- Shot Scope’s LM1 launch monitor records more than one million shots a month, six months after launch.
- The average amateur driver carry in the LM1 data is 228 yards, with 95.6mph clubhead speed and a 1.40 smash factor.
- Smash factor ranges only from 1.39 to 1.41 across every age group in the data.
If you have ever compared your driver numbers with a Tour player’s and felt a little deflated, Shot Scope has a more forgiving yardstick. The Edinburgh firm’s LM1 launch monitor is now logging more than one million shots every month from golfers around the world. Six months after the device launched, that volume is producing benchmarks drawn entirely from amateurs.
According to Shot Scope, the launch monitor reference figures most club golfers see come from PGA Tour and LPGA Tour players. The LM1 database lets golfers compare themselves with players of a similar age or handicap instead.
What does the average amateur hit?
Across every driver shot recorded, golfers average 228 yards of carry and 247.1 yards of total distance. Average clubhead speed is 95.6mph, ball speed is 133.8mph and smash factor is 1.40.
The data also shows how amateurs use the device. Golfers average at least two practice sessions a month and hit roughly 60 shots per session. The driver comes out in 80% of those sessions.
Age and handicap: speed does the damage
By age, average driver carry peaks at 245.6 yards among golfers aged 30-39. It then falls to 194.6 yards for those aged 60 and over, a gap of 51 yards. Ball speed drops in step, from 140.9mph to 121.1mph between the same two groups.
Smash factor, the ratio of ball speed to club speed that measures how efficiently the ball is struck, hardly changes. It ranges from 1.39 to 1.41 across every age group.
The handicap split follows the same pattern. Scratch golfers average 258.1 yards of driver carry, against 211.4 yards for players off 20 or above, a difference of 46.7 yards. Ball speed falls from 147.1mph to 126mph, yet the two groups are separated by just 0.04 on smash factor.
The gap between the peak-carry and oldest age groups is actually wider than the gap between scratch and 20+ handicappers. Scratch players also carry it more than 12 yards past even the strongest age group.
According to Shot Scope, speed is what generates distance in the amateur game, and differences in strike efficiency between groups are relatively small. The company says the same relationship between speed and distance holds through the bag, from driver down to the shorter clubs.
These are averages, though, and an average smash factor of 1.40 tells you nothing about how much a golfer’s strike varies from one swing to the next. That matters, because Shot Scope’s on-course data points the other way on distance. Its annual performance report, built on 74 million shots, found considerable overlap in driving distance across handicaps. It identified consistency as the real separator, with better players more likely to hit drives close to their typical yardage. Read together, the two datasets suggest the 20-handicapper needs more speed and a tighter spread of strikes.
What the LM1 measures
The LM1 uses Doppler radar to record five metrics: club speed, ball speed, smash factor, carry distance and total distance. It works indoors and outdoors. Sessions sync to the Shot Scope App, so golfers can review their numbers and track progress over time.
Alongside the data, Shot Scope has released a free eBook with further findings from the LM1 database. It includes advice on using launch monitor numbers to practise more effectively through the winter. Free downloadable guides are a long-standing habit for the brand, which has published strategy eBooks drawn from its tracking data for several years.
Related: Shotscope LM1 Launch Monitor
Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.