power. more power.

Captain, I givnit all shes got.

Like Scotty, I cant seem to get past 250. I want warp speed on my drives. The good news is when I swing really fast- I get to swing again with a brand new ball! (&*#!@$(@!#). Of if I'm lucky- I'm on the fairway! (of the adjoining hole!).

Any ideas for long off the tee?

If you can drive it 250 dead straight every time, then strength and power is the issue. Because you cannot, swing fundamentals are the issue. Therefore, tricks to make the ball go farther aren't going to help.

I'm in the same 250 boat as are a lot of people.

It is possible to get more power if you really relax your grip and wrists and then whip the clubhead through keeping it all loose almost like the club is going to slip out of your hands.

The problem with this is that it opens you up for the dreaded snap hook, and after a few of those you will start tightening up your grip once again. LOL

Or you can tee it up high and forward and really load up on your right side and power through the ball, but this opens up the huge banana slice.

What I have done is go to a distance ball (the Freak), an 8.5 driver with a reg shaft, and when I hit it with the right trajectory it has a decent carry with a maximum roll out and I can get 275 and more on a firm or sloped fairway. With a lush fairway I'm out of luck.

I hit the ball the furthest when I have a good swing from inside out, have a loose feel in my hands and arms and don't force anything. The biggest part of it is concentrating on a slow start then accelerating once the club head gets below the shoulders and down through the ball. I've landed balls close to 300 yards when I really get a hold of it. Weighing 230lbs might help too though...

My suggestion: find a TPI certified fitness pro in your area and do golf-specific workouts. I saw one in May, got 6 weeks worth of workouts, saw him again in July, and am in week 2 of another 6 weeks. I've increased my driver distance from 200 to in the 220-240 range since May. I've seen no appreciable loss in accuracy, except when the shaft flex comes into play (the drives that go past 240 - rare as they are - seem to be all over the place)

Are you hitting the ball square and solid? What iron do you hit 150 yards?

If you are hitting the ball solid each time. I recommend getting professionally fitted for the proper driver and ball.

I am hitting the ball longer just with better swing mechanics.

Do you draw the ball for maximun roll?

Swing slower and create more lag,thats where power and swing speed come from,not how fast your arms can swing,that loses plenty of power,more lag = more swing speed,

Just my $.02. Distance comes from a good coil and a powerful lower body. Upper body strength has little bearing on distance. If you are swinging with your upper body leading.. you are going to have reduced distance.

Coil, Coil, Coil. Work on your flexibility in your upper body make the weight transfer back and through the ball. In order to increase your distance you'll have to increase your swing speed, and timing and torque are the name of the game.

i second this.

you need a solid hip and shoulder turn. There really is no other way around it. A good turn allows you to come in from the inside as well as create lag in your swing. It also puts you in position for a natural and powerful release. You are hitting the ball 250 which puts you likely at about 95mph club head speed. Even for those kind of numbers, you likely have to be somewhat athletic. I used to max out at about 260 with about 98-102 on the launch monitor. With the help of an instructor, i learned how to make a proper turn, and without trying to swing faster, my club head speed got to about 109mph. And on a fun note...i got my first 300yard drive today. So yea, you need to understand the mechanics of a proper turn. Without one, you wont have proper timing and you wont be able to create lag or power.

Whenever I hear this topic, I always relate a little story:

In our group the two longest (and straighest) drivers are the 92-year-old and the 84-year-old. The rest of us average about 40-50 years old (I'm the youngest at 30) and we only WISH we could keep up with these older guys. Its definately not about strength.

I don't have any advice... my longest drive was 240 and that was a fluke.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

I went and got lessons because I was driving the ball so short, actually, all my clubs were going VERY short. I couldn't believe it. I worked so hard on my swing the past year and here I was hitting a 5 iron 150 yards...a 7 iron 130, if I was lucky...I was shocked at how short my distances were...a good drive? 215! What was I told by most? Get bigger. Hit the gym. You're 5'7" 140 lbs...that's why...well...no...

So I went, and got some lessons. Turned out, even though I hit the ball EXTREMELY straight, there were a few reasons why.

1. My grip was VERY VERY weak, causing the face to be open at impact...I had a swing that came over the top - so when I came over the top, that was actually a good thing, because it held the ball on-line. My teacher said I was turning a 5 iron into a 7 iron, 7 iron into a 9 iron, etc. etc. He said I was losing so much distance with such a weak grip he couldn't believe how I shot such low scores (low to mid 80's) with that grip and short of distance.

2. No right hand SNAP through impact...I wasn't snapping my right hand, your TRUE power source, through impact...in other words, I wasn't getting my "hands and wrisits into the shot.."

