Most golfers can remember the occasional seven-iron that travelled much further than expected. The problem is that your best-ever shot is not the number you need when deciding which club to hit over a bunker, onto a raised green or into a headwind.
What matters on the golf course is your dependable carry distance. A TrackMan golf club gapping session can measure that distance throughout your bag, helping you make more confident decisions and identify where your current set may be leaving you with unnecessary gaps.
What Is a Golf Club Gapping Session?
A golf club gapping session measures how far each club in your bag travels. You hit a series of shots while TrackMan records the flight and performance of the golf ball.
This provides a far more accurate picture than relying on estimates, driving-range markers or the distances printed on a simulator after one particularly good strike. The objective is to establish realistic numbers based on the shots you regularly produce.
At the end of the session, you should have a much clearer understanding of your carry distances and how effectively the clubs in your bag work together.
Carry Distance vs Total Distance
Carry distance is how far the ball travels through the air before landing. Total distance includes everything that happens afterwards, including the bounce and roll.
Total distance can change considerably depending on the weather, ground conditions, landing area and the type of shot being played. Carry distance is generally the more dependable number when choosing a club for an approach shot or deciding whether you can clear a hazard.
If your seven-iron carries 145 yards but occasionally finishes at 155 after bouncing and rolling, treating it as a 155-yard club could leave you short when the ground is soft or the shot needs to stop quickly.
Knowing both figures is useful, but understanding your reliable carry distance is particularly important.
Why Estimated Golf Club Distances Can Be Misleading
Many golfers base their club distances on a mixture of memory, guesswork and their best shots. Unfortunately, those numbers do not always reflect what happens during a normal round.
You may remember hitting a pitching wedge 125 yards on a warm summer day with a following wind. That does not necessarily mean it is the correct club for a 125-yard carry over water in cooler conditions.
Range balls can also perform differently from the golf balls you use on the course. Distance markers may not always be exact, and it can be difficult to judge where the ball first landed when practising outdoors.
TrackMan provides measured information for each shot, making it easier to separate your normal performance from the occasional exception.
What TrackMan Measures During a Gapping Session
TrackMan follows the golf ball from impact and records detailed information about its flight. This allows our PGA Professionals to look beyond the final distance and understand how consistently each club performs.
Depending on the session and club being tested, the information can include:
- Carry distance
- Total distance
- Ball speed
- Launch angle
- Spin rate
- Peak height
- Landing angle
- Shot direction
- Dispersion
The most important figure will not always be the longest shot. A club that produces a consistent carry distance across several strikes may be more useful than one that occasionally travels further but varies considerably from shot to shot.
Are the Gaps Between Your Clubs Consistent?
Golf club lofts do not automatically produce perfectly even distance gaps. The actual result depends on your swing speed, strike, launch conditions and how well you hit each club.
You may find that your eight and nine-irons have a sensible gap, while your five and six-irons travel almost the same distance. This is common when golfers begin to struggle to generate enough speed or height with their longer irons.
Problems can also appear between your longest iron and shortest hybrid, between your fairway woods or at the bottom of the bag between your pitching wedge and specialist wedges.
A golf club gapping session identifies these overlaps and larger gaps, allowing you to make more informed decisions about the composition of your set.
Why Do Two Golf Clubs Travel the Same Distance?
Two clubs can travel a similar distance for several reasons. The lofts may be closer than expected, one club may be poorly suited to your swing or you may not launch the longer club effectively enough to gain additional carry.
For example, a golfer may hit a five-iron and six-iron almost the same distance because the five-iron launches too low and is more difficult to strike consistently. Replacing it with a more forgiving hybrid could create a clearer gap and provide a club that is easier to use from the fairway or rough.
TrackMan helps demonstrate what is happening rather than leaving you to guess based on how the shot looked or felt.
Checking the Top End of Your Golf Bag
The top end of the bag is where some of the largest and least practical gaps can appear. A golfer may carry a driver, three-wood and hybrid without knowing whether each club provides a genuinely different distance.
Some players also hit their three-wood only slightly further than their hybrid, particularly when playing from the ground. In that situation, a different loft or club configuration may provide a more useful option.
A gapping session can help establish how your driver, fairway woods, hybrids and longest irons fit together. It may confirm that your current setup works well or highlight an opportunity to make the bag more effective.
Checking Your Wedge Distances
The bottom of the golf bag is equally important because this is where many scoring shots are played. Large gaps between your pitching wedge, gap wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge can make shorter approach shots unnecessarily difficult.
Modern iron sets can have relatively strong lofts, which may create a bigger distance difference between the pitching wedge and the first specialist wedge. You might also carry two wedges that produce very similar full-shot distances.
Knowing your full-swing and controlled wedge distances gives you more options from inside 100 yards. It also helps you understand whether the lofts in your current wedge setup are properly spaced.
A Gapping Session Does Not Mean Replacing Everything
One of the most useful outcomes from a TrackMan gapping session may be confirmation that most of your current clubs are performing exactly as required.
You do not need to replace your complete set simply because one gap needs attention. The answer might be removing a club that duplicates another, introducing a hybrid, adjusting the loft of a suitable club or changing the wedge configuration.
The purpose is to understand your equipment before deciding whether anything needs to change. This gives you a clearer reason for every club you carry.
Can Your Golf Club Distances Change?
Your golf club distances are not fixed permanently. Changes in technique, strength, flexibility, swing speed or strike quality can alter how far the ball travels.
Golfers who have recently taken lessons may find that improved contact has changed the distances throughout the bag. Similarly, returning golfers and players recovering from an injury may discover that the numbers they previously relied on are no longer accurate.
