Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Human beings cannot be placed into easy and convenient groupings, but we have attempted
to do it, nonetheless. Please remember that the distance categories are just for general
reference. They represent only the ranges of yardages that various segments of the playing
population might reasonably expect to generate – on average.
In reality, performance levels vary endlessly for all age groups and sexes. Senior standout, Jim
Dent, can knock the ball well past strong players who are thirty years his junior. Nick Fa ldohits
a 4-iron about the same distance as Charles Howell III hits an easy 7-iron, though Nick is a
much larger and stronger man. Some part-time hackers can hit for great distances while some
highly skilled low-handicappers of the same age and physical type hit for much shorter
distances.
When a player calculates his (or her) own hitting averages, he will need to use his range of
average hits, not his very best hits. Very best and very worst results should be thrown out of
the equation. Most people, especially males, tend to ignore their poor shots and just recall
their finest efforts. Consequently, they pull a 6-iron from their bag when they should be pulling
their 5 or 4 iron. The shot comes up short and they say, “But I can hit my 6-iron 170 yards!”
That is just what they can do – two times out of ten attempts. The other eight times, the shot
will be ten to twenty yards shorter. For every ten hits with a particular club, the two worst and
the two best hits should be tossed out.
1. Proper technique
2. F ine ath le t i c i sm
3. Good conditioning
4. Appropriate equipment
5. Gender
6. Youth
If you don’t like where your own, personal averages appear on this chart, you can always
improve upon three, maybe four, of the six elements listed above.