How do u think the distances between the pacific islands affected u. s. naval strategies

The US Navy adopted a strategy of island hopping, where important islands were invaded and captured, while less important islands - even though fortified and defended by the Japanese - were bypassed and left to whither on the vine. The key determination about whether an island was worthy to invade was whether it had an airstrip - which in Japanese control would have been a danger to Allied forces, and in American control would provide a place to land and refuel transports or bombers. 

An exception to this philosophy was the recapture of the Philippine Islands. The Navy felt they could bypass the islands, though they would regularly need to shell/bomb the airfields. The Army (MacArthur) felt US credibility was at risk (remember he said "I shall return" when he was forced to leave after the Japanese invaded early in the war) and the islands were assaulted and recaptured by the Army. 

The individual islands were not the objective, Japan was.