WOW..We did NOT expect these figures when we heard there was a report to show the arccos distance report, based on over 20 million driver shots. The data showed that the handicap golfers have lost distance in recent years and you won’t believe by how much!!
We all know that golfers want to hit their driver longer, hit their driver straighter, hit their driver on the up, add distance with their driver, add distance with driver… you know the drill. There has been a lot of golf coaching and golf technology over the years that have helped golfers hit the golf ball longer with driver, however, you will not believe these stats about how far golfers actually hit the golf ball
In this breaking news golf video and golf news we go into these stats that cover mid handicap, low handicap and high handicap driver figures. You honestly won’t believe it.
The in-depth report shows driving distances for men and women of various ages and skill levels, and lower handicappers continue to drive it longer as skill trumps age – to a degree. The report can be found here: https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/data-shows-how-driving-distance-in-amateur-game-has-actually-decreased
We all know the big hitters include the likes of Bryson, Rory McIlroy, Mike Austin, adam scott, Rickie fowler. Some of these golfers play on the liv golf tour, pga tour, dp world tour.
This is breaking golf news and golf news stories!
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36 Comments
How do you compare?? Are you up in the average distance or above the average driving distance?
Good conversation chaps. I’m above (slightly) to the data for my age. I’ve always struggled with driver and I currently play off 8.7. I’ve had driving lessons and they never helped. Personally I believe the quality of the lessons isn’t good enough. Are you free for a lesson if you want a challenge? Have a great weekend all. 👍😀😀
Good god, a lot of quibbling over 0.5 yards difference between the first and last years…..unless the data is broken down into number of contributors, age, handicap, as well as when rounds were played, weather, etc etc, then that is essentially no difference.
1/4/2023😂
Yeah I think it's because a lot of new people have started since covid and aren't getting any tuition bringing the average down, the top end will be getting tuition/no longer need it. I only started last year but haven't had any lessons. I know my distance is short due to technique and timing not my strength or equipment. Not sure why I haven't, maybe its like asking for directions when you are lost, nobody wants to do it. Also some coaches seem unapproachable/ old website.
My guess… more of new golfers have entered comparing to before. So when the new coming they are not so skillful yet so the avg has been pulled down.
Driver distance just shows you how fit the professional tour players are. Average players are getting shorter as forgiveness increases as strike is no longer at a premium, more importantly look at the number of new golfers and the increase in people returning to golf
I don't find the data shocking. It's a .5 yard difference over 6 years which is nothing. As far as equipment goes, i saw a comparison video on the sim and m2 driver and there was nothing in it really distance wise. Plus i doubt most golfers have got a new driver since 2016.
How many people actually hitting the new technology my drive still ping i15 new stuff very expensive.
You have to be careful when using stats. – they can be presented/interpreted to suit multiple arguments. The age brackets cover 9 years, so a 60y.o in 2018, is 4 years older in 2022, but in the same age bracket. -= shorter drives, for that bracket. If the demographic of golf players is aging, ie; not enough" late 50"y.olds are moving into the 60-69 bracket, by 2022, you will get shorter drive data.
I’m a 60 yr old 9 handicap Golfer. I average about 230 off the tee. I’ve seen many changes over the years to both equipment and balls. My first set of irons were a set of Johnny Miller 1964 Blades, which if you looked at them now, would terrify even the great Tiger Woods!!! But remember, the golf ball was smaller back then. You had two types of balls, one that was hard feeling, spun low and went far and a softer ball which didn’t go as far but gave you more control, especially into the Green. While changing the golf ball will affect the spin for shorter drives, it will give the pro’s more control into the green. There is more to the game of golf than hitting a long drive. I Remember my old pro saying to me that it was Driving for show and Putting for Dough!!
Disclaimer about Arccos Driving Distance: The Driving Distances is the measured average on all Par4s and Par5s with ANY club.
So it depends a lot on the course you play and the tactics you choose too.
I use arccos.
Eg my average Driving distance is 205m (225y) which would be below the average but my average Driver distance is 262m (287y).
Arccos should bring the statistics with Driver only to compare.
can you do 3 wood off tee ? I hit 3 wood 210 yards Driver around 180 68 years old find the woods easier to hit.
My Big Berther Driver still out Drives my mates Modern drivers 😂😂😂😂😂
Most likely that during covid and generally the age profile of golfers has gone up. So the average distance is going down. At my club 80% of golfers are 60+ and this has increased over the last 5yrs with more people retiring early including myself. Just a suggestion.
is this the average of ALL drives or with the exceptionally bad and good removed? Makes a big difference. Amateurs hit a lot of very bad drives (topped, sliced,skyed)
It’s not hard to work out – the golfers are getting older !
I'm a 24h/c and hit driver 14 out of 18 holes. There is a +5 handicapper at our club he only hits driver maybe 4 holes he values position over distance.
At 60+ age group thankfully I am 'above average' for driving distance. That said I have also seen drop-off in driving distance and I feel it started in circa 2015 and couldn't pin down the reason and hence had to accept 'age' as the factor….. Then I tested a new 'premium' ball against three new (still in wrappers) Tour 100's and three new Maxfli Tour 90's, the result shocked me…… two of the new 'premium' 2022 balls were the shortest and the Tour 100's were the longest three! Conclusion – the current golf ball has already been 'rolled-back' for average golfer. Bring back the Tour Balata (or equivalent) and standardise that for all levels to negate overall distance with a reward for skill (shot shaping), it makes the game far more fun!!
