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20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)


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This thread's still going on? Seriously?

I can count on one hand the number of people I know - of any handicap - who can average even 290 yards with the driver. One hand. And by "know" I mean "have played at least four rounds of golf with them."

I have never seen a bogey golfer hit a ball 300 yards in normal conditions let alone to average anything even close to 300. I don't think I've ever seen one hit a 300-yard drive downhill, downwind, with firm fairways either, but I'm giving myself that out.

There are undoubtedly a few bogey golfers who can hit the occasional ball 300 yards. There are probably a few who even average 300 yards (especially if you want to count the Long Drive guys).

But the percentages of both are incredibly small.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Oh yea, in my story, the guy didn't average 300 yards. Not even close. He did it occasionally. I too have never seen a high handicapper average anywhere close to 300 yards. That would be ridiculous and would mean he had perfect swing mechanics, which would mean he could hit any club which would mean he wouldn't be a high handicapper.

But I have seen bad golfers hit it 300 yards before. Rarely. But it happens.

Constantine

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I just got back from hitting half a basket with my 2 boys 6 and 9. #1 rule is whisper to me ..dont yell. I asked them to watch where my ball lands since I cant see past 250. My first couple balls carried 250 and they yell(breaking rule #1) Dad you hit it past the 250 sign! the next dozen or so i could tell went further and they start yelling Dad that went to the 300 yard sign! (I reply with a loud SHHHHH) then i hyperextend my left thumb and the next drive goes low and hot directly into the cart guy's cage BANG! the whole range started laughing along with the kids. what followed was 15-20 balls most of which toed about 220 hooked and a couple decent ones. My nemesis is the driver, once I get regular with my drive, I expect to play down to a 10hc since my fav club is a 60*.
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First off, for at least me, I do not use the same swing with the driver, 3 iron, 7 iron or wedge. The swing speed is different for each one. I don't hit the 3 iron well so I don't even have it in my bag so by your stupid logic, if I can hit my wedges then I should be able to hit my 3 iron. This isn't the case with me or golfers all around.

The fundamentals are identical. Do you try to flip your wrist with a driver? Do you try to come over the top with a driver?

Plane line same. Flat left wrist same. Lag same. Foreward leaning shaft at impact same.
I am also calling BS on the fact that you actually saw a few baseball players mashing the ball at your local range for a few reasons:

Former college. One played at UNO, the other one was 2 bays away and I didn't bother to ask him. They were there because they were playing in a black fraternity scramble at Slidell CC the next day.

What really happened was you saw Pujols swing and top 100 golf teachers teaching to use the baseball swing and you realized you were totally wrong.

Actually I could care less about what top 100 golf teachers say. I care about what my golf teacher says (who by the way is one).

Perhaps you should do some studying and understand why your driver swing is really virtually identical to your 7 iron swing? If you truly don't understand the similarities then you must be a great putter to be a 15 handicap.

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I'm basically the opposite of your friend. I'm not that long off the tee despite the fact that I'm a big guy. I simply don't have the hip flexibility create that much power.

And one other thing. The driver swing is a sweeping type swing where you want to hit the ball a little bit on the up-swing to get an optimal launch angle. The long iron swing is somewhat of a sweeping swing as well. Short iron and wedge swings are not sweeping swings. That's how you top the ball or worm burn in 100 yards. You hit down on those clubs. When you boil the equation down between a wedge swing and a driver swing, the general mechanics are the same- I guess- but obviously I would never tell someone who can pound his driver but can't hit his wedge to just imagine they're swing a driver when hitting their wedge.

The swings mechanics are the same. Flat left wrist, good plane line, and good lag throughout the swing with a forward leaning shaft at impact.

A driver you'll hit very slightly up on. Irons you hit down on. But the swing is identical, the only difference is low point. At one time I didn't think people could master those fundamentals without having some sort of golf instruction. I quit playing baseball at age 10 so I had no idea how well it would translate. I was completely wrong. That said if you can hit up on a driver with those fundamentals then you can hit down on an iron or chip with the same fundamentals. The only reason you wouldn't is ignorance which means you aren't an avid golfer which means you probably don't even have a handicap.
Hope that clarifies some stuff! Grantc79, hopefully you don't feel slighted by me. I'm actually really impressed at how good of a player you've become in such a short time, and it gives me hope that becoming a better golfer is just around the corner for me!

Not at all, all it really takes is time and proper instruction and I have both in spades.

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Here is a little snippet written by

Here's quotes from Hank Haney

Here's quotes from "Essentials of the Swing"
Your left hand is a useful checkpoint too. At the moment of impact you want the back of your left hand flat and looking at the target.

