Not trying to be a jerk but seasoned short hitters, what is keeping you from hitting it over 250 on your drives?

[Lihu]

Is that what I said? I better take a break.

No, sorry if I read into your statements too much. In any case, hitting balls 300 is not important to me as much as how I swing the club. Only pros need to hit that far, and they have so much more going for them. I only hope that 30 years from now, I can play your game.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by Datsyuk

Quote:

Originally Posted by zipazoid

I answered it before I got to the baseball analogy. Your questions was 'What makes you think high-handicappers don't practice their short game' and my answer was, because they're high handicappers.

I'll elaborate since it appears you need me to. If you're hitting it 300y off the tee & shooting 100, obviously you don't have much of a short game. If you don't have much of a short game it would stand to reason you aren't practicing your short game. It's A+B = C logic.

Corey Pavin is a successful PGA Tour professional, and he hits about the same distance you do.

Everybody hits a wall somewhere. Even the professionals. Why didn't Davis Love III win more tournaments and have career winnings double or triple Pavin's? Maybe he didn't work on his short game enough.

As I said earlier, just because somebody hits the ball a long way (compared to you) doesn't mean they're making a good stroke on their next one, or that their second stroke was even playable. A good player must work on a lot of things, but I have my doubts a 240 driver wouldn't score better with 270 yard drives. You can skip the 300 yard drives since it's only the shortest and longest hitters who keep throwing that number out there. Would a longer hitter do better getting the ball in a better position off the tee? Yeah, that's why they practice hitting drivers at the range.

So I'll admit high handicappers could practice partial shots and scoring shots more often. So could 5 and 6 cappers.

He was always working the short game...

[phan52]

Originally Posted by Datsyuk

Is that how you interpreted your experience? You scored much better from their longer tee shots. They could do better with your accuracy and you'd obviously score better with longer tee shots.

If I tried to hit longer tee shots (without completely breaking down my swing and starting over) I would not be so accurate and I would be scrambling to make bogies all the time. Sorry, I'll take the short grass and a look at the green.

[Jimdangles]

Originally Posted by Jimdangles

Who said I dont have a short game? My brother and his friend have been playing since high school, they are 10 years older than me and I didnt start til about 3 years after high school. I didnt say that I didnt have a short game I said theres was better.

You did, when you told us how far you hit it yet only have a 13.0 index. I hit it 50 yards shorter than you do and have an index of 14.0. And I sure do not have a great short game. So how could you hit it that far, have a great short game, and have an index that is virtually the same as mine? But even with my average short game, if I was hitting it 250+ with the same accuracy I have to believe I would have a single digit index.

I dont know why you are attacking me bro. You are putting words in my mouth. I havent said anything bad nor did I try to be insulting. Infact what I posted was actually quite unrelated to the Op's original question which was basically why cant you hit it further? All I said was that its not that important about distance but it is an extra weapon in the arsenal. I gave credit to the people who just dont have the distance but my brother who is a shorter hitter still beats me all the time. I gave nothing but credit to the shorter hitters.

On an unrelated note to that I have put in a lot of time in short game and range but havent been keeping up with that in a while. I have been staying around my 13 handicap just playing twice a week or so to keep myself from getting rusty. I am not out there to become a pga pro. I am plenty content being a golfer shooting in the 80's and having fun.

[lexlucazi]

I live in the smokey mtn area most of the golf courses here are treacherous to say the least. hills valleys woods and creeks. ive learned that a long bomb will send you to hades in a hurry if youre not straight. If courses are properly guarded you need to be straight. if you can allow yourself the chance to hit a shot in the middle then to the green or the surrounding area from any distance your chances at par are greater. so the most important factor has to be your approaches and your short game. if you try to unleash a long shot off the tee. unless you have full control you will push or pull it into a bogey or worse...and if you have no short game or approach a long tee shot doesnt matter because your dead before you hit your second shot. work on increasing your g.i.r. give yourself more birdie putts and your handicap will come down.

heres an example

[LovinItAll]

Even playing my very best golf, I never averaged 250+, nor did I need to in order to play decent golf. For me, it was simply my swing speed that kept me from consistently hitting it over 250, not a technical breakdown in my swing. Further, the vast majority of golfers don't average 250+ for whatever reason (except in Internet yards). With that said, I play regularly with a couple of guys that hit it long (265-285): - One of them is is in his 60's and has been playing his whole life. Played D1 golf, etc. - The other is in his forties and has only been playing 3-4 years. At 6'5", if he swings the club exactly the same as I do, he's going to hit it quite a bit further by virtue of a longer arc. Are there things I could do to learn to swing the club faster? Maybe, but I'm not that obsessed with length. I hit it pretty straight and rarely find myself in the junk off the tee, so I have a decent chance of making par on even the longest par 4 on our course (~450 yards). The 6'5" guy hits it about 285 but can't break 80. The dude in his sixties scares par every time out and gets it into the 60's on a regular basis. Though bashing it out there 265 helps, he'd shoot the same number, IMHO, if he magically started hitting it 245 tomorrow. The whole question and conclusion the OP makes is really a non-sequitur. Just because one group of guys can hit a golf ball x yards doesn't mean ALL golfers with similar physical characteristics can do the same regardless of training. Kobe and MJ are the same height, yet MJ has a vertical leap that's almost a foot more than Kobe's (10", I think). Not all 6"6' guys can bang their head against the basket no matter how much training they have, just as some golfers will never hit it x yards because, well, they just can't. Just because 250 may seem to be an achievable distance by the person asking the question doesn't make it so. One last point: in the past ten years, there really hasn't been any improvement in golf club technology that allow golfers to hit the ball farther with driver (nor will there be with any tech we currently know about). All things being equal, the only way a golfer is going to get extra yards is to improve their technique or hit a club with a longer shaft. On the technique side, I'd say that most amateurs have a physical limit that can't be overcome without turning golf into a full time job.

