There is hope to becoming a 300 yard hitter

[TheNatural]

I went to the range and hit 40 balls or so. I have yet to hit more than 100 balls with this driver so im still trying to figure it out. After a few strokes of 250 and a few tops. I finally began to figure out ball placement etc. THe brightest discovery was that by going only to a half back swing, my ball striking increased greatly. Next thing I know, im going back half swings and cranking forward for 275 carry and still lots of roll(my drive loft is LOW but at 200-230 its still slowly climbing(it seems like spin not my launch angle). I hit what amounted to 10+ over 300 and 20 to 250-300. I may have hit 4 or 5 worm burns and 4 or 5 200 yard duck hooks(when i take the eyes off the ball) Got tired so quick I was short of breath. Then played my new 7W and its pretty cool, didnt have to swing hard and got it 200-230, off the mat it was a little different....

[itzzzberny]

lots of people on this thread complain about how it seems that at least 40% of the posters here hit 300.

honestly i don't get why people flame on others about it. who cares if they are stretching the truth? just like how there is this guy i play with sometimes (uncle's friend). within the 18 holes we play, usually 3 holes he'll end up with par or even sometimes birdie, even though we saw him hit a couple more shots that would give him double bogey ,bogey or par. we don't say anything to him, cause its rude. if he wants to cheat himself by posting his scores incorrectly, i let him do as he wishes. it's just a friendly round, not the qualifier for the open. same thing with people who fib about hitting 300. the only person they hurt is themselves, unless they are trying to fib solutions to people's problems.

and to the thread starter: congrats on the 300 yard drive. i'm 26 years old, so its encouraging to hear that a 40 yr old is still pounding them out. congrats again and show us youngin's how its done. (legit congrats)

[flopdarock]

no hope hitting the big 3bills today... the longest poke i had went 218 but it sure went straight as an arrow

[Saint]

Glad to hear that from you. I usually average 280 here in the Texas panhandle, and i told my dad today on the last hole, "You wanna see what happens when i really crank on one." It was an ok shot, it was a fade that went pretty close to 330, but i was in the rough. I'd rather swing smooth and get 270-280 everytime. There was also this one freak round i had back two years ago when i was eighteen. My mom was with me, and on the first tee, i hit one 330. I told her that i hit that a long ways, but didnt think much of it. I ended up averaging 320 yards for my drives that day. idk why or how, but i did, and shot a 75 that day.

[prutkows]

I too hit the longest drive of my golfing carreer a few days ago - 361 yards. The fairway is slightly uphill from the teebox for about 15 yards and then it plateaus. Like you I measured pretty much with yardage markers. It was a 522 yard par 5. The ball was stopped behind a 150 yard marker so I paced it outt and determined I was 11 yards behind the marker and 161 from the front of the green. 522-161 = 361!

I'm by no stretch of the imagination a long driver - usually only carry about 260 (i think) and get whatever roll the fairways will give me - so needless to say I was very excited. When I hit the shot I knew it was a good one but as I walked down the fairway I initially didnt see the ball so i figured I must have hooked or sliced it without noticing. The guys in the group ahead of me actually alerted me to where my ball actually was because they were yelling at me for hitting my second shot too soon. I informed them that it had been my drive that nearly hit their group and apologized :)

[gir]

I think a 300 yard drive is in anyone's bag - even a lot of women. For men, I think much larger distances are possible, like up near 400, if they really swung it close to 100%, and they struck the ball on the sweet spot with right technique, and the proper launch angles, spin, and all that.

I think when they tell people to swing at around 80%, most people really swing it around 50%, let alone anywhere near 90% or 100%.

[imtomtomim]

it's all about getting the fastest part of the swing to be when you make contact, not when you start it. I'm sure tons of people could get at least over 250 yards on their drives if they could figure out the correct tempo and timing. Congrats on your long drive and hope you spank a couple more out there.

[higdonp]

That's awesome! I'm also 40 and am new to the game. I've been playing for a year but really only started focusing on it for the last 6 months. I'm hitting my long irons and hybrids pretty good (4 iron or hybrid abt 200yds off the ground), but I only hit my driver 230 usually (250 on RARE occasions). I can't help but think I'm doing something wrong with my driver. I'm really rather lame with my woods as well. I hit about 190-200 with my 3 wood, the same as my 4 iron.

