Single most lied about sports accomplishment

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

Three most lied about sporting events around here:

You can't forget:

weightlifting: "I used to bench around 340". pool: "Back when I played all the time I used to run out every time I had an open look at my next shot." tennis: "My first serve goes about 120 when I'm hittin' em good." -Andrew

[Surefire]

You can't forget:

Reminds me of a couple of things I read a while back;

Once mens health tested the benching thing, they asked guys on the street how much they could bench. Once they answered they pulled them into a gym to see. The answer given was nowhere near the actual amount. A golf magazine did the same thing at one of the golf shows. They asked guys how far they could hit it, then took them to a range they had out back and gave them their choice of driver and 10 shots to prove it. Again the actual results were lower than the answers given.

[HXCarib56]

Could be, but I think people make up stories more about what they shot for a round or a hole a lot more then a 300 yd drive.

Having played in d-1 college, I heard all sorts of stories. For some reason, many collegiate golfers feel the need to create an image, by telling stories. And yes, it's based almost entirely on ego. I'd win a quad match (4 team tournament) by hitting fairways and greens....and keeping my mouth shut about my ability... as I listened to guys say "I used to be better before I changed my swing", or "I used to hit more fairways with my old driver" etc etc... The best is always the following scenario...I'm a pretty short dude (5'8") with a very compact swing. People see me, see my backswing, and they assume they'll drive it further. Now, I'm no Jason Gore or John Daly, but I can hit it regularly 285. If I absolutely tattoo one, on a dry day, maybe a slight downhill, it'll get over 3. It is quite an accomplishment when I do. (Mind you- my main focus is control, not distance... I do try to get as much power as I can- but I try my hardest not to sacrifice control... ie: short, compact backswing). So, anyway, let me get back to my point... I'll hit a good solid drive, 285 down the middle... then my opponent (usually taller than me) tries to STOMP on, and crushes it. He really catches it. Stands there, poses for 5 seconds, nods his head when I compliment his swing. Then we get out to the fairway, and he's 10 or 15 yds behind me. This is my favorite part... I ALWAYS hear it... "Man, I mis-hit that one quite a bit". Or, "Must have been off the heel". Or, "must have hit a bit of a toe-hook." Sure dude. You were posing for 5 seconds b/c of your mis-hit. I love it. Then they spend the rest of the day trying to chase me. Too funny, guys, too funny. And mind you, if we go back to the 300yd convo... This is D-1 competition, at a pretty high level...and the % of guys hitting it 300 aren't nearly as many as guys who THINK they do it. Like I said, once in a blue moon for me. And that's all good... 8-ft putts for birdie are 8-ft putts for birdie, no matter how you do it. Knowwhatimsayin?!?!

[dave s]

When I hear someone state the '300-yard-drive' and I'm pretty sure they're all wet, I offer the same bet:

Offer $100 dollars a yard OVER 300 for $5 a yard UNDER 300 they hit. I'll give 'em TEN drives until they have to pay up ... or shut up!

dave

ps: the most lied about sports EVENT is the number of people who claim to have been present at the NBA game in which Wilt Chamberlin scored 100 points. Estimates indicate that if you believed everybody who claimed to have seen the event, the arena would have to have held 100k people!

[Uthinkso]

I actually lost a bet with my brother on this. He said 250yds though, the actual bet was that he could hit the ball into the woods at the local range. The range tops out at 250yd and then backs up to a wooded area.

Being confident and not that long of a driver in my own right, I accept his challenge. I want to preface that my brother does not golf at all, and probably has only hit the driving range a dozen times in his 24 years of existence. Sure enough he walks over takes my driver and proceeds to hit the ball long and reasonably straight too. Certainly would have stayed on a common 30-40yd fairway.

I just took it that I was complicating the game, and needed to relax and have fun. Also losing $20 stunk.

[dave s]

Having played in d-1 college, I heard all sorts of stories. For some reason, many collegiate golfers feel the need to create an image, by telling stories. And yes, it's based almost entirely on ego. I'd win a quad match (4 team tournament) by hitting fairways and greens....and keeping my mouth shut about my ability... as I listened to guys say "I used to be better before I changed my swing", or "I used to hit more fairways with my old driver" etc etc... The best is always the following scenario...I'm a pretty short dude (5'8") with a very compact swing. People see me, see my backswing, and they assume they'll drive it further. Now, I'm no Jason Gore or John Daly, but I can hit it regularly 285. If I absolutely tattoo one, on a dry day, maybe a slight downhill, it'll get over 3. It is quite an accomplishment when I do. (Mind you- my main focus is control, not distance... I do try to get as much power as I can- but I try my hardest not to sacrifice control... ie: short, compact backswing). So, anyway, let me get back to my point... I'll hit a good solid drive, 285 down the middle... then my opponent (usually taller than me) tries to STOMP on, and crushes it. He really catches it. Stands there, poses for 5 seconds, nods his head when I compliment his swing. Then we get out to the fairway, and he's 10 or 15 yds behind me. This is my favorite part... I ALWAYS hear it... "Man, I mis-hit that one quite a bit". Or, "Must have been off the heel". Or, "must have hit a bit of a toe-hook." Sure dude. You were posing for 5 seconds b/c of your mis-hit.

Great story! Enjoyed it and believe every word of it! Had the privelage of working with and playing a single round of golf with a younger guy who played collegiate golf at VA Tech. He 'ho-hummed' his way around Firestone's North Course in 70 rarely missing a fairway or green. No 300 yard bombs either, just high and straight on every shot!

dave

[elivate]

The other thing to remember is the golfers memory... The great shots are remembered for a long long time, while the bad ones are usually forgotten rather quickly... I am talking weekend duffer types like me, that is...

