Quest to improve driving distance was in vain

I have been trying everything to improve my driving distance. I have changed 4 drivers, gone for driver fitting, go to range 3 times a week. Nothing seems to help. My last driver fitting shows that my swing speed is 95mph, smash factor 1.49 to 1.5. And my carry distance is only 200 yards. On the course, a good drive only goes 220 yards. What can I do to increase my driving? Feel like giving up trying.

You could maybe increase your launch angle or get more accurate SS and smash factor data.

Same boat here ... I'm on my 5th driver (last 3 have been brand name expensive drivers) & am currently gaming my wife's old cheapo ladies Acuity driver.     It's 3 inches shorter than my K15 & I hit it just about as far.    Key for me is the shorter length makes me hit the sweet spot much more often - I'm so erratic with mens drivers - it's all over the place - absolutely no confidence with them.    I've slowed my swing down & am hitting much straighter and under control with the ladies driver.     I swing 88 mph & manage around 210-220 - I'm happy with that.   FOR NOW.    My drive has been so erratic - didn't even go to the course this week (first time since may)  - spent 5 consecutive nights at the range hitting only the driver - trying to get a repeatable, easy tempo swing down - seeing some progress & am gaining on it, but holycr@p does developing a golf swing take work !!    I figure ... eventually, when my game improves, I'll retry the Ping, but for now, it's much more fun having a sense of control with the girl driver ...

My advice is do what you can do to hit the sweet spot consistently (try a shorter club, slow your swing down somewhat, etc)  ... from my eperience, I think thats the key to consistent and longer shots - accurate ball contact.

A common mistake for most golfers is to blame the club and equipment for their failure to drive the ball farther down the fairway (or commonly into the trees or rough). They buy a new driver and get fitted, and when that fails to magically increase distance, they go for another driver. I am using a Adams Golf tight Lies 8.5 degree driver from before everybody started using the massive driver heads. My accuracy is erratic, but [U]when everything comes together appropriately[/U] it will travel at least 280 yards in air. Of course, I must stress the bold and underlined part of that last sentence. Most of my drives don't go that far because of my inconsistent swing. I am working on getting back into the game after years and it really shows. However, the key is getting the swing down and learning how to increase that club head speed. Ball flight tells you everything you want to know about what is happening upon impact with the ball. Distance, trajectory, launch angle, and other factors are all determined at that precise moment of contact; everything prior to that point determines what the conditions of impact will be. You need to work on your swing, and not on saving up for new equipment. The latest and greatest isn't the problem. [U] Most golfers [/U] would score equally well with today's equipment as they would have several years ago.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but you can't 'buy' a golf game. The only real way to increase your distance is to increase your clubhead speed. Technology isn't going to do it for you.

Before I got old, I used to be fairly long, launching range balls into the box cars out the back of the driving range @ 320 carry with the original/first TM Pittsburg persimmon at 36 years of age. When we had wood drivers, I thought anything under 300 was a par 3.

I attribute most of this to my Grandfather, who when giving me my earliest instruction, told me to swing as hard as I could, we'd fix the accuracy later. So I did. I swung so hard I lost my balance, came out of my shoes, etc., etc..

When I did hit the ball, it went into the next zip code. But we couldn't always predict which zip code.

Then we started working on balance and consistency. This took much longer, but most of it finally sunk in.

I'm not saying this would work for everyone, but it worked for me. YMMV.  :)

Just keep trying to improve consistancy with hitting the center of the club face. From there thats your max with how much strength you have with that swing. Then you can work out the core..

A couple things to try that you haven't listed

1) Lessons from a pro that will tell you what is wrong with your swing and if/where you are losing speed. He should also be able to help with launch angle if needed

2) Building a better indian through weight lifting, stretching, and plyos.  In the words of Tim Taylor "More power" always helps when distance is the goal

Finally you have to be realistic. With a 95mph swing you are not going to be hitting the ball 300 yards. Somewhere in the 230s of carry would be a realistic number.

All sound advice, Here is how Martin Hall fixes that problem.

http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,1594271,00.html

According to a couple of charts I've read, a SS of 95mph would yield a driver carry distance of @ 204 yards with an optimal (@13*) launch angle.  So, it would appear your numbers are in line.  As such, I agree with others that have suggested getting your swing looked at by a pro.  Preferably one that uses video so that you can dissect your swing in slow motion to see if there's something that can be improved on to increase your SS.

This is a great post guys. Alot of good info. Ive been playing for few years with not real great distance, but when I changed my driver it helped alot, I know that. I had an older Callaway Big Bertha, and I bought a brand new Punisher 450 from Fister Golf. The guy that said that working on keeping the ball in the center of the head was absolutely correct. Thats where the new driver helped me the most, I was able to keep it centered better for some reason.

From my experience, I think those charts are a bit off ... on two launch monitors, my swing with a driver averages at 88 mph.     Per my lazer, I've measured my drives - usually about 220-230, with the occasional 240 if the stars are in allignment.