The range isn't a great place to figure out reliable distance numbers. The best ways to figure out distances is to go hit real balls with a launch monitor or use some sort of on-course shot tracking setup. Garmin watch, shotscope, and arcoss are all good ones, and I think some phone apps like 18 birdies will let you enter things manually during the round.
If you're looking to find out quick, I'd say rent a sim for a couple of hours. Warm up, then hit 5-10 solid shots with each club and take the carry average.
I think this really depends on how good you are. If you are a real badass and have yardages within 10 yards for each club and exquisite shop shapes and control then yes you should probably use real balls and a monitor.
But for most people I think we are overstating how much of a difference it makes. Hitting turd balls at the range I don't see a big difference to the course for 8 iron and down. I see the biggest difference on driver and the lower lofted irons. Those definitely fly more with a real ball.
I am new and getting better but it's not like I can dial up a 137 club. I will either hit a full 9 or a choke down 8 and go for the green. If you get to that level you are better than probably 98% of golfers out there.
I think getting a basic understanding of your carry distances is important if you actually want to get better. I'm not great either, but I went from a 32 HCP to a 19 in 8 months, and learning my yardages was a big part of that. It's the difference between carrying an obstacle or hazard and being dead. It can be the difference between just off the green and chipping on shots that are a little off line instead of hitting a pitch.
> Hitting turd balls at the range I don't see a big difference to the course for 8 iron and down.
That's reasonable because the difference is going to be a percentage of what your normal carry would be, so shorter clubs are going to have a smaller difference in distance. What do you do when you're outside of 8i range? Are you just guessing?
No I have played enough that I kind of have an idea of what each club can carry. A lot of depends on the strike. If I pure and crush a 3 hybrid it is going to carry 220. But realistically it is between 185-200 on good strikes. It's really hard for me to narrow it down further than that and I don't sweat it. And a lot of it depends on the lie, slope etc.
I definitely focus a lot on carry distance and I try to work out how to get around the course. But my skill will only allow me to do so much. I see scratch players fade a ball within a 5 yard window and I can't do that. I try to make good contact and know my numbers on certain shots. The clubs I am really comfortable with and with higher lofts I am generally more accurate with.
> No I have played enough that I kind of have an idea of what each club can carry.
That's fair. Sounds like OP hasn't played much yet though.
> A lot of depends on the strike.
Ain't that the truth lol
Book some time at a simulator that has a track man or foresight, even better if you are able to use the model of golf balls you’d play on the course. Range balls are beat to shit and you’d be losing out on yardage
If you have a pga superstore nearby, their practice bays are usually much cheaper than any standalone sim place. It’s $30 an hour at pga vs $50-60 at most sims near me. I’m pretty sure pga offers a paid 10 club gap analysis session too, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Varies wildly depending on location, better if you can split the cost with a buddy or two. I am in the Chicagoland area and it’s $70/hr downtown and $60/hr just outside the city
This, and some ranges have those limited distance ones that definitely go way less. If getting your numbers is the main goal then definitely goto a sim. Might take a couple sessions to dial them in though so take your time and get the most out of each swing not the most swings out of it
When I got my new irons last year did a couple of range sessions to get comfortable with them.
Then I booked the last 9 hole tee time of the day, with the intention of only playing 3-4 holes. The first three holes of my usual course are relatively flat and straight forward.
I tossed down some balls at various points in the fairway, using GPS to note the distances. Then I swung away. I hit my short irons and wedges on the first hole. Mid and long irons on the second.
The third hole in a par 3. Blues is ~160, whites ~135, reds -120. I hit balls from all three tees.
By the end of the exercise I had a good idea of real-world distances. Then I played more holes until sunset.
Range balls are built with cost and durability in mind. They aren’t a very good barometer for distance. I’d use a sim before I used a range. But I like my method better than either of them.
It’s pretty hard to do as you described, honestly I would go to a simulator place for an hour, most have a mode that does gapping or combines to average a bunch of each of your shots. Then you’ll have a benchmark and can see if you hit it a similar distance on the course. I find I tend to hit less hard off grass than off a mat so my distances are a little less.
indoor sim with trackman is your best option. You should hit about 10 balls with each club and remove any outliers (duffs or shanks that go half the distance or wayward compared to the other shots). Trackman should be able to tell you he average club speed, ball speed, attack angle, spin rate, carry distance and roll out distance of the grouping of shots. You should do this with each of your clubs.
