Golfers are always looking for any advantage they can get in the pursuit of shooting lower scores. One thing all better golfers should do is know exactly how far they hit each of their clubs. When doing this, you are looking for the carry distances, most importantly over the total distance you hit each club.

The term “gapping” refers to the practice of having a consistent and progressing carry distance with each club in your bag, from your most lofted wedges up to your longest iron. The concept of gapping helps create consistency in your wedge and iron play by giving you a known yardage you hit each club and having a known average difference between each.

I will take a look at the concept of gapping, including questions surrounding it, such as:

• What are the standards, if any?
• Why is it important?
• How can you get it done professionally?
• Can you DIY gapping your clubs?

We will take a look at those questions in an effort to arm you with the best information possible on the topic of gapping.

Is There a Standard When it Comes to Gapping Your Irons and Wedges?

There is not really a standard when gapping your irons and wedges. Since every golfer has their own individual abilities, that also means that they will have their own individual carry distances. What should be consistent for all golfers is similar carry-yard distances between each different club in the bag. That really is the essence of gapping.

Speaking in general terms, most golfers are looking to have anywhere between 10 to 15 yards of a gap between their irons. One degree of loft usually equates to 2-4 yards of distance. With that in mind, you can say — again, in general terms — there should be four degrees of loft between each iron.

One of golf's longest players is Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson is very scientific in his approach to the game, so he is definitely dialed in with what yardages he hits all of his clubs, and he absolutely knows his gaps between clubs. Have a look at a session on club distance, gapping, and numbers below. Note that he is big on his ball speed and spin rate, which will influence his carry distance significantly.

A standard that I use as a reference with my students, and I am certain other PGA Professional coaches do as well, is Trackman’s PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour averages charts. On these, you can get a good look at what the averages are for tour professionals in terms of carry distance, as well as other significant numbers tracked by the Trackman radar.

Below is some of the data from both the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour Trackman averages charts.

As you can see, the average carry distance between irons for the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour professionals is pretty close to the 10-15 yards between clubs. That trend is really only for irons and wedges. Woods tend to have a much wider range of carry distances between them. Keep in mind that these are averages — many players carry the ball much farther or not quite as far as the average. However, the gapping between each club, regardless of the carry distance, is almost always between 10 and 15 yards.

Why Is Gapping Your Irons and Wedges Important?

First and foremost, knowing what your carry distances are with each club is incredibly important. You could even break that down even further by looking at what you carry the ball at full speed, three-quarter speed, and half speed, or at the three-quarter position and half-swimming position. That is one of the things that make professional golfers so good. They know exactly how far they hit everything to the number.

While it is important to know all your carry numbers and gaps with all your irons, it is even more critical with your scoring clubs. Those include your pitching wedge and on down to your highest lofted club.

These clubs are made for accuracy and precision. The distance you hit your wedges should not be forced. Your carry distance with a smooth and controlled swing is what you are looking for. The wedges are the clubs that most often get tweaked and matter most when gapping.

Can You Get Your Irons and Wedges Gapped Professionally?

Most golf club fitters, whether that be an independent establishment or a big box store such as PGA TOUR Superstore, Golf Galaxy, or Club Champion, offer club gapping sessions. The process is a simple one:

• First, a golfer will go through all their irons and hit a set amount of shots, usually 4-6 good ones, into the simulator. If a bad shot or two is hit, those will be thrown out, and another good shot will be substituted. The top launch monitors that are used most often at these stores come from the likes of Trackman, Flightscope, and Foresight.
• After all the data is collected, you will look at the differences between the average carry distance for each iron and wedge. You are looking for consistency in that average gap between clubs. Remember, there is no real industry standard for this, but rather a range somewhere between 10 to 15 yards.
• The last step is identifying where inconsistencies may be with any of the gaps between clubs. If you find there is too much of a gap between particular clubs, especially your wedges, you will need to fix that.
  • There are a couple of ways to do this. You can have the lofts of the clubs in question bent by either adding loft or taking loft away, or you can look at new clubs where the lofts may be more in line with your needs.

Can You Gap Your Irons and Wedges On Your Own?

You can absolutely do a DIY gapping session. The steps would be the same as if you were having it done with a professional fitter, but you would need to have a personal launch monitor to get it done at home or at your home course.

There are many really good and reliable personal launch monitors available on the market today. One of the most popular and recommended is the Flightscope Mevo+, which I use myself with students.

Other noteworthy options include:

Garmin Approach R10

Rapsodo MLM2PRO

Summing Things Up

Having confidence in golf is one of the most important aspects of playing well. Part of being confident comes by knowing and trusting that shots that you hit will have a chance to reach their intended target when struck well. To have that happen, you need to be able to rely on both your swing and your equipment in tandem.

I encourage you to give a gapping session a try, no matter if it's a DIY job or having it professionally done. You can potentially catch some gaps you didn't know existed in your set and use that newfound knowledge to shave a few strokes.

As always, feel free to contact me here on Curated for more information on playing better golf. As a PGA professional, I have made it my life’s mission to help others enjoy the game of golf as much as possible, so I welcome any and all questions!