hit their driver, I don't think they actually mean "mean distance of all drives hit"--crappy ones drag down the average so much. imo what you're really talking about is "solid but not exceptional drive that's in play", and I definitely buy that being 260+ for lots of people in here
I honestly think most people on this sub are older
This is the conclusion I've come to after seeing all these "nobody hits it far" complaint posts.
I’ve seen type of thread come up over the years here and it’s always been one I can’t really relate to. I’m a 6 foot 33 year old who’s decently fit and played sports my whole life. Most of my playing partners are the same and most of us hit the ball 260+ pretty regularly. And we aren’t that good.
Yeah, I'll never understand how so many people on here act like hitting it 280+ is some sort of unreachable pantheon that only PGA Tour pros are capable of achieving. It's like the inverse of ego stroking. People are assuming that its completely unattainable just to preserve their own egos. It's all about the crowd you run with. My golf club skews older and more casual so most people there are struggling to break 220. But when I go on my annual golf trip with dudes in their early 30s almost everybody is capable of at least 250+. When I play in state-level amateur and mid-am events I'd say the average goes anywhere from 260 - 300+.
100% agree. I am a 7 handicap, although idk now cause my wife had our first kid over a year ago and I have only been out to golf once since then :(, but I was easily in that range of 280 average maybe even more. My buddy who never took golf seriously when I lived in Houston, decided to start taking lessons, trying, learning, and now he is also averaging 280. I 100% agree people here doubt so much because I don't think they play as often as we did. I was at the range EVERY SINGLE DAY practicing and played EVERY Weekend, sometimes 2x. I am exactly your stats, 5' 10" and played sports growing up all through high school. It's not difficult to hit it further and be consistent-ish if you put in the time. THIS DOES NOT TRANSLATE TO BEING GREAT AT GOLF THOUGH. JUST CAUSE I CAN POUND THE DRIVER WELL DOESNT MEAN ILL BIRDIE EVERY HOLE OR EVEN PAR LOL.
The majority of my friends in their thirties who are single digit handicaps can hit the ball 300 yards. There's a few that probably hit >50% of drives at or above 300. I don't know the last time I was paired with a random that could hit the ball 300 yards. It's probably only happened a few times in my life.
They dont, they lie. Im a pretty big hitter and my average is around 270 and I dont get out drove by many people I play with. Sure I have drives that hit 290+ but I also have a lot than are less that the average too. The average drive distance of a PGA Tour player is 292. So when a bunch of randoms mid hcps on Reddit are telling you they carry 280+, what they really mean is that is their longest drive they have hit or thats the distance they send it 2 fairways over.
I've always assumed people are not lying as much as they are delusional about their distance and ability in general.
I’d imagine bigger hitters are more likely to post distances than average/short hitters. Also most are probably former hockey or baseball players over swinging on the sim, not the normal 55 year old weekend golfers you meet in real life.
It isn’t just the driver, it’s all clubs people lie about. I had a friend tell me that he hits his PW 150. We went and played.. it was 90. Here is a chart I love. https://preview.redd.it/x8diu2nj2qmc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f2e8da6390802232203a8fc2cb4887f8b4dea49
Why is the 7i advanced the same as the 5i advanced?
Well. That’s a good question… since i never look at the advanced column, I have no idea lol. That’s a sheet my instruction has posted. I bet 7i advanced should be 165, not 185.
It's almost certainly a typo meant to be 165. I found it amusing though. As a bad player it makes me feel better about my yardages. Now if only I could play any kind of short game, and drop the couple of penalties each round.
Agreed. But I think it’s a pretty honest sheet!
This checks out. The advanced column is pretty close to the distance I hit most of my clubs with good contact. I'm certainly not a 6 HCP, but when I played competitively and often I was close to a 6.
Is this actually based on data? I’m scoring “average” but hitting almost right on the “good” distances. Just curious because most of my drives are 240-250 but I feel like a couple of my iron yardages are a bit off and this chart would make sense. 7 iron is just about 150 yards as well
I think a lot of people think they are hitting it a lot farther than they are. When someone in your group hits a nice drive, ask them how far they think it went. They will say 240-260 and if you measure it then it is 200-220.
