Why is it unbelievable I can drive 300+ ?

[onesome]

Jimbo, I'll apologize for doubting you were achieving the swing speed you were claiming based off of the math that was mistaken but moreso from my opinon of your video.However like others have said they could hear you grunting when swinging as it tells me this probably is not a realistisc swing you should attempt every time while teeing it up. Personally myself when I strike a good drive I'm swinging right at 102 and carry probably 240-250 depending on conditions and this is a controlled effort with no grunting involved and I'm hitting more than half the fairways, I can understand why you made the thread but understand as well there really is no signifigance to hitting a golf ball 300+ yards if you can only hit the fairway less than 10% of the time in fact the only signifigance to it is how deep you can put yourself in trouble.Golf is a game geared towards scoring not hitting it a long ways and I'm reminded of this every friday when my mens club has their morning rounds and I hit it 30 yards past the older guys regullarly and in the fairway but when the last hole is done they are beating me by 5 strokes,and this isn't even a short course really 6874 yards rated 73.7 slope 139. Bottom line is if you were at my home course swinging that hard at the ball I gaurantee you would probabaly come in close to 140 or higher at the end of the day.

[bunkerputt]

Alright.  This thread has sent me to the interwebs to search for the perfect facepalm picture.

[zeg]

I'm kinda late to this party, but I tend to ignore/doubt most claims of 300 yard drives, whether in person or on the Internet. When someone truly does come along saying, "Once a season I hit one 300 yards," or, "My career best drive was 300 yards," there's no issue. I personally probably average around 200, and on a good day put at least several out in the 230-240 range, but have a career best of about 280 (measured via GPS, IIRC). It's not hard to imagine someone who plays a bit more than I do getting one out a bit farther once in a while.

But there seem to be far too many instances of high handicappers who make claims about routinely hitting the ball over 300 yards, or more than suggesting that their average is up over 280 yards. Based on the numbers I see on the forum, I should have been paired up with more than a few of these guys over the last couple years, but I think once I've played alongside someone who I would believe could reliably put one out that distance.

So the numbers just tell us that a large number of people who talk about hitting the ball 300 yards are misleading themselves and / or lying about it. Either that or this forum really is a lure for golfers who are far above average in this department. While there is perhaps some bias toward better golfers on here, I don't think it would follow that we'd see more than an average number of poor golfers who drive the ball with professional-class distances.

In the end, I wouldn't take it personally (and I think it's wrong to be rude about it), but you need to understand that being a high-20s handicapper and hitting the ball a long way is a rare combination in real life, but a common claim on the Internet. You need to be prepared with a thick skin about it.

[Fourputt]

It's threads like this one which keep me mostly in the Rules forum.  At least there I have a little book which tells the real story.  Here, you just never know reality from fantasy, and it gets ugly when the bashers start to circle the kill.

[Nutter]

All the arguing is really pointless, you shouldn't care if people believe you or not.  It's a fun journey getting your game to a high level, enjoy it.

Best of luck man

[JerryTimes]

I'll brag about my drive Saturday that I hit 260.  That's the longest I've ever hit and I had the wind behind me.  Now back to your routine 300 yard bs.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Nutter

All the arguing is really pointless, you shouldn't care if people believe you or not.  It's a fun journey getting your game to a high level, enjoy it.

Best of luck man

Distance is strange. I hear rumblings about amazing shots that other long hitters made - big drives or amazing recoveries. I hear stories about "that 4-iron shot". A guy I played my first match against last year still goes on about how far I can stripe a 3-wood. I still go on about no matter how I hit the ball, Bob was better at grinding out a score. Who cares if I had a sand wedge in my hand coming into the last green. Bob drained his birdie putt and I picked up my six footer for par. He kicked my a$$.

[phillyk]

I'm young and naive still, so I'll go ahead and boast about my driving too.  I certainly don't average over 300, but I'm close.  Yesterday I had 2 370yd drives (both witnessed by 2 people I didn't know before hand), both downhill quite a bit and on par 5's in a wet climate, at sea level (parred 1 that had the drive in the fairway and birdied the other with the drive 5 yds left of fairway).  My longest drives have come with the help of a cart path bounce, the hole was flat at the same course as my previous boast.  Both went 380 that ended in the center.  Now the question is, do I boast a lot about it?  Not as much as I used to.  I don't care for driving more than 300 anymore because I do it so often.  It's only on the ones I murder that I boast.  The next thing I'd like to boast about is that I can put those approach shots within 10ft every time...  sadly that doesn't happen, although I am getting close...