This is especially noticeable in good players. As they swing back they are already starting down. That is what creates lag you want that in the club at the start of the downswing. Lag is the storing of power, the delay in the uncocking of your wrists, all before you release it through impact.

If you just google search Hank Haney's books you can find information on lag, plane line, flat left hand/wrist, and whatnot you will start to learn a bit about it.

Notice that in none of those quotes does he say "now you want lag for this club, but not for that one" or "you wan't to be on plane for the driver but it would be really awesome if you were off plane for your 7 iron." They are the same.

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The only reason you wouldn't is ignorance which means you aren't an avid golfer which means you probably don't even have a handicap.

Hmmm, looks like I just shouldn't have even gotten involved in this thread. But anyway, yes they are the same swing there's no question about that, but things such as ball position and standing closer to the ball change and getting the right feel for that takes a lot of practice with each club. Long irons have there intricacies, as do wedges. Understanding lies is another aspect which affects the type of setup you want to have at address. These things you don't have to worry about when the ball on the tee on a perfectly level lie.

But, I guess I'm just ignorant

Constantine

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That said if you can hit up on a driver with those fundamentals then you can hit down on an iron or chip with the same fundamentals.

You would think.

Here's my driver swing. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22830 As flawed as it is I still average a MINIMUM of 260 with range rocks. I can not, however, hit irons to save my life. I almost always catch them fat or off center creating a shot that goes 50 yards short if it even makes it that far. Cases in point, last week, I hit a drive down the middle that I measured (not guessed at) to be 280. Had a wedge into the par 4 and still ended up with double bogey. Two holes later I hit one 270 (measured) just into the left rough on a par 5. Went for the green in 2 with an 8 iron (kinda short par 5 to be fair) and ended up with a bogey. The par 3 between those two has a water carry that I shanked my first two tee shots into. So facing needing a hole in one to save double bogey, I picked up and moved on cause there was another group waiting on the tee box. Assuming I would have hit the green and 2 putted it still would have been a quad. I don't remember all the details of the 6 over I took on the 12th other than the 2 lost balls it started with. Somehow in all the mess I managed two pars, but there were also at least 3 at quad or worse. I just can not translate my driver swing to my irons. I think a lot of it is more mental than mechanical, but it still doesn't change the fact that I can drive 280 on a pretty regular basis, and still can't break 100.

...the world is full of people happy to tell you that your dreams are unrealistic, that you don't have the talent to realize them. - Bob Rotella

Driver - Taylormade R1.
Fairway - Taylormade R9 15º.
Hybrid - A3OS 3 Hybrid.

Irons - Cast CCI 4-AW.

Wedge - SV Tour 56º wedge.

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I have never seen a bogey golfer hit a ball 300 yards in normal conditions let alone to

It happens! Driving downhill and catching the first bounce on the fairway can produce a long drive.

Yesterday on a dead-straight 477 yard par 5, I put my tee shot out 335 yards (used my laser rangefinder back to the tee box). I had some wind directly at my back and a landing zone that sloped down so I figure the ball shot forward when it landed and then rolled a ton. The fairways were mowed tight. I had a flat lie and figured it was an easy 9 iron to the green. I pushed it, pin high, into the trap on the right. I bladed it out of the trap, flew sideways across the green, and went in the water hazard. I dropped, chipped, and 2-putted for double bogey.

Driver: Nike Ignite 10.5 w/ Fujikura Motore F1
2H: King Cobra
4H: Nickent 4DX
5H: Adams A3
6I 7I 8I 9I PW: Mizuno mp-57Wedges: Mizuno MP T-10 50, 54, 58 Ball: random

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i think accuracy is a major component that is seriously overlooked in this thread...
i played with a couple of guys today...
one was driving about 250-260 all day long but couldnt keep it in the fw's...
i was the man in the middle about 220-230 mostly to the right but a few straight ones...
the other guy wasnt long at all... 200-210 but he was playing some serious target golf...
i dont think he missed a gir all day... shaping shots at will and he had his distances down...
guess who shot the best score? definately not the guy that hit the longest ball thats for sure
RUSS's avg drive - 230yrds and climbing
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I agree that internet forums are annoying with many people telling lies about all aspects of life. I feel that if you can weed out the unreliable information there is some great tips to be found though. One guy I play with tries to measure his distance of his drives on every hole judging it by how far he has to go to the green. He is a great play with about a 6-8 handicap, but it just drives me nuts. Personally my handicap is somewhere between at 14 and a 20 and I consistently drive the ball 240ish and sometimes longer, but have real trouble hitting it straight. I have finally realized that distance doesn't mean squatt though. A playing buddy his the ball 200-210 on his good drives, but hits way more fairways and always outscores me, so I am dead set on being able to find fairways now instead of launching balls.

