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distance..

4348 Views 5 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  TonyEdward
Hey guys, what is the best way to start learning how to judge distance. most of the courses i play at have distance markers, but some dont have any.. what would i do in that case, just learn to judge distance the more i play, or what?
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Hit whatever club FEELS right. If it looks like a 6-iron, it probably is. When in doubt, hit more club. Most greens are sloped toward you, back to front, so hitting more club is probably a good idea anyway. Also remeber the effect a crowded look around the green gives. The more trees, water, and traps around the green, the closer it looks.
You get a feel for it eventually. When you're jumping accross a hole, you don't sit there and analyze how far to jump, you just automatically jump as far as you need to. Eventually you get like that with golf
You can practice judging distance simply by practicing judging distance. You don't even need to be on a golf course to do this.

First thing you need to do is to know how many steps you take in 10 yards, (30'). Measure off 10 yards and then just count your normal stride in steps you use to cover that 10 yards. After that it's just a matter of practicing looking at a distant object and saying to yourself, "that looks like it's a 100 (or what ever) yards away" then step it off. After some practice you will be pretty close to judging your distances.

As for club selection the best thing I have found for me, is that when I think it's a 6 iron distance, I use a 5 iron instead and put an easy swing on the ball. Works well for me.:thumbsup:
The first stage with your long game is to know how far you hit the ball with each club. Ideally for a reasonably long hitting woman golfer there should be a 9-metre (10-yard) gap in distance between adjacent irons.

A good amateur golfer would probably hope to carry the ball 135 metres (150 yards) with a 5 iron, and then up or down 9 metres (10 yards) from there. Most are unlikely to have a 10-yatd gap between the 3 and 4 iron, but the 7 wood and 5 wood take over from there. Learn to judge distances, either by pacing off the distances with well-hit shots, assessing where they land and not where they run, or use the par 3 holes on your home course for reference.

Club golfers invariably under-club. Be realistic. Firstly, remember that most trouble around greens is at the front. If you pitch to the flag you avoid most of the bunkers. Secondly, the distance from the front of the green to the flag is often foreshortened. But mote important, if the flag is anywhere behind centre on the green it will probably look far nearer to the back of the green than it really is. You may think there is a space of 5 or 6 paces to the back of the green, with bushes or rough beyond. In reality the distance is usually much greater than we imagine. There are probably 20 paces between the flag and the trouble beyond the green. Get used to looking at the positions of flags on the green as you pass them when playing other holes.

Under-club by one club – 10 paces -and you risk three-putting. Convince yourself that there aren’t man-eating tigers over the back of greens. The world is round, not flat, and there is just as much space beyond the flag as in front of it. When you watch players approach the green from the side it seems ridiculous that they are constantly short.

In order to improve, try to pass the flag on every single shot you play. Keep a note on your scorecard. Give yourself a point every time your shot to the green finishes on the green beyond the flag. Professionals find this scoring zone far more often than club golfers. Many club golfers soon discover that they never, ever pass the flag.

To judge distance well, do not select the club to be used until you are right at the ball – not even 10 metres before you get to it. Don’t think ahead of yourself.

Hope this article can help you
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