Adding distance?

[proshank]

I know everybody in golf always wants to hit the ball further as everybody knows it does make the game just that bit easier as having to use a 7 iron is much easier and accurate than using a 4 or 5. The big question that i have is how do you hit the ball further especialy on drives.
Is it:
swing speed
tempo
strength
technique
Or a mixture of all four.

I mean i hit my drives a bout 220-240 on a good day yet i have seen alot of golfers with techniqly bad swings yet the ball goes miles.

Does anyone have any tips or clues as to what i should be focusing on to hit the ball further?

Any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

[TeachingPro]

Re: Adding distance?

Distance, according to Jim Fleck (and I agree with him ), is a factor of:
1) how well you hit the golf ball and
2) swing speed.

Tempo is just a measure how quickly you swing, is a rhythm ... Nick Price has a quick tempo and Ernie has a slow tempo but Ernie swings at 125mph and Nick is only at about 115mph. Suprised? I bet you are ... Nick Price seems to swing quickly hey???

Strength is a measure of power ... the stronger you are the better able you are to swing the club faster. It's sort-of like saying a Porsche with a 4-litre turbo'd V6 engine has more power therefore it should go faster than say a 1.6 litre Ford thingy. Yeah? But what if the Porsche wasn't firing correctly and the turbo was busted??? So ... what to say that a strong person is going to swing faster and harder than a weak person? Um, nothing!

Technique and timing all help produce a sweeter strike on the ball ball. A dead centre hit transfers about 83% (heeheehee - C.O.R.!!! )of the energy to the golf ball, a hit 1" away from the sweet spot only transfers 65%, 2" only 30% of the power ... So, sure - technique is a big factor.

Now - you max out the distance you're compable of if you hook up:
1. a hit in the sweet spot
2. with your maximum swing speed
3. with some useful technology to get the right launch angle and spin rate.

I haven't covered the technology part becuase that gets seriously complicated and there is a 'manual' 60-pages thick about determining what the optimal launch angle and spin rates are ...

Okay???

[proshank]

Re: Adding distance?

Thanks for the help. but how can you improve your swingspeed?
i heard that swinging a heavier club (or two together) helps?!?!

[TeachingPro]

Re: Adding distance?

Oh yeah - the heavier clubs do certainly help to build swing speed but they have been known to ruin your timing though. You need to use it conjunction with practice.

Really, try the heavier clubs or practice with two irons ... you could also just try to swing faster over a period of time.

Trying to gain speed is a process unfortunately that comes with strength, suppleness of the body, a longer swing arc, a better 'lag' into impact ... It's a combination of many things. There isn't just or 2 pointers we can give that'l magically add 30 or 40or even 50 yards. That just doesn't happen.

One thing I always recommend to shorter hitters is to find a long driving specialist in your area and go for a series of lessons. If you are in America, a series of lessons with Brad Peterson in California is a worthwhile investment. Trust me, he has worked wonders. I have the contact details for anyone who is interested.

[proshank]

Re: Adding distance?

cheers thanks for the info

[proshank]

Re: Adding distance?

Sorry just one last question on this matter. If i was looking to increase my strenght should i concentrate more on arms and shoulders and mainly up body, the core (abs) or lower body?

thanks

[TeachingPro]

Re: Adding distance?

I'd say a balance of arms and core to begin with. You do need strong arms but once you have strong(er) arms, then it's up to the core to generate, store and unleash the power.

What you never want in golf is a HUGE strong and bulky chest ...

[Iktomi]

Re: Adding distance?

I just got back from a strength seminar and one of the presenters works with about a dozen PGA tour professionals. I've been to three of his presentations and I trust his judgement. We discussed how he trains his golfers and he told me to work on two things. First, cardiovascular training. Establish a good cardio base, 150 minutes per week. If you don't have health issues shoot for 65% of your maximum heart rate. The second part is strength training. A basic total body program will work. If you haven't done alot of strength work keep it simple. Total body, 5 to 8 exercises with 10-15 repetitions per exercise. You should use enough weight so that the 15th repetition is almost maximum effort. After this you can work on movement. I really like explosive training, but you need a very strong strength base and lots of practice. You also need to be able to maintain correct positions. I've been humbled in my beginning yoga class many times by not being able to maintain simple positions. As far as weighted clubs are concerned you don't need them. Your trying to develop maximum speed. Using one actually promotes deceleration.

If you have any questions you can always ask. I would also suggest some sessions with a personal trainer.

[pnearn]

Re: Adding distance?