Equipment changes can also affect your gaps. Replacing one part of the set without checking how it fits alongside the remaining clubs can create an unexpected overlap or leave an important distance uncovered.
How Knowing Your Distances Helps on the Course
Accurate distance information removes some of the uncertainty from club selection. You still need to account for wind, temperature, elevation and ground conditions, but you begin the decision with a much more reliable number.
Knowing that a club normally carries 145 yards is more useful than believing it travels somewhere between 140 and 160. It allows you to choose clubs based on the shot in front of you rather than the distance achieved by your best-ever strike.
Better information does not guarantee a perfect shot. It does, however, give a well-struck shot a better chance of finishing at the correct distance.
Golf Club Gapping for Higher-Handicap Golfers
You do not need a completely repeatable swing before booking a gapping session. TrackMan can identify patterns across a selection of shots rather than treating every strike as though it must be identical.
Higher-handicap golfers may discover that certain clubs are particularly difficult to launch or produce a much wider range of distances. This information can help simplify the bag and identify equipment that offers greater consistency.
The session can also provide realistic expectations. Knowing your normal carry distance makes it easier to choose enough club rather than continually selecting a club based on the perfect shot.
Should Beginners Have a Golf Club Gapping Session?
Complete beginners may benefit from developing a reasonably consistent strike before measuring every club in detail. However, a developing golfer does not need to wait until they reach a low handicap. Once you are playing regularly and beginning to make more consistent contact, a gapping session can provide valuable information about your game. It can also prevent you from purchasing additional clubs that duplicate something already in your bag.
Our PGA Professionals can advise whether a gapping session, golf lesson or custom fitting would be the most useful next step for your current ability.
Gapping Sessions and Custom Golf Club Fitting
A gapping session assesses how your existing clubs work together. Custom golf club fitting is used to compare potential new equipment and find specifications suited to your swing.
The two services naturally complement each other. A gapping session may identify a problem area, while a custom fitting can explore the most suitable way to address it.
For example, TrackMan may show that your longest iron does not travel meaningfully further than the club below it. A custom fitting could then compare hybrids, utility irons or more forgiving alternatives to establish which option fills the gap most effectively.
Find out more about custom golf club fitting at Matlock Golf Club.
TrackMan Gapping Sessions in Derbyshire
At Matlock Golf Club, we use TrackMan technology to help golfers understand their distances and make more informed decisions about their equipment.
Our PGA Professionals can interpret the data, explain what the figures mean and identify any significant gaps or overlaps within your current set. The service is available to Matlock Golf Club members and visiting golfers. Located in Matlock, we are conveniently placed for golfers travelling from Chesterfield, Bakewell, the Peak District and across Derbyshire.
Book a Golf Club Gapping Session
If you are unsure how far your clubs really carry, a TrackMan gapping session can replace estimates with reliable information from your own shots. Bring your current clubs and the golf balls you normally use, where possible. Our professional team can measure your distances, assess how the set works together and help you understand the results.
Call 01629 584934 (option 2) between 8am and 3pm or email [email protected] to discuss booking a TrackMan gapping session at Matlock Golf Club.
Frequently Asked Questions About Golf Club Gapping
What is a golf club gapping session?
A golf club gapping session measures how far the clubs in your current set travel. TrackMan records a series of shots with each club to establish your carry distances and identify any large gaps or overlaps.
The session can help you understand whether every club in your bag serves a useful and clearly defined purpose.
What is the difference between carry distance and total distance?
Carry distance is how far the golf ball travels through the air before landing. Total distance includes the bounce and roll after it reaches the ground.
Carry distance is normally the more reliable figure when choosing a club to clear a bunker, water hazard or other obstacle.
Can TrackMan tell me how far each golf club carries?
Yes. TrackMan tracks the flight of the golf ball and measures its carry and total distance alongside other information such as ball speed, launch angle and spin rate.
Hitting several shots with each club provides a more dependable picture than measuring only one strike.
How often should I check my golf club distances?
There is no fixed schedule, but it is sensible to check your distances after making a significant swing change, taking a series of lessons or replacing part of your set.
You may also benefit from another gapping session if your strength, flexibility or swing speed has changed, or if the distances you see on the course no longer match your expectations.
Why do my five and six-irons travel the same distance?
Longer irons require enough speed, launch and quality of strike to create a meaningful distance difference. If both clubs launch at a similar height or the five-iron is more difficult to strike, they may finish at almost the same distance.
TrackMan can help establish why the overlap is occurring and whether a hybrid or another club would create a more useful gap.
Do I need to hit every club during a gapping session?
The session will normally focus on the clubs required to build an accurate picture of your bag. This may include every club or concentrate on a particular area where you suspect there is a gap.
The PGA Professional can recommend the most appropriate approach based on your equipment and what you want to learn.
Should I use my normal golf ball during a gapping session?
Using the same model of golf ball you normally play can make the results more relevant because different golf balls can produce variations in speed, launch and spin.
Speak to the professional team before your appointment if you are unsure what to bring.
Is golf club gapping only useful for low-handicap golfers?
No. Golfers of different abilities can benefit from understanding their realistic carry distances.
Higher-handicap golfers may find the session particularly useful for identifying difficult clubs, simplifying their set and making more confident decisions on the course.
Is a gapping session the same as custom fitting?
No. A gapping session measures the performance and distances of your existing clubs. Custom fitting compares different heads, shafts and specifications when you are considering new equipment.
A gapping session can highlight where a change may be useful, while custom fitting can help identify the appropriate replacement.
Do I need to be a Matlock Golf Club member?
No. TrackMan services at Matlock Golf Club are available to members and visiting golfers.
Contact the professional team to discuss the available sessions and arrange an appointment.