letthebigdogshunt It is not an exact measurement, but then I have never been able to hit the ball exactly the same distance with each club. Even the pros don't do that every time.
Yeah, exactly. There are some rounds we play when we're striking it well... trapping the ball against the turf at impact, good angle of approach, and our swings seem effortless. We end up hitting clubs 1/2 to a full club further than we typically do, and in those rounds it's all about making the adjustment regarding club selection. Then there are rounds when we struggle just getting the ball on the face and making clean contact, much less hoping that the ball ends up somewhere near the target.
The most important aspect for me is maintaining my optimum swing tempo. When I do that - I hit my irons/driver very well (most of the time). When I'm struggling with my tempo, or struggling to figure out where the bottom of my swing is with my irons - it's a long day. As it relates to me - my playing/practice frequency matters most regarding consistency. Didn't play a lot last season, and have four rounds in thus far this season.
So much of this game requires a certain degree of devoted commitment from most of us. Not just physically, but also mentally. If there are distractions going on in our lives and our focus isn't on golf when we get out to play - it's just very difficult to get into it. That's where I am, yet again, this season. Lots of reasons for that, not worth going into at the moment. The cliff notes version is that my daughter just graduated college and leaving for a job out on the west coast this summer, and my father's health isn't good, as he has terminal cancer.
I just hope I'm capable of getting back into the game mentally later this summer/fall. Until then, I take what I can get. But it has been quite the humbling experience for my golf game these past 18 months.
If I'm not playing more than once-per-week, I don't have the quality of golf swing that can manage the degree of consistency I've come to enjoy over the years playing much more frequently. I still know what to do, still understand the mechanics, can still judge a flyer lie from a good lie or a bad lie. I can still make adjustments based on wind, stuff like that. It's just that I can't reproduce a repetitively decent golf swing nearly as often as I used to, which seems to be a common problem for players who don't get out as much as they feel they need to stay proficient.
That's where I am at the moment.