Lack of Distance

[sposey549]

Hello all and thanks in advance for any help. I am having trouble getting distance on my drives. This is my driver used and specs. Callaway Razr Hawk 11.5 w/ RIP R flex SS 101 BS 131 LA 14*-15* RPM 3800-4200 Again thanks

[onephenom]

The swing is 100 more important to getting distance than the driver used. make a swing thread in my swing and you might be able to get help.

[Jhwarren]

The swing is 100 more important to getting distance than the driver used. make a swing thread in my swing and you might be able to get help.

Totally agree. Your smash factor is pretty low. Improve your contact and distance will come.

[joekelly]

Sposey, what yardage are u getting now?  I have learned that it's senseless to ask anyone how far they want to go as usually only 300 will suffice but this yardage impractical for most, nearly all, folks here.  Yeah, i agree with others that the motion is much more important than the stick in hand. Woods could use a hickory root and hit the ball 258.

[sposey549]

I am carrying 205-210 yards and about 5-10 yards roll.

[Stretch]

Your ball speed is very low for your swing speed. You should be capable of high 140s, which would get you 30 plus more yards of carry. Either you're not hitting the ball in the middle of the face, or you're contacting it very obliquely -- ie. cutting across the ball. What shape are your drives?

[sposey549]

Majority a push fade.

[EverythingGolf]

Your smash factor is low its only 1.29 so you are hitting it all over the face of the club. You should be ableto get it out there 240 to 250 if you hit the ball closer to the sweet spot. So you need to work on that swing.

If you hit a push fade you should try to strengthen your grip. The V's in the thumbs(blue lines) should point over to your left shoulder.

[saevel25]

First,

Go buy some contact tape, amazon sells it pretty cheat, or go get some masking tape. Tape the face of the driver, take 10 swings, see were the contact is. You want the ball hitting center or just above center on the clubface.

Second, get a dowel, and stick in the ground about 3 yards infront of your driver shot. lay a club down your target line, now see were the ball starts and how it moves. You might be hitting a pull fade and think its a push fade. This set up really helps to determine were the ball will start out and the shot shape.

About changing the grip, i wouldn't bother at this point, i would check other things out. When it doubt, post a video on this forum.

[boston blackie]

Originally Posted by Jhwarren

Totally agree. Your smash factor is pretty low. Improve your contact and distance will come.

Smash factor is sort of a mystery to me.  Can you explain how you get the smash factor from the OP's stats, also if you could explain the meaning of the term.

Thanks.

[EverythingGolf]

Its ball speed / club speed. Its where the ball contacts the face and how fast it launches off it.

[boston blackie]

Originally Posted by EverythingGolf

Its ball speed / club speed. Its where the ball contacts the face and how fast it launches off it.

Thank you.  That gives a smash factor of 1.3.  What should a good smash factor be?  Is just dependent on where the ball contacts the face given the same swing speed?

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by boston blackie

Thank you.  That gives a smash factor of 1.3.  What should a good smash factor be?  Is just dependent on where the ball contacts the face given the same swing speed?

A good one is over 1.45, I would say.  The maximum acheivable (based on the limits on driver technology) is basically 1.50.

[sposey549]

It is a pushl fade. I am going off a launch monitor. The launch monitor is a Trackman. What is the cure because I am lost. I believe my grip is fine, but I could be wrong.

[EverythingGolf]

A push fade is normally caused by a weak grip and can be in combo with an OTT (over the top) swing. How far to the left does the ball start and how much does it curve?

[saevel25]

Quote:

A push fade is normally caused by a weak grip and can be in combo with an OTT (over the top) swing. How far to the left does the ball start and how much does it curve?

That's wrong, one grip has nothing to do with it. A person can hit a draw, fade, with a strong or weak grip. Believe me, i can put my hands underneath the club and hit a slice if i tried.

Also, a push fade is not created from an over the top swing, a push fade is an inside out swing, but the clubface is just slightly open to the direction of the swing path. Lets say 2 degrees inside out, with a 3 degree open clubface. That would be a push fade. Now, you can have a huge slice, were you have a slight over the top, and the ball will start right and go right, but that is not a push fade, and its extremely hard to have a clubface that open. Most people who hit slices actually have a closed clubface

If he is truly hitting a push fade, than he doesn't need to change much, he just needs to work on a few things,

1) making sure your angle of attack isn't that steep, hitting slightly up on the all is the best

2) Hitting the center of the clubface laterally (toe to heel), and hitting the center to just maybe as much as a quarter of an inch above the center of the clubface vertically.

Really i would recommend just buying some impact tape, or take a dry erase marker and mark the ball and then it the driver, see were the mark is. That way you can tell if your all over the place in contact. Because your swing is generating that swing speed, meaning the power loss is due to poor contact.

[sposey549]

With impact tape I am hitting center of club. It is almost dead center, if off at all it will be low but not very noticeable. When I hit center toe I know but center has me confused.

[sposey549]

Could I be teeing up to high? The ball starts out straight and curves to the right about 10 to 15 yards from center when land.