Distance Experiment

[TommyGunUK]

A couple of you comment about being small, or hitting the gym. Even a double digit handicapper like me knows that power is in the timing.... Bubba Watson, for all his great golfing qualities, is an absolute weed. But drives it a bomb. I doubt he hits the gym... if he does, he's not doing it right!

[FLOG4]

E=MC squared.  Hitting prodigous drives is first controlled by high club speed. Super flexibility is the best advantage for that. Now if you could swing a sledgehammer at 150 mph look out....But you've got to hit the center of the face.  Bubba knocks it a mile for a PGA player.  Bubba is short compared to Sadlowsky, Zuback and company.  I don't think anyone cares more about being the absolute best player in the world than Tiger has for the past 15  years. He works out extensively. Why? Because it makes him better. Longer is better. But to be the best you've gotta do it all.  Westwood got pretty jacked past few years...Why?  Casey is jacked.  Luke is in great shape. Working out properly is gonna improve anyone's distance and game.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by FLOG4

E=MC squared.  Hitting prodigous drives is first controlled by high club speed. Super flexibility is the best advantage for that. Now if you could swing a sledgehammer at 150 mph look out....But you've got to hit the center of the face.  Bubba knocks it a mile for a PGA player.  Bubba is short compared to Sadlowsky, Zuback and company.  I don't think anyone cares more about being the absolute best player in the world than Tiger has for the past 15  years. He works out extensively. Why? Because it makes him better. Longer is better. But to be the best you've gotta do it all.  Westwood got pretty jacked past few years...Why?  Casey is jacked.  Luke is in great shape. Working out properly is gonna improve anyone's distance and game.

This is all true. However, there are the freaks of nature that have the natural talent and ability that do not need to increase their physical strength to excel in golf. Again, there are twig golfers out there bombing the ball 280-300 average and more if necessary or able.

I have a buddy that is about 5'10 and is really slim, probably 170 wet. This kid can consistently drive the ball 280+ and occasionally have some come to rest beyond 300 if risk/reward plays to his favor. The farthest drive I have seen the kid smack was easily near 320. This guy just has a beautiful, natural and fluid swing. The fundamentals are similar to what you see on TV, which is expected from someone who has been playing 72-90 holes of golf for 20 years. Though my back hurts just watching the back swing and hip-drive into the ball. I would need a chiropractor if I "unwinded" like that.

[FLOG4]

Originally Posted by Spyder

This is all true. However, there are the freaks of nature that have the natural talent and ability that do not need to increase their physical strength to excel in golf. Again, there are twig golfers out there bombing the ball 280-300 average and more if necessary or able.

I have a buddy that is about 5'10 and is really slim, probably 170 wet. This kid can consistently drive the ball 280+ and occasionally have some come to rest beyond 300 if risk/reward plays to his favor. The farthest drive I have seen the kid smack was easily near 320. This guy just has a beautiful, natural and fluid swing. The fundamentals are similar to what you see on TV, which is expected from someone who has been playing 72-90 holes of golf for 20 years. Though my back hurts just watching the back swing and hip-drive into the ball. I would need a chiropractor if I "unwinded" like that.

Don't disagree....But if  he worked out had personal training and stretched he would hit it even further.

[1puttit]

In the spirit of this thread I did a little experiment today on my home course. I played one ball from the blue tees (which I normally play) and one ball from the senior tees (which I have never played). Weather today was only about 40* and I would normally have played the whites today as the ball if going about 10-15 yards less than normal due to the cold. The card says the Blues are 3240 and the Seniors are 2811. Most tees had a 30-40 yard difference between the two tees. Did not have a very good driving day and hard to play with multiple layers of clothing, but the results were interesting.

Results:

From the Blue tees I shot a 44 - 2 pars, 6 bogies, and 1 double bogey. Only 2 GIR, which were the two pars. One 3 putt.

From the Senior tees I shot 39 - 1 birdie, 4 pars, 4 bogies.  5 GIR, One 3 putt

The main difference was having a much shorter approach into the par 4s - Big difference between 175 in and 140 in. Also was able to go for the par 5s in 2 (missed the green on both but setup an easy birdie on one whole) which I can never do when playing from the blues.

I plan on doing some yoga over the winter off-season as well as some core exercises, With luck I hope to pickup 20 yards off the tee for next season.

[bigeasy]

Originally Posted by 1puttit

In the spirit of this thread I did a little experiment today on my home course. I played one ball from the blue tees (which I normally play) and one ball from the senior tees (which I have never played). Weather today was only about 40* and I would normally have played the whites today as the ball if going about 10-15 yards less than normal due to the cold. The card says the Blues are 3240 and the Seniors are 2811. Most tees had a 30-40 yard difference between the two tees. Did not have a very good driving day and hard to play with multiple layers of clothing, but the results were interesting.

