Knowing your carry distance with your clubs takes the guess work out of shot selection and allows you to add or subtract distance depending on the elements that you are playing in.

Distance control is a key element to lower scores. It is important to know how far you can hit each one of your clubs from divot to divot. Divot to divot means from the point of contact with the clubhead to where the ball lands.

There are usually 10 to 15 yards carry distance between iron clubs with no wind and from a level lie. If you can carry an 8-iron 140 yards then you should hit a 7-iron a maximum of 155 yards.

When you are determining your carry distance swing smoothly and stay on balance throughout your swing.

A very important factor in distance control is your irons themselves.

Make sure the lofts are set properly. from club to club. There are usually 3 degrees of loft between your low irons and four degrees between the 5-iron through wedge.

Factors that effect carry distance are wind, elevation you are playing in and temperature. The ball will carry less distance in cold weather, but will carry about 2 percent further for every thousand feet of elevation.

Understanding distance control can make playing a lot easier.