Player Profiles - Stacey Lewis

Received this profile article on Stacey Lewis, a young lady who plays golf with a metal rod and 5 pins in her back to prevent the effects of scoliosis while still managing to make a professional career out of golf. Despite the physical impacts to her body, Stacey almost won the 2008 US Open, tied for third place at her first professional event.

She's had to overcome significant adversity, including going through LPGA Q School in 2009 due to winnings from the US Open not counting to the official money list. Getting through the difficulties that she's experienced through her life from a young age seems to have given her a great attitude that will help her along in her career as a golf pro.

Rule 26-1 Relief for Ball in Water Hazard

So what happens when you think you're ball's been lost in the water? With 17 holes of water on my home course it's almost a certainty that it's going to happen. Rule 26 covers the specifics of this, with taking relief from the Water Hazard covered by 26-1. If you want to play from the water hazard, that's covered under 26-2, but that's a topic for another time.

There's a couple of things you need to know about the whole water hazard deal. Firstly, this rule only applies if you know for sure that your ball has actually been lost in the water. If you don't know for a fact that your ball has gone into the water, then Rule 27-1 relating to lost balls applies.

The other thing you need to understand is where the water hazard is in relation to the hole. Where a water hazard isn't directly behind the hole, but instead running along side a fairway for example, the hazard is known as a lateral water hazard.

The lateral water hazard concept is important because it determines where you drop the ball. If the water hazard is directly behind the hole, you're allowed to drop the ball anywhere between where you initially struck the ball and where the ball began to cross over the water, provided it's along the same line. However, if you lose your ball to a lateral water hazard, you have to drop a ball within two club lengths of where the ball crossed over the water, and not any closer to the hole. Another option is to drop the ball on the opposite side of the lateral water hazard, as long as it's the same distance from the hole. In addition to dropping the ball, a one stroke penalty gets added to your score.

Here's an excerpt from the Rules of Golf Handbook:

Rule 26 - Water Hazards (Including Lateral Water Hazards)

26-1. Relief for Ball in Water Hazard

It is a question of fact whether a ball that has not been found after having been struck toward a water hazard is in the hazard. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that the ball is in the hazard. In the absence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must proceed under Rule 27-1.

If a ball is in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or

c. As additional options available only if the ball last cross the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

When proceed under this Rule, the player may lift and clean his ball or substitute a ball.

Interview with a Tiger

Heather from Real Women Golf has posted a great interview with Mr Woods. It's great seeing a side of him when he's off the course and it's worth watching if you have the time. You'll find it here at Heather's site.

Golf Equipment Specials Down Under - July 2009

There's a few specials on golf equipment floating around here in the land down under that I've noticed here and there from some of the major golf manufacturers. You pretty much have to be in a golf shop or reading one of the latest golf magazines to notice them so I've compiled a list of the ones I've seen for July. As I said, these are specials I've seen in Australia but I would imagine that other countries have something similar running as well.

Taylormade

Offer 1 - Buy an R9 Driver and R9 Fairway Wood to receive a Rescue free. If you choose the Tour Preferred line you'll be eligible for a Tour Preferred Rescue.

Offer 2 - Buy any set of current Taylormade irons (7 irons for men and 6 for women including any specialty wedges) and receive a Burner 09 Driver for free.

Callaway

Offer 1 - Buy a current model Callaway Driver (FT-9, Diablo, FT-iQ) and purchase an Odyssey White Hot Tour Putter for only $1.

Offer 2 - Buy a new 7 piece set of current Callaway irons (X-22, FT, X-Forged, Big Bertha Diablo Tour, Big Bertha) and receive two Callaway wedges for free.

Mizuno

Purchase a new complete set of Mizuno's Golf Digest Gold Award Irons (MP-67, MP-62, MP-52, MX-200, MX-100) and receive a new wedge for free.

Cleveland Golf

Purchase a Launcher Driver or a Hibore XLS Monster and receive a fairway wood for free.

Practicing Slowly with Less Balls

Like many of us I've been guilty of going to the driving range and hitting ball after ball, in the hopes of a mystical epiphany striking my golf swing from above and resolving all of my issues at once. I'm sorry to say that the miracle rarely happens and that God does not seem to want to fix my swing for me while I randomly belt balls down the driving range.