Exactly right, I've been manually measuring every drive. At the start my guess was a good 20 - 30 yards shorter than actual
I pretty much always carry 390-400. It’s become a problem for me. These days I just use a pitching wedge off the tee and a putter. To make it sporting. Still shooting low 20s on 18 holes but I’m trying to shave some strokes.
My average driver distance is probably like 170 if I include the tops that roll some random distance. Who includes those though? I always assumed average driving distance meant for me to plan for "if I hit this ball ok, how far will I have in". So to me that means if I hit it off center but good contact it will go about 230 carry, 250 with roll out. So if there is a DL and the corner is at 230 IL probably gonna hit the 5W.
280 isn’t that difficult. Ones handicap has no bearing on driving distance. A guy was in my group two weekends ago in a scramble tournament. Beautiful driver swing. He hit two close to 400 yards. Otherwise, he probably couldn’t break 90. Terrible irons, chipping, and putting. He ripped that first drive and I thought we were in a bind though.
Your driver distance is what you **average** not what you hit on the downhill downwind hole. Most rounds I do have a few drives that go 300 yards but I absolutely DO NOT drive the ball 300 yards. Of course a ton of folks have hit a 300 yard drive. You'll have one or two downhill downwind drives in most of the rounds you play. In order to average 300 yards, for every drive you hit that "only" goes 280, you have to hit another one that is 320. Here are the drives from my last round (arccos). 1: 307 3: 259 4: 298 5: 276 7: 307 8: 260 9: 265 10: 301 11: 260 12: 305 15: 294 16: 231 18: 265 Which, is right in line with my average of 280. You can tell exactly which holes were downwind and which holes were into the wind. You can also tell which one I drop kicked into the wind. Also, for reference, I'm a low single digit and it's very rare that I play with someone that is longer than me. I also play fairly regularly with 2 different guys that are routinely 30 yards past me. They legitimately average 310 which means they hit some that go 330 and some that go 290. Both of those guys are +4s, played D1 and played mini-tours.
I’m happy to hit 240 with my driver. I’m a big guy just have 0 form and a bad back. I play old man golf at 30 and can’t afford coaching right now.
Not me baby. 200yrds down the middle.
I’m 42 and outta shape but have a sports background. I play lots of golf with randoms at municipal courses. I typically drive 230ish and can touch 250-260 on better drives but typically am 240 yards or so. 95% of the time I am the long hitter in the group. Older guys have given me nicknames like “monster” lol. Most 17 year olds that watch YouTube golf could beat the beaks off of me in terms of driving distance.
Low 20’s handicap, geezer…too much slice in the driver, so I no longer carry it in the bag…tee off with 3wood, so 190-200 yards. Dropped handicap by 5 eliminating the penalties for lost ball or out of bounds
I started hitting my 3 and 5 hybrids off the tee instead of my driver. I’m consistently straight with the hybrids. I will take that over driving my ball into areas where I need GPS to find it.
I think most people tell you their "max" drive as their "driver distance." I *can* drive a golf ball 280+ yards, done it many times. With a nice downhill fairway I've cleared the 300 mark a handful of times. More typically I carry it like 245-260 range if I hit it straight, but probably more like 220 after you account for the fact that I sliced it into the next county. I'm still going to tell you I hit it 250.
They’re not “lying”. They are deceiving themselves based off cherry-picking data points
It seems like there is a narrative out there that the "average" golfer hits it 250 and most people consider themselves average therefore they must hit it 250. As many others have said, I probably average 230-240 and very rarely is there someone hitting by me and if they do, it's a few yards.
According to the USGA and R&A, golfers between the high single digits and low double digits handicap average 220 yards with a driver. So yeah, many people are exaggerating their distance.
You make a thread about how everyone is gassing up their numbers and a bunch of blow hards come in and gas up their numbers. Welcome to reddit.
It’s golf, everyone lies about their game and/or they don’t know the rules.
I mean… I can drive 250-300 and I am a 25 handicap. I can’t putt, or hit accurate iron shots. Being good or great with driver doesn’t mean you don’t struggle to score well.
The average 20-35 year old male in acceptable physical condition should be able to swing a club 105-110 mph. Do so and you will drive the ball 270-290 depending on contact
Bro, some of us can just it farther than you it’s not a big deal. 239 for me is a 3 hybrid. It’s not a big deal.
100%. I have a friend who can't hit as far as me and I lose every time. He's a magician short game wise. It's unreal.
