Forums

Dialing in yardages..

• Choppography 2,166 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 7:01 AM

  Hey guys,

  I'm looking for a discussion about calibrating, or dialing in, your irons so you know their specific carry yardages with certain spins applied.  

  I know a lot of you guys know this stuff, and I'm wondering how you did it.  I've read to beat balls up and down Kiawah #1 since it's flat.  However, I've noticed my shots into greens carry farther than from fairway to fairway for some odd reason.  I hit a 7i about 151 fairway to fairway, but the same shot into a green will carry up to 158 with same spin and all.....strange.  Also, balls seem to carry farther off the tee, which is actually realistic.

  I've seen a lot of the charts and tables and just want to know how you did this yourself.

  My avg distance to pin needs to come down for me to advance past a 65 avg.  I'm beginning to feel that's a plateau I am going to struggle to break through.

  Any pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

• piztaker 5,743 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 7:28 AM

  Choppography:

   I've noticed my shots into greens carry farther than from fairway to fairway for some odd reason.  

  The grass is shorter.

   

• mnshiner 1,382 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 7:29 AM

  You should know by now by reading the forums what your replies are going to be.

  1. Practice

  2. Take notes either mental or writing them down

  3. Lots more but having a brain fart

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 8:17 AM

  Choppography:

  I'm looking for a discussion about calibrating, or dialing in, your irons so you know their specific carry yardages with certain spins applied.

  Learn the carry of your irons without the spin first. Once you know this you can allow for what happens after the landing and how spin affects it.  You want to know where the ball is going to land to be able to figure out what adjustment you need to make. This, incidentally, is where a lot of players make mistakes. They assign a value for the particular club based on their play and when it doesn't go that far they get confused. What gets missed is where the ball actually hit the ground and what the conditions are at that spot (elevation, lie, etc.)

  Carry is very simple to learn. BPB back 9, holes 10,11 and 12. Long fairways suitable for hitting back and forth on. Set up low wind practice, get into the fairway and hit your iron. Watch the shot yardage marker and listen for the thump of the ball. Forget whatever happens after that, that thump is the club carry. 3 or 4 shots will give you a decent number to use. 

• gsoup 2,929 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 8:23 AM

  i have a rotary dialer,

  think im ready for the 21st century?

• Choppography 2,166 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 11:39 AM

   

  piz.....carry ydg, not total.  the balls i've taken note on carry farther into greens than into fairways.  it's weird.

   

  shiner, yes i know the bulk of the answers i'll get.  i'm not here for them.  i'm here for a pearl or two.....have to sift through lots of standard to find the pearl.

   

  jim, thanks.  3rd reply in and i have a pearl.  the part about starting with no spin and dialing in from there is brilliant, and something i've definitely failed to do.  i've started from the reverse and tried to work the wrong direction...hence my confusion.  thanks, again.

   

  soup, i'd expect nothing less out of an answer from you, buddy.  good one.

   

  off to bpb back9 to try these again....maybe i'll learn something this time....lol.

   

• Choppography 2,166 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 3:54 PM

  Fwiw, I'm amazed at the range of "pure" shots with my L58 G20s.  I use the Tour S ball.

  I can hit a 7i that carries 150 and one that carries 158 with the same spin on the same fairway with the same wind.  And, I've noticed the ding can be anywhere in that range.  Also, sometimes if I miss the ding slightly it really punishes my with loss of distance and others not at all.

  I can only assume that it's either the clubs or the ball I use that is the culprit and upgrading will tighten the variance?

• gr8flbob 592 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 6:56 PM

  Choppography:

  Fwiw, I'm amazed at the range of "pure" shots with my L58 G20s.  I use the Tour S ball.

  I can hit a 7i that carries 150 and one that carries 158 with the same spin on the same fairway with the same wind.  And, I've noticed the ding can be anywhere in that range.  Also, sometimes if I miss the ding slightly it really punishes my with loss of distance and others not at all.

  I can only assume that it's either the clubs or the ball I use that is the culprit and upgrading will tighten the variance?

  There is programmed-in deviation in the WGT software design. All other factors aside (ie, zero wind and flat terrain in landing area) any given shot will vary both in length and direction. IOW, make the same shot 10 times or a 100 times and the resultant carry  will fall somewhere in a roughly circular area centered on the 'ideal' for your particular club and ball combo. You can reduce the size of that circle using premium clubs and balls, but you CAN NOT reduce that circle to zero diameter.

   

• GlassMan27 573 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 7:16 PM

  Choppography:

  I can only assume that it's either the clubs or the ball I use that is the culprit and upgrading will tighten the variance?

  Tighten? Yes, to a point. Eliminate? Never, not even with the best balls and clubs money can buy on this site. Being able to drain 8-15 foot putts is vital to shooting low scores. No amount of 'dialing in' your iron distances will eliminate the randomness built into the game. Cheers.

• andrewmca 447 Posts

  Thu, Sep 13 2012 8:00 PM

  hey chop i dont think its an exact science.. being between 151-158 yards might be as accurate as you can get..