Just to validate this theory I wandered down to the local park with four golf clubs and 75 golf balls. Being the semi-dedicated family man I am I wanted to get back home before 7:30 am to greet everyone good morning as they awoke from their slumber. To do this, I would need to hit and recover as many of the 75 golf balls as possible, while simultaneously identifying and fixing the evil that plagued my golf swing, all in the space of 45 minutes.

Well, the lob wedge kept pulling left. The blade pitching wedge kept vibrating so badly that I could barely hold it as I watched balls travel a pitiful 50 meters. The 7 iron kept hitting the ground about a foot behind the ball. And I invented a few new swear words as I realised that I wasn't going to fix my swing problem, resulting in the 4 iron staying perfectly clean.

Oh, and Kerry was awake when I got home too.

Enter the new training philosophy that I attempted in the afternoon. Less balls, more thinking, plenty of time. Well, the time thing isn't quite true, but it was what I went down to the park thinking. I selected two clubs this time, just the pitching wedge and the 7 iron, which probably doesn't sound too different to what I had in the morning.

What was different was that I was going to approach this practice session with the intention of hitting more balls with the pitching wedge. It happens to be a 47 degree Mizuno MP-T blade, and without the aid of a golf coach, the two blades I have I have in my bag happen to provide the best if not occasionally painful feedback (they vibrate like hell when I don't hit them right). Once I had identified where I was going wrong, I figured that I should be able to transfer the fix to any club in my bag.

Most importantly, I was going to relax and take my time. I wasn't going to rush and hit a lot of balls. I was just going to hit a ball, take a step back, think about what was going on, and adjust what I needed to and hit the next ball the right way.

And so the session began, while one of my boys waited patiently for me from the monkey bars with his soccer ball, hoping that there would be sufficient light for us to kick the ball around after I'd finished my swearing session - I mean practice session. Toe hit, adjust swing. Fat shot, make sure wrist lag is happening. Ball hit too low on club face. Gees that hurt!!! Do it again. Yep, that definitely hurts like hell!

Ten minutes, ten balls, and I'd discovered what seemed to be the cause of the issue - I was hitting the ball too low on the club face. It's not something I always pick up with the rest of the clubs in my bag due to the fact that they're the more forgiving cavity backs. Another two swings and I figured out that the problem was being caused by a lack of weight transfer to my left side during the down swing.

Five more swings, no more pain. Just a nice solid feel and the sensation of the right weight transfer now ingrained into my thought process. Pull out the 7 iron to see if the problem is fixed and there you have it - a nice, solidly contacted ball travelling with the slightest of draws 155 meters away. Thank God the golf swing is essentially the same swing for all clubs - because he sure doesn't help me in any other part of this game!

20 balls and 30 minutes later, I seemed to have fixed the problem with my irons that I've had for the last two weeks. It didn't happen by hitting a lot of balls at the driving range, hoping that the problem would fix itself. In fact, if anything hitting a lot of balls without knowing what the cause of the problem was probably made the problem worse, ingraining the wrong swing into my thought process.

Interestingly, it was by slowing down and taking very deliberate swings with a lot less balls that helped me both identify what was going wrong and what I needed to do to fix it. And it happened in a lot less time than I would have thought, leaving me with a lot of extra sunlight to kick the ball around with Alex.

Golf Bag Review - Cleveland V14 Cart Bag

The Cleveland V14 Cart Bag has been carrying my clubs for about six months now. It replaced the an older model bag that Cleveland graciously exchanged for me free of charge after the rain cover zipper broke on my old bag and they couldn't get me a new cover. I have to admit that it wasn't exactly love at first sight when I received new bag.

The first thing I noticed about the bag is that it's a little different to the traditional cart bag. Whereas the traditional design is built around a cylinder with pockets built around the cylinder, the V14 Cart Bag has pockets that extend noticeably from both sides of the bag, giving it a very wide appearance. In addition to this, the bottom front pockets also extend a reasonable distance out from the cylindrical portion of the bag. Coupled with the 10 inch diameter tube that houses your clubs, it makes the bag seem quite large, although not quite in the realm of staff bags.

And it is a large bag, which has its advantages. One of my few pet hates when I'm out on the course is when I reach for an iron and find that three have come out with the club that I want. The 10 inch opening provides plenty of room to slide clubs in and out of the bag, even with the 14 full length dividers built in. Sliding any one of my clubs in and out of my bag has been a breeze, which is how the bag eventually won me over.