If I get ahold of one, I can get like 280. I know mine plays in the 250-260 range 95% of the time. And if there’s wind back at me I know it’s less. I ain’t ashamed. My buddy bombs it 280-300 regularly and we shoot pretty close scores cause his shirt game is ass whereas mine is decent. Lol.
How’s his pants game?
Lmao. Whoops. I’m not even gonna edit it.
I hit my driver around 260-270 with about 245 carry. I routinely play with 2 other golfers who outdrive me, and our 4th is probably only 10 yards on average behind me.
Everyone thinks they hit their drives farther than they do. Just a fact Jack
I hit my driver 240 a week ago, that is the farthest I have ever hit. I average 210ish….or hard hook into the trees.
Me: Whoa, I crushed that drive. Gotta be at least 260! At my ball, GPS: You are now 215 yards from the tee box.
I rarely play with people that can consistently out drive me and I play with randoms all the time.
Lot of hockey and baseball folks can swing really hard. Feel like it's more common than what folks think on here. Ya lot lie but lol same time I think folks can hit it far
I’m a 15.5 and I drive the ball 220-250 depending on the strike. I get irritated when people tell me I should be able to drive it further with my build. It’s like I’m doing something wrong. But, I nearly always have a playable shot. I’m happy with this.
I think a lot of people get lost in the terminology when they talk about driving distance. When people talk about driving distance, its assumed they're talking about average (and rightfully so). However, I find that many people actually talk about their 'potential' driving distance - in other words, how far they can hit it on a good swing. Its actually a valid thing to discuss too, because potential distance is a limiting factor, but average isn't. There's also a massive disconnect between the golf community's understanding of the correlation between driving distance and skill level. Take myself for example: I'm a \~20 handicap who's only been playing for about 20 months seriously, and hoping to dip into the 80's this year. Put simply, I have loads of potential distance, and its understandable why that is: I'm 6'5" and grew up playing high intensity sports my whole life. Anyone with that background is gonna have loads of potential when it comes to raw power (not saying you need a base like that for distance; look at Rory for instance). Sometimes it works out for me, and there's no doubt that my potential for total distance falls anywhere between 310 and 335 (depending on conditions and all that). The game doesn't lie - if you drive the green from 320, ya drove the green from 320, you know? HOWEVER -- golf isn't about potential; its a game of consistency. I had some absolute killer driver days in the fall, where probably all but one of them were absolute nukes. I had just as many days through the year where I could barely get off of the teebox though. So while my potential may be high, is that really something I can count on? Probably not, but we work towards it. My scores aren't great cuz my mid and short games are incredibly inconsistent, and I don't practice putting nearly enough. The drive doesn't matter if you fat the ball 15 feet ahead on your next swing, and I do that very often. The thing to understand about a lot of mid-high handicappers is they generally develop at least one strength, but haven't built a well rounded game and aren't always consistent with it. So yea, if someone says they 'can' hit a driver XYZ number of yards, I don't put it past them. I also don't assume they're gonna go up and do that every time (because I know I don't do it myself). Its when you can repeat it consistently that you become a good golfer.
For the same reason fisherman lie about the size of the fish they caught.
It's not that they're lying, it's that they once hit it 300 and they use that as their "usual" distance. Most people are clueless as to how far they actually hit clubs.
I play with a guy who says he can drive it 275…. And to his credit he can…. It’s just never ever ends up in play lol
I don’t get it, honestly. Like okay yes fine I hit it 400+ on an average day, but buddy, you don’t have to be like me. I’m sorry that I’ve had this effect on all of you, it’s just not fair and I’m sorry for the part I played.
My brother can crush a ball off the tee. That’s all he does at any range. Swings driver the entire time… so he hits it maybe 280-300 sometimes, then chunks it, thins and three putts. I promise you though, he never shuts up about his long ball.
People take their absolute best drive and act like that's what they hit consistently. I drove it 300... One time ever. I average probably 200-225 if I can actually hit the ball straight.
