What is gapping and why is it important to have good club gapping?

Club gapping is an area perhaps overlooked by the majority of golfers. Improving this is something that can greatly improve your golf game, without changing your swing.

Having good gapping among your clubs will ensure you are never stuck when it comes to selecting a club for a shot, you will be covered anywhere from tee to green.

It is a relatively straightforward aspect to change once you have an understanding of what you require to fill the gaps in your bag.

In simple terms, golf club gapping is the number between the distance you hit each of your clubs. Typically good gapping is even spread between all clubs and is usually around 10-15 yards between each club. This can vary depending on a range of factors such as loft of club, make of club, type of club and swing technique.

Amateur golfers do not hit every shot the same so as a rule of thumb, amateur golfers should aim to have 10-20 yards between their club distances.

Common gapping issues and concerns

1 – Top end of the bag When looking at club gapping the common issues often lie at the top and bottom ends of the bag. Often amateur golfers have bigger gaps between their longest iron and any woods or hybrids they may carry.

2 – Bottom end of the bag Also at the other end of the spectrum, the same can be said about their wedge set up. It is easy to just purchase a club labelled ‘Sand Wedge’ ‘Gap Wedge’ or ‘Lob Wedge’ because you think you should have one in the bag, when in reality you should be looking up your iron lofts to see what degree of wedges you should actually be carrying in your bag.

How to improve gapping

If you are a Shot Scope user, you will be able to identify any gaps in your club distances. Good gapping should all stem from your iron set up. Find out the lofts of your irons and go from there. Typically there should be around 4 degrees of loft between your clubs, and this relates to around about 10-15 yards of distance.

Gaps can occur from lack of knowing how far a golfer hits their clubs. Today, many products are available to help you learn this about your game. The Shot Scope V3 automatically tracks every shot you hit to provide you with the distances you hit each club, based on how far you hit your clubs on the course.

How to address these issues?

We highly recommend visiting a golf professional or club fitting specialist, show them your club distances you have tracked, and work with them to find a solution. Whether that is a new hybrid, a gap wedge or a changing a few clubs at either end of your bag, your game will thank you for it.

Check your lofts!

Part of that visit should include checking the loft and lie of all your clubs. Modern day golf clubs can often bend upon impact with the ball and turf, so checking the lofts ensures your gapping will remain more consistent.