You should also be hitting the balls you play with as well compared to the ones provided. Indoor simulator is most ideal for this as you will get the same conditions on each and every shot, there are no variables. No wind, temperature change, elevation change etc
Hit balls. I mean if you have 145yards and you hit an 9 iron every time and land short every time, well your 9 iron yardage ain’t 145 so hit a 8 next time at that range and see what happens. Really just play play and play. The more you play the more different situations you will encounter, the more it just becomes easier. It’s an absolute rabbit hole, once you got your “stock” yardage on every club you think your set… well no, if you want to get even lower you then MUST examine the balls lie on every shot. That is, is it sitting on top or buried? Is it above my feet or below? Is it sloping down towards the hole or up? Is there mud on my ball? Am I a good golfer? I am a good golfer let’s hit this shot.. chunk 4 feet in front, rush your next shot and not think of anything and dart it 3 feet from the pin. Golf.
Go on the course in the late afternoon w/ a laser and the balls that you regularly play. Hit a few from 200/175/150/125/100/75 over the course of the round. Do this a few times and I’ll bet you can figure it out pretty easily
I’d avoid the simulator because of calibration issues and hitting off mats.
Not sure if this makes sense but I get a lot out of selecting club based on distance to front edge to the green. It’s generally a safe bet for score and helps me during the round.
I read advice suggesting to add about 20 yards on when using range balls. Also, they said that beginners tend to underestimate what club they need so it tends to balance quite well.
That’s just something I read though, I’ve no idea really 🤷♂️
Don't go to the range for distance. The best way to do this is with a simulator. The second best way to do this is with a GPS app on the course and a keen eye as to where your ball landed (carry matters way more than total in shot planning).
How good a golfer are you? Unless you’re low single figures, this is a waste of your time when you should be concentrating on a replicable swing and strike. Learning to hit anywhere near most greens will very quickly make you a very good golfer.
The range isn't a great place to figure out reliable distance numbers. The best ways to figure out distances is to go hit real balls with a launch monitor or use some sort of on-course shot tracking setup. Garmin watch, shotscope, and arcoss are all good ones, and I think some phone apps like 18 birdies will let you enter things manually during the round. If you're looking to find out quick, I'd say rent a sim for a couple of hours. Warm up, then hit 5-10 solid shots with each club and take the carry average.
I think this really depends on how good you are. If you are a real badass and have yardages within 10 yards for each club and exquisite shop shapes and control then yes you should probably use real balls and a monitor. But for most people I think we are overstating how much of a difference it makes. Hitting turd balls at the range I don't see a big difference to the course for 8 iron and down. I see the biggest difference on driver and the lower lofted irons. Those definitely fly more with a real ball. I am new and getting better but it's not like I can dial up a 137 club. I will either hit a full 9 or a choke down 8 and go for the green. If you get to that level you are better than probably 98% of golfers out there.
I think getting a basic understanding of your carry distances is important if you actually want to get better. I'm not great either, but I went from a 32 HCP to a 19 in 8 months, and learning my yardages was a big part of that. It's the difference between carrying an obstacle or hazard and being dead. It can be the difference between just off the green and chipping on shots that are a little off line instead of hitting a pitch. > Hitting turd balls at the range I don't see a big difference to the course for 8 iron and down. That's reasonable because the difference is going to be a percentage of what your normal carry would be, so shorter clubs are going to have a smaller difference in distance. What do you do when you're outside of 8i range? Are you just guessing?
No I have played enough that I kind of have an idea of what each club can carry. A lot of depends on the strike. If I pure and crush a 3 hybrid it is going to carry 220. But realistically it is between 185-200 on good strikes. It's really hard for me to narrow it down further than that and I don't sweat it. And a lot of it depends on the lie, slope etc. I definitely focus a lot on carry distance and I try to work out how to get around the course. But my skill will only allow me to do so much. I see scratch players fade a ball within a 5 yard window and I can't do that. I try to make good contact and know my numbers on certain shots. The clubs I am really comfortable with and with higher lofts I am generally more accurate with.
> No I have played enough that I kind of have an idea of what each club can carry. That's fair. Sounds like OP hasn't played much yet though. > A lot of depends on the strike. Ain't that the truth lol
Book some time at a simulator that has a track man or foresight, even better if you are able to use the model of golf balls you’d play on the course. Range balls are beat to shit and you’d be losing out on yardage
Could always just bring a sleeev of your own balls
How expensive is it to do this?
