Average Driver Distance for Amateur Golfers

Practical Golf Articles
#61

Ha, I 100% agree in good swing mechanics… my father turns 70 this year and played collegiate tennis and at one point held the world record for worlds fastest serve… he’s also 6’10”…

He picked up golf in his last 20s and never really adjusted away from an all arms swing. He had the strength and flexibility to hit the ball hard… and has been losing distance with flexibility for the past 10 years… he’s now trying to figure out how to make a turn…

He’s probably still be sending the ball if he had built better mechanics.

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#62

Yes, receiving specific Professional Coaching is in my plans this year. In my youth, I had lessons from PGA professionals along with a ton of ball beating to get my game down to a 2 handicap. I also qualified as a PGA professional passing the PAT back in 1985. I lost my job at the CC where I was working when the course was sold for development and took my career in a different direction due to family obligations, having children will do that to ya, and I was never able to take the requisite coursework, let alone finish it. I applied and regained amateur status in 1991. A couple of things, I was in a serious car accident 4 years ago, my front end was worse than Tigers, my injuries were to my left shoulder and neck C2-8 were really messed up and couldn’t do anything for 2 years plus a 30lb weight gain, ugh!.Then, at age 59, when in general the injuries had healed enough to allow golf activity again, I had to rebuild my swing from scratch as I found I had some limitation, but I really lost timing and speed, it’s a process, I just didn’t know how much speed until I purchased that PRGR device from the website here. So, I do have a strong understanding of swing mechanics in general, but instruction has really become specific and advanced over the last 10 years, alot of tools are available online and, from what i see, places on the net like here. I am also waiting for a couple of shafts to arrive as I have quickly come to the conclusion I may need a little less torque move up to 4 degrees and a lower kickpoint and I may shorten the shaft to 45" from 45.5" keeping everything at D4 SW. But any and all help in my quest is appreciated.

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#63

For reference, there’s a popular chart correlating swing speeds to average distances …

swing speed chart
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Shot Scope has also done some analysis on the data from their (growing number of) users and published a few interesting graphics of distance vs age, and of distance vs handicap, at …

https://shotscope.com/blog/stats/distribution-of-driving-distances-2020/

Also see Jon’s recent article, re: finding your best tee height!

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#64

I came across that chart a few times when I was researching the article. There’s nothing wrong with it exactly, but I think it’s important to note that the numbers seem to be assuming near optimal launch and spin for all of the speeds (especially on the driver), something that very few of us can manage. I’d consider it a good benchmark of what someone could be getting out of their swing speed rather than what they should be getting, if that makes any sense.

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#65

Got it. Swing 120 carry it 300+.

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#66

Thank you for posting a great benchmark to look at. I have no delusions of hitting it 300 yds, but I am shooting to get back up to a consistent 250-260. I do know that smash factor and spin rate can play important roles in driving distance. I have been a Taylormade guy my entire life and really havent tried anything else. I have also experimented with the M1 thru M5. I have yet to find anything that consistently produces the low spin rates of my SLDR and I am very interested in what will happen when I put my new shaft on with a lower kickpoint. To blow all your minds I am still playing with Spalding Tour Edition Redline from 1988. I actually own 2 sets. Whats interesting is the lofts are all 4 degrees weaker than anything that is made today…like my 9I is 46 and that’s a PW today. I have had them reshafted 3x, it’s not so much the design of clubhead technology as it is advancement in shaft technology…just my opinion tho. I hit my irons way more consistently than I do woods and I can still squeeze 120yds out of my 9I which is a PW today

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#67

I suggest using strike tape or spray powder make sure you are making center contact consistently.
Also, use a launch monitor to optimize launch angle, height, and spin. I am 62, have an 85 mph CHS/124 mph ball speed and get longest carries (205-210 yd) with launch angle 15-17 degrees and spin rate 2500 rpm. That is using a 14 deg loft TM M3 driver with R shaft.

From what I have seen many seniors don’t hit the ball high enough and/or pure enough to get maximum carry.

Also, your earlier hits with 75-78 mph CHS would have to have SF of 1.60 and 1.58 to produce 120-123 mph ball speeds. My guess is that your ball speeds were correct then but the clubhead speeds were actually higher. Doppler-type launch monitors only measure ball speed directly

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#68

Good points! I think amateurs ignore launch conditions to their own detriment. Learning to hit up with a driver is an awesome skill that will help with distance…

Simulators are a great resource for improving distance.

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#69

Thanks Birdman! I do utilize Dr. Scholl spray to monitor center of the club hits. My SLDR is a 9* that I have set to a 10.25*. This past week, I did go to Golf Galaxy for an analysis and I bombed the PING 425 (264 yds was best)…YUP-$499 —NOPE! Not worth the extra 15-17 yards. I also tried a lower kickpoint shaft in my SLDR and I did hit it 8 yds further BUT the dispersion was unacceptable, like off the grid DUCKIES, so I have returned to mid-kick stiff, but at SS 93-95mph I can use either shaft, I’ll give up 8 yds for less dispersion. I am going to get to 100mph I know it’s possible for me. According to Trackman my avg for 10 balls with my driver-- Attack Angle was -1 to +1 and my launch angles, although not optimal, ranged from 10.7* to 12.5* which is not horrible and my SF avg was 1.44, again not horrible, but 1.47 or higher consistently is where I want to be. As I have said a few times, and I dont know why, the SLDR I have consistently produces SRs of 2000 or less for me and I’m the kind of guy that likes to stick with what works, I just don’t like equipment change other than shafts and grips. I do think fitness and flexibility are the next options and that is going to take me into July and beyond. I am overall pleased with my progress, I just purchased a backyard net so I can “beat my brains in” after work every day now after I do a 3mile walk. I was thinking about yoga 2x a week. So one thing at a time. I’m very excited now that my shoulder and hips are healed and I can move freely without PAIN.