[tiger187126]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

Alright.  This thread has sent me to the interwebs to search for the perfect facepalm picture.

the worst part is the how people are taking the OP.

this thread started with "i know i'm a high handicapper, but why when i mention i can drive 300 in other threads does it turn into people giving me crap?"

then people came out in droves to tell him he couldn't possibly hit it 300, and it just devolved.

this was not a boast thread, but as soon as the attacks started he defended himself in every way he could.

people threw words in his mouth quicker than he could respond and then gave him crap for taking the time to respond to posts.

there is a lot of bad form in this whole thread.

[kregan]

They just banned grunting in tennis!  Only for the women!

[zeg]

Originally Posted by phillyk

I'm young and naive still, so I'll go ahead and boast about my driving too.  I certainly don't average over 300, but I'm close.  Yesterday I had 2 370yd drives (both witnessed by 2 people I didn't know before hand), both downhill quite a bit and on par 5's in a wet climate, at sea level (parred 1 that had the drive in the fairway and birdied the other with the drive 5 yds left of fairway).  My longest drives have come with the help of a cart path bounce, the hole was flat at the same course as my previous boast.  Both went 380 that ended in the center.  Now the question is, do I boast a lot about it?  Not as much as I used to.  I don't care for driving more than 300 anymore because I do it so often.  It's only on the ones I murder that I boast.  The next thing I'd like to boast about is that I can put those approach shots within 10ft every time...  sadly that doesn't happen, although I am getting close...

Those are impressive distances, to be sure, and certainly people are out there who can deliver them.

The part I've bolded is part of why people are skeptical of people with handicaps closer to 30 than 20 who claim to be regularly pounding out 300+ yard drives: pars or better are a lot easier to come by when you're nearly 100 yards closer off your drive than someone who's hitting a more typical average drive in the low 200s.

It would take some truly, profoundly awful accuracy, plus a miserable short game and putting for me not to pick up 5 strokes per round if you gave me another 50 yards off the tee, and that's a conservative guess---it wouldn't surprise me if it dropped 10 if I got to use my 9I when I currently have to go with my 4I (and that's not even accounting for additional distance on my irons). My accuracy is not currently good, either; I'm happy to hit 25% of fairways, and probably another 25% are at risk of being in neighboring fairways instead. With a ton of extra distance, it'd be a real challenge for me to keep my handicap index at or above its current level 23.

There's little reason to question big hitters with low handicap indexes. It's a lot harder to swallow when those indexes are high. It certainly can happen, but it requires a fairly unlikely combination of strength and a level of technique to drive the ball a mile (or, I guess, 0.17 miles) without picking up at least a middling short and putting game. Like I've said before (and won't say again), the number of people who seem to have this combination on line is way out of whack with what I've personally encountered at the golf course.

[Spyder]

Damn, this thread is still going? lol

I skimmed over it briefly and saw a few funny things. One of many misconceptions that I found is someone saying "I mean a carry 290, release to 300 type of drive". A drive that rests at 300 yards out is a 300 yard drive, period. It doesn't matter if he hit a cart path, a tree, if it rolled for 40 of it - at the end of the day, it is a 300 yard drive. Leave the guy alone and let him have his glory.

PS: The markers are so far off at a course that I frequent that it really has people believing that they suddenly hit their 7i 200 yards... it's pretty amusing.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by zeg

I'm kinda late to this party, but I tend to ignore/doubt most claims of 300 yard drives, whether in person or on the Internet. When someone truly does come along saying, "Once a season I hit one 300 yards," or, "My career best drive was 300 yards," there's no issue. I personally probably average around 200, and on a good day put at least several out in the 230-240 range, but have a career best of about 280 (measured via GPS, IIRC). It's not hard to imagine someone who plays a bit more than I do getting one out a bit farther once in a while.

But there seem to be far too many instances of high handicappers who make claims about routinely hitting the ball over 300 yards, or more than suggesting that their average is up over 280 yards. Based on the numbers I see on the forum, I should have been paired up with more than a few of these guys over the last couple years, but I think once I've played alongside someone who I would believe could reliably put one out that distance.

