Untapped Distance Potential
There’s something I see every time that I go to the golf course: players leaving driving distance on the table. Whether it’s drives that balloon into the sky from too much spin or bullets that launch at 5 degrees, the average player has the potential to hit their drives much farther than they do. It led me to ask two questions: How much distance is the average player losing? How much can club fitting help?
Together with Club Champion, I was able to answer those questions.
The Myths
Myth #1 – The average golfer could hit their driver much farther
Myth #2 – Club fitting will make golfers longer off the tee
Myth #3 – Club fitting will make golfers more accurate
How We Tested
Club Champion fits dozens of golfers every day. I randomly selected 25 golfers who had gone through full bag fittings and analyzed their data. I had access to the data they produced with their own clubs and with the clubs they were fit into.
Note: Because these fittings were randomly selected, some data points were missing. As a result, some of our statistics reflect a pool of 22 or 24 golfers, not 25.
The Results
Before I get into the data, let me clarify what we’re talking about. This is not meant as a hypothetical question wherein the average golfer trains like a PGA Tour pro and taps their inner Dustin Johnson. I simply looked at the current driver carry distances of our 24 golfers and compared that to the optimal distance they should carry their driver given their current club head speed.
Every golfer in our test was short of optimal, and 22 of 24 golfers are leaving over 10 yards of carry distance on the table. That means they’re consistently hitting one more club into the green than they need to be.
Ready for a more shocking stat? 17 of 24 golfers are missing out on 20 yards or more. 20 yards of carry not only changes the clubs you’re hitting into the green, it also changes the lines you can take off the tee.
I’m not done yet. 9 of 24 golfers, over 1 in 3, was over 40 yards short of optimal. 2 of our golfers were over 70 yards short of optimal. 70 yards! These players were carrying their drivers around 150 yards when they should be bombing it 225!
On average, the 24 golfers in our study were missing out on 34 yards off the tee. If you want to stop reading now and book an appointment with a fitter, I’ll understand.
Every one of the 25 golfers in this study gained driving distance through club fitting. Every. Single. One. If you want to hit the ball farther off the tee, don’t just go to the store and buy the newest driver. Don’t buy some junk from an infomercial. Book a fitting.
Of the 25 players in the study, 16 gained over 10 yards and 6 gained over 20. 2 golfers gained over 40 yards off the tee! On average, players who got fit drove the ball over 16 yards further.
One final note of interest: three of the golfers in this study were able to go beyond their optimal driving numbers because their new fitted club helped them to add club head speed.
Distance is great, but driving it farther OB is not the goal. Luckily, club fitting was shown to improve accuracy as well. 15 of 22 players improved their accuracy, and the group as a whole hit the ball over 5 yards closer to the center line.
Of the seven who did not improve their accuracy, two had marginal changes (1 and 2 yards), and another traded 6 yards of accuracy for 48 yards of distance. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d make that trade every day of the week.
Conclusion
You know that one drive that you absolutely crushed, the one that went way longer than you expected? It wasn’t a fluke, it was your potential showing itself. If you’re like the golfers in our study, you’re leaving 10, 20, maybe even 40 yards of driving distance on the table. The best part is that you don’t have to work out or practice to tap into that distance, all you need to do is get fit.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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Would a golf galaxy superstore (Indy) be capable of doing a good fitting? I would go to a club champion, but live in Evansville IN, and not close to any locations..
Billy,
The short answer is: maybe.
Long answer: There are some good, smart people who work at big box retailers (I used to be one of them). They will do everything they can with the resources they have to make sure that you get the best fit, but the resources that they have simply don’t compare to a Club Champion. The main problem is that there are far more people in those stores who, through ignorance or malice, can’t provide you with much help. And unless you are very knowledgeable in your own right (which you may be), it can be hard to tell the good people from the bad.
Unless you’re one of these people who changes clubs like most people change underwear, I would make the trip to one of the Chicagoland Club Champion locations. Like so many things, you can do it right once or you can try to it on the cheap and then pay for it later.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Matt
Billy,
I live in Bowling Green, Ohio. I researched Club Champion Willowbrook for two years. I finally decided it was time for new clubs. I drove 5 1/2 hours for a full bag fitting. The staff are experts at what they do and will maximize every club in your bag. I highly recommend Club Champion Willowbrook. By the way, I used to work for Golf Galaxy.
Regards,
Brian
enjoyed reading mythes.
I’m interested to know about how irons fitting affects performance since it involves lie angle adjustment as well. Hope you can write about that too ;)
Amirul,
That’s certainly something we can look into.
