Increasing Distance

Interesting you say that Cliff, I also excelled at the javelin in my younger days, I could throw it twice as far as most of my peers, I put it down to my build being powerful but lean and my timing. I later became a good squash player and I believe the same physical and mental attributes assisted. Golf has something in common with the former in that it is an anaerobic sport and relies much on timing.

There are two different things here IMO. The OP asked how he may increase distance with his longer clubs (a reasonable question). He didnt ask for a reason why he shouldnt do this

There isnt a single person I know who doesnt want to hit it further and straighter off the tee. That is why 95% of pro's are in the gym 24/7 and dont drink etc. I know for a fact that if I wanted to win the championships at my club or seriously reduce my hcp down into low single fugures I would have to hit the ball further than I do now. Hitting 8/9i into a green and stopping it is much better than hitting 5/6i and hoping you hit it high and long enough

There is also a difference to "play with what you have". Im sure most people would swing witihin their limits in competitions to keep the ball in the short stuff and go from there - but that isnt to say they arent all working behind the scenes on improving and hitting it longer. The OP suggested he has a very good short game but wishes to get some advice on how he may hit the ball a little further - not a lot wrong with that ambition in my eyes

You either can or you can’t hit a long ball (that is natural to all men and women) but you can get consistency in your game that will come with practice and repartition. I think you will find through the history of golf pro’s/amateurs alike all attempt to build up muscles in the hope to find that extra few yards.

Let me tell you now it can’t be done, not without sacrificing direction/control, even the great Tiger Woods has seen the light and prefers to hit at 80% and keep it in play (and hit’s all clubs around that pace)

The great Nick Faldo realized one day that he needed a few more yards on his drive, so over that winter he put on 1 ½ inches around the neck and built up more bulk around the rest of his frame only to find he had lost his short game and could no longer putt the ball into the hole!

Look at Seve Ballesteros now he had a great swing and one of the most explosive on tour at his time, only to find that his rhythm with a driver had deserted him and he could no longer keep it in play.

My advise is play with what you have (in the natural way) and gain more consistency by continued quality practice, start hitting the 5 iron to 4 feet and watch the guys you play against look on in amassment and envy, wishing they could do the same?

I think we need to re-read Tom's original post,guys. It does not seem anyone is being constructive enough - instead we sound like we are giving up.

Advice on how to be consistent will not help the man compete if he doesn't have the long game down - okay? So let's take a different approach and actually think of something that hasn't been said yet - do not make this into a debate - make it into a constructive thread that is geared towards Tom's goal.

Tom - is it a possibility you would think of a different type of swing method? Maybe seeing/talking to long ball hitters and learning from them?

I am on my own distance journey and I've found an instructor here in Kansas that teaches the Dan Shauger/Mike Austin method. I would not suggest trying a new swing method without a coach to physically stand there and critique you - that is why I have sworn off all other methods.

I believe you mentioned all equipment has been tested and launch monitor ,etc, right? Have you tried the swingspeed? Google it if you have not. I have one and I've increased about 5mph on my swing in two weeks. That's without committing every night to working out with it.

Lastly youtube has an instructor named Shawn Clement - we've spoken about him on here a couple of times - he is a big advocate on the gravity/momentum of the swing and speaks about the hips (your current problem) quite a bit. Just a suggestion.

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Do we have a video of the swing front and behind the line? if so please point me to it.

Regards Cliff

OK, this video by Shawn is the best I have seen to show how to correctly use the hips to max power.


The best distance you can achieve consistently will depend on how well you can synchronize your rotation such that you deliver the clubface as solid as possible into the ball. Big muscles will not do it alone, just look at the top tour players, how many of them are super fit and strong. Not many! You will need to keep connected with good tempo, if you don't have that now then seek professional help and coaching, you will not pick it up here such that you can compete with the best.

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Funny o'l game!

That was a great post by Martin Levac... I copy-pasted it. Thanks.

It been some time since I originally posted but here is what I have done and what my results are:

I take the club back slowly with arms to about 10:30 or so and work on completing the backswing with back to the target. I get a sensation that my right hand is "under" the club...

Here is the big one: I stopped using arms and hands to hit the ball! I now initiate the swing with a bump of hips to the target followed by a turn of the hips toward the target. This builds the torque. The arms/hands/club comes down without any effort on my part. This is something I have worked hard on. I used a weighted club and practiced for weeks at 50% speed to get the sequencing right...

Extension through the hit: I work really hard to on the extension through impact. This really seems to help clubspeed.

Worked on stretching...