In addition to the 14 way opening at the top a putter well and umbrella holder are discretely built into the bag. The putter tube is integrated into the pockets on the right side of the bag hiding it completely from view. The umbrella sleeve is hidden to the rear of the bag and is designed to slide an umbrella quickly and easily in and out.

The V14 Cart Bag is also equipped with 10 separate pockets, most of which are convenient and easy to use. On the left side are three pockets, two smaller ones attached to a larger one. The two small pockets are useful for storing essentials you need to get your hands on quickly - tees, divot tools, brushes, and gloves all fit comfortably within the smaller pockets. The larger pocket extends the full length of the bag and is great for storing your bulky items such as a warm jacket for those cold or wet days.

I've found the pockets on the right side of the bag a little less useful. With one medium sized pocket sitting outside a larger pocket, you might think that any number of uses could be found. However, the putter tube runs straight through the middle of one, restricting the items that can be carried within the pockets to smaller, more malleable things. Personally, I leave the bag's rain cover in the larger pocket and a spare towel in the medium sized pocket.

The remaining five pockets are located to the front of the bag. The top pocket is lined with a soft material no doubt designed to protect valuables. In fact, it actually comes with a few unseen extras hidden within the pocket - an elastic tied fixed to the rear of the pocket designed to securely hold a mobile phone and a separate pouch to hold your sunglasses.

At the bottom of the bag is a large pouch type pocket which is ideal for storing a large number of golf balls or anything else you can think of. The last three pockets are relatively small, good for carrying small items such as tees or small booklets. Two of the three remaining pockets are lined with water proof material. You could mistake the water proof pockets as being of the insulated type designed to keep things cool. However trying to get anything of a slightly reasonable size into them is near impossible.

As well as a shoulder strap which can be held securely against the bag via an elastic strap to stop it from hanging down, the V14 comes with three carry handles. The main handle is mounted to the rear of the bag and underneath the shoulder strap. In addition, handles on the left and right of the bag are located to easily pick up the bag and mount it onto a golf cart. However these handles aren't really accessible when the rain cover is on. Also, for those of us that prefer to use a pull or push buggy, another discrete handle is located at the bottom of the bag to help pick up the bag and lay it down on to a buggy.

When it comes down to it, Cleveland's V14 Cart Bag sits on the high end of the bags that don't fall into the staff bag category. It's big, bold, and roomy, capable of carrying pretty much everything you could need onto a golf course. My main criticisms of the V14 lie in the fact there's no insulated pocket capable of keeping food cool or carrying a water bottle built into it. It's also on the heavy side, however that's to be expected for a bag of its side. There's also a lack of colours to choose from, being white and pink for the ladies, navy blue for the men, and a unisex black. These minor points aside, the V14 is a great bag to keep together your golfing gear.

Rule 27-1 Ball Lost or Out of Bounds

Ever hit a ball out of bounds? Perhaps you've seen your ball disappear into the rough and not been able to find it.

According Rule 27-1 you have 5 minutes to locate your lost ball. If you're unable to find your ball or happen to find your ball out of bounds, you have to proceed and the "stroke and distance" penalty - ie, play your ball pretty much from the original spot you hit your previous shot and add a penalty stroke in addition to your original and subsequent shot.

Here's an excerpt from the Rules of Golf handbook:

Rule 27 - Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball

27.1. Stroke and Distance; Ball out of Bounds; Ball Not Found Within Five Minutes

a. Proceeding Under Stroke and Distance

At any time, a player may, under penalty of one stroke, play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5), ie. proceed under penalty of stroke and distance.

Except as otherwise provided in the Rules, if a player makes a stroke at a ball from the spot at which the original ball was last played, he is deemed to have proceeded under penalty of stroke and distance.

b. Ball out of Bounds

If a ball is out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5).

c. Ball Not Found Within Five Minutes

If a ball is lost as a result of not being found or identified as his by the player within five minutes after the player's side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5).

Golf Club Design - The Shape of a Wood

If there's a club in your bag that's going to receive a bunch of technology it's going to be your driver. With a larger frame to work with golf club manufacturers are able to manipulate the size, shape and materials that go into them. And with fairway woods and hybrid club heads effectively being downsized driver heads, the technology used in the glamour club of the bug flows down to its smaller siblings.

