The average male golfer will get about 150-160 yards out of their 5 iron. However, it’s important to remember that these distances are directly related to the quality of the strike and the swing speed of the golfer.

Of course, there are other factors for things like the wind or the golf ball being used.

Women golfers rarely keep a 5 iron in their set with the number of 5 hybrid options on the market for women players. For a female, a great 5 iron strike should go about 110 yards. Again many women players will also hit their 7 iron almost this far, which is why the 5 iron often comes out of the bag.

The length that you should hit your 5 iron will be determined by your ability as well as your swing speed.

How Far Do PGA Players Hit a 5 Iron?

Professional golfers can get more distance than average golfers because they have a high smash factor and go after the ball with quite a bit more speed. This is not to say that there are no average golfers with high swing speed; it’s just not as common.

PGA Tour Golfers

Most PGA Tour golfers get more than 200 yards out of their 5 iron. The average is typically between 190 and 210, and of course, some can probably hit it further than these numbers.

One of the things that I find most interesting about these numbers is that PGA tour players are using golf irons with many different lofts than an average golfer. Several years ago, golf manufacturers realized that if they lowered the center of gravity in a golf iron, they could also lower the loft, and players would get great distance.

With many PGA Tour golfers, they are playing with a blade style 5 iron that has two or three degrees more loft than your 5 iron, yet they are still able to hit the ball incredibly far. This certainly takes some talent.

LPGA Tour Golfers

LPGA Tour golfers don’t always have the same speeds as PGA tour golfers, but they can generate a tremendous amount of clubhead speed. Most LPGA Tour golfers will hit their 5 iron anywhere from 175 to 190 yards.

For LPGA Tour golfers, you can see that the distance gap between an amateur and a professional is even larger than it is for male golfers. This says quite a bit about the training and work that LPGA tour golfers put in to be able to get the distances they need in their golf club sets.

The Dream: How to Hit a 5 Iron 200 Yards

Long hitters can easily hit a 5 iron 200 yards as long as they have all the right factors add up to produce these types of distance. Here are the things you will need in place to hit a 5 iron 200 yards…

The Right Golf Shaft

The golf shaft in your 5 iron has to be a match for your game. In addition to looking at shaft flex and shaft weight, you also must consider the impacts of a longer shaft length and how that can affect carry distance.

Many great players will tell you that the best way to get the right performance in your game is to find a golf shaft that matches your game.

Lots of Ball Speed

The ultimate way to increase the total distance of your golf shots is to increase your ball speed. Golf club distances are directly related to ball speeds. Any golf club distance chart will show you that the more swing speed you can get, the easier it is to get the distance.

Amateur golfers sometimes work on swing speed incorrectly and swing out of their shoes. Of course, your golf swing still needs to be in balance, and you must ensure that you are hitting the center of the clubface for the best total distance.

A Center Strike

Hitting the ball in the center of the clubface makes a big difference in the total distance that you get. Golfers that hit the ball on the heel or the toe can lose 10 yards or more of distance.

If you hit the golf ball with a center strike, chances are your launch angle, and spin rate will also be optimized.

The Right Loft on The Club

As we mentioned in the case of the PGA Tour player using a blade style iron, each five iron has a different loft and set makeup. Keep this in mind as the lower lofted 5 iron is going to travel a bit further and probably have some lower spin rates than the higher lofted golf irons.

All of these things will impact whether or not you are able to hit a 5 iron 200 yards.

Tips for Hitting Your 5 Iron Further

Here are some of the best tips for hitting your 5 iron further. Sometimes the issues impacting distance are equipment related. Other times, they are mechanics related.

It’s up to you to figure out which impacts you.

Ball Position

Keep the ball slightly forward of center. When you have the ball back in your stance, you may struggle with accuracy and not be able to apply the full energy that you have produced in your backswing.

With the 5 iron being slightly longer, this little bit of movement toward the front of your stance works out just fine.

Look For a Club with More Forgiveness

More and more golfers and amateurs are realizing that long irons are considerably more challenging to play with than short irons or wedges. This is because of the lower loft of the club as well as the total length of the club.

A golfer that wants to hit the 5 iron further should look for something with a bit more forgiveness. These clubs often have a slightly high trajectory, and a bit of leeway on those toe or heel hits that players sometimes struggle with.

More forgiveness makes it easier to keep those club head speed numbers high.

