How do they hit it so far???

[golfro]

feeding the troll........

[Zeph]

1: Hit the ball in the sweet spot of the club.
2: Hit the ball with a high swing speed.
3: Hit down on the ball (or around level with the driver)
4: Profit

Here is a sheet with the PGA vs LPGA stats on each club. If you are able to put together the same parts, you will hit it as far. They have ideally fit clubs and balls, which can make a difference of 10-20 yards.

[iacas]

FYI this kid is 40. But us older guys like to be called "kids"

He's 44 or so, yeah. Born in '66. He's not a kid.

[GolfBear]

1: Hit the ball in the sweet spot of the club.

That's a great chart Zeph. Help me understand the Angle of Attack column. Does a negative number represent a delofting of the clubhead when compared to the loft of the iron. For example, the PGA pro hits a 48 degree PW as if it's 43 degrees?

[jamo]

That's a great chart Zeph. Help me understand the Angle of Attack column. Does a negative number represent a delofting of the clubhead when compared to the loft of the iron. For example, the PGA pro hits a 48 degree PW as if it's 43 degrees?

Not quite. Angle of Attack is hitting down or up on the ball. Negative means you are hitting down on the ball, positive means you are hitting up.

As I understand it, Delofting (among other components) is part of what makes up Effective Loft.

[iacas]

Not quite. Angle of Attack is hitting down or up on the ball. Negative means you are hitting down on the ball, positive means you are hitting up.

Right. The numbers are often close but you can hit down on a ball with positive added loft (it's rare, but it's possible).

[CPT]

Because everything at the time support them to hit the ball that far---- the wind, the elevation, and so on...

Tour pros hit the ball solidly on the sweet spot with great speed. That's enough to make them hit the ball a long way. So, when they have severe downhill elevation like @ Whistling Straits and with strong tailwind, 220 yards became a nice 6-iron shot. I imagined that the tour average must be somewhere in the neighborhood of 180-185 yards for the 6-iron, anyway.

But I'm sure Phil can pump it up to 200+ if he wanted to.

[TN94z]

You have to be careful of the distances you see on television because they commonly forget to announce the conditions that the shots were hit in. I think this is where most of the obsession with the amateur golfers' distance comes from. They hear these incredibly pounded distances on television and think that it is easy to hit them and that makes them go out and boast how far they hit it when in reality they have no clue what it takes to hit a ball that far.

[PingGKEN]

Interesting charts, thanks. Why the difference in attack angle of the driver between women and men?

[sean_miller]

Interesting charts, thanks. Why the difference in attack angle of the driver between women and men?

There are a couple reasons - nice ones too!

[PingGKEN]

OOOhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Hahahahah. Seriously?

[wrx_junki]

Not all PGA pros hit it insanely long. It just seems that way since the players that are on the broadcast are the ones that hit a mile. For example, Jim Furyk hit a 3 iron where his playing partner hit a 6 iron. Of course Furyk was playing a fade but that's still a 3 club difference. When you watch your broadcast you mostly see Tiger and Phil who hit it long compared to the rest. Then you have this weekend where you were also watching DJ and Bubba driving it past 350 yards, making you feel very small.

I can imagine them hitting it that long since I carry about 240-250 yards while casting my clubhead and only 5'9" 150 lbs. Hopefully one day I can hit the center of the club face with some lag.

[PingGKEN]

Hopefully one day I can hit the center of the club face with some lag.

Then what? You'll regularly carry 290? Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help myself. hahahh

[wrx_junki]

Then what? You'll regularly carry 290? Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help myself. hahahh

Only if I

regularly connect my elbow to my hip.

[majorchamp]

All the other responses have been spot on. They swing hard, and they make perfect contact.

incorrect statement. Many of them don't swing hard. Guys like bubba and johnson...sure they swing hard, but other tour players have grooved a very consistent accurate swing and I bet they only swing 90%. Only on certain holes do they rip into them.

[jamo]

incorrect statement. Many of them don't swing hard. Guys like bubba and johnson...sure they swing hard, but other tour players have grooved a very consistent accurate swing and I bet they only swing 90%. Only on certain holes do they rip into them.

Their 90% is about 130% for most people. Just looking at it from a pure speed standpoint, the PGA TOUR average driver speed is 112, with many pros well over 120. Sure, some amateurs can swing out of their shoes and hit 112, but that's swinging out of their shoes (130%) to hit the PGA TOUR pro's smooth swing (90% or lower).

[golfyboy4]

Originally Posted by pittpanther

All the other responses have been spot on. They swing hard, and they make perfect contact.

But don't forget - the pros deloft the heck out of their clubs also. They take "descending blow" to a new level!

Im gonna agree with the deloft part.The more lag you keep the better.

[saevel25]

But bubba watson was tested and he hits the ball with a positive angle of attack, with his driver. So really it doesn't matter if you have positive or negative angle of attack. If you can optimize your equiptment, i mean these pro's can tell between half a degree off, its crazy. One pro has gel injected into the club head to change the center of gravity in his club. So don't think when they hit a Ping driver its the same we buy, they get some crazy customizing to the point it might be done before the clubhead is assembled.

Keys to distance,

Club head speed  & Solid contact

Force is mass times acceleration and in the world of collisions momentum is mass times velocity. So a its club head speed that counts, and that energy distributed to the ball is determined by contact.