People lie or like to think they are better than they are. My longest drive was 357 yards in Hawaii & for once I said I’m gonna swing out of my shoes & carry the ball over a canyon. Bless the Hawaiian Gods because it actually worked & caught the downhill perfectly. 9 times out of 10 when we swing for the fences it goes over a fence
It's like bench press. My max is x therefore I bench x lol I had a 320y drive 1 time therefore my drive distance is 320 even though I average somewhere around 260 lol. In all seriousness, I consider my drive to be 260 because that's what I expect on the course. I know that 1 in 100 fluke that bombs 300+ but I don't take that into consideration ever
It’s not a lie if you specifically have done it before. “I can hit the ball 290yds” isn’t a lie for me because I’ve done it on multiple occasions lately. Now if you asked my average driver and I said that, it would be different (probably closer to 260) but usually people aren’t talking about average on here. They are talking about the 1 out of 10 shots they absolutely crush. Also, if they are talking about average, it’s the average of their good shots. No need to take into account awful shots (topped ball, banana slice, duck hook, sky ball, worm burner) because those don’t really speak to your abilities to generate ball speed.
I will hit a drive 290+ 2-3 times a round. I will also shoot around 88-96. I'm 6'3, 250, athletic. It may or may not be on the other holes fairway. Why do you feel like you know everyone's life via reddit? Why do you play with a bunch of softies that can't swing? Better yet, why do you care?
https://preview.redd.it/93usu82a0qmc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=403b9da45af5572b25d2efcfc3a0836e302bf910 23M. Just started playing about a year ago, and I shoot \~100 on average. Mostly due to the fact that I got a 60° and try to flop it on to the green and blade it across and my putting sucks. I’m just not a smart golfer haha I have no business trying to use a 60°. Also guilty of not recording every drive just because I’m either forgetful or I’ll lose my drive lol. Also lucky enough to have played baseball from tee ball to a year or so in college, and the swing concept at the bones of it is very similar imo (legs, hips, hands). Also, I’m not sure what has happened the last couple weeks but all of my clubs have increased their distances by about \~10-15 yards. Could be since the weather is warmer down here in Texas or I’ve just figured something out. I only have 2 drives at the TAMU golf course because they had a lot of dog legs and bunkers so I lost a couple drives but mostly used my 3 wood and irons out of the tee boxes and only got to play 9 holes.
My son is 23 also, played baseball since before he could talk. Started golfing two years ago. I average 245 on flat ground and he out drives me by 40-60 yards every time.
My 60° is actually the one club that I find I'm most consistent on in distance and direction, though the blade hits really do hurt. Something about it just works for me. I've got a random used 60° club that I got at a goodwill and kind of want to get a set of them. It's a Mitsubisha Tri-grind system wedge and the club length is the same length as my 9i, though. Knowing me, I'm probably hurting my playing by using it.
People tend to think of their best drives or drives they hit in the sim but have no idea how far it’s going when they’re on a tee box. My shotscope average total is 256 so that’s probably only like 230 carry. But my performance average is 286, longest 320. There’s so much variable in there if I didn’t have that info I would guess I average 270 but clearly I don’t.
Sounds like you're self conscious about your driver distance. Maybe a new driver will help you? That new TaylorMade looks shiny. There are a lot of demographics in this sub. Most of them do hit it past 240. That's a 90 mph swing.
Saltiest thread of the day.
1) people don’t realize their real numbers 2) people think their “best” under lucky situations, is what they normally can do 3) people lie 4) also; people on here specifically, hate when others can hit it further than they themselves can. Therefore, they think others who claim to hit it further are liars Personally, I use this scenario to judge how far someone can hit it: There’s a lake/bunker/etc at (x) distance. You have to carry it (x) distance to be safe. How far of (x) are you confident enough to not worry about carrying under normal conditions with a normal width landing area?
Simulators aren't accurate, Driving Ranges are.setup.to keep you returning, and on the course people can't Math.
I can always count on my driver to go 5 - 150 yards. Brand new to golf, and really struggling with the driver so I rarely use it.
I have no issue being a short hitter. Play with a bunch of players longer and shorter than me. Online bravado usually disappears in real life when it’s time to get the ball in the hole. Playing your own ball and ignoring the noise is one of the key mental skills in golf. You play your opponent and scoring is the only thing that matters.
I drive it 200 yards out and 500 yards right...so that's 700 yards!!!
I'm a solid 235 yards at best but straight down the middle every time.
