Carry distance versus total distance

Why are there two distances?

Because a golf shot has two parts. First the ball flies. Then it hits the ground and keeps going. Carry covers the first part and total covers both.

Bushnell defines carry as the distance the ball travels through the air.¹

What exactly is carry?

Trackman defines it as a straight-line distance. It runs from where the ball was launched to the point where the ball crosses back down to the same elevation.²

Straight-line means it isn't measured along the curve of the flight. If the shot bends, carry still goes in a line from start to landing.²

What exactly is total?

Total is a straight-line distance too. This time it runs from the launch spot to the ball's calculated resting position.²

Notice the word calculated. The resting spot is worked out by the software, not watched.² Bushnell says launch angle, spin and speed together determine both carry and total distance.¹

What about the sideways numbers?

Trackman lists two more. Side is the perpendicular distance between the target line and where the flight crosses back to its launch height. Side total is the same idea measured to the resting position.²

Those tell you how far left or right the shot finished. Carry and total tell you how far along the line it went.

Which one should I read?

It depends on the question you're asking.

• To judge a club by how far it flies, read carry. It only counts the time in the air.¹
• To judge where a shot ends up on a course, read total. It adds the roll after landing.²
• To check an approach to a green, think about both. Wikipedia notes that backspin on lofted clubs can make a ball stop more quickly on the green.³

That last point is why total isn't a fixed multiple of carry. Two shots with the same carry can finish in different places.

How does launch affect the gap?

Trackman links roll to the loft the club has at impact, which is called dynamic loft. Too little loft can send the ball too low, so it rolls out excessively and makes the distance hard to judge. Too much loft can send it too high and cost distance.⁴

To see how that number is built, go to attack angle and dynamic loft. The launch and spin side is on the launch and spin page.

A practical way to use both

Pick one club. Note the carry for a group of shots. Then note the total. If carry stays steady and total jumps around, the difference is in the roll, which is the calculated part. If carry itself jumps around, look further back at speed, launch angle and spin. The two speeds are the first place to look. Both are explained on the speeds page.