Not trying to be a jerk but seasoned short hitters, what is keeping you from hitting it over 250 on your drives?

[Jimdangles]

Originally Posted by turtleback

Having a great short game is a far bigger advantage than length and doesn't depend nearly as much on physical prowess.  So, not trying to be a jerk, why don't you have one?

Who said I dont have a short game? My brother and his friend have been playing since high school, they are 10 years older than me and I didnt start til about 3 years after high school. I didnt say that I didnt have a short game I said theres was better.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by Jimdangles

Who said I dont have a short game? My brother and his friend have been playing since high school, they are 10 years older than me and I didnt start til about 3 years after high school. I didnt say that I didnt have a short game I said theres was better.

Then why don't you do something about it? It's not hard to practice your putting or chipping. Certainly much easier than re-tooling a full golf swing to wrest out another 20 yards off the tee.

That's the fallacy of your argument - you've gone to great lengths to try to make the point that you don't understand why shorter hitters don't try to be longer hitters, and you've been given a number of good reasons why, yet you seem to just accept your short game isn't as good as your playing partners.

Go practice it! You'll be amazed what a couple hours a week on a practice green will do for your score.

[pipergsm]

Looking at all these numbers ( drive 290, 7i 180,...), I would think most of you were playing scratch or better.

however, when I look at the handicaps, most are 12 till 20.

something wrong in this picture?

Looks like most players have a serious problem about accuracy.

Simply avoiding bunkers and the water isn't that hard if you have a minimal accuracy (which should be your first and primal concern when learning golf).

With the distances mentioned above, this should make virtually any of you guys a scratch player!

I've been learning on my own for only a few dozens of hours now.

The only reason I'm not yet playing a 1-digit handicap, is that I don't have the time to practice regularly, and because of that I haven't been able yet to transfer my results from the range to the course.

Even with my current distances, I have good hopes this will change soon, and with my current precision (long and short game), I should be able to shoot near par on my local course (a relatively easy 9-hole, I admit).

my current drive:160-220

7i: 130-140 average

Disbelievers, keep following me!

I'll post my next few results in 1-2 weeks!

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by pipergsm

Looking at all these numbers ( drive 290, 7i 180,...), I would think most of you were playing scratch or better.

however, when I look at the handicaps, most are 12 till 20.

something wrong in this picture?

Looks like most players have a serious problem about accuracy.

Simply avoiding bunkers and the water isn't that hard if you have a minimal accuracy (which should be your first and primal concern when learning golf).

With the distances mentioned above, this should make virtually any of you guys a scratch player!

I've been learning on my own for only a few dozens of hours now.

The only reason I'm not yet playing a 1-digit handicap, is that I don't have the time to practice regularly, and because of that I haven't been able yet to transfer my results from the range to the course.

Even with my current distances, I have good hopes this will change soon, and with my current precision (long and short game), I should be able to shoot near par on my local course (a relatively easy 9-hole, I admit).

my current drive:160-220

7i: 130-140 average

Disbelievers, keep following me!

I'll post my next few results in 1-2 weeks!

The smoother and better my swing gets the further I seem to be hitting it. Backing off my driver and swinging easy still results in 250 or better drives although I seem to speed my tempo up every couple of weeks if I do not hit the range. I found that a subconscious swing tempo change is often the biggest problem in my game. I noticed as my swing was better and better tempo I still had good distance and often times an increase. This was why the question was raised. I figured if you had good swing mechanics you should produce distance as well as accurate drives.

[Meddle]

Originally Posted by phan52

I love hitting hybrids onto greens and taking money away from guys who hit it 30-40 yards past me off the tee. I notice from your index that I would give you about 3-4 shots if we played. Why's that?

No better feeling than playing with the guy who drives it way past you then beating them because of the consistency of your game. I drive it around 230, 250 max, but I know my ball flight, and I hit a lot of fairways. I think seeing somebody hitting every fairway is more intimidating to play against than a guy who hits it 280 but is inconsistent.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by Meddle

No better feeling than playing with the guy who drives it way past you then beating them because of the consistency of your game. I drive it around 230, 250 max, but I know my ball flight, and I hit a lot of fairways. I think seeing somebody hitting every fairway is more intimidating to play against than a guy who hits it 280 but is inconsistent.

To "Pavin":  verb meaning to beat someone while being outdriven on a hole.

As in: I Pavined you on that hole.  My hybrid got inside your 8 iron and I made my par while you 3 putted. Better luck next time.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meddle

No better feeling than playing with the guy who drives it way past you then beating them because of the consistency of your game. I drive it around 230, 250 max, but I know my ball flight, and I hit a lot of fairways. I think seeing somebody hitting every fairway is more intimidating to play against than a guy who hits it 280 but is inconsistent.

To "Pavin":  verb meaning to beat someone while being outdriven on a hole.

As in: I Pavined you on that hole.  My hybrid got inside your 8 iron and I made my par while you 3 putted. Better luck next time.

