What is Carry?
Ball speed, launch angle, and spin rate must be optimized to reach a golfer’s potential Carry distance
Carry is the straight-line distance between where the ball started and where the trajectory crosses a point that is the same height as where the ball was hit.
Then the golfer can adjust for uphill and downhill shots on the course. This reason is why Carry is sometimes referred to as ‘Carry flat’.
Using the club speed definition, we would expect the average male amateur to hit their driver as far as the average LPGA Tour player.
However, the actual difference is more than 20 yards. Ball speed, launch angle, and spin rate must be optimized to reach a golfer’s potential distance.
LPGA Tour players are some of the best in the world at optimizing these numbers and getting the most out of their club speed.
Technical Definition:
Carry – The straight-line distance between where the ball started and where the trajectory crosses a point that is the same height as where the ball was hit
Tour Averages
PGA Tour
Driver – 282 yards
LPGA Tour
Driver – 223 yards
For a full list of Tour averages, visit Trackman PGA and LPGA Tour Averages
What our Trackman Masters say about Carry…
“I stress the importance of the Carry parameter with clubs that the golfer will use to hit approach shots. Carry is less important for me off the tee unless the golfer plays in predominantly wet or soft conditions.”
Andrew Rice
Berkeley Hall Golf Club, United States
“If a golfer were to use Trackman only to learn Carry distances with each club, it would be time and money well spent. To go a bit further, practice while monitoring Carry to different targets in different wind conditions is also a simple but invaluable way to use Trackman. Knowing and controlling actual Carry distance with each club is a ‘secret’ to scoring that is staring golfers right in the face. If you are a golfer, please learn your actual Carry distances and if you are an instructor, please help your students learn them.”
Dom Dijulia
Dom DiJulia School of Golf, United States
“Distance control for my students is quite often at the top of the agenda. What my students have discovered when they have been through the Trackman Combine is their inconsistency of Carry. Therefore, focused training sessions for my students on Carry have increased. The Carry parameter is a great indicator of swing consistency. When Carry becomes variable, this alerts me towards collecting data on ball speed and dynamic loft. If these are not correct and/or vary, I begin investigating the cause.”
Chris Brook
PGA International Golf Coach, UK