Driving Distance

[Shanks A Million]

how do you know that he might just hit the ball far. i just don't understand the doubt because distance definitely is the last thing that leads to good scores. actually the worst thing for a beginning golfer is to much distance because they wont be able to control it. plenty of hackers can hit the ball 280 but they can make a putt to save their lives or hit the green. im not trying to argue with you i jsut want to know why everyone online has to doubt anyone who says they hit the ball for

Yet another member who doesn't use GPS or a laser chimes in. You've got your head so far up your ass, I doubt you've seen daylight in years. A person who carries a regular flex off the rack driver will not be hitting 280 average, no way. The shaft he has on that club would make it nearly impossible to control the 120 mph swing speed he would need to generate that power. The chances of striking the ball on the center of the face would be far too low.

The PGA tour's average driver stats show that the tour average driver swing speed is around 112 mph, with a smash factor around 1.48 or so. The average distance from those numbers comes out to around 286 yards. But the problem is, we're comparing apples to oranges. Cameron Tringale, who has the worst average smash factor on tour (1.449), swings an average speed of 114.81 mph, and averages 285.8 yards on his measured drives. Most amateurs have a smash factor around 1.25. This is where reality starts to set in. The pro smash factor gives a ballspeed around 165.8, while the amatuer swinging 112 gives a ballspeed of around 140 mph. To get the same ballspeed with the contact the average amateur golfer makes, the clubhead speed needs to be 132 mph. You read that right. So, most of you here are claiming to swing the ball 130+ mph, which I do have a bit of trouble grasping. I know you all desperately want to believe you can hit the ball as far as these tour pros, but be honest with yourselves. Go to a tour event, and watch these guys hit the ball, then ask yourselves if you really hit it that far. Better yet, for all the people here claiming to average 250 or more, post your swing. We've already had a few people who claim 280 post swings, and of course, none of them could have even come close.

[cody west]

Yet another member who doesn't use GPS or a laser chimes in. You've got your head so far up your ass, I doubt you've seen daylight in years. A person who carries a regular flex off the rack driver will not be hitting 280 average, no way. The shaft he has on that club would make it nearly impossible to control the 120 mph swing speed he would need to generate that power. The chances of striking the ball on the center of the face would be far too low.

so your saying that there is no way i could hit the ball 280? just want to be sure and im not talking about when i catch one im talking about average

[Shanks A Million]

so your saying that there is no way i could hit the ball 280? just want to be sure and im not talking about when i catch one im talking about average

You , yes. A 1.9 handicap golfer with a high swing speed and a 9.5° driver with a stiff shaft is certainly possible. A high handicap with a stock R flex and a 10.5° flex shaft is not going to be able too. Anyone can catch the occasional 280 yard rocket, as long as they swing fast, but not everyone can average that. At my range, there's water at 235. Day in and day out, I never see splashes. I can make a splash, and some of the very low handicaps can as well, but even the kids who swing out of their shoes can't do it. The guy who can hit the water most often has a SS of about 100 mph, but his swing is as good, or better, than anyone on tour, and he's an elite amatuer player, known well for his picture perfect swing, and he's in his 60s. Had he had a good short game, and better focus, he would have probably made it on tour. Even still, at his age, he can shoot under par quite regularly.

[jlh1508]

Yet another member who doesn't use GPS or a laser chimes in. You've got your head so far up your ass, I doubt you've seen daylight in years. A person who carries a regular flex off the rack driver will not be hitting 280 average, no way. The shaft he has on that club would make it nearly impossible to control the 120 mph swing speed he would need to generate that power. The chances of striking the ball on the center of the face would be far too low.

I agree with you. However I have to ask why you are so passionate about battling this? Who cares if someone wants to believe they hit it 280?

[Shanks A Million]

I agree with you. However I have to ask why you are so passionate about battling this? Who cares if someone wants to believe they hit it 280?

It amuses me, and I need to get better at arguing, I'm taking a class in college that requires me to construct logical arguments.

[cody west]

You

like iv used range finders and they suprise me sometimes youthink you killed it and its short but others you think you missed and it ends up saying like 310 and your like well i guess this thing is broken. its a wierd game but when you analyze it your reasoning for not believing them makes sense. but in all seriousness i had to throw out my old driver because it had to many marks on the callaway X in the center

[Fourputt]

I've seen it mentioned that a drive of 245 FEELS like a drive of 280... and I agree. I used to think I hit the ball real hard... and I could drive it 275. That was before my GPS. I know my MAXIMUM is about 270 when I absolutely smash one. I MAY get it to go a little longer during the summer months... but, overall - that's pretty much my max. I also now know that my AVERAGE is more like 230. GPS is a wonderful tool.

Got to agree with Cy. I used to average in the 260-270 range before all this high tech crap showed up. My 1988 TaylorMade with Titleist Tour balata balls was a good combo. Now, with my new Callaway Diablo (just bought Wednesday, so stats are still a bit sketchy) I seem to have increased my distance to about 240 from the 220 I was hitting my Mizuno. I seriously doubt that I will ever hit a ball 300 again without the assistance of an act of God. If I can average 230 with this new driver, I'll be on Cloud 9.