So the numbers just tell us that a large number of people who talk about hitting the ball 300 yards are misleading themselves and / or lying about it. Either that or this forum really is a lure for golfers who are far above average in this department. While there is perhaps some bias toward better golfers on here, I don't think it would follow that we'd see more than an average number of poor golfers who drive the ball with professional-class distances.

In the end, I wouldn't take it personally (and I think it's wrong to be rude about it), but you need to understand that being a high-20s handicapper and hitting the ball a long way is a rare combination in real life, but a common claim on the Internet. You need to be prepared with a thick skin about it.

Originally Posted by zeg

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyk

I'm young and naive still, so I'll go ahead and boast about my driving too.  I certainly don't average over 300, but I'm close.  Yesterday I had 2 370yd drives (both witnessed by 2 people I didn't know before hand), both downhill quite a bit and on par 5's in a wet climate, at sea level (parred 1 that had the drive in the fairway and birdied the other with the drive 5 yds left of fairway).  My longest drives have come with the help of a cart path bounce, the hole was flat at the same course as my previous boast.  Both went 380 that ended in the center.  Now the question is, do I boast a lot about it?  Not as much as I used to.  I don't care for driving more than 300 anymore because I do it so often.  It's only on the ones I murder that I boast.  The next thing I'd like to boast about is that I can put those approach shots within 10ft every time...  sadly that doesn't happen, although I am getting close...

Those are impressive distances, to be sure, and certainly people are out there who can deliver them.

The part I've bolded is part of why people are skeptical of people with handicaps closer to 30 than 20 who claim to be regularly pounding out 300+ yard drives: pars or better are a lot easier to come by when you're nearly 100 yards closer off your drive than someone who's hitting a more typical average drive in the low 200s.

It would take some truly, profoundly awful accuracy, plus a miserable short game and putting for me not to pick up 5 strokes per round if you gave me another 50 yards off the tee, and that's a conservative guess---it wouldn't surprise me if it dropped 10 if I got to use my 9I when I currently have to go with my 4I (and that's not even accounting for additional distance on my irons). My accuracy is not currently good, either; I'm happy to hit 25% of fairways, and probably another 25% are at risk of being in neighboring fairways instead. With a ton of extra distance, it'd be a real challenge for me to keep my handicap index at or above its current level 23.

There's little reason to question big hitters with low handicap indexes. It's a lot harder to swallow when those indexes are high. It certainly can happen, but it requires a fairly unlikely combination of strength and a level of technique to drive the ball a mile (or, I guess, 0.17 miles) without picking up at least a middling short and putting game. Like I've said before (and won't say again), the number of people who seem to have this combination on line is way out of whack with what I've personally encountered at the golf course.

Umm . . . .you drive about 200 yards and are just as likely to be in the adjacent fairway as your own? That's some "profoundly awful accuracy" right there my friend. Add 50 + yards to your drive, without improving anything else in your game, and you'd be lucky to not be a 30+ capper after factoring in the extra strokes due to lost balls and being OB.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Umm . . . .you drive about 200 yards and are just as likely to be in the adjacent fairway as your own? That's some "profoundly awful accuracy" right there my friend. Add 50 + yards to your drive, without improving anything else in your game, and you'd be lucky to not be a 30+ capper after factoring in the extra strokes due to lost balls and being OB.

Did you not understand that my point was that I'm not an accurate driver? However, you don't have a very good imagination if you think what I describe is profoundly awful .

My claim is that about 75% of my tee shots are either in or near to my fairway. The other 25% are well off my fairway or in adjacent ones (read again: "at risk of being in" does not mean "in"). Most of the time this costs a stroke (if I have to chip back to the fairway) or less (if I have a better angle). On the courses I frequent, lost balls are fairly rare. On desert courses or similar where there's unplayable or unfindable rough between the fairways, you're right, I play a lot worse. But I don't play that sort of course very often.

So I don't agree with your assessment. If I added 50 yards to my tee shots without changing other elements of the game, I'll be in trouble just as often but that'll be more than made up for by wedge approaches in place of long irons.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by zeg

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Umm . . . .you drive about 200 yards and are just as likely to be in the adjacent fairway as your own? That's some "profoundly awful accuracy" right there my friend. Add 50 + yards to your drive, without improving anything else in your game, and you'd be lucky to not be a 30+ capper after factoring in the extra strokes due to lost balls and being OB.

