The Lure of Power

[Diggitydog]

Yesterday I went to the practice area of a local course. I pitched and chipped for an hour, then went to the range to work on using three wedges with three stock swings for those 30 - 120 yard shots. After all that my plan was to use the rest of the balls to play my favorite course shot for shot on the practice tee. Things were going fine until an athletic dude rolled in behind me on the tee. I was playing my shots as though I was on the course then he starting pounding his driver to the end of the range. Must have been hitting it 325 in the air. I usually carry it about 275 - 280 in the air. He was using the same ping G5 with a different shaft but the sound emitting was that of raw power. I stopped to watch him hit a few balls and his swing is not really consistent, that was obvious to me immediately. He traps down on the ball and his body moves about a foot forward on his downswing. The shots I saw half of them were really straight and the rest varied from mildly left or right to over the top extreme left. When he missed it, they were a mile off line. After watching him I started to hit my driver, it seemed like a puffball going 280 out there. Logically I know that my swing is way more consistent than his but the lust for power was left rattling around my head like a pinball stuck between two bumpers.

The problem is that I found myself abandoning my shot for shot course play for that of a Friday night hacker that shows up to the range with only his driver.

I felt like a fat kid on a diet chowing down on an entire box of Oreo's. I finished off the bucket clenching my driver and walked off shaking my head at myself for being so easily misled.

I'm going in a tournament next week and want to find a way to stick to my own game plan even though I expect to see very good golfers there. Any thoughts for next time I try to play somebody elses game?

[muskegman]

Wow, thats an honest post. I know exactly what you're talking about. Sticking to the fundamentals lowers scores, nothing else. A smooth, controlled swing is better than the long ball any day.

It is a difficult lesson to learn but we must go out and play a golf course as it was meant to be played. Par-5's aren't par-3's so don't try to hit the green from the tee box. Three strokes in the fairway and two putts. Hit fairways and greens and don't try to eagle every hole.

Just remember what swinging away did for Phil on the 18th at the U.S. Open. Maybe that will keep you swinging within yourself.

Good luck!

[Rafcin]

I'm going in a tournament next week and want to find a way to stick to my own game plan even though I expect to see very good golfers there. Any thoughts for next time I try to play somebody elses game?

I just came back from a tournament, where I shot dizmal 80

other two guys in my group where younger kids (college age) and both booming of the tee, hitting 6i at par 3 where I used my 4i, etc. - "typical" college player (admit - lower tier player ). My 80 was a result of a bad short game and couple bad penalty tee shots, but has nothing to do with the point I'm trying to make. Every single hole I was 20, 30 yards behind them... their scores were 84 and 83. Stick to your guns. Whatever works is the best for you. Looking at other players in your group) is one of the worst thing a golfer can do (looking at the scoreboard is the second worst ). Good luck in your tournament !

[allin]

So what are you going to do the next time someone says theres is bigger than yours? Oh sorry, actually you answered your own question. Instead of comparing your length, congratulate yourself for working to become a real player. I see this all the time in poker tournements. The guys who play real loose and gutsy have maybe one good tournement in 10. The guy who tracks his stats, knows the odds and takes risk when the reward is justified have 3 or four good tournements out of 10. Besides the average PGA tour pro only carries it 280. I take perverse pleasure in beating someone longer than me. It can be great motivation.I recently won a round in my publinks flight against a guy who out drove me by at least 60 yards consistently. On a 530 yard par 5 he hit a 300+ drive to my best of the day 235-240. I hit a 7wood to 115 then a 9 to 10 ft and birdied. he blew a 2 iron over the green, hit a poor chip and then 2 puts so I won the hole. I won 5&4. He had a melt down, broke his putter, kicked his bag and broke one of the stand legs. He didn't even shake my hand, called me a sandbagger and left. My handicap is 15 and I finished the round and shot 82. My best of the year. I think the challenge brought out the best in me. Its probably harder for them to lose to a shorter hitter than for you to lose to a long hitter.

[Diggitydog]

Thanks for the stories guys. It helps to hear about how others handle the situation. I will be practicing short game like a maniac for the next two weeks.

That sounds like a good mentality about taking pleasure in beating the guy pounding it off the tee.

Mine is the classic struggle between logic and adrenaline.

[! BuBbA wAtSoN !]

I will admit im very long off the tee but can at times be inconsistent, i think its more of a motivation factor that lots of people like to hit it hard off the tee, just like i do. I would rather hit an 80 yard shot from the rough than 160 yards from the centre fairway, because technology in clubs has changed soo much over the years to allow easier shots under different conditions whether its the rough or fairway. *MOST* people will disagree with me but thats just my opinion and the way i look at playing the game. Im 18 years old, about 6ft 1" tall, 150 lbs, play cac handed and capable of driving the ball around 330, to average about 300. At my club there is only one par 5 and its about 470 yards and i usually hit driver and then anything between PW and 8I.

