What arent they telling us?

[rharris06]

Re: What arent they telling us?

I cant believe that! Shows how hard the game of golf really is.

[john.daniels90]

Re: What arent they telling us?

Ive been told the face of a driver is like a trampoline the nearer to the centre you you can hit the more spring reaction you get, but the more off centre you strike the less reaction you get.

[bill reed]

Re: What arent they telling us?

hi john
yes thats right and the irons too but to a lesser extent. the clubs are sey up to give the right spin rate and ball speed taken from hits on the sweet spot and anything ff that gets less distance.
bill

[slf]

Re: What arent they telling us?

it must be thier great timeing. if you look at some PGA guys they are very petit yet hit the ball a long way. look at ladies at LPGA, some of them hit the ball 280+ and weight no more than my lap top! some times when i manage to slow my swing down because I want to "ley up" I hit the ball much further than when I hit it full! it must be the tempo, accelerating through the ball and great timeing. i just wish I had it!

[rharris06]

Re: What arent they telling us?

Talent and skill, flexibility and lag!

Plus I dont no any ladies that hit it over 280+ lol! Leadbetter ses michele wie does but every tournament I see her play and her averages are like 240-250 yards.

Also when watching the pros in real life and you see there ball flight it looks like they hit it out the middle everytime when really they dont, its because they have such a big amount of club head speed even if they dont hit the sweetspot it still has that penetrating ball flight!
So its kind of fooling you! I can hit it as far as the lower pro but I dont know why all of us are speaking about there distance, its nothing special its there wedge game and short game which is special!

[Simon Woo]

Re: What arent they telling us?

I don't think it's so much about hitting the sweet spot for the average player. According to this logic, if an average player hits a thousand balls, surely a few of them will be hit on (or at least very near to) the sweet spot. But you still don't see them hitting those drives that far. So it has to be something more than then sweet spot that is restricting our maximum drives (sweet spot or not) to 220yds :P

[aroachr]

Re: What arent they telling us?

Thanks Bill. I will check that out this afternoon.

Roger

[Leepy]

Re: What arent they telling us?

Its all about timing and speed through the ball, Im 6'2" and have a slim build and I regularly hit over 300 yards and my best is 370 yards. When I first started I used to chuck everything I had at the ball for that bit of extra distance but without much success but as I have improved over the years I have learnt to swing with a nice tempo resisting the urge the smash the cover of the ball, I now hit it further than ever, Ive even on a couple of occasions managed to hit my 4+ wood 300 yards. Keeping it relaxed is the key, if you tense up you will lose all your fluidity.

[BrianW]

Re: What arent they telling us?

This is an interesting topic. What do you have to do to drive the ball the longest distance within your capability:

Our natural instincts tell us to swing with maximum force and speed but that tends to make us lose stability, good contact and direction.

I guess we all hit a drive sometimes that just flies off the club face into the blue yonder, much further than we normally hit. I know when I get such a shot I have taken a nice controlled swing that was well within my limits.

When I look at many of the top professionals I find it difficult to believe that their driving distance is due to their superior athletic bodies and flexibility. Clarke, Montgomery, Daley etc ?????

I would guess that head speed and force is a critical factor but must be synchronized with the ball being contacted solidly from the optimum position on the club face (Sweet spot) where all the forces come together in an optimum manner. As stated previously, when you make great contact you can hardly feel the ball of the face, everything is working together for optimum results.

[shootin4par]

Re: What arent they telling us?