Did you not understand that my point was that I'm not an accurate driver? However, you don't have a very good imagination if you think what I describe is profoundly awful.

My claim is that about 75% of my tee shots are either in or near to my fairway. The other 25% are well off my fairway or in adjacent ones (read again: "at risk of being in" does not mean "in"). Most of the time this costs a stroke (if I have to chip back to the fairway) or less (if I have a better angle). On the courses I frequent, lost balls are fairly rare. On desert courses or similar where there's unplayable or unfindable rough between the fairways, you're right, I play a lot worse. But I don't play that sort of course very often.

So I don't agree with your assessment. If I added 50 yards to my tee shots without changing other elements of the game, I'll be in trouble just as often but that'll be more than made up for by wedge approaches in place of long irons.

If you already extrapolated where your off-line drives would end up if they travelled 50 yards farther (and with more spin) then you might be right. The extra penalty strokes might be offset by having shorter approaches.

Are you saying that basically 75% of your drives leave you a shot to the green?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeg

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Umm . . . .you drive about 200 yards and are just as likely to be in the adjacent fairway as your own? That's some "profoundly awful accuracy" right there my friend. Add 50 + yards to your drive, without improving anything else in your game, and you'd be lucky to not be a 30+ capper after factoring in the extra strokes due to lost balls and being OB.

Did you not understand that my point was that I'm not an accurate driver? However, you don't have a very good imagination if you think what I describe is profoundly awful.

My claim is that about 75% of my tee shots are either in or near to my fairway. The other 25% are well off my fairway or in adjacent ones (read again: "at risk of being in" does not mean "in"). Most of the time this costs a stroke (if I have to chip back to the fairway) or less (if I have a better angle). On the courses I frequent, lost balls are fairly rare. On desert courses or similar where there's unplayable or unfindable rough between the fairways, you're right, I play a lot worse. But I don't play that sort of course very often.

So I don't agree with your assessment. If I added 50 yards to my tee shots without changing other elements of the game, I'll be in trouble just as often but that'll be more than made up for by wedge approaches in place of long irons.

If you already extrapolated where your off-line drives would end up if they travelled 50 yards farther (and with more spin) then you might be right. The extra penalty strokes might be offset by having shorter approaches.

Are you saying that basically 75% of your drives leave you a shot to the green?

PS. It may sound like I'm singling you out, but as you've admitted several times, you have no experience playing with people who can drive the ball > 280 every time (and 300 often) so it follows you've never seen a player who can drive a long way but their drives can often be "long and wrong".

[Dave2512]

This thread has twisted into something else so I hope this doesn't further derail it. Personally I don't get the fascination with long drives. Unless the course is excessively long how many times during a round is that particular shot even the right one to play? Most of the courses I play are in the 6400-6600y range and the only opportunities to bust out the long ball are the par 5's and the longer par 4's that don't dogleg. Hitting it long on the other par 4's could be trouble for all but the most accurate off the tee and even then it would require some significant shot shaping to get around trees and to avoid water and traps.

This isn't just an issue for amatuer golfers but all golfers. How many times have you watched a tournament on the tube and heard the guys calling it question a pros choice to use a driver off the tee? I hear it often and just as often they are right as the ball heads into the trees and leaves them with a tricky second shot. For the mortals with poor FIR percentages it seems more caution should be used when chosing clubs. Just because there's a driver in your bag doesn't mean it's a good idea to grab it. Far too many think they're going to hit the perfect shot when their own stats say they aren't.

[Elmer]

I am a 16 handicap and I tend to average 270 on my drives.

2 weeks ago on the 16th hole, par 4 366 yard I hit a 302 drive. (clocked with my Callaway Upro MX GPS)
My second shot was then a duffed 2 yard chip, walked away with a bogie.

That Day I had a 281, 280, 275, 302 and 288 drive ( of those I gps'ed).

It helps that we have a draught up here and my home course ground is like cement!

The joke in my golf league is that I hit it a ton, but cant chip or putt.

Driving has alway been easy. You just swing for the fences. Having a 20 year baseball/lacrosse background I can just whip that stick around. However when you get to the finesse and accuracy shots, I get the yips.

So I guess it is possible.

I didnt want to join the conversation as much as I want to get it out into the public arena that I had a 302 yard drive!!!!

Flame on!