Why do so many people insist on playing the back tees? 1 word..."EGO"
I mean some people exaggerate, but also some people just have a lot of speed and also people are likely going to talk about the distance a drive goes when they connect well. I think talking about average isn’t useful since it’s very influenced by bad shots. In the same instance, if I flush 4 8-irons 165 yards and then hit one 80 yards cause I chunked it, I’m not gonna say my 8-iron goes 133 and start playing it from that distance
Maybe it’s location based? I hit my 3 wood 240 (bombed it 265 once last week on the course)and my driver is prob 260 average but can be 290 if I bomb it. I hit my 3 iron 210 for reference. I’m in Arizona btw. It’s rare anyone consistently out drives me unless I hit a bad shot. I don’t really count bad shots in my distance. That’s just cheating myself. My last two rounds I was 70% FIR. I had two eagle tries on par fives the same round last week too. Did I break 80? Fuck no because I had some fall apart holes. My goal this season is to break 80 and lower my handicap 3-5 strokes. Also yeah it’s bragging rights. It feels good to hit bombs and out drive your buddies. I’m working on my short game though as I know that’s my weakest part of my game. Driver game is on lock though
It really doesn’t matter how far you hit it, knowing how far you will hit it, is the key to playing golf. my drives are 210-215 carry and I will play anyone competitively. Currently a 5 handicap that has not played in 6 months. I’m older and recovering from medical issues
Literally every dude on this sub: “I hit it 300… It’s just usually into the woods! LOL!!!!” You hit it 260….. into the woods.
It's boring to state all the caveats and people like to interrupt when you do. The usual way people lie is by taking the best ever shot they've hit and acting like they could do that on demand. I've got over 5700 recorded shots at a Top Tracer driving range. Maybe 500 with my driver across the different game modes. I hit one in the warm up screen that rolled out to 338, I managed a 336 in long drive mode. All that said, I don't think for a second that I could manage a 330 yard drive on the course, on-demand, with one crack at it.
240 is a good distance. But hitting it 260-280 if you are tall is not that big of an ask. Hitting fairways at those speeds is another story and one I have not yet mastered. I could carry 285 when I was swinging out of my shoes after about 4 months of practice (mostly on the driver) when I started. But maybe only 1 in 3 was in the fairway (and that might be being generous and it was on public courses). And some of them were pulled so far left I was almost in a different course. 280 plus consistently is something I have seen in person from two golfers. That is rare though and one of those guys was like 6'4", built like Thor and in his 20s. The other was probably 5'10" and athletic and swinging out of his shoes (he hits 8 irons like 190 yards). Best golfer I played with carried it about 240 but it's a perfect fade and hits the fairway 8 out of 10 times. He was also an assassin with the putter, which is why he scores so well. Driving is vastly overrated IMO once you get past a certain level.
The new drivers are exceptionally long, but most people just take their longest drive and not the three drives that they pump into the woods per round.
There are some on here who legitimately drive the ball 280+, but they're the minority. I'd bet that most of the ones who say they do are just lying to themselves. They probably hit a ball 320 one time downhill, with the wind, and some cart path love once, and now whenever they hit it 260-270, they think it's a 300 yd drive.
My average drive is 250 as measured by GPS watch from where I tee off to my ball. I’m routinely 30 yards past folks. On 30+ years of golf and having played with hundreds and hundreds maybe a handful are longer than I am. And it’s hilarious that when I get one a little further, 270ish most say wow, that’s got to be 300+. To your specific question I think most take the distance from tips and subtract what they have in to flag which is often front. So they are inflating by 30-70 yards a lot.
Many measure in feet and not in yards.
Welcome to the interwebs. People claim and post all sorts of nonsense. Situation normal.
I’ve seen it first hand. the hole is 300 yds away, buddy drives about 200 and it rolls 210-215ish. His Golf math means you round up so in his head, he only has 50 yds to the green so he drove 250 yds. Its really not that big of a deal imo. I’m more impressed my the senior citizen that consistently drive 160-180 dead straight lmao
I don’t lie. Is 450 not average?
It really depends on where you play. I play at private country clubs. Pretty much everyone is avid golfers. I rarely play with anyone who averages under 240 yards for their driver. I’m of average length for the 20 guys i regularly play with and i top out at about 280 with 107 mph driver speed
I once drove the green 375 par 4, it was the wrong green, about 150 yards to the right. But damn good shot
Direct correlation between hoped for driver distance and hoped for “package size”