Decreased latteral move through the ball- I had a lot of latteral movement on downswing which brought my head even with the ball and resulted in to much shaft lean foward resulting in low shots.

I get much more of a pop with the long clubs and long/middle irons have much better ball speed it seems.

My swing speed is up to 112 now and my drives are carring 270-275 which is quiet sufficient. In my original post, I said that my arms drag the hips around to the finish, now, I have the opposite going on!

Now that golf courses are finally open, will see if it can be taken from indoor range to the course!

T

Good luck with the practice, it all sounds like you are now hitting without effort. That's the best way to hit it.

CYA on tour!!

Well, first round of the year in the books...

The fairways were soft and had not been mowed in a few days (effort to conserve fuel).

Two best drives of the day were on 10 and 18...

10 is a 340 yd par 4 with a creek crossing the fairway at about 280 (its downhill from the tee too). My drive was a high draw that finished about 20 yards short of the green.

On 18, a 452 yd par 4 downhill from the tee, with a narrow fairway, I had 96 yards to the middle of green after a high cut tee shot.

Given corrections for elevation etc, I averaged carrying the ball about 270-275 so I am much happier with that.

I have 3 drivers that I am using right now, a Callaway FT5 with an Aldila NV shaft X flex, I just received a Callaway Hyper X with same shaft but S flex and will have that reshafted with a X shaft- its too flimsy right now. Saturday I used the mid handicapper's Callaway Big Bertha 460 with the 2 degree closed face (9 deg loft) and hit either high fades or penetrating, flat draws with the same swing but just adjusted address position. With a "square face" its easy to hit a flat draw and to cut it, I open the face about 4 degrees which gives it an effective loft of 11 or 12 degrees...

Tom

Today to compete at such long golf courses you need a consistent/accurate average drive of 280 (for women) to 320 (for men) yards; along with being able to shape a fade/draw on command and an excellent short game.

That means total dedication and immersion of golf all the time, 24/7.

Sheesh, those are PGA Tour standards already! I am nowhere near that level.

We are just amateurs, not pros...

hi
if you look at most pro men then most player under the top 50 don't average over 280 yards and with women its about 240 yards.
you had some of the top 50 hitter only hitting there drives 220 yards at the open this week and that will reduce there average even more.
if you can drive 250 yards then there wont be many holes that you cant reach in par.
cheers
bill

I agree with that Bill. I do hear some greatly exaggerated driving distances on here

I 2nd that

Exaggerations, eh?

Have you sen the PGA.com figures lately?


2008 PGA TOUR Longest Drives
Select Year: ---- 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992
Y-T-D statistics through: British Open Championship Jul 20, 2008 Rank
This
Week Rank
Last
Week PlayerRoundsDistanceRoundHole11Tim Petrovic6143911122Ryuji Imada 52414414T3T3Rory Sabbatini45398417T3T3Robert Garrigus 5639831055Daniel Chopra 6439531766Bubba Watson 673942777Angel Cabrera 3539231886Bubba Watson 6739124T9T9Boo Weekley 6439041296Bubba Watson 6739048T9T9John Rollins70390371212J.B. Holmes 6038913136Bubba Watson 673884161312J.B. Holmes 6038821T15T15Nick Watney 62387412T15T3Rory Sabbatini45387117T1717Charles Howell III66386417T17T53Davis Love III 5238642T19T18Stephen Ames55385417T19T18Chad Campbell67385417195Daniel Chopra 643854121912J.B. Holmes 60385413196Bubba Watson 67385311T24T23Brian Bateman 46384312T24T23Lee Westwood 2638413T24T23Kenny Perry 77384362712J.B. Holmes 60383418T27T26Dustin Johnson7238323T27 - Martin Kaymer 1738332T30T28George McNeill 67382312307Angel Cabrera 353822143012J.B. Holmes 6038218T30T28Phil Mickelson5738227

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If you hit a 350 yard drive you won't even break in the top 500 here!

I agree though that the average drive is around 285 but that is only AVERAGE. Let's look at the top five drivers stats-

TOUR Average 54 rounds 285.5

1 Bubba Watson 67 314.3
2 J.B. Holmes 60 309.5
3 Dustin Johnson 72 309.4
4 Robert Garrigus 56 308.1
5 Brett Wetterich 36 304.1
Source PGA tour.com
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Certainly, nobody wants to be an AVERAGE driver on any tour... Everybody wants to be among the longest hitters (hopefully with accuracy too), of course. Especially in the Tiger Woods era! Every little bit helps, eh?

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