If Arcos measures from where you hit your next shot from these are therefore full roll out figures? If so, your dad is way above average.
To be honest these are the kind of distances I see on the golf course as opposed to the distances I hear about in the clubhouse. DP World Tour Q school came to my club and watching them showed people how far a 300 yard carry really is!
I drive between 250-310y. I think more people are playing golf who are new. +6 handicap.
People is only getting older…
Sitting at a 5hdcp I have been driving on avg 255 (trackman carry) with a 9 degree setting. I moved the setting to 12 degrees recently and gained on avg 17 yds of carry.
I like that this was actually brought up in the video.
I suggest tinkering with driver settings as much as possible to get the greatest distance and accuracy. Don't follow what the Pros golfers do. They win championships and duff around.
I hate the person people's bubbles but the way you get distance is compressing the ball so if you do not have a shaft that is matched with our so-called Advanced heads you will not get any pop to compress the ball that is why everybody swings forged irons cuz they actually have mass and that mass compresses the ball if we actually had heavier drivers we would compress the ball easier and we would be able to get the distance
They tried to teach you to compress the ball to swing speed but in all actuality if you could compress the ball with a heavier driver without swinging fast you probably be more accurate
I am 75yrs young and hit my drives a average of 220yds to 230yys happy with that
Low spin and longer shafts. Less center contact, less forgiveness and lower carry especially on toe shots.
The manufacturers have gone down the distance route and maxed out long ago. Even though they managed to pull the wool over us mere mortals eyes for a few extra years beyond this, they now realise that we have woken up to this fact and they can’t sell us on their distance guff anymore. So now they are focussing on exploring the forgiveness dynamic of the driver to use this as a selling point to us mere mortals which has been to the detriment of distance (1 yard?). In 5-10 years when they have explored the forgiveness route and maxed this out and coupled with maintaining max speed we may be at a point of the best of both worlds. Once we reach this point and us mere mortals come to this realisation, what guff will the manufacturers try and spin us to sell us their new driver?
There is a small increase for both men and women in 2020. Was that a drier year then normal making courses firmer? Covid brought a lot of new golfers to the game and they do not hit the ball as far due to technique and strike. Lots of factors when it comes to distance.
Alex, golf added millions of new golfers during COVID. Could this be a reason why driving distance has lagged behind technology?
I am a 76 year old 18 handicap and I only hit it about 160…I AM NOT VERY HAPPY!!
I think the reason for the decline in driving distance is that more older golfers are able to play longer. These aging players are lowering the average drive length of the whole group.
Tech doesn’t fix your swing.
The total distance variables are less than 1%. That’s not golfers hitting less…. That’s just stat variance. Plus, arccos is expanding its user base that this is most likely the main reason for the subtle differences.
Lessons where I live in Ontario Canada cost anywhere between $50 to $100 per hour. A round of golf is about $75 dollars. I have had lessons but I can’t afford them anymore. Golf only now. I don’t have as much time to work out as I used to. These three things combined are why we don’t hit is a fa.
Guy Canada 🇨🇦
OK, just chiming in here with my two cents' worth:
1. The arccos data you're looking at isn't for the driver club itself, it's overall driving distance averages. This DOES INCLUDE every shot hit on par 4's and par 5's. I certainly can't speak for everyone, but the courses i frequent tend to have a few of those holes that are doglegs, or layups, etc. that will affect this stat. For example: my driver is good for a "smart average" of about 260 yards. But my arccos "driving distance average" is a paltry 248. That's because of the numerous occasions where i'm not hitting driver (and for what it's worth, i'm 52 years old and hover around a 3 handicap).
2. This ball rollback thing, from what i've read, is ONLY for the professionals. That's significant. The pros are doing this for a living, and, in my opinion, the tech has ALLOWED them to swing very hard at the ball and get away with slight mishits. Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead back in the day, and even Hogan, were swinging it about as hard as the pros today. So were others. But these guys stood out because their precision to hit inferior equipment very hard and powerfully in the center gave them longer averages, and increased their chances to win tournaments. I think it's a bit of natural talent and training to be able to make decent contact with the ball at such high speeds, but tech is likely making guys look good when perhaps they aren't.
3. This is strictly my opnion, but the pandemic has introduced a LOT of new (or at least, more frequent) golfers to the game. I would assume this alone would increase the volume of the data pool, and very likely bring averages down.
4. I'm not so sure i'd include 5 handicaps and better as "elite" — i'm a 3 handicap, and while i can certainly hit fairways all day long, i'm not long enough to put myself into birdie situations regularly on longer courses. 6200 yards is a good feel for me for a maximum, but 6500 yards and up i start to feel it. I think a lot of guys that are low digit handicappers are similar. I always thought the "elite" amateurs were the guys that were +1 or better, and could tackle these longer courses – that is, be a threat to make birdies from just about anywhere. So yes, a +1 that drives the ball 240 is NOT elite, where a +1 that drives the ball 270 or better (i'm talking driver distance here) is certainly what i'd call elite. That just my own personal opinion, nothing offical about that 🙂
I'm just throwing this in here as part of the discussion. I like your vids very much, keep it up!