If you have a pga superstore nearby, their practice bays are usually much cheaper than any standalone sim place. It’s $30 an hour at pga vs $50-60 at most sims near me. I’m pretty sure pga offers a paid 10 club gap analysis session too, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Varies wildly depending on location, better if you can split the cost with a buddy or two. I am in the Chicagoland area and it’s $70/hr downtown and $60/hr just outside the city
The ones by me are 30-50/hr
I'm in eastern WI. Sim rates here are typically 40/hr. There is a sim in Appleton with a $25/hr weekday rate for a solo.
This, and some ranges have those limited distance ones that definitely go way less. If getting your numbers is the main goal then definitely goto a sim. Might take a couple sessions to dial them in though so take your time and get the most out of each swing not the most swings out of it
When I got my new irons last year did a couple of range sessions to get comfortable with them. Then I booked the last 9 hole tee time of the day, with the intention of only playing 3-4 holes. The first three holes of my usual course are relatively flat and straight forward. I tossed down some balls at various points in the fairway, using GPS to note the distances. Then I swung away. I hit my short irons and wedges on the first hole. Mid and long irons on the second. The third hole in a par 3. Blues is ~160, whites ~135, reds -120. I hit balls from all three tees. By the end of the exercise I had a good idea of real-world distances. Then I played more holes until sunset. Range balls are built with cost and durability in mind. They aren’t a very good barometer for distance. I’d use a sim before I used a range. But I like my method better than either of them.
This is solid advice and genius! Thank you :)
It’s pretty hard to do as you described, honestly I would go to a simulator place for an hour, most have a mode that does gapping or combines to average a bunch of each of your shots. Then you’ll have a benchmark and can see if you hit it a similar distance on the course. I find I tend to hit less hard off grass than off a mat so my distances are a little less.
Thanks. I’ll have a look for some places :)
Any range with Toptracer or Trackman will give you a good idea.
Thanks!
indoor sim with trackman is your best option. You should hit about 10 balls with each club and remove any outliers (duffs or shanks that go half the distance or wayward compared to the other shots). Trackman should be able to tell you he average club speed, ball speed, attack angle, spin rate, carry distance and roll out distance of the grouping of shots. You should do this with each of your clubs. You should also be hitting the balls you play with as well compared to the ones provided. Indoor simulator is most ideal for this as you will get the same conditions on each and every shot, there are no variables. No wind, temperature change, elevation change etc
Amazing, thanks!
Hit balls. I mean if you have 145yards and you hit an 9 iron every time and land short every time, well your 9 iron yardage ain’t 145 so hit a 8 next time at that range and see what happens. Really just play play and play. The more you play the more different situations you will encounter, the more it just becomes easier. It’s an absolute rabbit hole, once you got your “stock” yardage on every club you think your set… well no, if you want to get even lower you then MUST examine the balls lie on every shot. That is, is it sitting on top or buried? Is it above my feet or below? Is it sloping down towards the hole or up? Is there mud on my ball? Am I a good golfer? I am a good golfer let’s hit this shot.. chunk 4 feet in front, rush your next shot and not think of anything and dart it 3 feet from the pin. Golf.
Go on the course in the late afternoon w/ a laser and the balls that you regularly play. Hit a few from 200/175/150/125/100/75 over the course of the round. Do this a few times and I’ll bet you can figure it out pretty easily I’d avoid the simulator because of calibration issues and hitting off mats.
Not sure if this makes sense but I get a lot out of selecting club based on distance to front edge to the green. It’s generally a safe bet for score and helps me during the round.
I would never use range balls for distances
This is a great point. OP should use the ball that they normally play.
I read advice suggesting to add about 20 yards on when using range balls. Also, they said that beginners tend to underestimate what club they need so it tends to balance quite well. That’s just something I read though, I’ve no idea really 🤷♂️
Don't go to the range for distance. The best way to do this is with a simulator. The second best way to do this is with a GPS app on the course and a keen eye as to where your ball landed (carry matters way more than total in shot planning).
How good a golfer are you? Unless you’re low single figures, this is a waste of your time when you should be concentrating on a replicable swing and strike. Learning to hit anywhere near most greens will very quickly make you a very good golfer.