Get Your Weight Transferred Forward

One of the easiest ways to lose distance in your golf swing is to keep your weight on your back foot as you get to the impact position. Weight must transfer forward if you expect to get the full distance potential.

Golfers should work on making a transition from the top of the backswing down to impact so that they have some weight transferred to the left at impact. You can look at pictures of golf professionals and clearly see how they move this weight forward and improve their overall distance.

My Favorite 5 Iron (If You’re Looking for a Recommendation)

My favorite 5 iron has a mix of great feel and the ability to create tremendous distance while still controlling the ball.

More and more golfers are going with mixed sets of irons that fit the needs of their game. Think about adding this 5 iron to yours.

Callaway Apex DCB 5 Iron

The Callaway Apex DCB 5 iron is my favorite on the market right now. This club was released in 2021, and it brings some impressive feel and precision to the market for amateur golfers.

This is a forged golf club, and for the first time, the Callaway Apex line has a club for players that need that extra forgiveness in their golf game.

This is a deep cavity back, but it is a forged golf face. The club is made with a 1025 mild carbon steel body, and it includes urethane microspheres to help with sound and feel. The top down line is a little thick, and the wide sole is certainly confidence-inducing.

If you are looking for something that provides an easy launch and very consistent turf interaction, the Callaway Apex DCB is an excellent option to consider.

Pros

• The progressive design allows for a bit more width in the sole
• Very forgiving Apex, a new release for Callaway
• Deep cavity back style with easy launch
• Consistent turf interaction
• Several golf shaft options

Cons

• Top-down look is a bit thick
• Can be hard to work the ball and control ball flight for better players

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children. Current Handicap: 1

Source link

The key to powerful shots is knowing where and, more importantly, when to create pressure in your swing.

I have an easy way to explain both by using a homemade training aid (a streamer wrapped around the hosel of my driver) to explain.

At the start, the takeaway, the clubhead moves back, away from the target, and by the end of the backswing, it has traveled back toward the target. The secret to applying pressure to create power is moving your pressure with the clubhead. So, as you take the club back, away from your target, your pressure (or, if you prefer, your weight) should do likewise.

In the photo above, you can see (with the help of the streamer) that the club is moving away from the target and that I’ve matched this move by shifting my pressure away from the target, into my trail leg.

As soon as your club reaches parallel to the ground in your backswing, however, the clubhead actually starts its journey toward the target, culminating at the top of your backswing. So it’s at this point — the first time the club gets parallel to the ground — when you need to begin shifting forward.

This might be earlier than you’ve ever imagined. Timing this pressure shift (from back to front) turns on the jets on your down-swing. Bombs away!

Dom DiJulia is director of instruction at Jericho National GC in New Hope, Pa.

Source link

Source link

We all know that Tiger Woods had quite a few contributions to the game of golf. Perhaps one of the most important was the stinger shot.

Of course, Tiger didn’t really invent this shot, but he made it something that every golfer wanted to have in their bag.

Learning how to hit the stinger can help your game in various ways. This shot that became popular in the late 90s is still something golfers want to use in their game today.

Let’s take a look at how to hit a stinger far and low.

When It’s Best to Hit a Stinger Shot

The great thing about the stinger shot is that it can cut through the wind and travel for a long time. If you are looking at a fairway where the grass is cut tight and things are rolling well, the stinger is a perfect shot to get you rolling toward your target.

This shot becomes easy to hit straight when you learn how to do it. For those that struggle with control, it can help you hit some straight shots with very low spin.

Stinger shots can be hit from the tee box, the rough, and the fairway. Some golfers use them to get out of trouble; others use them to put themselves in a great spot.

How to Hit a Stinger: 4 Simple Steps

There is no better way to learn how to hit a stinger far and low than to have Tiger Woods show us how to do it. The low stinger requires a consistent swing, stable movement, and a square club face. Here is how Tiger did it:

Now we’ll do a break down of each step below…

Proper Setup

The setup on this shot does not have to be modified all that much. We like to see the ball just forward of the middle of the stance. Probably one ball forward will be enough, don’t play it all the way up in your golf stance.

Another trick I like to use when hitting the stinger shot is I put a little more weight on my front foot. It helps me to feel like I can keep the trajectory lower and complete that wriststop on the follow-through.

Shortened Backswing

The stinger shot is about getting plenty of club head speed and applying it with a square club face, so the ball rolls for quite some time. This shot is not entirely about distance, so there is really no need for a full swing.

