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Hi, I'm Long John Higbie. Figuring out just how far you can hit the ball with each of your clubs is a very important - and often neglected - aspect of golf that can let you push your abilities to the max. I mean, how can you perform well when even if you hit a great shot, you short-side yourself in the greenside bunker and what you thought would be a good chance at Bird, winds up being a testy 5-fotter for bogey!! What can occur on a Par 3 course is something I absolutely cannot stand, and all my friends know it. Let's say the green is close to 150 yards from us, and it's uphill. Also assume there's a slight breeze. The 9-iron is my club of choice for this kind of setting, and I tell my partner this. After consideration my partner comes to the same conclusion: use the 9. I am a fairly confident guy, and golf distance is one of my specialties. I have no problem admitting that I can hit the ball farther than the average player. I also know that we all hit differently, so why would my partner choose a 9-iron just because I did? A lot of this has to do with simple male pride. No way he is going to hit a 9-irn 157 yards. And sure enough, short-city in the trap and he proceeds to bogey the hole. This is why all players need to keep their own golf distance club tracker, be it on a spreadsheet or in a simple notebook. It is so annoying how guys will just assume they hit a 7-irn 160 yards when they really have never measured it to the yard. Take some time to go to your local driving range before you even set foot at your country club. I recommend going to a public range to avoid running into people you know while you practice. The time spent on the range will help you determine two things - how straight you are hitting the ball and, if you are hitting it straight, how far. If possible, burn through two or three buckets. The more you practice, the better you will be. It's similar to hunters sighting in their rifles at the opening of deer season. You can take notes about your performance with each club and use the data to create a golf distance finder that will help you in future games. A notebook small enough to fit in your shirt pocket will be invaluable to you. Record the data for each club that you hit. Take a look at the following example: 9-iron=157 yards 8-iron=150 yards Pitching wedge=105 yards As so on and so on for all your clubs construct your Golf Distance Finder in a way to allow for improvement. These distances change every few months as you develop as a player, so make sure to update your golf distance club record every so often. On the golf distance chart from my site, you should try to hit 10 shots with each club in your bag and the spreadsheet will average them out for you and give you the avg. distance you hit each club. It will also compare your averages with fellow amateurs and pros, so you can see where you fall in the big scheme of things. This will be a critical exercise in your development as a player and you should never fail on a shot because you thought you hit a certain club a certain yardage and were wrong. After determining your averages you should be able to determine which club to use based on yardage and almost always execute an excellent shot. You can also track how these averages improve over time by practicing with each club. Your trusty distance chart will keep you free of sand and water traps, as well as trees and other obstacles. You can avoid all of these by picking the right club! They tell how the New York Yankee baseball Clipper Joe DiMaggio would examine his space in centerfield before every game at a ball park. He would check the height of the grass, hardness of the surface and strength and direction of the wind before every game. Any golfer could benefit from that kind of attention to detail. Don't forget to look at the hole's distance from you as it's written on the score card. Study the course layout to determine where the green is and what traps lay between you and it. All your friends will think you're acting nutty, but don't let this bother you. Once you start adding distance and improving your game they'll all want to know how you did it. John Higbie is an obsessed golfer who offers classes and writes articles about all things golf from paraphernalia to swing lessons to finding the greatest golf distance club and all things between. Go to his home page for tips and secrets that all the top pros all know that allows them to send the golf ball farther and consistently maintain massive golf distance with each swing.
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golf distance club, golf distance finder, golf distance, golf driving tips,
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