It makes it hard when selecting clubs, I usually just use my irons and leave my woods in the bag. I know my swing and setup is different for the irons and more vertical. I seem to generate more speed with the irons. Does anyone have any tips for increasing my drive distance?

[Elsfan]

I personally believe we should set up a sand trap long drive contest. Unfortunately all these big hitters would be nowhere to be found.

[thumper07]

!MILD RANT!

You put the baby from the etrade comercial on the top of a ski slope and i bet he can hit it 300yds. My point is i am sick of people coming on here bragging about how far they say they can hit it. I wanna see(but never will) people bragging about hitting 13/14 fairways or 14 GIR or having less than 25 putts for the first time. This is why national handicapps never come down. I dont give a f*ck how far you hit it. Put it in the hole thats impressive!.

Sorry, but i had to get it out
-matt

[Kingfisher]

I personally believe we should set up a sand trap long drive contest. Unfortunately all these big hitters would be nowhere to be found.

I agree.

For those that do have the balls to show up, they should be fined $10 for every yard they fall short of their claimed distances here on the Forum!

[Jesh]

!MILD RANT!

I agree with you, and that's coming from someone who considers himself a longish driver. I have only hit 300 once, but I get around 270 consistently. The thing is, I rarely ever practice my drives, because being able to hit a 5-6-7-8 iron consistently, with a distance I know is much more important to me. I've been working on my short game a lot lately, and had around 10 less putts than usually today.

[Saint]

I personally believe we should set up a sand trap long drive contest. Unfortunately all these big hitters would be nowhere to be found.

bring it to the texas panhandle, and i'll back it up, and i have two friends that will too.

[flopdarock]

I agree.

what about hitting past the distances claimed?

$10 for every yard over? ive been posting my avg has been less than 230... hell today i didnt pop one over 200... id gladly try to bomb a few 240 for a hundred bucks

[Elsfan]

bring it to the texas panhandle, and i'll back it up, and i have two friends that will too.

The Sand Trap is based in PA, looks like you panhandlers will be coming east.

[squaddie]

I hit my first 300 yard drive yesterday. I've been golfing for about 5 years now and my goal is shoot mid-80's on average by the end of the year. I'm 40 years old.

Congratulations!!! I'm a 41 year-old who is lucky to hit it 200 yds straight. Your success gives me hope I can continue to increase my driver's distance and accuracy.

[Saint]

what about hitting past the distances claimed?

And since i consistently hit it 280, i'll bomb a couple 300 for some little extra cash.

[timwalsh300]

I've said this before, and I think I should say it here too...

It doesn't seem unbelievable to me that we have a disproportionate number of long hitters (or low handicappers) on this forum. It's called selection bias.

If someone is going to spend time at The Sand Trap they are probably not your typical hacker: the guy who has never committed to taking lessons, never seen his swing on video, never gotten over his old back injury, and never been to the range except on the night before the company golf outing. Selection bias also says that most people on this site are probably younger than the typical hacker you see out there.

I am in my early 20's. I've played sports competitively my whole life. I've been in the gym continuously for the last 6 years. Now I eat, sleep, and breathe golf. And I have no doubt that I'm representative of a good portion of the other members here at The Sand Trap. We are strong, limber, and injury-free. We are busting at the seams with testosterone. We have no wives or kids to worry about; no distractions to keep us from working on our swings everyday. We've grown up during (i.e. been influenced by) the era of steroids, weight training for all sports, juiced balls, hotter club faces, the MLB Home Run Derby, the ReMax Long Drive Championship, etc.

Why does it seem so far-fetched to believe that we can dial it up to bounce/roll one out to 300 yards a couple times per round? We aren't talking about breaking any world records here - we aren't even talking about distances that could win a ReMax local qualifier.

If you still don't believe me I suggest you find the 17 year-old kid that works at your club running carts for his summer job. Take him out to play a round and you'll be surprised.

Tim