Bag Gapping
Also called: distance gapping
Arranging your clubs so each one carries a consistent distance increment, leaving no large holes or overlaps between clubs.
Bag gapping is the practice of setting up your fourteen clubs so the carry-distance gaps between them are even and sensible - typically 10 to 15 yards per club through the irons. The goal is to have a club for every distance you face, with no large holes and no two clubs that go the same distance.
Gapping problems are common and quietly cost strokes. A frequent one sits at the top of the bag, where a 3-wood and a driver-replacing club may overlap, or at the bottom, where the gap between the pitching wedge and the next wedge balloons to 20-plus yards. Either way, you end up facing distances you cannot comfortably cover with a full swing.
Gapping is driven by loft. Because lofts have grown stronger and inconsistent across club types, the only reliable way to gap a bag is to know your actual carry distances - not your hopeful ones - and arrange lofts to fill them evenly. This is where carry data, even rough data, beats guesswork.
Good gapping often means non-obvious choices: a specific wedge loft to fill a hole, a hybrid instead of a long iron, or dropping a club you never trust. The fourteen-club limit makes every slot worth optimizing.