Great thread and this is something I am now getting towards

I *believe* I have found and reached my optimum swing speed where my tempo rotates me through the ball and I get the best distance/accuracy

If I 'turn' too fast I lose balance and start spraying the ball so I have to feel a nice smooth and slow rotational turn. Swing easy as they say

However I suspect that by maintaining this same tempo but increasing my core rotational strength I can start to add distance. This is where I want to go rather than swinging harder

So now I need to understand how to build rotational core strength to acheieve this. Im by no means out of shape but im not a broad guy and would like to know how to go about this. A weighted club like the Speed Stik? Working out? Simple exercises? Any advice from someone who's done the same would be much appreciated

[RacLt7]

Re: Adding distance?

I think tempo is the most import thing. You swing as fast as you can whilst able to maintain a good tempo and balance. I allways used to put everything i had into each shot and if i hit it sweet itd go really well, but an average hit was not so good. I then just tried to go for a SOLID contact on my ball, and i tried to achieve this by slowing down and being smoother. I soon found i was hitting it further and straighter by swinging smoothly. After that i had a few lessons and found i was getting much more accurate. So for me tempo is the most important thing. You should only swing as fast as you can while still abale to maintain balance. I hit my driver about 240mtrs on avg and my 7iron 150mtrs with pleanty of hight, and my swing is much slower than alot of pepole i see on the course. Remember to aim for your average shot... not your best shot.

[proshank]

Re: Adding distance?

thanks for the info everyone. another question on this matter. does having more flex on the shaft for your driver help with distance?

[Iktomi]

Re: Adding distance?

Hello pnearn,

Golf is golf and exercise is exercise. They both can compliment each other, part of my cardio workout includes walking instead of riding and carrying my bag. In reality the only way you can improve at golf is to play and practice golf. What you are trying to do is improve the engine, increase stamina, maintain correct postures and improve your functional flexibility. Everyone talks about the "core" without understanding it is only a part of an exercise program. Think about golf as a toenail to fingernail sport. Just about everything in life starts from the ground up. So what part is more important? Like I said before I would start with a total body workout. I incorporate the 'big four' exercises in almost every training program I design. These are the squat, deadlift, shoulder press and bench press. Understand your limitations with any exercise program. With my beginners I use dumbbells and we won't do deep squats or full deadlifts until I can see that they are strong enough to do a movement correctly.

Once you establish a good strength base you can start building. I've been experimenting with a kettlebell workout using dumbbells. I do lots of explosive lifts, snatches, cleans, push pressing. And I have done medicine ball routines, swiss ball exercises, band and tubing workouts. But I NEVER, ever start anyone with an advanced program until I am satisfied that they are strong enough and can maintain correct positions on the less demanding exercises.

The key to any program is having fun and progression. Please remember that golf is golf, and exercise is exercise. They compliment each other but there isn't any substitute for practice and play.

If you have any questions about anything please feel free to ask.

[Simon Woo]

Re: Adding distance?

Correct me if I am wrong, a lot of the factors brought up still ultimately point to one thing : swing speed. That includes coil, strength, lag, shaft flex etc, right? Taking other factors like head size and material, launch angle, spin, hitting at the sweet spot etc constant, ultimately it's the swing speed that's going to address the original question of getting more distance, right?

[peter3]

Re: Adding distance?

ultimately it's the swing speed that's going to address the original question of getting more distance, right?

In combination with hitting the sweet spot, yes.

I saw a video somewhere where they claimed that the energy transfer rate for average Joe is around 1.10 but for touring pros it's around 1.50 (i.e if you have 100MPH swing speed, the ball will travel at 110 and 150 MPH when hit). They claimed this was due to the fact that pros hit the sweet spot almost all the time, average Joe almost never.

So, swinging slower but hitting the sweet spot could mean the ball goes further compared to swinging fast but missing it...

[Simon Woo]

Re: Adding distance?

Great info there, Peter. So the first component is to make sure that one has a proper consistent swing that can bring the head back to the ball at the sweet spot, with the head square and at the correct angle for the optimum launch angle.

As for swing speed, I'm really not sure if strength and fitness are what the average Joe lacks, but I suspect it's more of a technique issue of learning how to create the most lag and conserve the top speed for the moment of impact.. Perhaps I might even suggest that if your driver shots go say anywhere below 220 then you need to work on technique. But if it's already going beyond say 240 then yes you might need to work on strength and fitness (assuming sweet spot, launch angle and spin are optimum)?