“They don’t take enough club…. most of the time they don’t know exactly how far they actually hit the ball” – Morgan Pressel

Check out this VIDEO of LPGA players talking about the mistake they see amateurs (which includes junior golfers) make the most often.

Knowing your yardages can seem like such a simple concept yet I continue to see it be the reason for lost shots over and over again with junior golfers. Sometimes it’s ego getting in the way when a player thinks they carry the ball farther than they actually do, other times it is just not really knowing the average carry number.  Learning the average yardage for each club can make a major difference in your game, especially when you face tough elements, such as elevation, temperature change, wind and adrenaline. Also learning to factor in that sometimes you need to take 2 or 3 extra clubs in certain conditions is a skill many young players don’t understand.

This requires two people so grab a buddy or a parent and head out to the range, an open field or the middle of fairway. Make sure you are on a flat surface and pick a day where the temperature is relatively warm and there is no wind. I recommend not doing this into the green unless you are extra careful to replace all of the ball marks. Take your 9 iron and hit 10-15 balls, have your partner laser where each one lands and write it down. Repeat this for your 7 iron, 5 iron, hybrids and fairway woods. For each club, throw out the highest and lowest yardage, then add up the remaining yardages and divide by the number of yardages you are counting. There should be about a 10 yard gap between irons so you can figure out the yardages for the irons in between.

For example:
Take 15 balls with 9 iron
134, 133, 138, 136, 132, 129, 130, 135, 132, 136, 134, 133, 132, 135, 137
Throw out 138 and 129
Add up the remaining 13 numbers and divide by 13
You should get 133.7
So you can assume the CARRY YARDAGE for your 9 iron is 133-134 on average..this is the number you will want to use on a daily basis, then adjust for the different elements.