In addition, if you plan on stopping the golf club just after impact, you will have a much harder time if you take a full backswing. Most golfers that have success with a stinger shot are only taking the club back about ¾ of the way.

Most players have a hard time feeling where the top of their backswing is and don’t know when to start the downswing. Once you have made that shoulder turn where the shoulder is beneath your chin, you are in a position where you can make that transition to the downswing.

When learning how to hit the stinger, you may see more initial success if you take a shorter rather than longer swing.

Low Stop On Follow Through

The key to this shot is to feel as though you are stopping the wrists just after impact. Tiger mentions that the way he feels this is to keep his arms loose and feel as though he can stop them just after impact.

Of course, we know with science and momentum and physics that you won’t really be able to stop the club just after impact. However, it will feel like it.

This is where you will need a little bit of strength to hit the stinger tee shot because you are working to stop the momentum that you have just created on the backswing. I like to think of the golf ball and imagine a two foot area extending on the left side of the golf ball (after impact).

The line, I imagine, extends towards the target, so it is straight. As I’m in my backswing and making my transition to the downswing, I see this area as the place I would like to stop my shot.

Of course, I’ll end up with about a ¾ finish, but feeling this hold in this area is what keeps the trajectory of the stinger low.

Golfers need to be sure to take a divot when hitting a stinger and to maintain wrist angle at impact. The shot needs to come as a descending blow into the ball and not something that you hit up on.

Compression here is key, and nobody shows us that better than Tiger. These stinger shots always looked like they were hit with a tremendous amount of power because they were.

Abbreviated Finish

As you work so hard to stop the club just after impact to get that lower flight, you may not make it to a full finish on these stingers. However, you can see from Tiger’s golf shots that he still makes a full turn of the hips and a weight transfer.

Make sure that as you are working on stopping the club after impact, you are not stopping your body from rotating. In fact, Tiger mentions that hip rotation and turn are the key elements to hit the stinger well.

Some of the miss hits that you can get with this shot are hitting slightly behind it or even hitting the shot higher than you expected. Players that get really good with the stinger can learn how to hit a stinger draw or stinger fade.

The variations on a stinger shot should be relatively simple and can be made with small movements in the setup.

Best Clubs to Use for a Stinger

One of the key elements to hitting a stinger shot is to choose the proper club as well as the appropriate lie. Here are a few of the best clubs to use for a stinger.

Long Irons

One of the great things about long irons is that they are already lower lofted. These clubs have a lower loft that helps keep the ball flight down, and it can be considerably easier to get the trajectory that you are looking for.

Long irons like a 3, 4, or even 5 iron would be our first choice for learning how to hit this stinger. Hitting a stinger out of the rough with a long iron can be tough; I would recommend switching to the mid irons if your ball is a bit buried.

Mid Irons

It’s hard to get the proper trajectory for a low and far stinger when using a short iron. However, if you are strong with your 6 and 7 iron, you can usually get them to work. With the 7 iron, expect a slightly higher ball flight and maybe a little more spin.

This means that your total distance will probably be a few yards shorter, but it’s still a shot you can use.

Fairway Woods

When fairways are tight or the wind is in your face, a fairway wood stinger is an excellent shot for an approach on a par 5. You can get a little extra distance and maybe even run one up on the green.

When hitting this shot with a fairway wood, make sure that you don’t get too quick with your tempo. Since these clubs are graphite shafted and lightweight some players get a little too eager and end up hitting the top of the ball.

Driver

The driver may seem like an unlikely club to use when learning how to hit a stinger far and low, but it’s a really great shot to have in the bag.

Certain holes require a bit more precision, and the driver can help you send your shot down the center with a more abbreviated swing. One thing to be careful of here is that you are still releasing the club head.

If you don’t release the clubhead, your shot won’t go straight, and you may end up in a predicament.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children. Current Handicap: 1

Source link

Learning how to hit a fairway wood could transform your golfing game in par-five or particularly long par-four holes. Gaining the ability to reach the green in just a couple of strokes is a hugely significant advantage, and mastering the required technique could result in your handicap shooting down.

But it’s not easy. If you find yourself topping your fairway woods or struggling to get them off the ground, this guide is for you. Who knows – getting to grips with one of the trickiest clubs to use could be the key to moving to the next level.

Where to use a fairway wood

The first thing to understand when learning how to hit with a fairway wood is when to use it.