In my Ozone stand bag:
Driver: 909 D2 9.5
3 Wood: MT-15
Irons: 1025-C 3-P
Gap: Spin Milled 52-06 Oil-CanSand: Spin Milled 56-08 RawLob: Spin Milled 60-13 Oil-CanPutter: AntiguaBall: Z-Star X

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You would think.

Dude I'm with you only I'm the exact opposite.

I very rarely hit my driver solidly all day. I'll push one here or pull one there. But my irons and wedges are cake. We all have our demons I guess.

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If anyone would like to play with me I may the outlier that proves the rule.....did I say that right?

Now, I am not your average bogey golfer as I have played down to a sub 3 index and my swing and fitness are very much intact from those days. I just haven't been playing. I don't know a sole that "averages" 300 yards, but it appears we have morphed into can the bogey golfer hit a 300 yard drive at all.

Well folks it pains me to say it, but todayI am a bogey golfer. I don't look like a bogey golfer on the range, my swing doesn't look like a bogey golfer swing, but I am playing bogey golf these days. So I am a bogey golfer AND I can hit the occasional 300 yard drive. A good solid drive for me is 285-295. Unfortunately that is the club that is also making me a friggin bogey golfer as I cannot keep the ball in play anymore. I am also struggling mightily with long irons. I would say in 10 swings with the driver 3 will result in the fairway, 6 will be solid and playable, 1 of those 6 will be 300+. The remaining 4 will be mishits that result in various amount of penalty strokes!!

Working on it!
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Can't believe this thread is still going. I hit my one and only 300 yard drive on a short par 4 with a chip and a putt left when I was around a 20 hc but ended up with a bogey... I can imagine a lot of high hc's with monster driver swings that hit 300 yards. Most beginners that I know work on mainly their driver, supposedly the most satisfying club in their bag.

« Keith »

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I don't look like a bogey golfer on the range, my swing doesn't look like a bogey golfer swing, but I am playing bogey golf these days. So I am a bogey golfer AND I can hit the occasional 300 yard drive.

I don't think anyone is saying that a bogie golfer can NEVER hit a 300 yard drive. I think the consensus is that they can't do it as often as some of them say they can. Which, in some cases, is just about every time! I've walloped a few monster drives myself, but I would never claim to be a 300+ yard walloper of the golf ball. I still contend that some of the self proclaimed great drivers on the Internet have no idea how far 300 yards really is. It's like the story of the blind squirrel finding an occasional nut. It happens sometimes...
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Someone said something awhile back in this thread about how they couldn't believe someone that was a 20+ handicapper hitting it 300+ yards just as much as he could believe someone hitting a 9 iron 150+...first, I play with a friend of mine from work, this kid (24) absolutely smokes the ball...i personally can attest to him driving a 356 yard par 4 on more than 5 occasions and puts it at the front lip almost always. however...for every 5 times he's put it on...he's had 15 go left...right, OVER, and well short (duffs). I personally hit the ball on average between 280-290 and yes, i do hit my 9 iron 150-160 when i'm loose and on the say, 4th hole. I believe this...people can be right when they say they average 300+ yards off the tee, however, they could also be holding back which way it's going. that's my peice and i'm done

In my Titleist 2014 9.5" Staff bag:

Cobra Bio+ 9* Matrix White Tie X  - Taylormade SLDR 15* ATTAS 80X - Titleist 910H 19* ATTAS 100X - Taylormade '13 TP MC 4-PW PX 6.5 - Vokey TVD M 50* DG TI X100 - Vokey SM4 55 / Vokey SM5 60* DG TI S400 - Piretti Potenza II 365g

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This thread's still going on? Seriously?

I had to share this.

Today at Indian Valley on the 365 yard 9th hole, from the blue teest with the flag positioned at the back of the green, I popped off this drive: http://i40.tinypic.com/4ghe0m.jpg I couldn't measure it with my rangefinder as it's downhill and blind (but totally straight). There was a lot of wind today - I smoked the ball up high and rode it in. That was fun! (Bogeying the hole was not fun)

Driver: Nike Ignite 10.5 w/ Fujikura Motore F1
2H: King Cobra
4H: Nickent 4DX
5H: Adams A3
6I 7I 8I 9I PW: Mizuno mp-57Wedges: Mizuno MP T-10 50, 54, 58 Ball: random

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Note: This thread is 1506 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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