My journey with increasing distance...

For the past five months, I have been working increasing distance with my irons and woods. Here is a peek at what I have discovered thus far:

1. Before I started this journey with increasing distance, my handicap was 1.

2. Five months into this journey, my handicap is now a 6.1.

3. A PGA teaching professional showed me how upright (and "armsy") my swing was. During my lesson, he taught me how to flatten my swing a bit - which increased distance a bit. Then, when I add a strength and flexibility regimen to my training, the yardages for my irons increased by 25 to 30 yards. The yardages on my driver increased 15 to 20 yards.

Now, that may sound good, but here's the rest of the story - something no one told me about; something I haven't heard anyone say just yet:

4. Because of a flatter golf swing and an increase in strength and range of motion, my accuracy has plummeted horribly. On most rounds these days, I can hardly find the green on my approach shots. And while this change has caused me to work on my chipping and putting, it does little for my confidence on approach shots!

5. I used to know the distances for each of my club, but now I feel lost on the distances. I feel lost because the new distances aren't set in stone just yet. Sometimes, I hit the ball dead center and have a vague idea on distance. Other times, I hit an off center shot and the accuracy and distance are up for grabs. Here's what I mean by that:

Old 8 iron distances: 140-143 yards.

New 8 iron distances: 168-171 yards (with an occasional 176-180 yard shot).

On a 170 yard shot into a green these days, I'll swing somewhere between the old (upright) and new (flatter) swing and hit the ball 160-162 yards. Other times, the stars will line up, I'll make a perfect swing and hit my 8 iron 180 yards.

6. Because of the new "flatter" swing, my custom fit irons no longer fit me. What this means is my ball flight is now markedly a draw or hook pattern.

7. Add to this the fact that I am now overpowering the shafts on my irons - as well as overpowering the shafts in my woods. I found this out when I went to some local demo fittings and tested some new irons. The testing crew tested my current irons against some of the newer irons. They found I was overpowering the True Temper DG S300. Once they had me swing the True Temper DG X100, my ball flight was consistent and straight. They also observed how my current irons made contact near the hosel - forcing the face to close upon impact.

What all of this means is:

A. I will need to be fitted again for my current irons.

B. I will need to have new shafts installed on my irons.

C. I will need to have new shafts installed on my woods.

Here's my summary of the experience thus far:

- Yes, I am enjoying the new distances!

- I am hating the lack of accuracy. This lack of accuracy is partially responsible for the increase in my handicap.

- I am also hating not knowing the precise distances with my clubs. This lack of knowledge is adding to the increase of my handicap.

- While I like the draw that has been added to my shots, I am having to make adjustments. Also, as I get stronger and gain more flexibility, some of these draws are turning into hooks (can you say, "Quack quack.").

- This increase in distance, while adding a certain amount of enjoyment to the game, has made the game more expensive - because of the need for new equipment.

My conclusion...

Distance is not what many say it is, and it's more than what they tell you it is. And while it is true I do enjoy the new distances, I miss the days of hitting greens in regulation. I miss the days of knowing the distances of each club. I also miss the consistency of distances and accuracy.

Yes, I am sure these things will eventually come back to me, but it has been a five month journey. (NOTE: I practice two hours a day, three to four days per week and play one day a week). I'm ready for the accuracy to come back. I'm also ready for my 1 handicap to return - because it's been a few decades since I've consistently shot in the low to middle 80's.

I am glad I have taken this journey. However, I can also say this:

Increasing distance does not automatically lower scores - at least not in my experience thus far. When I have worked out the quirks of this new swing AND have purchased new equipment, I am sure I will return to my handicap. I am also sure this increase in distance will eventually decrease my handicap. However, at that point in time, I will have paid a hefty price in time and money - a price the distance protagonists forget to mention.

So, that's my two cents on my journey with distance.

My original focus was three-fold:

1. Make my swing better / more consistent.

2. Become stronger with the muscles used in my swing.

3. Become more flexible with the muscles used in my swing.

I took some lessons to develop a better / more consistent swing. I worked on my strength and flexibility for health reasons as well as to make the game a bit easier. With the combination of these elements, I knew I would eventually increase my distances. However, I was curious how this training would affect the rest of my game.

With regard to accomplishing a specific goal, it was more vague than specific. I knew with a better / more consistent swing, and with stronger and more flexible muscles, I would play better golf. Just how much better, I did not know. So, I set out on a journey to see how far I would progress in six months.

One month from now, I am planning to hit more greens in regulation - like before. I am also planning to hit more fairways. And, with more greens in regulation and more fairways hit, I'm planning to bring my scores back down into the 70's :-)

I'm sure with all of the work that you are doing on your swing that your accuracy will return to prior levels. To me, trying to improve your game is the fun part, although painful at times, about golf.

Best wishes on your journey.

I love this game.

First of all let me say I'm not a good golfer. But I do have some understanding of the logic\physics behind the swing plane and lie angle. By flattening out your swing plane with your clubs fitted to a more upright stance, the toe of your clubs will effectively be lifted at impact. This has the knock on effect of moving the dynamic swing plane of the club face to point more left, and this effect is more pronounced as the loft of the club increases. The effect can be seen by sticking a kids suction pad arrow onto the face of the club. I suspect this is a prime reason why your direction has been throw off centre.

