Long Drive Training ?

I just returned from a trip down to Hilton Head Island where I played several courses, including the famous "Harbour Town Golf Links". While I was there, I noticed the difference in distance that the golf ball travels...which the locals say is about a club and a half less. I'm no John Daly, but I "average" about 280 yards with a driver around home. Down there, I beat the ball well, but struggled to hit 250yds off the tee. Knowing that the pros play that course from the tips, and because I was no where near their distance from the next set of tees forward, it makes me feel liks a short knocker. I'm dedicating the off season this winter by working on increasing my distance and I'm looking for advice from anyone who may have input on how to do so, have done the same type of thing, or know where I can find info on the subject. I have seen books on the internet about workout programs and weight training for golf, but do not know which ones work and which do not. I'm 45 years old and have been playing golf since I was 10, have a handicap just under 4 (it would probably be scratch if I could only putt!) and have a very good/sound swing... so I don't believe theres a problem with mechanics. I have looked at other threads on this site and see talk about delaying wrist break (and do agree I could probably gain distance there) and also some about VJ's "speed stick" (not too sure about that one...$100. for a stick???). I don't want to end up looking like Jason Zubac or join the Long Drive Tour, but I'd really love to be able to hit 300+ yard drives on a regular basis. Thanks to all you serious long bangers that can help with input to help me reach my goal!

probebly one of the best things i think you can do is to get a cheap driver and add weight to it,i have one a texan classic i bought off ebay for 20 bucks, i drilled 4 holes in the sole and tapped them, then put 5/16 cap screws in them(my version of the r7). i would put 4 screws in when on the driving range and when playing i would take all out but the one under the shaft(trying to stop the airent slice its more the club than weight) easily gained 25,30 yards.a good premium club will help too i just got a taylor made r580 9 1/2 degree stiff shaft that gave me another 30 or more i can now poke em out there 280 plus and pretty straight. the weighted club will also aid in the late wrist break. as for weighting the club you can get some self sticking wheel weights and stick them were you want them,i wouldn't go with much more than 2oz. or 56 grams you still want to have control. hope it can help you it did for me.

Cmays, 437 yards, are you sure? The only time I've come close was when I played on an RAF base and the ball went straight down the runway. How dry was the ground? Anyway, Indi Jones, it's not always just a swing that reduces your distance. You mentioned that you normally hit 280yds. This is a very respectable distance and just because you were hitting 30yds less, remember the locals mentioned it may happen. This can easily be down to different atmospherics and temperature. I play the same course regularly and depending on conditions heat / fog / cloud, 'mugginess', i.e. humidity, the ball flight can be greatly reduced. Different locations will also demonstrate this. Does this make any sense ?

Cheers.
Lee.

Lebev,

I do understand how the differences in altitude, humidity, temperature, etc...can change how a golf ball travels. One of the points I brought up was how the pros hit it so much farther in the same conditions. I was driving 250 from the championship tees, but the pros would land the ball well past my ball playing from the tips. I'm no pro, and yes, 280 yards is respectible, but I would like to take my game up to the next level...and I believe that adding distance would be a great start. I have played in local tournaments against some of the areas top amateurs, and quite a few of them bang the ball much further than I. Playing against someone thats outhitting you by 30-40 yards can wear on you after a while. Hopefully I can find some secrets of long drives or how to train myself to hit them with some sound help from you guys!

Cmays, $1000.00 a day sounds like a good deal to a pro, but out of my range unfortunately (a bit like my driving). I have a friend also who has not missed to many meals, and he can hit a monstrously long way, but still well short of your driving range. It would be impressive to see you in action.

Also, Indi -Jones, I understand that reaching the next level is important to a golfer of your quality, but exactly where is it in your game that costs you your handicap. If it is driving 30 - 40yds less than others then I would say this is worth pursuing. However, if it is like most of us, putting / short game, then this is the area that needs the required attention to detail. Good luck in your quest !

Cheers.
Lee.

I am in the same boat as Indiana Jones. I am 46 and possess a good, sound swing. For whatever reason (age- maybe) I have lost a lot of yardage over the last couple of years.