[Finn07]

What does cac handed mean?

[Diggitydog]

I would rather hit an 80 yard shot from the rough than 160 yards from the centre fairway, because technology in clubs has changed soo much over the years to allow easier shots under different conditions whether its the rough or fairway.

This is true, however when the long ball guys that I see get offline in the rough it's not just in trouble a little bit, it's a ton off line. I agree, if it was only a matter of being 20 feet off to the right or left with a thicker lie, then definitely I would take that shot at 80 yards vs 160 in the middle. I think if the long ball hitters were honest about how far offline the bad shots are, it would be further than they care to admit.

[! BuBbA wAtSoN !]

Yeah i agree, most people dont admit how far offline they actually go, and by the way, me saying im cac handed (others call it cross-handed) means that im right handed but place my left hand below my right hand in the grip instead of the right below left, and thats not all, i also have my grip rotated clockwiseclockwise about 45 degrees so that the top of my left hand is clearly visible as i look down to my grip, also both my thumbs press down on the right side of the grip instead of straight down it looks really daft from a spectators view but when i hit the ball, i suprise a LOT of people with this grip i shot a 2 under on monday on a 9 hole par 35 i wil try to get a video of my swing if possible as i would LOVE to show all you guys my very very unique swing completely self taught play, just like bubba!

[RayG]

Oh, boy... did I find out about 'throttling back' a looong time ago. After playing a medium length course in Myrtle Beach that was nothing but doglegs around 250-270 yds out and driving through every one of them. I can still uncork one when necessary, but around here (Long Island, NY) I don't NEED to hit the driver and can still usually out distance my playing partners using my Tight Lies Strong 3. And do it by 20-30 yds on average. A recent round at Long Island National is a good case and point. Myself and a friend hooked up with these 2 younger guys. We started out from the Golds(one up from the tips) for the first two holes. They didn't show me anything spectacular about thier driving or any other aspect of thier games. At the third hole they decided they wanted to play from the tips. "okay, it's your funeral" I thought to myself. After waiting for what seemed like forever to tee off waiting for the group in front to get 400 yds out, they both topped thier drives. Now we're a hole behind with the ranger ready and waiting on the next tee. He didn't say anything when we got there. They went back to the tips again and one dribbled his drive to the ladies tee and the other guy popped it up to the right. We teed off with our 5 woods and were off to the middle (big pit of death at about 210-220yds). The ranger asked me what were they doing hitting from there? I just kind of chuckled and said something about padding handicaps or something. After that hole they seemed to settle a bit and start hitting or coming close to fairways with a bit more regularity. But other than that part of thier game, they had nothing. 3 putted almost every green, chili dipping just about every short pitch or chip and had no Iron game to speak of. And the distance I was hitting my driver (when I hit it) was past them by quite a bit more than the difference from the golds to the tips. They couldn't have been enjoying themselves too much other than seeing how far they could hit it- what's the point of that? Meanwhile, I stuck to my gameplan of mostly 3 woods to a good yardage in the middle and played to a 77. Had them each by 20 shots minimum. Shows that experience (30+ yrs) and good course management can overcome the "Bomb it" mentality. BUT, knowing I CAN bomb one with the youngsters makes it interesting.

[flap]

What did you hit on #4?You must have used driver on #2 even ifthe wind was with you.Then I can see no driver till #10.Nice course but still a little pricy unless you are a senior then its a deal.

[RayG]

#4 is usually a smooth 5 or 7 (depending on tee location) wood to the edge of the "Gorge of Eternal Peril". #2 is usually the 3 wood to the neck or just beyond, depending on whether the tees are up or not. From there its a medium iron in. If they're back a bit then maybe the driver comes out. Then the driver stays tucked away until 10, then re-emerges for 16, 17 & 18.

As for price- looks like they've throttled back a bit. $59 after 11am on weekends, with a bonus $40 'member for a day" promotion. Unlimited range balls, food and drinks from the cart and dining room. Pretty good deal.

[killthegopher]

... and what is it they say about how power corrupts?

[Diggitydog]

Ok, so I went in a tournament and shot terrible. 93, 95, 93. Brutal. Worst three scores in 2 years. After watching the top players and the guy who won the tournament hit balls on the course, I realized that I am just plain swinging too hard. My quest for power has corrupted my swing tempo. I was on the third day playing with a guy that had a huge slice and couldn't hit it straight if he was offered a million dollars and the other guy was 400lbs. These guys had shot scores the same as me on the first 2 days.

