Equipment
Consistency > distance
How consistently do you strike your irons?
You may be a wizard off the tee or feel like your putter is your best friend, but how often do you find yourself landing the green on your approach shot? It can be disheartening when you’ve hit the perfect drive and you follow up with a strong iron shot only to see it fall short of your target.
Today we want to walk you through the concept of measuring your shot dispersion, as well as give you a fantastic iron recommendation that will have you striking the ball with greater consistency.
What is dispersion?
In a nutshell, dispersion refers to how clustered or spread apart your shots are when using a certain club and is measured by considering how varied your shots land relative to a specific target.
As the consistency in our game develops and improves, there’s a strong correlation to achieving better scores and lowering handicaps. Skilled players tend to have a tighter dispersion, landing consistent, accurate shots more frequently.
Multiple factors can affect your shot dispersion, including your swing technique and your clubhead speed. The kind of iron you’re using also has a big impact, but first we want to cover the two kinds of shot dispersion, front-to-back, and left-to-right.
Front-to-back dispersion
Front-to-back shot dispersion covers distance, whether you’re falling short of your target or hitting it way past the flag. If you can hit your 7 iron anywhere between 130 and 150 yards on any given shot, then your front-to-back dispersion is that 20-yard distance.
This matters because the average length of a golf green is anywhere around 20-30 yards from front to back, so if that’s your front-to-back dispersion range, it may feel flipping a coin whether you land your approach shot on the green or not. If you can reduce your front-to-back dispersion range, you’ll find yourself making GIR much more often.
Hitting or avoiding the green on your approach shot can be the difference between making a birdie or a bogey, so it’s crucial you get plenty of practice to strike the ball consistently and reliably. We’re always available for lessons in the pro shop and can get you set up with the best irons for your ability.
Left-to-right dispersion
Left-to-right shot dispersion therefore represents the horizontal spread of shots you take when striking an iron, and whether you regularly hit your ball to the left or to the right of your intended target.
We’re all unique golfers with different swings and we all have our own way of approaching the ball, but a big undeniable factor that affects whether you hit the ball to the left or right is the angle of your clubface on impact. If your iron head is closed, you’ll be prone to hit it to the left, if it’s open, to the right (for a right-handed golfer). We’ll help you meet the ball squarely when you take a lesson with us.
We all know how easy it can be to hit a wayward shot, and with the average width of a green being 25-30 yards, there’s a large margin for error if you don’t have a tight left-to-right dispersion.
Practice and dedication is the key to striking the ball with greater accuracy, but what’s just as important is that you’re playing with the right equipment for you in the first place. We stock the best irons from PING in the pro shop, and this year’s offerings will have you hunting down the greens with greater confidence.
PING's 2025 golf irons
When it comes to excellent golf irons, you need look no further than PING’s current offerings. These irons have been designed to have you striking the ball with greater clarity.
If you want to build up confidence in your ball-striking, you can’t go wrong with the G440 irons. PING has fitted this club with lower CG in the head to give you a more effortless launch, and the 4-piece PurFlex cavity bridge makes this club more flexible on impact with the ball, giving you more ball speed with forgiveness. These factors directly translate into tightening up your shot dispersion and generating greater consistency.
Perfect for skilled players that want to get the most out of their equipment, the Blueprint T iron is a sleek blade that’s forged from a single piece of carbon steel, resulting in phenomenal feel each time you strike the ball. With precision-milled grooves, players can expect excellent control and workability with this club. If you can shape each of your iron shots with ease, this iron will have you placing the ball exactly where you want it on the greens.
When you visit us in the pro shop, we’ll get you custom fit with the best irons for your game, why not pop by and we’ll walk you through our range of golf clubs.