Over the last few years a lot of work has gone into how best to make a clubhead optimised for distance and forgiveness. These developments have resulted in changes to how the clubhead on the end of a driver, fairway wood, or hybrid actually looks. In fact, there are so many shapes out there that choosing the right one for you can be downright confusing. To understand which shape might be the best shape for you, it helps to understand a bit of the physics that impact the humble golf club.

Center of Gravity

The center of gravity of a golf club is the point at which the mass of the entire golf club seems to act through. If a golf ball were struck precisely where the center of gravity was on the face of a wood or hybrid you won't experience any twisting whatsoever, either horizontally or vertically.

If you do happen to strike the ball away from the center of gravity you'll find that the club head will experience some twisting. This can happen both in the horizontal plane which will serve to add side spin, and in the vertical plane, which will impact the amount of back spin imparted to a ball.

Gear Effect

What happens to the head of a wood or hybrid differs fairly significantly to an iron, mainly because the center of gravity in a wood is deeper. When an iron strikes a ball off center, the tendency is for the ball top simply push the iron back. In the case of a wood, because the center of gravity is deeper, the rotation of the wood actually causes the ball to move along the face of the club.

Because the ball is compressed at impact, instead of merely sliding along the face, spin opposite to the rotation of the club head is imparted. The picture on the left shows which way the ball is likely to spin depending on where you hit it on the face of the club.

The impact of side spin is fairly obvious. Hitting the toe or heel of the driver may result in your ball ending up on somewhere you didn't expect it to land. However equally important is whether you hit the ball high or low relative to the center of gravity. Hitting above the center of gravity will reduce the amount of backspin which is important for fast swingers. Too much spin on a fast moving ball will cause too much lift and drag to be generated, causing a ballooning effect that robs players of distance.

Moment of Inertia

The moment of inertia (MOI) is a term used to express an object's resistance to turning or twisting. As I've already mentioned, a wood or hybrid can potentially twist, left or right, as well as up and down.

The way to increase the moment of inertia on anything is to increase the weight (technically mass) behind the point of impact. By doing this, the momentum of that particular point, being the tendency of the object to continue moving in its current direction, is higher. It means that when something comes in front of that particular point, the extra momentum helps to push through the resistance felt by the object in front of it.

The other method of increasing the MOI is to move the center of gravity deep behind the club face. While this can be done to a limited degree in an iron the shape of a wood or hybrid lends itself to being manipulated to shift the center of gravity around significantly. By using different materials and changing the shape of the club, the center of gravity within the club head can be shifted fairly significantly.

Pushing the center of gravity deeper causes the point at which the club twists to be further back than the face. This decreases the lever effect that a non-centered strike on the face of the club will have. Less force means less twisting in any axis, helping the face of the club retain its original line.

There are limitations though, to what golf club manufacturers can do. Too much weight in the club head has an impact on a person's ability to swing it quickly. There's also a volume limitation - how large a clubhead can be. To overcome these limitations and maximise the MOI, club manufacturers have turned towards manipulating the shape of the wood and hybrid heads.

Different Clubhead Shapes

Below is a list of the most common shapes found in drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids. At the end of the day, they're all trying to achieve a similar end goal - increase the MOI to reduce the impacts of an off center strike, while balancing the workability traits that some of the better players are looking for.

Traditional or Pear Shape Clubheads

The traditional or pear shape designed clubheads are what many people find the most attractive and aesthetically pleasing. The simplicity in the shape helps to inspire confidence with many golfers.

Being the narrowest in design from front to back and built with a rounded head shape the traditional shaped head tends to have the center of gravity closer and higher in the clubhead than other designs. This makes them less forgiving for those that struggle with striking the ball in the right position, being slightly above the center of the club face. However for the better player the traditional shape provides the most workability.

Square Shape Clubheads

The square shaped head pushes out both volume and weight to the corner extremities of the clubhead, significantly increasing the MOI and reducing the impact of a toe or heel strike. From reviews I've read about square shaped drivers, this shape seems to have the highest of the MOIs, producing the straightest flight of any of the shapes. In fact, Tiger Woods has even been quoted as saying that certain square drivers are too straight, not allowing him to shape shots.

If there's a downside it would have to be the radical appearance. It's just really, really different at address, and this difference to the traditional look can impact a person's confidence. I've also read that certain iterations of this driver aren't as long as some of the other drivers on the market when struck in the center. However I believe this problem is mainly with the first generation of square head drivers. Later versions appear to have improvements in materials which keeps the square shaped driver competitive when it comes to distance.