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. That’s how I got messed up…literally walked away from that too. I was aghast last year, after the 2 year layoff, that my swing actually atrophied so to speak and when I recorded myself, I was like who the hell is that? So I began the rebuilding process this winter. There is an APP called Virtual Pro and it’s free if you want to have fun recording yourself. That really helped me position myself correctly faster than using a mirror for proper mechanics, I did one piece at a time. The biggest 2 things I found in my swing I was not shallowing the club correctly and I had stopped using Ground Force in my downswing and the past Hip Pain forced that mess to build into a really bad habit. Sorry for being so long winded…But I am excited to blow off steam here as my foursome doesn’t want to listen that you can pick up yardage even for Old whackers like me. Check this out: https://twitter.com/i/status/1309466602631503878

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#70

The Chart is cool! 12 columns…need to add a 13th…the Bryson… :sunglasses:

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#71

Ended up last fall at a 6 handicap, and according to my Garmin, my average distance with the driver was 254. According to the charts in this article and others I’ve seen, that’s slightly above average for my handicap. But according to the stats on Garmin, I’m in the 19th percentile for drive distance across all handicaps and 14th percentile for my handicap.

Any other Garmin users see wacky stats like this, or do your numbers make sense?

I can think of two possible explanations: 1) Garmin users are waaay longer than other golfers (not likely); 2) it’s basing that percentile for all tee shots, not just drivers, and my home course only has about 6 holes i hit driver on.

#72

Yikes! That looks like it was a nasty crash. Glad to hear you are working your way back.

#73

And I would bet at least 2 of those 6 holes you don’t have to hit driver. My distance last year was horrid, 3 years ago I was hitting the ball 260-270, Last year a good drive for me was 230…On 7 holes I did not have a scoring club in my hand which for me I would say is 8i on down. Hence my journey to get distance back. I’m not thinking from a standpoint of percentile, I’m thinking how far I need to hit it fairly str8 to get a scoring club in my hand on at least 9 holes par 4s. We have 2-5s, 4-3s. If I can do that I can compete with the kids, Last year I could do that on only 3 holes. Does that make sense? I mean the long holes I play might be 425. Its math…LOL…Yea, dog jumped out I swerved to miss him, hit the curb doin 40mph, and the car bounced into oncoming traffic and I hit another car head on…I was blessed, I walked away, but the joint injuries I suffered took 2 years to heal,

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#74

I’m also a 6…

The garmin stats are wonky. I’m in the top 48% for driver distance while being in the top 5% for driving… my average distance is 272…

#75

Yeah, definitely know what you mean… I’m not losing any sleep over my percentile ranking, just wondering how it’s calculated. There are probably 7 holes on my course where you only want to hit it 190-200 off the tee because of dogleg or steep ravine, etc. Hit a lot of 4 and 5 irons.

Good luck getting your distance back to where it used to be. I tried speed sticks and I think they threw my tempo off. Next aid I try is going to be the orange whip.

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#76

Good to see I’m comfortably exceeding age group. Still not going to win any prizes, though. :rofl:

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#77

So I wanted to update the group with my progress

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I’m getting there. So I decided to just see where I was at if I swung outta my shoes
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So 38 days ago I was horrible, I have been hitting buckets working on position and mechanics. I’m 62…38 days ago I was barely at 84mph and maybe bunting it out there 220…put in the work, there’s the results…Dig it out of the dirt! At least 200 balls a day, rain–no balls–400 swings…that’s what I mean by work…also really, really helps to swing freely with no pain

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#78

Wow, that is a lot of golf work!! That’s great progress :+1:

I’m jealous about that last part… Unfortunately parts of my back, and sometimes other joints, “gently remind” :rofl: me if I’ve swing too many times in one day!

#79

Thank you, the only way to improve is to work… when I was playing well I had to work becuz I thought I sucked. My teachers said you want to play well you have to work, even natural athletes in this game work. I only swing 70-75% on the course and on the range. Alot of my work is honestly only about 50% of what I have. Im trying to ingrain habit. Pitching, chipping and putting is some technique, alot is feel, I don’t ever feel comfy with feel shots, so I have to be better with full shots especially scoring clubs. It was kinda cool to swing as hard as I could for 3 shots, one was 117, one was 123, one was 134. None were center hits, I mean that 164 ball speed could have been 175 if it was center cut. The best thing was NO PAIN. Thanks for the encouragement

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#80

This subject probably deserves it’s own thread, but that idea of swinging in control and hitting your targets is a key thing I still need to work on…

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