Wow!    That's worse than my journey so far.     In the last two months, I have been doing 3 things to increase distance: got new fitted clubs, working out (golf specific), and took lessons.   My distance increased (and is still increasing) is from 10 to 25 yards (short iron to driver), respectively.    During the span, my HI increased by 2 points.   I suspect it's the swing adjustments which have been setting me back despite the increased length.   One thing that is finally coming together is GIR & Par stats.  They got higher.   But my OB numbers got worse as my FIR went from 60% to 45%.  Added distance meant more OBs, rolling into roughs and hazards.   It also means adjusting to new distance.  I don't know how far my approach shot is going to go these days.  Yesterday round highlighted these changes.   I had 8 pars but carded 103 due to multiple triples & quadruples.

Why do you still not know your new distances after 6 months?  It should be pretty simple for an otherwise skilled/experienced golfer to convert.  Somewhat like playing new irons.  After 2 rounds, you should be 90% dialed in.....heck, after 9 holes I expect to be pretty darn close.

What was your starting point, i.e., what was your typical drive length pre-journey?

How much distance have you picked up on your drives?

dfreuter415,

Thank you!

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TimS65,

I'm not only drawing and hooking the ball left (I'm right handed), but I am also - occasionally - pushing the ball right.

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rkim291968,

That's great! This is such a fun, fascinating and frustrating game :-)

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David in FL,

I don't have the distance dialed in because (1) I am still not making solid contact with the ball much of the time, (2) when I do make solid contact with the ball, the ball hooks [which I am not used to this happening], (3) sometimes I over-compensate and end up pushing the ball, and (4) I am still getting stronger and more flexible. All of these put together leaves me a few yards short to a few yards long. While the feel is coming back, it is taking longer than expected - mainly because I am seeing strength and flexibility gains each week. Make sense?

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turtleback,

Here are my starting distances / new distances:

3 iron - 202 yards / 228 yards
4 iron - 190 yards / 212 yards
5 iron - 181 yards / 202 yards
6 iron - 172 yards / 196 yards
7 iron - 155 yards / 181 yards
8 iron - 142 yards / 170 yards
9 iron - 135 yards / 151 yards
PW     - 122 yards / 140 yards
GW     - 105 yards / 124 yards
LW     - 98 yards / 118 yards
SW     - 85 yards / 98 yards
3 wood - 218 yards / 246 yards
Driver   - 255 yards / 270 yards

Right now I am working out. If I can add 20 yards to my drives (get around a 300 average) then I should lower my handicap by 1 stroke or so. So it is a main focus. I REALLY hope it doesn't translate into what happened with you. If I show up to tournament golf as a 5 handicap I will most likely end up giving up golf for the year competitively.

I also am coming from a very flat swing IMO. I am trying to get more upright and with that I really feel like I am going to lose accuracy. Launch angle is one of my objectives and changing the swing and gaining some SS I should get the ball up in the air quite a bit more I am hoping. It has been very tough to get the feel of a more upright swing.

Ultimately, hitting 10-12 GIR per round and averaging 76 with 34 putts per round tells me that I should be working on the 3 footers. But the plan I am using is telling me I should be focusing on getting closer to the hole with distance. We shall see. Good to see your results. I will be posting mine around March 1. Irons will be getting re-bent too.

Mid-February update...

I'm starting to get a grasp on my distances - especially since my swing is becoming more consistent.

What's next? I think I'm going to need a new set of irons soon. My current irons are 12 years old. They are the Cleveland TA-2's. I continue using them because I tested out a few different irons sets three or four years ago and I hit them the same distances I hit the Cleveland TA-2's. So, I saw no reason to spend $1000 on a set of irons that gave me no improvement in distance or accuracy. However, having tested the new Mizuno MP-15's recently, and having seen an improvement in distance, accuracy and ball flight, I am definitely going to have to invest in these in the coming months. After repeatedly hitting a 6 iron 206 yards - with a high trajectory - I was hooked :-)

That'd definitely add more distance.  I went from Callaway X20s to Taylormade Speed blade and saw 5 - 8 yard gain almost immediately.  No loss in accuracy.   In fact, 5i & 6i were more forgiving than my previous set.

rkim29168,

That's very cool!

So, I "steepened" my swing and obtained similar gains in distances. I don't hit as far as you do, but my gains are almost the same.

This bring up a big question for me. What is a steep swing versus a flatter swing? Do you have some DTL videos of your before and after swings for reference?

Lihu,

I low I have some footage of my recent swing changes somewhere, but I'm not sure where they are right now. However, I do have a couple examples of swings I found on youtube.com. These two examples will illustrate the change in my swing.

To illustrate the point I want to make, if you superimpose the hands of a clock onto each photo of the golfer, you will see that the top photo has the shaft of the club pointing at eleven o'clock at the top of his swing. In the bottom photo, the shaft is pointing at roughly ten o'clock at the top of his swing.

Several months ago, when the PGA pro showed me a video of my swing, I saw that the shaft of my club was pointing at twelve o'clock at the top of my swing. I was surprised! So, the past several months, I have been focusing on flattening my swing to somewhere around ten o'clock.

Below is the picture I spoke about above, but before you take a look at it please take a look at this interesting video on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8h0qlA9X7o

Again, I am enjoying the new distances…but I am patiently waiting for the accuracy to come back! It's coming back, but not as quickly as I expected - or desired :-)

Okay, so we both accomplished the same thing by doing the opposite things.

This probably means that there is an optimal "steepness/flatness" in a swing. Even Luke Donald's "flatter" swing looks much steeper than my previous swing.

BTW, I'm also enjoying my new distances. Hitting 2 clubs down is always nice.

Lihu,

That's great you are enjoying the new distance!

Did you happen to watch the youtube video yet? Was your swing like Señor Jimenez?

Sure, I wish. . .

Good video.