Does a big belly = better distance?

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Odd question, right? But here's the reason I ask.

I was at the range today and I heard a noise that I have never heard before. It sounded like somebody was shooting a cannon. I looked down the line and there was bigger guy, bordering on obesity, hitting irons shots at the 220 flag and his ball striking was amazing. Every swing finished with a huge crack followed by the whistling of the ball towards the flag. He would just swing his belly towards the target and boom goes the dynamite, every time.

Of course, maybe his size had nothing to do with it and he was just an incredible ball striker, but it just looked like it had to help. Barring the many health hazards obesity has, is one benefit better ball striking?

[PatrickT]

I have a feeling tiger woods would pack on some pounds if these two had a strong correlation. The man was probably a very good ball striker as you guessed. He also probably did learn to use his weight to his advantage, but when I was in high school I weighed 150 soaking wet and I could power a 3 iron to around 220. So I think it is really more form than mass.

Look at the 15 year old on the tour a few years back, wasnt he 5'6"? but he could hit his driver over 300.

Anyways, if you are thinking about packing on some pounds to add distance, I would suggest muscle over fat

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Thinking about packing on pounds to get distance....? Not a chance. If I need to hit 220, I am happy to pull out my 3 wood and hoping to pure it.

Of course, I realize that players would prefer muscle to fat, but I saw this guy and had to believe that it helped more than it hurt (in the case of his swing, not golf or life in general). It was like the binding were cut from a catapult when he started his downswing throwing all that mass towards the flag.

[GaijinGolfer]

He probably was fairly strong to begin with, simply because he is carrying all that weight around.
Fat is just deadweight. If you want more distance, you need to hit the weight room, not the buffet line.

[uttexas]

flexibility, timing/tempo, and pure ball contact=more distance. This long drive champ is 165lbs.

[JackLee]

Jamie could do even better if he set up the correct distance from the ball. His ball is teed high. He is resting his clubhead on the turf behind the ball and starting his swing from there. That's too close to the ball. As a result, he has to compensate with a bent left elbow through impact.

[Chief Broom]

Jamie could do even better if he set up the correct distance from the ball. His ball is teed high. He is resting his clubhead on the turf behind the ball and starting his swing from there. That's too close to the ball. As a result, he has to compensate with a bent left elbow through impact.

Yeah, major compensations going on there!?!

Doesn't everybody's left elbow remain bent at impact? Or at least it should... As to the topic mass can help, but you've got to know how to use it. Overall though I'd say you're better served with strenght and flexability.

[glebert]

My golfing buddy is a big guy, used to be close to 300, has a terrible swing, only takes it back about half way to keep from going OTT, reverse pivot, you name it, and still manages to hit his driver out 250 or so. I don't think it's that he's big, he is just strong.

[Chief Broom]

Doesn't everybody's left elbow remain bent at impact? Or at least it should...

Alrighty then! It's official I'm an idiot...

[DavidFehertysBike]

The belly might act as sort of a counter-weight...Like a balance ball in a skyscraper..lol

[WUTiger]

When I was a caddie back in the late 1960s, the women's club champion for three years running were all females about five months pregnant.

A doctor who was a club member suggested that their arms resting partially on their pregnant abdomens at set-up gave them fuller arm extension on their swings (or something like that. It was 40 years ago.)

Don't know if this similarly would help hefty males or not. (Arms resting on abdomen, not pregnancy...)

For males, it's more a matter that the person has good balance and moves quickly and efficiently, and just happens to be hefty. Possibly some variation of the Force = Mass x Velocity equation that keeps popping up on this site.

Also, two different pros have told me that a significant weight gain - or loss - by a golfer will shift the swing plane.

[sean_miller]

I don't buy for one second that the belly is the actual source of the power. There are some great athletes who happen to be fat. If the sport requires either brute force or finess for short bursts with feet planted quite firmly on the ground (DH or pitcher baseball, offensive lineman, afternoon talk show host for desparate housewives, golf) a fatty can indeed get the job done - quite admirably in some cases. But, these people happen to be gifted in addition to big, not gifted because of their girth.

[ddalet]

Ive seen small guys bomb the ball, but they are the exception.

The biggest hitter's ive seen are big guys.

IMO, a bigger person who is flexible and can use his weight properly has an easier time hitting long shots.

Then again, this sport is not about distance!

[Jay-Bird]

Ive seen small guys bomb the ball, but they are the exception.

I weigh in pretty hefty. 150 after lunch. I don't have any problems with distance.

[CalBoomer]

Belly size, or sheer weight for that matter, has nothing to do with the distance a golf ball can be hit. Assuming the ball is hit with a square club face at an optimal launch angle, the major determinant of distance is clubhead speed. The club head speed is determined by the length of the club shaft and the radial velocity of the swing. A taller, more muscular person can increase both of these compared to a smaller person. A person of any size can have good agility, timing, and technique.

The bottom line, as in almost all sports except gymnastics, is that, everything else being equal, bigger and stronger is better. But belly size? Forget it.