I wanted to hit the ball even further, so I started working out regularly over 2 years ago. I have stayed with it. But I still cannot gain any distance. I was carrying the ball 270-275 3 years ago, now I carry it 250 and I am stronger and in better shape than then.

I have tried all the gimmicks on the market, have ordered all the long driver training aids and have decided that good old fashioned hard work on strength and flexibility training is the only way to gain yards.

The idea of getting to the top of the backswing in a fully loaded manner is done easy enough; I am loaded up with most of my weight over my right side and coiled fully against my right knee and feel lots of coil in my right side and a big stretch away from the left side. On the video I look great.

Then this "delay of impact" or "lag" escapes me completely... how can anybody do this? The downswing happens so fast that I can't delay anything. From the top I concentrate on letting the club fall into position then I go hit it... thats it. I can't do any more than that.

So I am done with all the training aids except my weighted club, weight training and flexibility excercizes. If I don't gain any yards by next spring, thats it, thats all I can do. BTW- I do have a good short game and I am very good with the wedges. But- its more exciting to be able to hit a 550 yard par 5 in two or hit something less than a utility club to long par 4s.

Reality hit me like an open-handed slap to the face last week. I played Torrey Pines South (Home of the Buick Open and the 2008 US Open). There are several long par 4s in the 440-480 range from the blue tees. The black tees are just too long for me to play from. Anyway, I hit NO LESS than a 3 iron to all of those par 4s after GOOD drives. My playing partner (9 years younger and bombs it off the tee) was hitting 5-8 irons to the same holes. I used to be the guy looking back at my playing partners, now I am the one looking 40-60 yards up the fairway and seeing their balls up there and waiting for me to hit. Another thing- one of my playing partners was an LPGA player... My best drives were only 5-10 yards past her's and she outdrove me every time that I did not catch it solid cause she hits it solid every time. And yes, she played from the same tees as us men. I should have remembered to bring my skirt like Fred Funk...

hello indiana
ill be blunt weightlifting & golf jist dont mix i was in the same position as yourself last year spent the winter lifting weights started playing golf again in the early spring with bigger arms and of course more
powerful forearms which led me to gripping the club far to tightly and in turn a whole catalogue of disasters which took a whole season to correct
mostly grip problems anyway reading your story i hit the ball the same distance as yourself and was looking for that wee bit extra i was in florida
recently and spoke to a pro in special tee and golf he talked me into
buying an adams redline quad with the screws on the back i have it set to neutral and im now hitting the ball further than some people go their holidays give one a try i can assure you you wont be dissapointed.

cheers jim.

There is a big difference between weight training and body building. If you build too much muscle, you lose flexability. You need flexibility to create coil - the more flexable, the more coil. Power and speed come as a result of the unwinding of the coil built. This is why Charles Howell III, who is 5'11" and 155 lbs can be 56 in driving distance for 2005 with an average of 293.6 yds. I am not much bigger (6'2", 180 lbs) and I average somewhere around 290 - 300 yards (I don't have a statistician to follow me like the tour players do!!).

Weight training is definitely good because it keeps your muscles active and you are getting a good, healthy, even workout and is balanced with cardio fitness. Body building is simply to gain bulk.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

reply to gord692.

hiya
might be good idea to let us know your workout routine with weights
ie; reps & weight to use on bar also your cardio routines .


cheers jim

Honestly, not a whole lot in the last 3 years.

When I was about 14 to about 20 I was really into lifting heavy weights twice a day, six times a week. I was never really able to accumulate much mass because my metabolism worked so fast. I gained a lot of strength and definition, but the size just wouldn't come. I quit because of the lack of results and got serious into golf after I was finished college and started working at a golf resort. I went down to resistance training with therabands and using and exercise ball to build my core muscles. As strong as I was from lifting weights for the better part of 5 years, doing squats on the ball without any weights isn't any easy task!!

I have found that even those exercises have lost their appeal with me and I really don't do any weight training. I play hockey a few times a week and I have been involved with a few large landscaping projects of mine and a few friends that involved quite a bit of manual labour. I also walk my dog for about 1 hour a day (about 2 1/2 hours on the weekend) at quite a quick pace. Doesn't seem like a whole lot, but I have found that it has at least maintained my level of fitness, if nothing else.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall