Wherever you’re shooting, judging distance is crucial to a good game of golf.

In fact, I would place judging distance slightly ahead of aiming accurately simply because aiming is more a matter of proper body alignment on target.

However, judging distance is more complicated than that. It’s all about delicately assessing the strength of your swing in relation to how far away you ‘perceive’ the target to be. This is a challenge for most players.

Let’s break it down into two parts: 1) judging distances for iron shots to the green, and 2) judging distances when putting into the hole.

1. For shots to the green, I would go to the driving range, preferably one that has excellent distance markers, and lots of them. Not all ranges have these, so it’s worth looking around and finding a quality range with great markers. You may want to make a few phone calls and then see the ones that sound promising.

You’ll want to bring a notebook and pen into the kitchen. Shoot 12 shots with each stick and document how far each stick went. Then calculate an average distance for that club. Note: Don’t count worm burners or sky shots. Only the ones you hit well (whatever is ‘right’ for you).

Let’s say you hit 12 decent shots with an 8-iron and the average distance is 155 yards. Write it down in your notebook for the 8 iron. Now proceed to the next iron and take 12 more shots, marking the average distance for each iron.

This may sound tedious, but at least now you’ll have a lot more confidence knowing how far each iron typically hits when playing a round, especially if you’re on an unfamiliar course. Having these reference points for each club will allow you to “mark” the distances much sooner than just guessing.

2. For putting, I like to place distance markers on the green. Just make a walkway about 5 feet wide with two tees (or make a 5 foot wide line with masking tape). Place one, say, 10 feet away and another 20 feet, etc. Then just move to the aisles (remember, you’re not practicing aiming here) and try to get the ball to stop on or just beyond each line. This is a great drill for practicing distance while putting.

Have fun with these two exercises. They can be a bit tedious, but the results of the ride will give you confidence knowing that you can achieve those distances accurately. Make these exercises a regular part of your practice at all times. Enjoy!