I was humiliated and frustrated by the experience. My fundamentals of the swing are good, balance, setup, grip, swing plane, club square at the top, weight change is good, power and finish are all good.

I have realized that my quest for distance has caused me to swing too hard at the ball. In range sessions I could make this work because of fine tuning the timing over 70 balls, but when I hit the course the timing was too difficult to produce. It corrupted my swing through every club.

Quoted from our local newspaper about the guy who won the tournament. "Colin spent the day driving the ball 30 or 40 yards shorter than his baby-faced playing partners David and Justin."

Since the tournament I went to the range with a new focus. "STRAIGHT" I started to throttle back the downswing. I backed off about 15-20% and found magic. Every club in the bag worked and the driver was straighter than my 9 iron was with the old swing.

I've pinned the article up beside my desk with the quote highlighted. My wife told me that it's too bad that I had to go into the tournament and figure all of this out afterward. I told her that I had to go and be humiliated into reform. It was abundantly clear that what I was doing was not working for me.

No more stepping off the drives and cheering for the 300+ yarders. Only cheers will be for fairways and GIR's

I really want to ingrain this new rhythm into my swing so that it becomes my default tempo.

[JRC]

Totally understandable...you're only human. I think you'd feel better finding out how this guy scores an average round...may find his distance is as high as his score. I guess the best advice I might offer is to just think of your post here every time a long hitter has you thinking yourself inadequate off the tee. I'm in the 230 to 250 range off the tee, and for some reason I think I should be 265-280, just like the Tour guys, and some gals for that matter, right? So why can't I get it out there? Well, because I'm not a tour guy, or gal, that's why. Looking at video of long hitters like Daly or Bubba Watson, etc... I don't see a nice, compact, together back swing to the parallel, etc...Hell they're winding way back there, club head soaring past the horizontal and well inside, and then huge movements to bring that sucker around at Mach 5. How, I wonder, can they possibly square their clubface at impact, well they can, that's all. They have enough control and natural talent to bring everything under control at just the right moment while carrying all that club head speed; it doesn't hurt to have forgiving, custom fitted, company tweaked clubs either. I think your routine at the range is the superior approach, stick with it and go with improved technique and scoring shots and let the bombers just bomb away. Good luck in the tourney!

[iacas]

...Looking at video of long hitters like Daly or Bubba Watson, etc... I don't see a nice, compact, together back swing to the parallel, etc...Hell they're winding way back there, club head soaring past the horizontal and well inside, and then huge movements to bring that sucker around at Mach 5. How, I wonder, can they possibly square their clubface at impact, well they can, that's all!

One note: many long bombers (like J.B. Holmes) don't go to parallel. Sergio doesn't get to parallel. Heck, Allen Doyle (accurate as heck and reasonably long for, what, 58?) barely go back to vertical!

[scottishgolfer121]

Yesterday I went to the practice area of a local course. I pitched and chipped for an hour, then went to the range to work on using three wedges with three stock swings for those 30 - 120 yard shots. After all that my plan was to use the rest of the balls to play my favorite course shot for shot on the practice tee. Things were going fine until an athletic dude rolled in behind me on the tee. I was playing my shots as though I was on the course then he starting pounding his driver to the end of the range. Must have been hitting it 325 in the air. I usually carry it about 275 - 280 in the air. He was using the same ping G5 with a different shaft but the sound emitting was that of raw power. I stopped to watch him hit a few balls and his swing is not really consistent, that was obvious to me immediately. He traps down on the ball and his body moves about a foot forward on his downswing. The shots I saw half of them were really straight and the rest varied from mildly left or right to over the top extreme left. When he missed it, they were a mile off line. After watching him I started to hit my driver, it seemed like a puffball going 280 out there. Logically I know that my swing is way more consistent than his but the lust for power was left rattling around my head like a pinball stuck between two bumpers.

If u want 2 hit it big i say get in 2 the gym and work out a little more, we have 2 do about 12 hours in the gym a week, as well as playing 5 rounds a week and on the range 24/7, so suck it up and getting moving

[JRC]

One note: many long bombers (like J.B. Holmes) don't go to parallel. Sergio doesn't get to parallel. Heck, Allen Doyle (accurate as heck and reasonably long for, what, 58?) barely go back to vertical!

Yeah...very good point...especially about Doyle. So where does all that power come from, hips, legs, core muscles, and mechanics....all of the above? And how do the ladies whack it out there 270+???? I attended the Michelob Ultra Open this year, and these ladies didn't seem to be either especially muscular (ripped), or swinging violently to get the club head speed up.