[Shortylook]

Now I'm talking meters here guys but if I hit it 200 meters constantly I'm over the moon, my average is about 170-190 and a long of 230 only once. I know this because I was so impressed with the hit I used my gps to see how far it went. My average is also about right because every couple of holes ill pull out the GPS and see how long my drive is. But I found that the more emphasis I put into making the drive a big one the more I mess it up. I know this sounds like a typical high handicapper(31 in case your wondering) but i play better when I'm on the fairway instead of grinding it out of the dense rough after my first shot. But I'd love to be able to cream it 250+ like my mate can do constantly, but I don't think I ever will, but I'm sure going to try

[Tom Shanks]

From very recent personal experience, I think it's swing mechanics. I'm 6 feet, 165 lbs., and 6 months into golf. I am not at all obsessed with distance and was pretty content with my drives in the 220-230 range. After signing up for lessons, my coach immediately identified that I had too much tension in my arms and legs on my downswing and all the way through impact. A few drills without a ball for 5 minutes and he tells me to just step up and hit it without thinking, exactly like I was just practicing. I thought for sure the ball wouldn't make it 200, yet it flew 258. I managed to get a few into the 270 range as well. I took the advice to the course 3 times since then and it's been great. Have my scores dropped dramatically? No......but I as well as anyone regardless of skill would rather have a 9 iron in instead of a 5. And being able to reach that short par 5 in 2, or at least get close enough for an easy chip, doesn't hurt either.

[Hairy Feet]

I occasionally sneak one past 260yds but my average is 245yds according to Google Earth. Why don't I work at hitting it further? There's no need to. The course I play most of my golf at is 6800yds and I can hit all the greens in regulation. The longest par 4 is 460yds, and a reasonable drive will see me going in with a hybrid or 4 iron. 95% of my practice is spent chipping and putting.

So why WON'T I practice the long game? The score card doesn't come with pictures. My par, off a 245yd drive is just as good as the par off someone else's 270yd drive. And for the willy wavers and pissing contestants, my best round of the year included 7 birdies and my putting average is just a point over 29.

Here's one 54yr old that is very happy with the way he plays the game.

[Brakkus]

Hi all

I recently started to play again after a 2 year haitus. Just got frustrated with the lack of play and coupled with the realisation that golf is a longer process than other sports I have played. One thing I mentally decided early on was to forget distance and focus on consistency. Interesting experiment my first game at a track I have played before. I think I scored 103 when I last played and I was a regular player at the time. So we all turn up pre-paid golf day,horrid weather,raining,cold,sleet etc. There were some breaks from the weather. Shot 101. I haven't played any course of any description for 2 years and shoot the same score as I was regulary doing before.

Distance does matter to some degree but consistently hitting it the same distance is more important. Now I went ultra conservative. From my limited practice time up to the day,I had my swing on the correct plane. Decent posture but not much swing speed. On the course I had a golf caddy on my phone. I think my longest tee shot was with a 17" hybrid which was around 186 yds. Some shots were as little as 165 with the 20" hybrid. The second shot was where I had problems, I had variable contacts with the ball affecting distance and just not letting go with my swing. I didn't lose a ball all day but then I didn't take any risks. I played out a strategy for a 90. If you take out the absolute mistakes I made that would bring my score down to 96, the other 6 strokes were simply down to not reaching the greens in 3 shots,I took 4 on some. I may of 3 putted maybe twice.

I believe I will hit the ball further in the future as my confidence grows from solid contact my swing lose the tension. This has happened in my tennis game when I started. I'm more relaxed about my swing now and being more precise about what I practice when I visit the range. Focus on one move in the swing and allow myself to learn. 250 is certainly possible as in the summer I have hit a 16" hybrid I used to play beyond that distance a number of times,but that isn't my average. 220 every single time is what I'm after,and paradoxically if you could do that then in all probability your body is capable of producing more distance if you are middle aged and in good physical shape.

[HackerUpNorth]

You did, when you told us how far you hit it yet only have a 13.0 index. I hit it 50 yards shorter than you do and have an index of 14.0. And I sure do not have a great short game. So how could you hit it that far, have a great short game, and have an index that is virtually the same as mine? But even with my average short game, if I was hitting it 250+ with the same accuracy I have to believe I would have a single digit index. I dont know why you are attacking me bro. You are putting words in my mouth. I havent said anything bad nor did I try to be insulting. Infact what I posted was actually quite unrelated to the Op's original question which was basically why cant you hit it further? All I said was that its not that important about distance but it is an extra weapon in the arsenal. I gave credit to the people who just dont have the distance but my brother who is a shorter hitter still beats me all the time. I gave nothing but credit to the shorter hitters. On an unrelated note to that I have put in a lot of time in short game and range but havent been keeping up with that in a while. I have been staying around my 13 handicap just playing twice a week or so to keep myself from getting rusty. I am not out there to become a pga pro. I am plenty content being a golfer shooting in the 80's and having fun.

Did you reply to yourself?

[k-troop]

Did you reply to yourself?

Did you revive a year-old thread just to take a shot at someone?

[Valleygolfer]

He was probably reading through the thread and didn't see that the post was in November 2012 not 2013

[bubble]

I hit it long when my right arm is trait and strong going towards target after impact.

how and why I dont know.

sure would like to know how though, at least I could get it done more often. :)

[HackerUpNorth]

That's exactly what happen, didn't see the year.