3. Strengthening my grip helped keep the ball flight much much lower, and helped me hit a draw now, and I'm hitting the ball 15 yards furthur with each club, and about 25-30 with my driver...it's great!!! I still think there can be so more improvements (sometimes i revert back to the old swing and hit a 5 iron 150 and it turns out terrible, lol) but I'm making strides!!!

This is more for those that drive under 250 yards than it is for the original poster.

Although 'power', is kind of a vague term....for the purpose of conversation, i'll suggest that having 'power' is any drive above 250-260yards. I choose this number because under normal conditions with average trajectory and average backspin, the average healthy, relatively flexible (if you cant stand shoulder width apart and turn your shoulders so that your shoulder gets under your chin, you probably fall out of this category...also your ability to touch your toes is a pretty decent measure) can put up 90-95mph of clubhead speed on their driver. With normal trajectory and backspin, that puts you at about 250-260 yards. Nice smooth swing gets you 250-260 yards if you fall into that average male category (and to clarify, by average male, i'm not really referring to size, more of average health, athleticism, and flexibility..size really doesnt matter for that distance.... if a 5'4 135lb female can drive the ball 250+ yards, so can a 5'7 140 pound male.). If you cant drive the golf ball 250 yards the problem is your swing technique not your physique. Simply enough, the ball isnt striking the center of the clubface at impact. If the average man can get the clubface to strike the center of the ball while traveling on the correct swing path while using a driver, it'll travel about 250 yards. I hate to simplify it, but in essence, that's the situation.

If you cant consistently get your clubface to make solid contact, and in turn put you about 250 yards down the fairway...there is no "power move" or power tip that'll magically propel a 220yd drive to a 290 yarder. All it is it clubface in the right position at impact.

If you are serious about improving ball striking, i'd recommend an instructor to show you. These forums are wonderful for providing tips and little tweaks to your swing. Possibly reminding you of certain swing thoughts and little tips to get you in the right direction.

This is kind of a tangent but im gonna mention it anyways because it came to mind. With many many golfers...their swings are actually worse than they appear. You simply dont really see good golfers missing many shots long or short. Its more of a miss left or miss right game. They are consistently striking the ball solid...they just kinda messed up. Maybe a little over top, maybe weakened the grip a bit...but overall....their 7 iron is gonna go 165 yards on a good trajectory...it just might miss its target by a dozen yards to the left or right. Worse golfers tend to mishit in the worse ways. Completely topping the ball or hitting the big ball before they hit the small one.

In essence, what i'm getting at is that if you can hit it solid on the face every time....im talking high solid trajectory....then you have no chance of hitting a powerful drive. The club just isnt designed to do that (luckily nowadays...if it hit my burner a little off the toe or heel...i might only lose 10 yards). If you are driving it 250 and are happy with it...then thats great....but if you are driving it 220 and you want to get it to that average drive mark of about 250 (technically, i'm not sayin that that is the actual mean distance that a golfer drives a golf ball...but it is the average distance that an average person would hit a drive had they caught it on the center of the face at 95mph), then you must take a look at your swing again and make sure that you have a textbook shoulder turn, downswing, and release. If thats not the case...get those in check and 250 yarders will be the norm.

My experience with instructors is that they can help with a slice but are unwilling/unable to help optimize driver swing speed, ie 225 yards is 'good enough' and 'be glad you can hit it straight'. The literature is also unspecific about the mechanical details needed to create proper leverage. So what resource is available to help ?

For me, the power drain usually comes from squeezing the grip too tight at the top of the swing. I tend to start the downswing sometimes by squeezing the club tightly and jerking the club down from the top.

Reminding myself to stay loose and keep a light grip allows the club to whip through the hitting zone with a full release. Most importnatly though, my accuracy is much better and therefore I hit the ball further.

Stay loose and don't try so hard.

What makes you think you are capable of hitting the ball 300 yards? Surely not everyone who plays golf is capable of doing so. Work on your swing mechanics, get some lessons and the distance will be the distance whatever that is for you. Honestly, in my worst days I could occasionally uncork a 300+ yard drive when I accidently hit the ball square and timing was perfect. Not everyone has the same strength, timing and athletic ability. Work on getting the perfect swing that works for you and see what happens.

I'll third this.

I have been flexing my knees a little more at address with the driver. This allows me to get a better turn and I can generate some power from my legs. Of course, nothing will work if you can't get the clubface square at impact. That is how I get more power, but it might not work for everyone.

150ish I use a 6 iron- but I'm accurate and consistent with it. I'm great at bogey golf-had multiple rounds of 88/89, so I'm improving.... I'm gonna look into the TPI instructor idea, or at least start using Enzyte off the TEE