How Far Do You Really Hit Your Clubs? Why Smart Club Distances Matter in the Offseason
Let’s be real for a second. When someone asks how far you hit your 7-iron, most of us don’t give the average. We give the best one. The perfect strike. Warm day. Little breeze helping. That number feels good to say out loud… 210, just kidding.
But is that the number you should actually be playing to?
Especially in January, when a lot of golf is happening indoors, that question matters more than we probably want to admit.
Simulator Distances vs. Real Golf Distances
Simulators are great. Truly. They keep your swing moving, your timing sharp, and your head in the game when the course isn’t playable. But they’re also a controlled environment. No wind. No cold air. No uneven lies. No pressure. It’s golf with the variables turned way down.
Then you finally get back outside. It’s 42 degrees. There’s a little breeze you didn’t notice until the ball stalls in the air. You hit what felt like the same swing… and it comes up short. And immediately your brain goes, “Wait… what? Must have been some wind that just picked up” … sometimes the truth hurts.
That’s not you losing speed. That’s not your swing disappearing. That’s just golf being golf.
Distance Isn’t One Number (Never Has Been)
One of the biggest myths in golf is that distance is fixed. “My 7-iron goes 165.” Sure. Sometimes.
But real distance lives in a range. It changes with temperature, wind, elevation, turf, and honestly… how often you actually strike it well, not just the one swing you remember most clearly. That’s where Arccos Smart Club Distances come in.
Not to tell you what you can hit on your best swing, but to show you what you do hit over time, on real courses, in real conditions. And that difference matters.
What Are Smart Club Distances?
After just a few rounds, Arccos starts building a distance profile for every club in your bag. It looks at total distance, roll included, and it’s smart enough to ignore outliers. The miracle drive? Tossed. The weird chunk you’d rather forget? Also tossed.
What’s left is the truth and data.
Those distances are also normalized. Temperature, wind, altitude, and slope are all factored in, so the number you see isn’t just what happened on that day. It’s a distance you can trust across days. (Think average commute time… not the one morning every light turned green.)
How Smart Club Distances Help You Practice in the Offseason
If you’re already an Arccos Member, this is where Smart Club Distances quietly become really useful in January. Even if you can’t get outside right now, you’re not practicing blindly.
When you step into a simulator, you already know your real on-course numbers. That changes how you train. You’re not chasing ego distances, you’re working with context.
Gapping issues show up fast. Maybe there’s a bigger jump than you thought between your 8-iron and 7-iron. January is the perfect time to tinker. Ball position. Shaft. Setup. Even testing a different club.
You can also zero in on specific clubs. If one iron consistently underperforms compared to the rest of the set, that’s not random. And it’s a lot easier to work on when you can isolate it indoors.
And if you’re in that offseason phase of trying to gain a little speed or distance (because yes, strength and speed training absolutely help), having a true baseline makes your goals real. Not “I want to hit it farther,” but “I know where I’m starting, and I know what progress actually looks like.”
Simulators Still Matter (Just With Context)
This isn’t a knock on simulators at all. They’re one of the best offseason tools golfers have. Just think of them as a lab… a place to test things, work on feels, try stuff… not a promise of what spring golf will look like.
Having Smart Club Distances alongside that simulator work keeps you grounded. You can enjoy indoor practice, stay sharp, and still be ready for the reality check that comes with the first chilly round back outside.
Why Knowing Your Real Distances Makes You Better
There’s something grounding about standing over a shot and trusting the number in your head. Not because it’s aggressive. Not because it’s optimistic. But because it’s honest.
That’s what Smart Club Distances give you: clarity. And clarity leads to better decisions, smoother swings, and fewer “how did that come up short?” moments when you finally tee it up again.
So the next time someone asks how far you hit your 7-iron… you can smile, give the real number, and know you’re playing a smarter version of your own game.