We do have a few guys in the Men's Club who hit the ball a ton, bot as usual with such amateurs, they have no idea where it's going. I've seen one of them carry a drive more than 330 yards... and that is jawdropping. But he can go for 2 or three rounds hitting maybe one fairway per round. One more thing to add. I've shocked many a long driver by showing him the real number on a GPS. Many of these guys really did hit the ball well, but still about 20-30 yards shorter than they'd have sworn they did. One guy is so steeped in his fantasy that he refuses to believe the number I put in front of him. The reason we are so skeptical of numbers posted on the forum is because far too many players are deluding themselves, with no actual data to back up their claims.

[Stretch]

I'm taking a class in college that requires me to construct logical arguments.

Yet another thing they teach you in college that has almost no practical application in the real world.

[jlh1508]

It amuses me, and I need to get better at arguing, I'm taking a class in college that requires me to construct logical arguments.

excellent. Continue on.

[jamo]

Most amateurs have a smash factor around 1.25.

I understand your point, but where did you get this number?

[James_Black]

I understand your point, but where did you get this number?

The “smash factor” is a ratio of ball speed to club head speed. If a player swings at 100 MPH and the ball leaves the face at 140 MPH, the smash factor is 1.4. The best PGA Tour players achieve smash factors of 1.48. The theoretical maximum is 1.5. Alas, most amateur golfers hit the ball much less efficiently. The vast majority of amateur golfers tested at the Golf Lab produce smash factors in the range of 1.35 to 1.4.

http://www.golftodaymagazine.com/view.php?I=180 Sorry shanks, your a little bit off.

[jamo]

http://www.golftodaymagazine.com/view.php?I=180

'Twas my guess.

[cody west]

'Twas my guess.

i found the smash factor for golfers with avg swing speeds and ball flights of 80-110, 90-130, 105-155.

80-110 is 1.375 90-130 is 1.444 105-155 is 1.476 these numbers come from an article on averages so don't attack my ss and ball speed numbers because i found them and didnt make up averages

[sean_miller]

I tracked my driving distance for a few rounds (7) after I got my laser rangefinder. I wanted to know the distance range of my good shots to improve my club selection - working on course management. I can say with confidence that if there's trouble at ~ 250, I'd better use a 3-iron, and if the fairway ends at 295, the driver stays in the bag. I calculated the driver average (even threw in the outliers - 1 topped and two fatties), but since I don't like being called a liar, I'll keep that to myself.

BTW - one thing I've found out with the rangefinder is most yardage markers are very accurate. If I'm standing at the 100, 150, or 200 yard plate, I can confidently say I have that yardage to the middle of the green - not that the pin is ever in the middle, I'm just sayin'.

[Shanks A Million]

All I have to say to all the 280+ yard drivers here is one thing, show us the swing or shut up. I've already posted mine, so it's only fair.

[saevel25]

44 threads and were still at it, fun fun

[Stretch]

Everyone's penis is larger than average. Well known fact.

[zeg]

The reason we are so skeptical of numbers posted on the forum is because far too many players are deluding themselves, with no actual data to back up their claims.

This is just it. Furthermore, probably some of the guys making the claims really do hit it long. However the number of people who claim to be averaging upper 200s is just WAY too high to be true. With extremely high confidence we can say that most of these claims are bogus, it simply can't be true that that many people hit it that far. So either this forum is mostly made up of truly exceptional drivers, most of whom somehow have a swing that only works for their driver and a profoundly miserable short game since they're tour pro class drivers but sport near-hacker handicaps. While I'd believe that the average golf forum member is better than the average golfer, it's extremely hard to believe that the forum would somehow select these statistical anomalies. So the logical conclusion is that most people who claim 290 yard averages are probably incorrect.

BTW - one thing I've found out with the rangefinder is most yardage markers are very accurate. If I'm standing at the 100, 150, or 200 yard plate, I can confidently say I have that yardage to the middle of the green - not that the pin is ever in the middle, I'm just sayin'.

That's my experience, though in my case it's been the quoted tee distances compared to Google Earth. I would believe those distances were good to better than 5 yards. The only exception at my regular course was the driving range---it claims it's 258 yards from the sidewalk to the net. According to Google Earth it can't be more than 250. My guess there is that the distance was measured with one of those rolling wheel gadgets long ago rather than using a laser or GPS which would measure line of sight. It's sloped a bit up and down with some undulations, so it's just possible that the cumulative slope adds up to the extra 8 yards. But I've never been misled by the 100 yard post, so either it's always wrong in the same way (unlikely), I somehow subconsciously correct for whatever the true distance is (also unlikely) or they're all quite accurate. Since I don't flag hunt, I'm completely happy to shoot for the middle.