The poll on the front page breaks average driving distances into less than 200yds, between 200 and 250 and between 250 and 300. Thankfully, even though this is the Internet and 300 is the new 250, nobody is foolish enough to say that their average drive is 300+!

However, nearly half of the people responding to the poll claim that their average drive is over 250 yds. Seriously, people? I guess you don't count pop-ups, duck hooks, big bananas in the woods, worm burners, etc... in those averages, huh? If we had half the population of this site hitting over 250yds day in and day out, do you really think that the average numbers reported on the site for par 4, par 5 averages, etc... would match those of bogey golfers at best? What's the average handicap index on this site? Single digit? I don't think so.

Unless of course a largely unrepresentative portion of oobgolf's population responded to the poll. I have no doubt that many folks here can hit that long on average. I just don't believe that half the people do. For reference, I track my distances with GPS, and it's between 215 and 220 yds on average, probably inching a bit higher now that I found a driver combination that gives me a lot more roll.

Discuss...

Your words are harsh and cut deep. If we're to take the average of every tee shot we hit, then the number is going to be low. I don't even wanna know what mine is. I have a respectable max distance but also my share of snafu's off the tee, mishits and what have you, that hardly go anywhere. Just the other day I pushed one straight into a tree limb, it went about 70y. that's gonna hurt the average. It doesn't mean I'm a short hitter, just that when I miss, it can get pretty bad sometimes, same for most of us.

That said, I don't think anyone's true average, including all the popups, skanks, whiffs, etc. is an interesting number. It's more about distance potential. Say I am picking a club for an approach. To be confident I have to anticipate the shot to be well struck and plan the distance accordingly. What do we want to know about each other, is how far can you hit it? I think that is at the heart of it. I'll to describe to you my distance, you can trust me, I try to be honest. In general I would be comfortable with a 240y carry. Wouldn't always do it of course but as long as I caught it solid it would get over. 150y for an 8i. I am medium long for a duffer probably.

Good point. I guess if I factored the pop ups, pull hooks, 90 yards right of FW big slices, and weak hits I'd say 50% of my tee shots are uplayable and the average must be really bad...

Played a round with a golfing friend last fall, we were both struggling, but had a few good holes now and then. However, on one of the holes, we both hit real good drivers, good trajectory and ball carry just a little roll as the ground was soft, but middle of fairway right next to each other. "hang on" he says as he sets his GPS to record the distance from the tee box.

I'd guess I'm average or a tad long in length compared to others when I actually hit the driver decent. We went out to our balls. 235. We laughed.

Of course I've definately hit it further than that when everything happens well - but how often is that? Not often, truthfully.

If I hit it over 260, there usually has to be some downhill slope in the landing area with hard ground. My average NORMAL drive is about 230. If I really get a hold of one and hit it dead nuts, 250 is a good number for me.

I agree with Beef. Keeping track of how long a pop up flies or a worm burner travels off the tee really doesn't add any benefit to tracking that stat. Particularly since it rarely happens. (I didn't say it never happens.) On the other hand, if I slice it or hook it, and it only goes 210 yards, that will be factored into my average.

Once the temperatures drop into the 50s in the fall, I don't bother tracking driving distance because the numbers are unrealistic. Come May, I will start tracking them again.

I use my gps to track drives, or my rangefinder if there is a good target back at the tee. Either way, they both give very accurate distances.

Guys, thanks for your thoughts and comments.

Beef, I didn't mean to be harsh, just curious as to how almost half of the poll respondents viewed themselves as hitting over 250 yds on average.

I do trust that you can carry 240 easily and probably roll out to 270 yds, on a normal drive and occasionally hit 300 or over. I don't: I am probably 30-40 yards shorter than that.

Several times I have been paired with random players who declared when they saw a "good" drive that it had to be 280 and found out that it really was only 230 when measured by GPS! A lot of people measure their drive by the remaining distance to the green and the scorecard, failing to account for the dog legs or the tee boxes being up...

It's all good. That game we all love is not all about distance anyway.

I saw no one voted for 300+.

Player, even YOUR imagination isn't that big!!....Is it?

sjduffers wrote:

Guys, thanks for your thoughts and comments. Beef, I didn't mean to be harsh, just curious as to how almost half of the poll respondents viewed themselves as hitting over 250 yds on average.

I meant that as a compliment, nothing wrong with being harsh and critical sometimes. and I think you more or less answer your own question. A survey can't be accurate because people see what they want to see when it comes to distance. I think it's a primal instinct to associate distance with brawn and what self-respecting organism wants to be perceived as small or ineffectual. We lie to ourselves so of course the truth is going to be stretched even more on the internet. No different from height or cock size or, for a woman, weight.