Results:

From the Blue tees I shot a 44 - 2 pars, 6 bogies, and 1 double bogey. Only 2 GIR, which were the two pars. One 3 putt.

From the Senior tees I shot 39 - 1 birdie, 4 pars, 4 bogies.  5 GIR, One 3 putt

The main difference was having a much shorter approach into the par 4s - Big difference between 175 in and 140 in. Also was able to go for the par 5s in 2 (missed the green on both but setup an easy birdie on one whole) which I can never do when playing from the blues.

I plan on doing some yoga over the winter off-season as well as some core exercises, With luck I hope to pickup 20 yards off the tee for next season.

I've already started hitting the gym. Last couple of weeks ive been working out about once every 2-3 days as well as following a great little book called "Ernie Els' Guide to Golf Fitness" to get a little bit more flexible. Can't really tell if it's paying off or not yet because the condition of the course is so poor, but it would be great to have a couple of clubs less into the par 4s.

[Beachcomber]

No doubt. Golf Digest for iPad had a video where Bubba was making fun of himself. He flexed his bicep and he has stick arms.

[Spyder]

This isn't some type of "I'm huge" bragging statement, but flexibility is out of the question for me after 15 years of football. I can't put my arms behind me and touch my hands together. Every iron shot for me is 3/4 swing. I watch my buddies golf though and they wind up like a damn snake and uncoil and destroy me in length off the tee. I can carry between 250-260 but I really get no roll out on my drives. It's more or less a 250-260 drive, sometimes 270-275 with wind at my back, and my ball mark is near the ball on my driver. I just cannot get that damn flexible. Most of my life I trained for being a middle linebacker. Once I broke my wrist in half and ended up with several herniated discs, I took up bowling and golf lol. Mostly because they are 2 activities that I can enjoy playing with family while having a few beers. I've come to realize that I'll never be below an 8 handicap (that's the lowest I've ever achieved) and that's fine with me.

Just remember that strength really won't benefit you without the flexibility factor. When you can't turn your shoulders without turning your entire body, you're kind of defeating the purpose. Though Tiger put on some muscle at the gym, he still has that yoga flexibility and he'll never negatively impact his golf swing.

[x129]

Good thing for Bubba that the arm muscles are not that important in golf. Bubba also has said he has started going to gym (not sure it if it was this year or last) and though it had really helped his game as he lost 20 lbs and gained strength.

No one is suggesting that golfers should add 50lbs of muscle. But being in good shape (5'10 170 isn't skinny for most builds. It is at the upper end of what 5'10 guy should weigh) helps.  You can get big strength  and power increases with minmal muscle mass gains. When you start lifting you don't gain any muscle over the first couple weeks but the weight you can lift goes up 20% due to better neural recruitment.  Worry about getting muscle bound shouldn't be a worry for 99% of us. Unless you start spending 5+ hours a week lifting and eating like a horse most people struggle to gain muscle mass.

If you have infinite time to dedicate to golf, you will spend some of it in the gym. If you have 5 hours a week it gets a bit more questionable if that time would be better spend doing golf specific work (putting, chipping, range, playing 9 holes,...) or working out.

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

No doubt. Golf Digest for iPad had a video where Bubba was making fun of himself. He flexed his bicep and he has stick arms.

[Beachcomber]

Good thing for Bubba that the arm muscles are not that important in golf. Bubba also has said he has started going to gym (not sure it if it was this year or last) and though it had really helped his game as he lost 20 lbs and gained strength.

No one is suggesting that golfers should add 50lbs of muscle. But being in good shape (5'10 170 isn't skinny for most builds. It is at the upper end of what 5'10 guy should weigh) helps.  You can get big strength  and power increases with minmal muscle mass gains. When you start lifting you don't gain any muscle over the first couple weeks but the weight you can lift goes up 20% due to better neural recruitment.  Worry about getting muscle bound shouldn't be a worry for 99% of us. Unless you start spending 5+ hours a week lifting and eating like a horse most people struggle to gain muscle mass.

If you have infinite time to dedicate to golf, you will spend some of it in the gym. If you have 5 hours a week it gets a bit more questionable if that time would be better spend doing golf specific work (putting, chipping, range, playing 9 holes,...) or working out.

He seems like a really fun guy - just watching him in interviews. And I would say he is the epitome of non-jock physique. Just proves you don't need to be a meat head to hit the long ball.