A fairway wood – particularly a 3-wood – is primed for use once you’ve teed off and have found yourself in the middle of the fairway on par five holes. Or even par four holes, which are particularly long. The aim of the game with a fairway wood is to fire yourself within touching distance of the green, rather than getting all the way there.

This makes them especially useful for these longer holes.

You can also tee off with a fairway wood; however, the technique required differs slightly from when it’s used off the ground on the fairway.

How do you hit a fairway wood?

Once you’ve recognised that you’re in the correct position to use the fairway wood, it’s time to get out your club – and it’s a long one. There’s a high chance the fairway wood is the longest club in your bag, and this is part of what makes the technique so challenging.

Instinctively, you might want to swing upwards and lift the ball to maximise the height and distance of your shot. But striking the ball upwards could result in you hitting the ground before the ball or topping the ball.

Instead, you want to be hitting down into the ball. And the first step to getting this right is practising the correct stance.

The stance

When using a fairway wood, a wide stance – with your feet a little wider than shoulder width – will help you hit down on the ball.

The ball should be positioned slightly forward in your stance, approximately one ball length to the left of centre. This will also help you achieve the downward angle of attack necessary to get the most out of the club.

Your sternum should be positioned in line with and over the top of the clubhead so that your stance is nice and straight. You don’t want to lean back, as this will make it harder to hit down on the ball.

The ideal contact

Because it’s such a long club, correctly gauging how the club is going to make contact with the ball can be one of the trickiest parts of using a fairway wood.

Try placing the clubhead on the floor behind the ball to help you do this. You’re going to be making contact with the ball first, before following through to make a little divot in the ground after you’ve hit the ball.

You’ll notice that the fairway wood is quite flat. This prevents the club from digging into the ground and making a much larger and more noticeable impact on the turf.

Now you know what to expect when the ball makes contact, it’s time to think about the swing.

The swing

You can compare the swing of a fairway club to that of a 7-iron. The most important thing is to let the club do the work. There’s no need to attack the ball really quickly, because the club is already weighted towards the back. A nice, consistent and smooth swing is going to help you maximise the distance of your shot much better than just hitting the ball as hard as you can.

What you don’t want to do during your swing is lean back. You instead want to move your bodyweight to the left so that you’re moving with the swing and allowing the club to work for you instead of the other way around. Aim to shift your weight onto your left foot by pressing it into the ground.

While you’re hitting down towards the ball, you want to keep your club low. You’ll know it’s a good shot when you’ve made that small divot in the ground just after contact, or if you’ve just scuffed the grass.

A good drill to help get to grips with this idea of keeping the club low and making your divot only after the ball has been hit is to put a tee peg all the way into the ground, a little over an inch in front of the ball. After you’ve made contact with the ball, focus on trying to bring that tee peg up.

How to hit a fairway wood off the tee

From the tee, your technique with a fairway wood is different because the ball is above the ground. This gives you more freedom to drop your right shoulder and hit the ball more upward.

In this case, position the ball slightly further to the left so that it’s closer to your left foot than the centre of your stance. From tee, you don’t need to worry about creating that divot in the floor either.

The key points to remember

When using a fairway wood in the fairway, don’t let its length deceive you. You might instinctively want to place the ball really far in front of your stance, but the length of a golf ball is all that’s really required.

Keep your stance relatively neutral. Don’t lean back – you’re not trying to hit up on the ball. Instead, hit down on it. And after making contact with the ball, aim to make a small divot in the ground.

Don’t rush the swing or try to hit the ball too hard. Let the club do the work, shift your weight, and focus on a consistent swing. 
That’s how to hit a fairway wood and really shoot yourself towards the green on those longer holes.

Specialist golf insurance through Golf Care

Now you know how to hit a fairway wood correctly, you may want to consider protecting yourself and your golf equipment with specialist golf insurance. Get a quote online today.

Source link

When used correctly, a hybrid can be one of the most versatile weapons in your armoury. They’re great tools to help you navigate tight lies, edge yourself closer to the green on longer holes, escape the rough or even tee off on shorter holes.

But they’re very much the Marmite of golf clubs. Some swear by them, whereas others rue what appears to be an inconsistency of outcomes. If you find yourself in the latter category, constantly wondering how to hit a hybrid, you’re in the right place. Here are six tips to get to grips with hybrids and add another string to your golfing bow.