I took average to mean......

on your average "good drive"..

not an average of your driving distance

I don't concern myself with distance too much and don't track it. No one would regard me as a bomber. It's all about staying in play.

A typical drive for me is about what DougE said. 220-240. And that is with roll out. Longer if I can catch some downhill. Perfect contact could roll to 260.

My home course has a 400 yd finishing hole with a swale cutting across the fairway about 240 out. Sometimes full of water, sometimes not. If the wind is right it's worth the risk.

Seems to me that I have read more than once how the average golfer mistakenly thinks they hit further than they actually do and if they were measured accurately they'd be surprised by the result. I know I've played with a more than a few guys who think they hit it "250 to 260", then there they are standing next to me 230 yds from the tee. After the round they complain, "can't believe how bad my driving was today". Yeah, right, have another beer and then you can tell me how big your D$$k is too.

If you were to take my composite average over the entire year last year, my average drive would probably be around 250...maybe a hair short.

If you were to take the one month where I was in peak playing shape, my average drive was around 270. I know this because I recorded it using GPS.

That said, driving the ball is the one thing I do really well. The reason why is because it was the one aspect of my game that took me the most work to go from being absolutely terrible to being acceptable. I put in a lot of work learning how to hit my driver, and now I need to figure out how to hit my irons better because my GIR is pretty horrendous for a guy that tends to find himself with a lot of short approach shots.

When I pull out my driver, I expect 270 in the fairway. But I know better than to expect my next shot to find the green.

I stopped recording mine, now that I am hitting more consistently.

Everyone tells me i bomb it, but now, that I am consistant, the distance doesn't matter, and I save the time and spend more time tracking other stats.

Now I am learning how to keep my spin rate under control, I might track some more.

Distance isn't my problem right now, its my short game... then my irons, and then my putting lol.

Now i read this, maybe i should put my distances down, including my duck hooks etc, and see what I can get my 20 game average up to.

Game on.
Anyone else want to try it?

sjduffers wrote:

The poll on the front page breaks average driving distances into less than 200yds, between 200 and 250 and between 250 and 300. Thankfully, even though this is the Internet and 300 is the new 250, nobody is foolish enough to say that their average drive is 300+! However, nearly half of the people responding to the poll claim that their average drive is over 250 yds. Seriously, people? I guess you don't count pop-ups, duck hooks, big bananas in the woods, worm burners, etc... in those averages, huh? If we had half the population of this site hitting over 250yds day in and day out, do you really think that the average numbers reported on the site for par 4, par 5 averages, etc... would match those of bogey golfers at best? What's the average handicap index on this site? Single digit? I don't think so. Unless of course a largely unrepresentative portion of oobgolf's population responded to the poll. I have no doubt that many folks here can hit that long on average. I just don't believe that half the people do. For reference, I track my distances with GPS, and it's between 215 and 220 yds on average, probably inching a bit higher now that I found a driver combination that gives me a lot more roll. Discuss...

I think it stems from not knowing what "average" means. My average drive is just under 260. The majority of my drives during a round are from 260-300 yards. Maybe a mishit here and there (or a tree) in the 240 range. My answer was an accurate cross section. My long for last season was 330 as measured by GPS, No cart path and a slight tail wind on a flat hole with a slightly elevated tee box. Would i ever hit that again? Sure someday. Would i ever factor it in to my "average" if someone asked me? No. Not even close. All that being said, i don't think i'm a good cross section of the entirety of OOBGOLF, but as a 4 handicap that's where my drives SHOULD be and it's very accurate. Would i believe that an 18 handicapper hits it that far. Yes i could believe that but it's an exception rather than the rule. I would also believe if you said "what is the average distance of your drives in the fairway" the answers would change a whole lot. Just because someone hits it far doesn't mean they hit it straight. I think most people have an inflated ego as to what they hit and the vast majority should be in that 200-250 range. but who knows -- 250-300 may have a bunch of 255yd averagers. Who are we to say.

birdieXris wrote:

My long for last season was 330 as measured by GPS, No cart path and a slight tail wind on a flat hole with a slightly elevated tee box. Would i ever hit that again? Sure someday. Would i ever factor it in to my "average" if someone asked me? No. Not even close.

But that's part of what an "average" is. You have to figure in the amazing shots with the duffs.

Quote:

I would also believe if you said "what is the average distance of your drives in the fairway" the answers would change a whole lot.

Yes, you are right. But my issue is that, if we were to measure this by pro standards, the majority of my 300+ yard drives end up *just* off of the fairway. So if we were to *just* include the ones in the fairway, my average would probably drop a bit. But I usually hit my driver pretty straight. Those shots that just miss the fairway are usually playable unless the rough is six inches long.

Quote:

but who knows -- 250-300 may have a bunch of 255yd averagers. Who are we to say.

Precisely.