I have in the past hit a drive or two that measured 300 + based on the yardage markers at my local course. So of course I answer yes when someone asks me if I can hit it 300! - actually I don't but I am just making a point...

But I have also hit drives on other holes where I felt that I really crushed it and maybe it is 250 based on the markings on the course... So a lot of factors go into the actual distance the ball travels... And of course ego and the fact that you may have done it once makes a lot of golfers truly believe they hit it farther than they do...

[HXCarib56]

Great story! Enjoyed it and believe every word of it! Had the privelage of working with and playing a single round of golf with a younger guy who played collegiate golf at VA Tech. He 'ho-hummed' his way around Firestone's North Course in 70 rarely missing a fairway or green. No 300 yard bombs either, just high and straight on every shot!

That sounds about right! I'm glad you enjoyed my post.

I competed against a great Virginia Tech golfer, who is now collecting checks on the PGA Tour. You may recognize his name, it's Johnson Wagner. He was not a guy who was behind me, off the tee. Rather, I was regularly 15, sometimes 20 yds behind him...and that's when I tagged it. That guy can saw he drives it 300 yards regularly, and I'd believe him 100%. What a ball striker.

[ScottRempel]

May have already been discussed, but I think besides possibly being the most lied about feat in sports (the 300 yard drive), it is probably also the most denied feat in sports. Now I'm not saying everyone that says they hit it 300 yards really does...but a lot of people really can and the people that think they are liars are just as bad as the liars themselves. Just because you are a 4 and can't hit 300 yard drives, doesn't mean that every 15 is lieing when they say they can. As has already been discussed, it takes a lot more then a long drive to have a low handicap index. I also agree that a lot of the people that can't hit it 300 yards but say they can are not necessarily liars, but rather they are forgetting to take things into account such as doglegs, etc. I've golfed with plenty of people that still believe the hole yardage is from the tee to the pin...no matter what.

Trust me, I personally know a lot of the liars out there, but I also know I can hit some 300 yard drives...yes, me, the lowly 15.

[JohnP]

I dont mean to bring up an old thread, but this is great. I fowarded the link to a few people in my office that simply refuse to believe that they hit wayyyy less than 300yrds. I am not a short player by any means, and when I go up to the tee and put a 2 iron out as far as their drives, there is something wrong, coz I know I am not hitting that thing anywhere near 250 for that fact.

Like mentioned above this post, I think the biggest lies I have encountered are:

I used to bench 300+, (the guys currently cant even put up 145, and their frame you know cant support it)

I avg. a drive of 300 - 320, (ya, whatever)

I shoot in the 70's (guy/gal has hit in the 70's twice in a lifetime)

[Undr Par]

I've thought hard about this trying to come up with a rival #1 answer and I just can't do it.

1. Golf drive and or their score 2. fish caught and size/length is another 3. also in baseball....mph on their thrown pitch at a carnival, and yds they can throw a football is another (don't know how many times I've tailgated with people who say they can throw a football 60-70yds when actually they can barely throw it 40yds....)

[Brady0626]

The only thing I can think of is mph on a pitch. I'm a skinny 16 year old at 5 foot 10 and 140 pounds and I have bombed a few over 300, but I say i average around 260-280.

[The Golfing Polack]

I just sat and read through the entire post. I agree mostly with everything said so far. I'm a big guy (6' 275) and I can get it out there 275-290 on average, and if I catch a good bounce or have tail wind I'll hit maybe 1 300+ a round if I really go for it. Obviously saying I am a 300+ hitter would be an exageration, but if someone asks me my average I say 275-280.

As for the baseball mph throwing at carnivals, this is not an accurate judging because there's no way to loosen up. Give me 20 warm up throws and I'll gain probably 15 mph than I'd have throwing cold, not to mention not destroying my arm in the process.

Face it, men (usually not women) are egotistical and have to out-do everyone. Very few of us can say we don't exagerate some of our accomplishments. We all do it on resumes.

[Brady0626]

I don't really see size as a huge factor in how far you can hit a golf ball, technique play's a lot.

[AlCzervik]

my friend can usually out drive me by about 50-75 yards but then shits the bed there after and i usually outscore him.

[907golfer12]

Just last week I played with my friend and his dad, and his dad says that he is a 9 handicap, and average 280-290 off the tee. That day he shot a 92 on a course with a rating of around 69.X (don't remember the slope) and I was out driving him by 20 or 3 yards on every hole and I only average about 240-250 off the tee. And my friend said that is how his dad normally plays when playing with him. So there you go, a guy who lied about both score average and driving distance.

[The Golfing Polack]

I don't really see size as a huge factor in how far you can hit a golf ball, technique play's a lot.

Size/strength+technique=more torque=longer drives and longer arms can increase club speed.

[jonanthans]

My nomination for the most lied about is DRIVER AVERAGE.

300 yard drives do happen, more times than people may realize. There is a course I play at with a dead straight 360 yard par 4, and it's not downhill. I have checked the distance from the blues to the flag with a Bushnell Pinseeker 1500, and the distance is correct. I've hit many drives over 300 yards on this hole, always with draw. I don't swing out of my shoes either, sometimes everything just comes together and I catch the ball just right. I've seen my fair share of legit 300 yard drives on this hole by other players as well. All that being said, I do not personally know of a single person who even AVERAGES 285. And that includes the 3 friends who play or have played on various mini tours. Not one of them currently or ever has AVERAGED 285 yards, and they will tell you that themselves.

So when I hear someone who claims to average even 270, I'm skeptical.