Best,
Matt
As a player, teacher and Club Fitter I have found that the correct combination of shaft, weight, flex and Grip, yes even a grip can make a difference can help give a player his max. But, the big factor is what the player has and what their actual ability is.
Joro,
There’s obviously no substitute for club head speed.
Best,
Matt
I wanted to echo Amirul Shah’s comment and ask, Do you notice a bigger difference from before to after with Driver fittings vs. iron fittings? My irons fit me as far as length and lie and shaft stiffness that matches my swing speed but I always went by feel and ball flight on the range and course.
What feels good to me never by any real numbers I have never been fit in that way. I plan to got to Golf MD here in Kansas with an open mind and just try whatever they want me to hit and see what works best even if it’s not what I had in mind. I would think there would be one shaft that fits me best and a range of club heads that would be pretty close to each other. If it’s super GI irons I’ll kill myself.
I live in Southeast Missouri. Can you recommend several club fitters in the St. Louis area?
Bobby,
I would recommend checking out Club Champion in St. Louis.
Best,
Matt
Definitely true. I gained a lot from my first good fitting. A more important question for the followers of this site might be, how much distance am I missing out on if I haven’t been fit lately? I was fit with a golf digest top 100 fitter, outdoors, on track man and gained about ten yards and became more accurate. That was now three years ago. Would getting fit again and spending 900$ on a new driver/shaft combo gain me another 10 yards? 20? I suspect most plugged in readers have been fit. But we might want to see a test of how much getting re-fit would gain us. Love these tests though.
Jake,
Good questions.
If you’re just thinking about “Will new equipment beat gear from three years ago?” the answer is typically no. There are some improvements over that time span – like the PING G400’s more aerodynamic head – but they usually won’t add up to 10+ yards on their own.
If a player changes their swing substantially – speed, angle of attack, club path, dynamic loft – then a new fitting could bring substantial gains because the player’s needs are different.
Best,
Matt
fitting is useful but “feel” is important as well.
I was deciding between 3 shafts. all felt good , but hitting into a launch monitor helped me pick the correct one.
The difference between the 2 top contenders was minute but the one I picked was 2 yards longer and had a tighter dispersion. The other one felt better but I could not argue with the dispersion results.
I also tried an after market shaft that the club fitter thought would add 15 yards to my drive (same manufacturer, but much more money) it was actually shorter.
My point- ” many myths exist in shafts”. The club manufacturers and shaft manufacturers provide little if any help!. Is the xxx shaft offered by x manufacturer the same or close to what the shaft manufacturer advertises to the aftermarket vs in the standard club?
It is ALL A MoNEY GaME to take YOURS.. if YOU ARE A PRO… pay close attention. If you are a 5-10 handicap pay some attention to know what you are getting. If higher handicap find the club that feels good to you regardless of advertising or claims.
Hi Matt I got fitted a few years back at Club Champion in Northfield Il. after the fitting the gentlemen who was very professional and knowledgeable printed out my specs- unfortunately the cost to replace the clubs in my bag ( everything except putter) was a little over $4000.00. I love golf but that cost was well over what I would consider paying for golf clubs- any suggestions?
Keith,
I would replace the clubs where the biggest improvement was to be had first and work my way through the bag over time. There are obviously less expensive ways to buy clubs – used, off the rack, etc – but I will always argue that the serious golfer is being penny wise and pound foolish by going that route.
Best,
Matt
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Hi Matt. Interesting read as usual. I’ve been golfing for over 30 years. DG S300 has always been THE “go to” shaft for me. I have also tried different weight, flex and bend point steel shafts but nothing seems to match the feel of the good old DG S300. Last season I tried MacGregor pro c with 1150 gh tour S flex. Great dispersion, maybe some added distance but the “feel” was missing. With that being said, what exactly would a high end iron fitting do for me?
Michael,
No one can say for sure. I would guess, with good confidence, that if you’ve never been fit, you’ll find clubs that are longer, more consistent, and more accurate. If you’ve been fit before, a better fitting can still yield some gains. It’s also possible you’ve happened into a perfect fit all on your own. What fitting will do, with or without new clubs, is ensure that you’re playing that best set for your swing.
-Matt
Everyone who is serious about golf should go learn their numbers and understand if they have properly fit clubs. I just went to Club Champion and got 30 more yards off the tee but getting a low spinning driver head and a heavier, stiffer shaft. My 3 wood is the SLDR and I couldn’t do better with any combo. I got fitted for a 3 hybrid that did a better job of preventing missing left as much though I didn’t add any distance. I also was told my putter is a good fit for me, just need to make it an inch shorter and change the grip. So my fittings have been good but mixed whether I need to change my clubs or not.