Driver Accuracy vs. Distance

scotts33 · 2023-04-01T18:11:45+00:00

Say your fairways are on average 35 yards wide that's a normal fairway average around here but not ultra narrow. What's more important accuracy hitting that...

sdandrea1

DonM Is there anyone here who feels they have 15 yards available in reserve, but they aren’t using it because they are playing for accuracy instead?

Nope. I'm still hitting it as far as my swing allows. I just use a driver that is accurate with MY swing.

garyt1957

DonM I use to do that all the time when drivers were smaller. I should give it a try again. I know I tried it once with no success but that's hardly a large enough same size.

Walterjn

DonM I'm still working on learning HOW to hit my driver. I have had some beautiful drives with it. I have also had more than a few duck hooks, and big banana slices( most common). I'd rather have the accuracy to hit all the fairways, and only reach 250ish. Compared to being able to hit the ball 300 yards (250 forward, 50 to the side).

garyt1957

Walterjn I'd rather have the accuracy to hit all the fairways, and only reach 250ish.

Most of us here would give our left nut to do that.

d5n03

Accuracy for me. I’ve never been a particularly long hitter of the driver. Besides, playing this game from the short grass is always easier for me.

rsvman2

DonM Physics/geometry would clearly show that a ball, hit offline at the same angle, would travel farther off a mythical center line just by virtue of going farther.

So if what you are saying is true, it implies that people who hit driver farther, by and large, start the ball off on a straighter line. It may be the case. Probably people who hit driver farther are generally also more skilled at playing the game.

But if you take a guy who hits it 10 degrees offline and then give him 15 more yards without changing anything else, he is definitely going to miss more fairways.

UnholyDefenestrator78

rsvman2

maybe that extra offline from extra 15 yards of flight lands it plush square in the adjacent fairway instead in the woods/rough in between the two.

garyt1957

rsvman2 Physics/geometry would clearly show that a ball, hit offline at the same angle, would travel farther off a mythical center line just by virtue of going farther.

Absolutely, and why I say a lot of us geezers "accuracy" is simply lack of distance. But I think Don's point was that even guys who hit it rather long still hit some fairways, and in some cases a lot of them.

DonM

I am on the email list of Lou Stagner, the head of data for Arccos. Here is a clip from todays email. He looked at players who gained 10 yards or more and those who lost 10+.

===

In order to qualify for this analysis, a golfer needed to play at least 25 18-hole rounds per year for two straight years.

For each "season", I calculated a players median distance for shots hit with driver. I was looking for players that gained at least 10 yards compared to the prior year, as well as players that lost at least 10 yards compared to the prior year.

For players that met this criteria, I looked at their average strokes gained per round for each year.
The Stats
Players that GAINED at least 10 yards with driver:
81% scoring improved
65% scoring improved by 1+ strokes per round
44% scoring improved by 2+ strokes per round
29% scoring improved by 3+ strokes per round
17% scoring improved by 4+ strokes per round
Players that LOST at least 10 yards with driver:
65%: scoring got worse
45%: scoring got worse by 1+ strokes per round
27%: scoring got worse by 2+ strokes per round
15%: scoring got worse by 3+ strokes per round
9%: scoring got worse by 4+ strokes per round

Eguller

DonM

Not surprising, but there are lots of variables.

Par4QC

DonM Players that GAINED at least 10 yards with driver:
81% scoring improved

Players that LOST at least 10 yards with driver:
65%: scoring got worse

I'd be more interested in knowing about the 29% ......did they get worse?....& the 35% did they get better?
How many were in the group??

Screwy data without both findings. jmo

Can't even get the salt shaker to work. 😉

DonM

Par4QC They probably were close to even.

Par4QC

DonM Never know though. What would it say if that 35% all scored better?

scotts33

I must be an outlier. It doesn't matter to me if I hit the driver 200 or 210. I score better when I hit good pitches, chips and putt. If I hit it 210 and can't pitch, chip or putt well my scores go up. If I hit it 200 and pitch, chip and putt well my scores go down. 10 yards difference in driving at 85 - 90 mph much appreciable gains are not going to happen. Best thing I can do is drive it straighter or play a fade or draw when needed and have a great short game. That's where I'd spend my money and practice time on the short shots. That's just me from years of experience.

sdandrea1

scotts33 I must be an outlier. It doesn't matter to me if I hit the driver 200 or 210

Not an outlier, but a realist. This is the truth for most players, but their quest for distance (fueled by the marketing) keeps them in denial. Remember when a driver was called a "play club"? It was to get the ball in position to score, not hit rockets to somewhere over the rainbow. It's a scoring game, not a distance contest.

mulegolf

I'd like to hit it long and in the fairway, but usually settle for neither.

Typhoon

Putt for dough… that’s the difference maker.

azgreg

Typhoon Putt for dough… that’s the difference maker.

If you don't drive for show you don't get the opportunity to putt for dough.

Typhoon

azgreg 😂😂…. Putting makes up for a lot of flaws. You can boom a drive, hit the green and 3 putt for bogey or you can dink one out there 210, hit a fw somewhere near the green , chip on to 10 feet and make the putt for par

garyt1957

Typhoon you can dink one out there 210,

I believe you mean "you can BUST one out there 210" read the room , man

DonM

garyt1957
😝

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