Ask your buddy their average driver distance, and you can be sure they will overestimate it. It’s not that’s they’re exaggerating, they probably don’t know. Thanks to the folks at Game Golf, we have a better idea. Their Game Golf Live product captures your stats in real-time and syncs with your Android or IOS phone. Using data from April to September of 2016 they have published the driver distance of its customers. The average young golfer hit’s it almost 240 yards, declining about 10 yards every ten years. Hence, golfers over 60 average <200 yards with a driver.
Because you swing slower as you age, your average distance declines predictably. But the golf club doesn’t know your age. Assuming acceptable clubface contact, what matters most is swing speed. Better golfers have higher swing speeds. USGA data shows that thirty-one percent of US golfers have a single-digit index. According to Game Golf data, Thirty-seven percent of their users have single-digit handicaps. It appears that better players are more likely to use the Game Golf product and this data doesn’t accurately reflect the golfing population at large.
AVERAGE CARRY DISTANCE VS SWING SPEED
Distance is directly related to swing speed. Although the PGA Tour Pros swing between 110 and 120mph, you need not be that fast to score well. The average Senior Tour player swings a driver at 106mph and hits it 274 yards. But the average LPGA Tour Pro swings a driver at only 93 mph and hits it 246 yards. They hit a 130 yard 8-iron and a 170-yard 4-iron. If you can do that, then why can’t you shoot par or under par like the LPGA pros? Consistency, short game, and putting are the difference. Don’t spend a disproportionate amount of time on swing speed. Next time, play from the forward tees, and see how long you can go.
12 thoughts on “Driver Distance – You Might Be Surprised!”
Just found this article about 2 years after last comment. I’m a 60 year old golfer that can get obsessed with data.
I was fitted at TXG in Canada for a full bag. Download data for 50 driver swings. Avg club speed is 105mph, carry 249, total 270. Found some data that said PGA Tour players avg about 2.62 yards per mph club speed, so I’m about 5 yards short based on less efficiency.
Avg PGA player avg 300 yards on 114.6 MPH club speed. So I figured out I’m 30 yards short of their avg, of which 5 yards is skill and 25 is strength.
Motivated me to hit the weights and exercise to get stronger and faster. I wouldn’t exercise to extend my life, but sure as heck will to try and make the number go bigger on my PRGR launch monitor I just bought. I’m an odd man.
How can senior tour players hit drives over 325+.I was watching the senior golf today and the Guys were saying some of their drives were going well over 300 yards I think thats a bit much.
I thought it was very interesting seeing the actual distances or averages for somebody who swings a driver and a very constant 82 mph. I have been attempting to literally swing out of my shoes and get the driver to fly 230 yards. Every one of my drives are between 202 and 205 yards. Using the scale that you had published and bring my clubs perform in those distances I discovered my game improved dramatically. I am 66 years old I play 18 holes every other day. And I still walk. Long par fours of 390 yards to 400 I have resolved myself and I cannot reach them in regulation. So thank you for your information it is actually helped my game. Wm Holt
That chart does not make any sense, unless the swing speed is in mph, and the distance in meters or something like that.
I carry 163 yards with my 8 iron, my swing speed is 89.5 mph, ball speed 120.8, smash factor 1.35, all figures are average measured with a radar. 9 iron is 155, 7 iron 175, 6 iron 186, all with similar swing speeds and smash factor.
According to the chart I should have a SS of 113mph, which I cannot reach even with my driver…
2 things I think may contribute to the confusion. I went through similar thoughts and numbers myself. I think the main issues is that I think that the swing speed on the top row is based on driver speed, so on the 8 iron row, the distance isn’t with the mph listed up top as how fast you swing the 8, but rather how fast you swing your driver. Find your driver speed and that entire column should match up to your club distances. The 2nd factor might be what type clubs it’s based on. If it’s tour type forged irons as opposed to game improvement, stronger lifted cavity backs, then at the same awing speed distance irons are going to go a club farther. I know that’s kinda what you are getting at with smash factor.
The swing speed at the top of the chart is for the driver.
You may be playing with “strong” irons … my Calloway Maverik irons are 3 to 4 degrees stronger than standard … so I am hitting my 7 iron a normal 6 iron distance.
no way does a LPGA player improve 40 yards from a 8 iron to a 7 iron. Makes the entire article obsolete.
Not sure what you’re referring to. The LPGA column shows an improvement of 11 yards from 8 iron to 7 iron.
John – There was an error in the article. The 170 yards refers to a 4-iron, not a 7-iron. I have fixed this. Thanks for catching it.
1) Obsolete is the wrong word to use; and 2) not sure what you’re looking at, as the 7-iron is 11 yards further than the 8-iron. All of those measurements line up with every average LPGA stat I’ve ever seen.
The article compares the eight iron and the four iron. Read it again