What are hybrids?

A hybrid golf club is a combination of a long iron and a fairway wood, designed to replace the former and offer a simpler technique.

Hybrids were first released in the late 1990s and are particularly useful if you struggle with long irons. They really gained popularity when TaylorMade introduced its ‘Rescue’ clubs in 2003, which are all but synonymous with the clubs to this day.

Though they look like woods with their seemingly open club faces, hybrids are really irons and are generally used in their place. That said, you can tee off with them instead of your trusty drivers, and it’s versatility like this that has made them popular with pros and amateurs alike.

6 essential tips for using a hybrid

Keep reading, and you’ll see the steps necessary to maximise the effectiveness of these jacks of all trades.

1. Treat ball positioning a little like an iron 

First things first, the position of your ball is going to have a big impact on how well you’re executing your shots with hybrids.

Imagine where your ball would be if you were using a mid-length iron. Your feet are shoulder-width apart, and the ball is about as central as it can be. Now, move it ever so slightly forward – but not quite as far as if you were using a driver.

This is where it’s easy to go wrong with hybrids. Just because it bears the resemblance of a wood while largely having the characteristics of an iron doesn’t mean you can treat it as either club. A hybrid is an iron – you’re trying to compress the ball to maximise distance, so you don’t want to position the ball as you would for a wood. A sweeping swing might initially feel natural, but you risk hitting thinner shots.

So, your ball is located slightly further forward than a mid-length iron, but not so far as a driver.

2. Get your body positioning right 

As already mentioned, your feet should be shoulder-length apart. Your grip on the club itself should be neutral, and you should lean forward slightly so your sternum is a little in front of the ball.

The point of this is to create as steep an angle of attack as possible. This is a really versatile stance too – wherever your ball is on the course, it’s an appropriate and effective way of preparing for your shot.

3. Compress the ball

As you would when striking the ball with an iron, the best way to maximise the strengths of a hybrid is to compress the ball. In layman’s terms, this means using the ground as a third party in your shot.

This is why the correct technique is to hit down on the ball, not to sweep it. By delofting the clubface and hitting down (first the ball, then the ground), you’re squeezing both surfaces against the ball and compressing it, so it shoots off and travels farther. There are few feelings in golf quite as satisfying as getting this right and watching the ball rocket off into the distance.

If your technique is correct, you’ll make a divot in the ground.

4. Trust the clubface

Though the clubface of a hybrid looks quite open and lofted, it’s important to let the club’s design serve its purpose. Your goal is to compress the club, so even though a hybrid doesn’t entirely look like an iron, you should still trust it to behave in a similar way.

5. Perfect the swing

Like with any golf club, you’re not going to reap the benefits of using a hybrid if your technique in the swing is incorrect.

A smooth, consistent swing is necessary to get the maximum out of your hybrid. It’s important to keep the speed and power the same throughout your swing, but don’t rush it.  

Really commit. Get that clubhead down and compress the ball.

6. Know where to use your hybrid

The rough, the fairway, or tight lies. You name it. If it’s outside the green, a hybrid will likely be a viable option.

There’s a reason TaylorMade called their hybrids ‘Rescue’ clubs. After all, even if you’re in a fairway bunker, a hybrid offers you a way out and back into the game.

Additionally, teeing off – particularly on a shorter course – is an option with a hybrid, though it’s important still not to treat the club like a driver.

In many ways, a hybrid is best at setting up the shot, which will get you into the green, not necessarily getting you there itself. In some cases, rushing your way to the green from miles out can have negative consequences, so a methodical extra shot with a more forgiving club like a hybrid can pay dividends – even if it’s not quite as exciting.

Ultimately, these clubs were designed for fairways, and that’s where they’re particularly effective. That said, one of the great things about hybrids is that they can be used just about anywhere except on the green itself.

Key takeaways

If you remember to treat your hybrid like an iron and not a wood, you’re already making steps in the right direction. Swinging down, maximising that angle of attack and really compressing the ball are the keys to making hybrids work for you.

But, like everything, practice makes perfect. Hybrids may have been designed as an easier option than a fairway wood or long iron, but that doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to thrive with them from the word go. Spend time practising, perfect your technique, and you might never have a bag without a hybrid ever again.

Specialist golf insurance through Golf Care

Whatever type of golf club you have, you may want to consider protecting yourself and your golf equipment with specialist golf insurance. Get a quote online today.

Source link