Driving for 200 yards?

[Emang]

Will a stronger drive come in time as I keep golfing? How much more of a benefit would I see from getting proper training rather than just watching DVDs and reading books? I make a great effort to use proper technique when swinging but I can only hit my 5 iron for an average of 90-100 yards. I see a lot of guys whacking the crap out of these balls with similar irons and I am kind of jealous lol.

[zeg]

Odds are that it will come in time. Proper training will definitely help it come. How helpful it will be depends on your natural abilities and how well your natural swing happens to align with good technique. If you're naturally coordinated and have a moderately athletic background, you'll probably figure it out on your own. If not, you may thrash with a broken swing for a long time. In both cases, you'll improve faster if you get someone to set you on the right track. If you're hitting a 5I 90-100, I'd say your natural swing is probably pretty far off, so I'd say you probably want to get someone to show you the basic techniques. A friend who plays well could probably help, but if you can afford a lesson, it'd be well worth it. If you're of typical physical capability, you should be able to add at least 40 yards to that 5I by technique alone, and probably more in pretty short order.

[Ash1974]

Well I would say get some lessons as 90-100 with a 5 iron is short, what can you hit a PW? (just to compare)

I have been playing 2 and half years and I am not a long hitter, but I can hit PW 100-110 yards and my 5 iron around 175-180 yards.

[drglew]

Agree with lessons!

Also, you might want to have your instructor or someone else take a look at your clubs/shafts. If you don't have the swing speed but are playing "players clubs" and stiff shafts, it will make it that much harder to get the ball airborne. If you have a slow swing speed but can make fairly consistent/solid contact, a clubfitting might help -- i'd take a guess that an A-flex or "senior" flex might help (don't worry about ego, it's all about the result!). Using the right golf ball can also help, i.e a low-compression ball like a Maxfli Noodle may fly farther for you if you have a lower swing speed.

[Zeph]

Playing off 20 and only hitting your 5 iron 100 yards is outstanding, you didn't type that wrong?

Yes, distance will come as you get better. You will get more club head speed, more forward lean in the shaft, more forward swing bottom and more consistent impact.

[nuck81]

I'm not particularly long. My driver and 3W are about the same and I get about 210-220 off the tee at the range. I never got any distance out of my irons until I started taking lessons. Once I started taking lessons, my wedges shortened up PW gets about 100 yds now but I have a lot higher trajectory and softer land, and my five iron gets about 150, that's the lowest iron I play.

Bottom line is get you a couple lessons, and you'll see instant progress in your ball flight.

[Emang]

Playing off 20 and only hitting your 5 iron 100 yards is outstanding, you didn't type that wrong?

Yeah I honestly don't know what my handicap is so I tried putting a question mark next to the handicap but it wouldn't let me so I just used the 20.0 example.

[clearwaterms]

Yeah I honestly don't know what my handicap is so I tried putting a question mark next to the handicap but it wouldn't let me so I just used the 20.0 example.

for your handicap, take your last 10 rounds, average the number of strokes you are over par and multiply it by .97 and that will get you in the area.

So for instance if you generally shot 100 for 18 holes, and par is 72 you are 28 strokes over, multiply that by .97 (28*.97=27.16) ***Note, this not an accurate handicap index, there is ALOT more that goes into it, but this will at least get you close*** as for your problem, I would suggest that you take some lessons. I suspect that you have some fundimental problems and learning bad habits now can take alot longer to correct in the future.

[joepro23]

1) Get a lesson
2) Regarding a handicap index, if you have several official rounds where you have kept score according to the rules, there are services by GHIN and several websites that calculate a handicap index. If you are just taking up the game or have only just played a few rounds in your life, I would probably put down 40 or higher in the handicap spot so you don't confuse anybody in the forum into thinking you are actually a 20-handicap.