One of the most critical aspects of golf is hitting greens in regulation, and a great way to improve this number is knowing your club distances. Incorrect club selection is the easiest way to lose strokes to bunkers, penalties, or be looking at a long first putt. Conversely hitting greens in regulation is shown to be a critical factor in scoring.

Without knowing your distances you're playing a guessing game, relying on hope rather than certainty. Club distance sessions eliminate this uncertainty, providing you with the confidence and knowledge needed to make informed decisions during play. Lets breakdown how to lock in your club distance in a gapping session, and give you confidence in your on course decisions.

Before kicking off your session run through a couple of quick checks to make sure you get accurate data you can rely on:

• Go through your typical warm up routine

• Have a plan of what clubs you’re working on. Will it be the full bag, irons, or wedges?

• Check your clubs are clean and in good condition. Dirty clubs can affect your shot, leading to inaccurate data.

• Set up your clubs you’re getting distances for in View or ask us how to.

Once you’re ready to go pick your first club and start! Typically you’d go short to long. To conduct the session go through the following process with each club:

• Hit 8 good shots with the club. Any thinned or fatted shots should be deleted and don’t count towards your 8.

• Delete any outlier shots, such as a truly pured one that flew 5m+ further than the others, or a toey one that’s 10m short. Its important to pay attention to consistency – the goal is to understand not your best shots, but your typical shots. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking its ‘too short’ or ‘I can hit it better’.

• Once you’ve reviewed and finalised your 8 shots, select the next club, take a short break and repeat the process until you’ve done all your planned clubs.

• At the end of the session export the data to your email so you’ve got it handy and can add to it in future.

After gathering your data, it’s time to evaluate:

• Based on your findings, adjust which clubs you use for certain distances.

• Note your consistency. If your distances vary widely, focus on swing drills that promote stability and repeatability. PGA tour players dispersions tend to be left to right (ie they miss pin high), whereas amateur golfers typically have a left to right and front to back dispersion.

• Take your new knowledge to the course. During practice rounds, test your distances in real play conditions, adjusting as necessary.

Evaluating your distances is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. Regular club distance sessions ensure you stay sharp and aware of any changes in your game. As your skills and strength improve, so will your distances. By dedicating time to effective club distance sessions, you’re not just practicing – you’re practicing with purpose. This intentional approach ensures that when you step onto the course, you do so with a clear understanding of your capabilities.

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