[quote=BrianW]
When I look at many of the top professionals I find it difficult to believe that their driving distance is due to their superior athletic bodies and flexibility. Clarke, Montgomery, Daley etc ?????quote]
one thing to clarify about the pros is that yes the fairways roll long but the only drives that count towards driving distance are balls that are in the fairway. So if tiger hits 100 tee shots that count towards driving distance, the times he took 3 wood or 5 wood off that tee are factored in. So if they changed the stat to "driving distance when players took a driver off the tee and found the fairway, you would see the top guys numbers go up by 10-20 yards.

as brian said, it is not about being some athletic freak of naturn. Sure things like strength and flexibility do help. but it is all about technique. Rharis is not big or strong but at his weight to average as long as he does it is because his swing, which is a great swing. at address you establish your angle of the hips and shoulders (spine angle), if you loose that in the backswing you will have a hard time maximizing your distance. Some people may have a hard time believing leepy and his distance, but being a person who can hit it long myself while only being 5'9 and 162, he has realistic numbers for someone with good technique. I have hit the ball over 320 quite a few times and have gotton a ball downhill and downwind up to 365. Guys it is really not as hard or as mystical as people migh think to average 275+

excuse me for being blunt but the real question is not "what are they not telling us" the real question is why aren't you listening to what they are telling you. The information is out there, you just need to understand it.

[ogallalabob]

Re: What arent they telling us?

I think that the distance the pro's reach is a combination of a lot of factors: the biggest being a proper swing, timing, hand speed, flexibilty and strength in the fore arms and chest. But not about being a freak of nature. I also think that most guys can hit 260-270 with a proper swing mechanics (need what at least a 90-95 mph clubhead speed) and equipment that conforms to their swing.

[Started2k3]

Re: What arent they telling us?

one thing to clarify about the pros is that yes the fairways roll long but the only drives that count towards driving distance are balls that are in the fairway.

Not true.

'Driving Distance-Measured Drvs.' is the average number of yards per measured drive. These drives are measured on two holes per round. Care is taken to select two holes which face in opposite directions to counteract the effects of wind. Drives are measured to the point they come to rest regardless of whether they are in the fairway or not. (101)

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/leaders/r/2006/101
Bottom of the table.

This is filler for some reason I got an error message that this post was too short? I think it might be that I used a lot of cut and paste. Or that you can't end a post with a quote.

[jesperparnevik]

Re: What arent they telling us?

hi rharris
the sweet spot on all clubs is only the size of this icon "" and the closer you get the better the ball flight.

I believe that the sweetspot has a sweetspot if you catch my meaning? I'll explain what I mean: Has anyone ever been to the range and just puring all your irons and I mean your swing is beautifully in sync, tempo is great, balance, everything, and the game for that short while seems "easy" your irons feel like butter and then out of nowhere you get one ball that just feels like you didn't hit anything at all. It flies that little bit longer and straighter. Now I still believe thet the other strikes were out of the sweetspot and felt great and pure, then you hit the sweetsweetspot which is prob the size of the icon above as bill says! Has anyone ever experienced this?
As regards Pros hitting the ball so far, I read before that it's from efficiency of movement. They have no moving parts that aren't meant to be moving, everything in their swing has a purpose and therefore all the energy that they exert goes directly into the ball.
my best drive is 365 downwind on a links course.

[mont86]

Re: What arent they telling us?

excuse me for being blunt but the real question is not "what are they not telling us" the real question is why aren't you listening to what they are telling you. The information is out there, you just need to understand it.

I tend to agree with shootin here, I'm a beginner, but I'm in better shape then alot of people I golf with and they can hit the ball farther then
myself, but after 2 years of alot of studying and practice and the right equipment I'm closing the gap fast.

It's in the swing!!!

[aroachr]

Re: What arent they telling us?

Well , I think I'm trying too hard. I took note of all that you guys said and my practice swings were feeling good. I played on saturday , the worst game ever. didnt even get to par even 1 hole. My irons hit true and strait (I dont even need to see where the ball lands , I just walk in the direction I hit to the distance I wanted and there is the ball). I just dont have the same feel with the wood in my hands though , even my trusty three was fading the ball onto the rough THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FAIRWAY NEXT TO THE FAIRWAY IM PLAYING!!!! Got good distance but got fed up with looking for the ball. My swing just felt awkward ....... went home feeling rather depressed. Only played 9 holes - didnt see the point in practicing all of my bad shots .

Roger