Yea.....whatever happened to Pavin......

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Yea.....whatever happened to Pavin......

#15 on Champions' Tour.  Almost a million bucks in earnings this year. Not bad for a guy who averages 252 yards off the tee (about 30 yards less than the average 20 handicapper on this forum ).

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Yea.....whatever happened to Pavin......

#15 on Champions' Tour.  Almost a million bucks in earnings this year. Not bad for a guy who averages 252 yards off the tee (about 30 yards less than the average 20 handicapper on this forum ).

Yea but going to the long courses on the pga tour killed him...

[David in FL]

Yea but going to the long courses on the pga tour killed him...

Yeah..... 15 wins and a US open. It just killed him alright! :-)

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by David in FL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Yea but going to the long courses on the pga tour killed him...

Yeah..... 15 wins and a US open. It just killed him alright!

Yea yea in later years he could not compete.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Yea but going to the long courses on the pga tour killed him...

There's something called age. Whether we like it or not, it happens.

Even so, for Pavin's last 5 years on the PGA tour (his age 45-49), he still made $3.9 million. Averaged almost $35,000 per tournament. He was still making a great living on the big tour. It didn't really "kill" him.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Yea but going to the long courses on the pga tour killed him...

There's something called age. Whether we like it or not, it happens.

Even so, for Pavin's last 5 years on the PGA tour (his age 45-49), he still made $3.9 million. Averaged almost $35,000 per tournament. He was still making a great living on the big tour. It didn't really "kill" him.

Talking about potential to win.

[Datsyuk]

Originally Posted by pipergsm

Looking at all these numbers ( drive 290, 7i 180,...), I would think most of you were playing scratch or better.

however, when I look at the handicaps, most are 12 till 20.

something wrong in this picture?

Looks like most players have a serious problem about accuracy.

Simply avoiding bunkers and the water isn't that hard if you have a minimal accuracy (which should be your first and primal concern when learning golf).

With the distances mentioned above, this should make virtually any of you guys a scratch player!

I've been learning on my own for only a few dozens of hours now.

The only reason I'm not yet playing a 1-digit handicap, is that I don't have the time to practice regularly, and because of that I haven't been able yet to transfer my results from the range to the course.

Even with my current distances, I have good hopes this will change soon, and with my current precision (long and short game), I should be able to shoot near par on my local course (a relatively easy 9-hole, I admit).

my current drive:160-220

7i: 130-140 average

Disbelievers, keep following me!

I'll post my next few results in 1-2 weeks!

It sounds like at this point in time your golf skills are purely theoretical. Playing golf on a real course, including counting every stroke from the tee shot until the ball lands in bottom of the cup, is much more than reproducing shots made at the driving range. If I projected my driving range prowess to on-course scoring I'd be one of the 25 guys who just got their tour cards. You're suggesting there's much more to golf than driving distance. No kidding. Good luck.

[zipazoid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Yea yea in later years he could not compete.

Quote:

Talking about potential to win.

Like that loss in sudden death against Bubba Watson in 2010 at The Travelers?

[HackerUpNorth]

Originally Posted by pipergsm

Looking at all these numbers ( drive 290, 7i 180,...), I would think most of you were playing scratch or better.

however, when I look at the handicaps, most are 12 till 20.

something wrong in this picture?

Looks like most players have a serious problem about accuracy.

Simply avoiding bunkers and the water isn't that hard if you have a minimal accuracy (which should be your first and primal concern when learning golf).

With the distances mentioned above, this should make virtually any of you guys a scratch player!

I've been learning on my own for only a few dozens of hours now.

The only reason I'm not yet playing a 1-digit handicap, is that I don't have the time to practice regularly, and because of that I haven't been able yet to transfer my results from the range to the course.

Even with my current distances, I have good hopes this will change soon, and with my current precision (long and short game), I should be able to shoot near par on my local course (a relatively easy 9-hole, I admit).

my current drive:160-220

7i: 130-140 average

Disbelievers, keep following me!

I'll post my next few results in 1-2 weeks!

the reason your not playing to a 1 handicap is because

a. your a very green player

b. hit your 7 iron 130-140, and driver 160-220(why have 6 iron down, less weight to carry)

c. think you know all the answers, but will find out the beauty of this game is you will never have all the answers,thats including hogan, palmer, norman, woods etc. and you will spend the rest of your life, finding you like a swing/club/ball to only find out when the new one comes out you want that more, or you can't do what you use to.

[Lihu]

#15 on Champions' Tour.  Almost a million bucks in earnings this year. Not bad for a guy who averages 252 yards off the tee (about 30 yards less than the average 20 handicapper on this forum ;-) ).

252 off the tee? It must be a really easy swing for him to hit that distance.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by Lihu

252 off the tee? It must be a really easy swing for him to hit that distance.

Imagine how many more majors he would have won had he only taken the OP's advice.