Here Come the Athletes

[nleary9201]

I think we are on the cusp of a revolution in the game.  I think true athletes will begin to take over the game in the next 10yrs.  Gary Woodland, Johnny Vegas, Dustin Johnson etc are the new prototype.  30 years ago there were virtually no athletes on tour.  Even the "big" guys" were just overweigh guys. Andy Bean etc. But now we are finally seeing more athletic players winning consistently.  I think there will always be room for the 5'8" 150 lb players but they will soon become dinosaurs. If all things are equal and you can hit it 30 or 40 yds farther, you have an advantage.

[Mattplusness]

Agreed. There will always be room for the bigger guys who can shoot, but they will definitely not be the normal golfer on tour.

[nleary9201]

I think they will be the norm in 10yrs.

[mck]

Originally Posted by nleary9201

I think we are on the cusp of a revolution in the game.  I think true athletes will begin to take over the game in the next 10yrs.  Gary Woodland, Johnny Vegas, Dustin Johnson etc are the new prototype.  30 years ago there were virtually no athletes on tour.  Even the "big" guys" were just overweigh guys. Andy Bean etc. But now we are finally seeing more athletic players winning consistently.  I think there will always be room for the 5'8" 150 lb players but they will soon become dinosaurs. If all things are equal and you can hit it 30 or 40 yds farther, you have an advantage.

Not sure what you mean by "true athletes" but Greg Norman would probably have fit your definition.  Also, all things are never equal and alot of the 5'8" 150 guys are the ones hitting it 30 yards past other players.

[nleary9201]

I just think they will resemble the athletes of other sports more & more as time goes on.  I've been around lots of pro athletes over the years and most of them just "look" different. Their hands are bigger, they are just thicker built.  I think the pro golfer of the future will look more like that.  The 3 guys I mentioned in the first thread aren't even considered seasoned pros by most standards and they are winning on tour.  Bigger guys who are more athletic and hit it farther.

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by nleary9201

I just think they will resemble the athletes of other sports more & more as time goes on.  I've been around lots of pro athletes over the years and most of them just "look" different. Their hands are bigger, they are just thicker built.  I think the pro golfer of the future will look more like that.  The 3 guys I mentioned in the first thread aren't even considered seasoned pros by most standards and they are winning on tour.  Bigger guys who are more athletic and hit it farther.

Size has little to do with how far you hit it.

Tiger doesn't hit it any further than he used to, and he looks like a linebacker

Future golfers will be more fit, but not necessarily larger

And if anything, DJ is lanky, not built.

[Zeph]

I disagree. There are still guys out there not over 6' that hit it a long way and can beat the best. Courses won't get a whole lot longer anymore. AK is 5'10 and even grips down on his clubs, he average 300 yards. Luke Donald just won a tournament, beating all the long guys.

It is an advantage if you can hit it a long way with control, but golf performance is so variable and the room for error so small that you can't make assumptions like that. Tiger hit it 300 yards before he bulked up, distance is primarily about technique, not height and power.

Just because one player is hitting a 5 iron to a green and the next can hit a 7 doesn't mean the latter will always win.

More players are working out now than before, but being 10 yards longer on a drive doesn't win you a tournament. Another thing to consider is accuracy. You can almost flip the "Driving distance" chart upside down and come out with the "Driving accuracy" chart. Bubba Watson averaged 309 in 2010, hitting 55% of the fairways. Tim Clark, averaging 272 hit 73% of the fairways.

Golf is a hard sport to succeed in, you need talent and lots of hard work to get onto the PGA Tour. Even then you will have variable performance from week to week. Everyone has to hit the same distance from tee to green. Just because one player hits 300 on the first shot at 150 on the next, instead of 280 on the first and 170 on the next, doesn't mean he will play better.

[nleary9201]

I'm talking about a general trend not specifically.

[saevel25]

actually i put it as just an increase in the interest of the game by those who would otherwise choose another sport, thank you tiger. Or to say the least, more that science and biometrics have hit home in so many aspect of life now, these golfers have access to things previous didn't. I could say, Gary Player was the first to be a workout guy, relating to golf. Greg Norman soon followed in the 90's, but now it seems everyone wants that edge in the game after tiger came.

