Causes of Distance Boom

[iacas]

I was reading

Hank Haney's little piece in a recent Golf Digest . He said:

PGA Tour players are hitting their drives farther than ever because of four factors:

Let's assume that those are the only four factors: agronomy, the ball, club technology, and strength and technique. Suppose distance has increased x yards since 1995. What % of that distance increase do you attribute to each of the factors above?

They're gonna be guesses, of course, but make your best guess. I think it'd be interesting to see how everyone thinks. My List

1. Agronomy - 20%. Today's courses are faster than even ten years ago. 100 yards of roll at the British Open, easily 50+ on average at the U.S. Open. Tiger has talked quite frequently about how difficult it is to fit a drive into a fairway that runs as hard as they do these days.
2. Ball - 15%. I think pros could have been hitting it this far years ago... they just wouldn't have had the spin around the greens. The multi-layer technology we see today has combined low spin off the drivers with high spin on the shorter clubs. That's the revolution (no pun intended): merging of the old "distance" balls when the ball is compressed a lot (driver) with the old "player's" balls (Tour Balata, etc.) when the ball is compressed a little (wedge).
3. Club - 15%. I think this is a surprisingly small percentage because 10 years ago we still had Titanium drivers. But what was Tiger's average back then and what is it now? A few things go into this, though, and I'm assuming that some factors are kept the same. Shafts have gotten longer (43 inches then, 45 inches now) which alone will result in a significant MPH increase in clubhead speed. Drivers have also gotten lighter, again resulting in more clubhead speed. They've done so because heads are larger and you can "miss" now and still get reasonable results, but Tiger still hit a smaller driver pretty well back in the day...
4. Strength, Technique - 50%. I'm going to add "general science and understanding" to this one. Tiger of 10 years ago was hitting much lower tee shots. The biggest boon to distance has been the launch monitor, and super-precise ones at that. Plus, again, the Tiger factor plays into strength: Hank Kuehne looks like he could play linebacker in the NFL. Is it any wonder he hits the snot out of the ball? Tiger's own swing speed has increased on the order of 10 MPH since he came on Tour. The average Tour swing speed in 1995? 110 MPH. The average now is 119 MPH. That translates into a ball speed advantage of nearly 15 MPH which alone is about 15-20 yards in distance. It's not all strength or I'd list this as 80% - some of it is the aforementioned lighter, longer drivers that allow this swing speed increase.

Again, those are my guesses, but with at least some scientific basis... what are yours?

[Rafcin]

I'd move about 5% from #4 to the ball... The compression, dimples, etc tuned to personal swing IMHO makes up for at least %20.... maybe even take a few from the #3 into ball as well...

[muskegman]

I was reading

15% Not much I can add here, the fairways today roll the ball a LONG way.

Ball - 15%. I think pros could have been hitting it this far years ago... they just wouldn't have had the spin around the greens. The multi-layer technology we see today has combined low spin off the drivers with high spin on the shorter clubs. That's the revolution (no pun intended): merging of the old "distance" balls when the ball is compressed a lot (driver) with the old "player's" balls (Tour Balata, etc.) when the ball is compressed a little (wedge).

20% - Again... not much to add. The ball has made an impact in distance and that shouldn't be discounted from the equasion. Had Nicklaus played the ProV1, he'd have gained distance. He might not have enjoyed the more piercing flight (not as workable) but he would have been longer, no question.

Club - 15%. I think this is a surprisingly small percentage because 10 years ago we still had Titanium drivers. But what was Tiger's average back then and what is it now? A few things go into this, though, and I'm assuming that some factors are kept the same. Shafts have gotten longer (43 inches then, 45 inches now) which alone will result in a significant MPH increase in clubhead speed. Drivers have also gotten lighter, again resulting in more clubhead speed. They've done so because heads are larger and you can "miss" now and still get reasonable results, but Tiger still hit a smaller driver pretty well back in the day...

15% - Yep... drivers are longer (often 45") which is a huge bump, lighter, and way more forgiving. Proper fitting has made a big difference.

Strength, Technique - 50%, and I'm going to add "general science and understanding" to this one. Tiger of 10 years ago was hitting much lower tee shots. The biggest boon to distance has been the launch monitor, and super-precise ones at that. Plus, again, the Tiger factor plays into strength: Hank Kuehne looks like he could play linebacker in the NFL. Is it any wonder he hits the snot out of the ball? Tiger's own swing speed has increased on the order of 10 MPH since he came on Tour. The average Tour swing speed in 1995? 110 MPH. The average now is 119 MPH. That translates into a ball speed advantage of nearly 15 MPH which alone is about 15-20 yards in distance. It's not all strength or I'd list this as 80% - some of it is the aforementioned lighter, longer drivers that allow this swing speed increase.

50% Strength. I'm with you on strength being a huge factor. Put the tour player of twenty years ago next to today's player and people would see a difference... a big difference. Current players are taller on average and cut.

Again, those are my guesses, but with at least some scientific basis... what are yours?

Basically, technology and course upkeep have made a huge difference in distance.

I like to remember something and I think it is very important: You still have to make birdies and pars to win at golf. You have to play better than the rest of a very large field to win regular season events and the majors. The game of golf is still the same as it was many years ago. The fact that players can hit the ball longer is almost inconsequential. There aren't many long drive champions making the cut week in and week out on tour. There is a premium placed on putting the ball in the fairway, hitting the green, getting up and down and making putts. That is golf and that is how you win. Records are made to be broken and it has happened in every other sport in the world. Sprinters are faster today than they were 50 years ago and its not just the shoes that gets them to the finish line in under 10 seconds either. Removing the ability to break records and play well requires us to get rid of today's athlete and then we might as well go home. I think people's wish for "the good old days" is stifling and not realistic to the modern athlete. Why does Tiger hit the ball so far? Cause he's a freak of nature. Its not just the ball people.