Triangular Shaped Clubheads

The triangular shaped clubhead pushes out the volume to the back, moving the center of gravity rearward. The deep center of gravity serves to increase the radius of any twisting, effectively limiting the amount of twisting that can occur and thereby increasing the clubhead's MOI. A triangular shaped clubhead will possess a significantly higher MOI than a traditionally shaped clubhead, although not as mcuh as one which is square.

Despite not having the higher MOI of the square shaped clubhead, the triangle shape does possess some advantages. The lower MOI means that the triangle clubhead retains an element of workability. And despite being noticeably difference in appearance, the triangle shape isn't too dissimilar to the traditional shape.

Bullet Shaped Clubheads

The bullet shaped clubhead approaches the MOI equation by combining the characteristics of all three shapes. The clubhead at the extremities is pushed out to achieve some of the benefits that the square clubhead shape achieves. However, at the rear the clubhead takes on a more rounded and elongated appearance, extending the center of gravity rearward, similar to the triangular clubhead but without taking on the pointy shape.

The main benefit of this particular shape is that it increases the MOI while retaining a look that's similar to a traditionally shaped clubhead. At address it looks like a traditional clubhead that has been stretched.

Scooped Back Clubheads

One of the other features that has now been incorporated into many modern clubhead shapes is the introduction of a more scooped back design. This is where the volume of the top of the club is removed and repositioned further and lower to the rear of the club. The benefit of this is that it works to lower the center of gravity, helping to launch the ball higher while simultaneously reducing backspin.

The scooped back design can and is being integrated into a variety of clubhead shapes. Cleveland Golf, the pioneer of this design, have used this feature in their Hibore line of products for many years. The Hibore's development over the years has seen the shape of the product line transition from the traditional shape to most recently a bullet shaped clubhead.

Other club manufacturers such as Mizuno have begun to incorporate it into some of their newer product lines such as in the MX-700 Hybrid.

Some Final Thoughts

Despite all the weird and wonderful shapes that exist out on the market the key thing to remember is that for all intensive purposes, they're trying to do the same thing. What's really important when you're looking at a new driver, fairway wood, or hybrid is to keep in mind what it is want and need out of a club.

Are you a fast swinger? If you are, you'll probably want a low spin, high launch driver where the center of gravity has been lowered to minimise a ballooning ball flight. If you're not, you'll still want the higher launch to get the ball in the air, but you'll also want to have the ball spin some more to generate some additional lift to keep the ball in the air longer.

Do you hit the center of the face regularly? If you do, than having a club with an extremely high MOI isn't going to help you all that much. However if you find that you're hitting off the heel or toe a lot a clubhead which features an extremely high MOI might be exactly what you need.

And finally, there's the question of how the clubhead looks to you. A club that you like the look of is going to be one that inspires confidence. There's not much point playing a square headed driver if you think it's so ugly that there's no possible way you could hit it.

Distance versus Placement

I happened to play off the championship tees the other day, making the course length 6,424 meters or 7,025 yards. Having only every played off the black tees once before and scoring horrendously on the day, I have to confess that I was a little nervous at taking the challenge again. To make matters worse, I had planned to leave the driver in my bag as much as possible and rely on my 3 wood off the tee to avoid the penalty that a course with 17 holes of water can impart on a game.

Well, my score not withstanding, the length of the course wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be. My 3 wood kept me out of the water and instead of using one of my wedges to approach the green, I had to rely on my mid-irons and hybrid. It wasn't anywhere near as traumatic as I thought it would be and it led me to question how I've been approaching the game.

Bomb and Gouge is the popular name given to today's distance or power game. Bomb the ball off the tee with your driver as far as you can. Then use a short iron to get near the pin. If you're in the rough, gouge it out with today's wedges, using specialised grooves that channel out the dirt and grass still allowing the ball to spin to a quick stop on the green. It's the sort of game that players like Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes play.

On the other side of the coin is the Position and Placement game. Commonly associated with course management and strategy this game is all about landing the ball on the fairway in the ideal position to approach the green from. Avoiding the penalty of the rough, trees and water is the aim of the game.