[ControlJunkie]

As others said, size really has nothing to do with distance. Athleticism, yes, but you can't lump size in with athleticism. Jamie Sadlowski is a whopping 5'11" and weights 165 lbs. Not exactly James Harrison size. He does get a tremendous amount of shoulder and hip turn, which requires athleticism and flexibility, but has nothing to do with size. Zeph took the words out of my mouth with the example of Luke Donald. When I saw him in person, I was amazed at how small he is.

On the flip side of that, there's nothing wrong with players being in better shape and more athletic. Seve was another great example, along with Greg Norman, Tiger, and others. Being in better shape is going to promote success down the stretch as others who may not train as hard fall behind. It sets a great example for kids coming up in the game too. Too many kids are too sedentary these days anyway. Really, a lot of adults are too. Everyone can take a page from these guys book and get in a little better shape as it will help their game.

[nleary9201]

Sadlowski is the exception, not the norm.  My son competes a little in long drive. He is 19, 6ft 5in and about 215. He is lanky, but most of the guys are thick and more muscular.

[nleary9201]

An analogy might be the steroid baseball scandal.  If size didn't have anything to do with power or hitting "something" farther then why did Bonds and Sosa etc. all take em?  Cause they could hit routine pop ups that travels 400ft. thats why!

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by nleary9201

An analogy might be the steroid baseball scandal.  If size didn't have anything to do with power or hitting "something" farther then why did Bonds and Sosa etc. all take em?  Cause they could hit routine pop ups that travels 400ft. thats why!

Not really, more to do with how long they could work out, how fast they could recover. Obviously it helped them hit it longer, but without technique, they couldn't hit it that far so consistently.

If I took steroids, got jacked, that doesn't mean I could hit the golf ball 300 yards, nor does it mean I could hit homers.

If I spent that same amount of time I did working out, but focusing on good mechanics for my swings, then I would have far better success at driving it 300 and hitting some home runs.

STRENGTH HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH POWER.

[nleary9201]

I guess you believe Bonds and his lawyers' argument. Sure technique is important but the ballplayers I was refering to already had the technique.  The golfers already have the technique. Then you add way more strength, speed and agility and you have a Dustin Johnson type who can bomb it.  I think the golf establishment still thinks that if you can hit it long then you must not have a good short game. That just doesn't make sense. Heck, John Daly is great with his wedges, just not so great with da booze

[Zeph]

Originally Posted by nleary9201

I guess you believe Bonds and his lawyers' argument. Sure technique is important but the ballplayers I was refering to already had the technique.  The golfers already have the technique. Then you add way more strength, speed and agility and you have a Dustin Johnson type who can bomb it.  I think the golf establishment still thinks that if you can hit it long then you must not have a good short game. That just doesn't make sense. Heck, John Daly is great with his wedges, just not so great with da booze

Do you imagine Jamie Sadlowski would hit the fairway all the time? On long drive championships they hit 10 shots or something on a 40 yard wide grid. They hit it maybe 2-4 times out of those 10. The longer shot you hit, the more you will miss.

If training hard and hitting it 350 yards on average would make you so good, why hasn't anyone done so yet? Look at kickboxers or similar sports with lots of agility. They are not buffed up, they are fast and accurate.

[mattttt25]

Tiger made the sport more popular.  As such, young "athletes" started to look at golf and not just football, baseball, etc.  So sure, maybe that has had an affect on the game and the type of young players we are seeing.

Tiger and others have also shown that physical fitness and weight training does apply to golf, and can possibly make you a better player.  The young "golfers" see this and now include traditional workouts as part of their training regimen.

[ControlJunkie]

nleary - I get the impression you see this as a negative trend, but I could easily be reading into it something that isn't there. If that is the case, can you please explain why you feel that way?

[mattshaver]

Originally Posted by nleary9201

An analogy might be the steroid baseball scandal.  If size didn't have anything to do with power or hitting "something" farther then why did Bonds and Sosa etc. all take em?  Cause they could hit routine pop ups that travels 400ft. thats why!

Not a good analogy.  Hitting a single doesn't count the same as a home run.  Hitting a 400 yd. drive counts the same 1 stroke as a 4 inch putt.