How many times have you dialed in your yardage, selected what you thought was the perfect club and still came up short — leaving yourself a tricky lie to scramble and save par from?
If you’re like me, it has happened too many times to count. And often, the culprit is a common misconception among amateurs: not knowing the difference between carry and total distance — or not understanding how to use that information on the course.
Understanding the difference between these two data points — and the crucial role of carry yardages — can transform your game, helping you hit more greens and avoid costly mistakes on the course.
Carry vs. Total Distance
Put simply, carry distance is how far the ball flies in the air. Total distance is how far it travels overall, including any roll or bounce after landing. To calculate your carry number, launch monitors use relatively constant factors, such as swing speed, launch angle and quality of contact. Total distance, on the other hand, is determined by adding in dependent variables, or variables that can change from shot to shot, like slope, ground firmness or wind.
Stop focusing on the wrong numbers
Many amateurs obsess over total distance, but that can backfire during a round. Total yardage changes with course conditions.
For example, if you only know your 8‑iron’s total distance is about 142 yards, you might choose it for a 137‑yard front pin with trouble short, thinking it’s enough to get there. But, if your average carry is actually 135 yards, you risk coming up short if the ball doesn’t bounce or roll as expected.
Relying solely on total yardage also makes club selection trickier when adjusting for conditions like strong winds, firm and fast conditions and temperature change. By using your average carry yardages instead, you’ll have a consistent baseline to work from. Helping you make smarter decisions on the course.
How to find your carry yardages
As someone who, until recently, didn’t know their average carry distances, I can tell you it’s easier to figure out than you might think — especially if you have access to cutting-edge technology.
To determine my carry yardages, I used my Full Swing KIT Launch Monitor and focused specifically on my irons during a practice session. I started with my 9‑iron, hitting about 10 shots and noting both carry and total distance for each. Then I discarded the outliers — both mishits and those sneaky “perfect” shots that travel a few yards farther than normal. Once I had a consistent set of shots, I added up the carry distances, divided by the number of shots, and just like that, I had my average yardages.
After calculating my average carry distances, I managed to sneak in a few rounds before my local courses began winterizing, and I was pretty happy with my results. Equipped with this vital information, I had newfound confidence in my game. My course strategy was smarter, I made better club selections and, as a result, found myself second-guessing those decisions way less than usual, which translated to more pars on the scorecard.
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