It is natural when you are new to the game and want to know how far a beginner should hit a golf ball. Comparing yourself with others helps you realize your skill level, and you can easily set a target to reach in the future.
There is the fact that professional golfers hit a ball longer and faster than others. However, some recreational players can hit further than usual with the help of a nonconforming facility like the Polara golf balls.
If you search for the distance a beginner can take with a golf ball; you may receive many results and need more time to know which one you can trust. Don’t worry. I am here to help. I provided you with all the data and information from USGA and R&A below.
Key Takeaways:
- There is no specific limitation on the distance a beginner should hit a golf ball, as it depends on factors such as the golf club, golf ball, swing, and type of shot.
- The USGA distance insights in 2021 show that male beginners (21+ handicap) have an average driving distance of 176.6 yards, while female beginners (21+ handicap) have an average driving distance of 141.5 yards.
- The distance a beginner can hit depends on factors such as facilities brand, weather, loft, and the type of shot made.
- To measure the distance you can hit a golf ball, follow these steps: determine a target with a specific length, hit 10 shots with each club, measure the distance of each shot, and take note of the average distance of the 10 shots.
- To improve distance as a beginner, prepare suitable facilities, such as a distance golf ball, a low-spin and high-lofted driver, and new grip, and practice the right position when playing golf.
- The average distance a beginner can hit has increased over the past forty years (from 1980 to 2020) due to the development of multi-layer golf balls, golf clubs, and other facilities.
Table of Contents
How Far Should a Beginner Hit a Golf Ball?
Distance is not the only factor you need to get when playing golf. There are many more things like backspin, sidespin, consistency, etc. However, the easiest way for a beginner to improve his games is by calculating how far he can hit a golf ball and increasing this index.
In fact, there is no specific limitation for a distance that a newbie should hit. It depends on your golf club, golf ball, swing, and the kind of shot you make (fade, draw, putt, etc.). Obviously, all of us know that the longer the ball can fly, the better result you can have.
In the USGA distance insights in 2021, you can see the average driving distance that an amateur golfer can make. Not all amateurs are beginners, but almost all amateurs with more than 20 handicap digits are new to the game.
Therefore, I collected data from the USGA insights to show you the average driving distance of both female and male beginners below:
| Male Beginners (21+ handicap) | Female Beginners (21+ handicap) | |||||
| Driver | Average Distance (yards) | Longest Drive (yards) | Driver Usage | Average Distance (yards) | Longest Drive (yards) | Driver Usage |
| 176.6 ± 6.8 | 266.5 | 96.7% | 141.5 ±1.0 | 227.1 | 98% | |
These statistics in the table above are data combined from 2013 to 2019. More importantly, these indexes are used for reference. You can drive further or shorter depending on your skills and golf equipment.
How Far Should a Beginner Hit Each Golf Club?
As you can see from the information I provided above, the USGA reported the distance of amateur golfers when using a driver.
It is hard to find the statistics of other clubs on reliable websites. There are many ways to explain this. Most of all, we both know that each beginner does not have the same swing speed, skill, and even potential.
How far a newbie can hit with other clubs depends on many objective factors like the facilities brand, the weather, the loft, or even which kind of shot you choose to make. However, I found a distance chart on golfwrx.com – one of the biggest golf forums in the world.
A beginner typically swings from 60 to 80 Mph with a driver. You can base on these indexes to find the average distance you can reach when hitting a golf ball.
However, these statistics are not entirely accurate for every new player. Some can hit further, and some can not.
Generally, the distance that a beginner can hit is increasing throughout the past forty years (from 1980 to 2020). Thanks to the development of multi-layer golf balls, golf clubs, and other facilities, beginners can have better results than before.
How to Measure Your Golf Club’s Distance?
In my opinion, the best way to improve your distance in a golf game is by comparing yourself with your buddies. However, if all of you have the same level and you want to know your specific improvement, my advice is to measure your distance from each club.
There are many ways to know how far you can hit a golf ball. Below is a popular method that my friends and I usually do when we start playing golf for the first time.
- Step 1: Determining the target with a specific length
- Step 2: Hitting 10 shots with each club
- Step 3: Measuring the distance of each shot
- Step 4: Taking note of the average distance of 10 shots
If you want more detail, you should note both the longest and shortest distance you make with each golf club and compare these indexes with the next time.
However, some players will think these ways above are not accurate. Thanks to modern equipment in golf games, you can use digital measuring devices to know exactly how long your ball flight is and even what your swing speed is.
How to Improve Distance for a Beginner?
Improving distance is important for all golfers, not only beginners. All of us want our shots to go as far as possible to save time and easily end one round of golf with a good result.
However, hitting a golf ball straight and consistently is not easy for newbies. Below are some helpful tips to improve your distance that I gathered from my experiences and knowledge.
1. Preparing Suitable Facilities
A premium golf ball is good, but it may not help a beginner due to the unmatching swing speed and skills. You can feel it hard to control it and create more wayward shots that lead to wasting money and time.
Switching to a distance golf ball that is more affordable is a good idea in this case. It can help you get a better feeling off the tee and hit a further target easier if it matches your speed. It also saves more money, and you don’t need to feel guilty after each fault on the green.
Besides, the low-spin and high-lofted driver can help when you need to increase your distance. This kind of driver lowers the backspin and delivers you a higher launch on every shot.
Many newbies like using refurbished clubs. It can be fine if your grips are like new and don’t wear out too much. However, the best way is to use a new grip to create ideal conditions to improve distance.
2. Practicing the Right Position
You can not go to the course and hit the ball in every way you want. Playing golf is not that easy. The way you grab your grip, stand on the ground and move other parts of your body can affect the distance of your shots.
>> Read on: What Is a Strong Golf Grip? Benefits, Tips, and Everything You Need to Know
I provided all the details about the proper position when playing golf in my article how to hit a golf ball further. And you can refer to the video below for more information:
Final Thoughts
If you are a beginner and need to know how far you should hit your golf ball, I think you do not want to miss my article. I hope you can have a general view of the average distance you can have and set a target for yourself in the future.
What is your longest distance? What did you do to improve your results? Please share what you think with me in the comment box below. I will be happier if you share my information to discuss with your friends.
Thanks for reading!
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