To date I've focused on the Bomb and Gouge approach. Playing mainly off the non-championship tees a good drive generally gets me within a gap or sand wedge shot to the green on the majority of holes. The problem is that in the last twelve months I've struggled to get my driver working. With 17 holes of water my home course, the Colonial Golf Course punishes wayward drives quite severely.

It's only been recently that I've started switching to my 3-wood off the tee, mainly to save on the cost of replacement golf balls. Of course with the added accuracy of the higher lofted club I've been hitting more fairways and scoring in the low 40s on average for 9 holes versus the high 40s that I've been achieving when my driver gets pulled out of the bag.

Despite lower scores I haven't made the switch to the Position and Placement style of play. The main reason is due to pride and peer pressure - that and the fact that there are few things more satisfying than nailing a driver straight down a fairway. The other reason is that when my driver is on song, I can hit a reasonable distance making my approach to the green that much easier. It's made the decision on what style of game to focus on just a bit more difficult.

At the end of the day, if you can do it, it makes sense to be able to play both styles of the game. Jack Nicklaus is a great example of a champion that was able to do this. Preferring to play a conservative game he tended to pull out the driver only when the right opportunity presented itself. However, you do have to wonder that if the 460cc driver had been present in his prime, if the Bear would have switched to a power game.

I will say that I believe that learning to play Position and Placement style golf is easier to get better at than relying solely on the power game. It's certainly a side of the game that I've only been paying lip service to until recently. And I'm sure that the power game is something that a lot of high handicappers focus on.

The Bomb and Gouge approach is also something that is encouraged by golf's commercial world. Showing pros smashing the ball down the fairway to get it close to the green is actually a great way for companies to make money. For the TV networks and sponsors, the 300 plus yard drives makes for entertaining viewing, especially when one of the bombs doesn't come off quite as planned. For the equipment manufacturers, having someone launch the their balls with a driver over 300 yards helps sell their wares.

The question is, does it send the wrong message to the average golfer out there?

The truth of the matter, at least in my case, is that hitting a green from 190 meters out with a well struck 4 iron is every bit as satisfying as a good drive off the tee. And I'm likely to be able to hit shorter shafted club with a bit of weight to slow my swing down far more accurately and consistently than a driver.

So I'm going to make the switch, for now anyway, and focus on position and placement. I'll keep the driver in my bag except on those occasions where I can afford to make a mistake - wide fairways and minimal water. Just like I did the other day when I was playing off the championship tees. The irony of that particular day was that on the two occasions I did end up pulling the Hibore XL out, the damn thing went dead straight, 250 meters onto the middle of the fairway.

Knowing Your Distances

Recently I discovered that one of the young ladies in my office has an enormous passion for the game of golf. Tracey has, in fact, only taken up the game very recently. However she is incredibly keen to become a competent player, citing how much fun the game is to play.

Our conversations have eventurally come around to the age old beginner's question. Tracey told me she could now hit her driver 110 meters and was wondering if that was any good. Having had only one lesson and being of a rather petite stature I provided her with some encouragement on her distance. I also mentioned that everyone hits clubs different distances and what was more important was being consistent with how far you hit a ball - and of course being straight.

We all obviously want to be able to hit as far as we can. However there are a number of factors that impact the distance we hit:

• Your Physical Build - Someone with a big build has an immediate advantage over someone who with a small build. Extra height and length in their arms means that they have a larger swinging arc - adding speed to the club head, provided they have the right technique of course.
• Strength - While we're all told not to "muscle" a shot, having strength gives someone the ability to control a shot much better while they're swinging fast over someone who isn't quite as strong.
• Your Club - Not all clubs are equal. The lofts of a 6 iron in one set can be different to that of another set. A stronger loft will mean more distance. Beginner or game improvement sets will generally have stronger lofts to help you in the distance stakes.
• Your Technique - Obviously as you get better at your game, your swing becomes more efficient and you start hitting the ball more in the center of the club with more power.

As a really, really rough guide, I've done compiled what appear to be average distances for clubs in yards and meters for players of different levels.

At the end of the day, being able to hit far is great, as long as you can get it to go where you need it to go. If you hit a long way into the trees or into the water and end up dropping a few shots to get to the green, you're really no better off than someone who needs an extra shot to get to the green because they're a short hitter. But if you know how far you can hit and you know the distance to the pin, something easily done in this day of handheld GPS devices, you can put your ball next to the pin a lot of the time.