"net" drive?

[Undr Par]

I try to give folks the benefit of doubt but when you read posting after posting from people all who claim to be these long ball hitters, yet then go on & admit they shot a 100+...well exactly where are those long balls landing? 3 fairways over? Then you have the people who admit to hitting 2-3 in the water, lose a couple in the woods, etc & still pull a mid 40 out of thin air?? Now I am no golf purist by any stretch & certainly don't play by 100% PGA rules, but I do try & follow the majority of them. But then I also don't try & claim some ridiculously low score either, all you end up doing is cheating yourself.

it's funny you mention 3 fairways over, when I 1st started Golfing I used to play with a former Co-worker who always bragged that he hit the ball far, the only problem was it was always in the next fairway, trees, OOB, etc....we used to call him Tiger Woods brother, "In The" Woods. in my opinion I would rather have a drive of 180-200, (shoot I even take 150) straight down the pipe, then to have a 250-300 yd drive thats fairways over, in the woods, or OOB etc......

[gotgolf?]

Sometimes the threads where people claim to drive 350 then the undermining of these claims via the internet make me wonder if sometimes the ranges I hit at have incorrect yardage posts. I tend to think myself a pretty long hitter and with equipment that I am not fitted for I can drive on average 280. They should have some sort of "internet bullshit verification" s/w h/w

[Dyna]

Sometimes the threads where people claim to drive 350 then the undermining of these claims via the internet make me wonder if sometimes the ranges I hit at have incorrect yardage posts. I tend to think myself a pretty long hitter and with equipment that I am not fitted for I can drive on average 280. They should have some sort of "internet bullshit verification" s/w h/w

Very well may be the ranges are way off on actual yardage.

+1 on the internet bullshit verification requirement.

[thorban]

I think that not only does the internet add significant yardage, it also straightens drives! Quite an amazing invention Al Gore has here.

[Mhinderaker]

I kind of agree with Gregor Mendel as well, most older guys I know (who are still fairly good golfers) just can't hit the ball anywhere near as far as us high-school kids.

[laconic517]

most of this talk of it being in the trees and 300 yards out is bullshit, drives that go that far offline generally do not go that far because if they did you would still have a fairly easy shot into the green unless you are blocked out behind a try or in an evergreen or something. Ive never seen someone who cant break 80 on a consistant basis hit it over 260-270 regularly, and I Mean like 3/4 of the time, and i know several good golfers who dont even realize that they dont even hit it as far as they think they do, i hear them try to come up with yardages, like saying he hit a 5 iron 220, but he was full of shit he cut the corner over trees, honestly after my past lesson ive gained about 20-30 yards including roll, and i probably carry it about 270 average now, and I notice a HUGE difference from before, compared towhen i was probably driving it 260 with roll. ANy course under 6500 is nothing if you are hitting it 280 average and anywhere in play. And this whole idea of straighting out big slices and makeing them longer is a crock, sure theyd be longer than where you are hitting them now, but not nearly as long as you think.

Swing speed needs to be taken into account here as well.

My swing speed has gone up to about 110ish give or take 2 or 3 mph for my range with my driver, thats the easiest way to tell how far you really hit it. (assuming you make any sort of decent contact)

[StrmStlkr]

I'll tell you what, I absolutely crushed one the other day. Crushed it all the way out to 260 yards. I was ellated even after realizing that it was because I hit it at the top of a hill in the fairway and it got an extra 30 yards of roll... Ohh well.

[shortgame25]

Well i'll just say this. I graduated from high school this year and will be playing college golf. I swing on average about 80-85 percent on my average drive, im more consistent that way and it also gives me more room if i really do need to bomb one. but just the other day i took a range finder to the course and i didnt mess with it much, i think just one drive i ranged it because i mainly used it for irons just messing around. Well the ball took two bounces in the rough and just got into the fairway, and i ranged it at 283 and that was without my ideal ball flight. In high school golf i was always one of the longer hitters but obviously there were guys that could hit it further than that. The average golfer smashes one to get it 250. key word "smash". then there are the exception of guys who are just phsyical built, and can smash it crazy distances WHEN they connect. On a message board people alot of the times, not all the time but some times, will just throw out a figure just to do so, but i feel that people r fairly honest with themselves out there on the course. Especially where i golf because that involves taking the risk of driving over water, and its pretty cut and dry i mean you can or ya cant. thats my 2 cents.

[jmurdock]

I will say I carry the ball about 270 or so. Now when you add roll, there is an extra 10 to 25 yards. One person posted that people who can drive it out there with the pros should work on their short game and go pro. Last year, I had the pleasure of playing with Loren Roberts who now plays mostly on the Champions tour. He was never a long hitter by any means, but he could play. I outdrove him on just about every hole with some drives being 20 yards past him. He did nothing fancy, but by the end of the round I noticed that he had shot a cool 68 (-4). Tour pros are at an entirely different level of golf, in all faccets, over the average or even good golfer. Its not just short game. Its iron play, course management, the ability to create shots.....

Those are my thoughts

[Finn07]

If you wanna improve your golf game, and I think thats what most of us on here intend on doing otherwise we wouldnt be part of this forum is worry about your own game and not the guy who says he hits it this far or that far. We all know the people who score well are the ones who can hit it close from 120 in, and who can putt well so if someone says they hit it 300 or 200 who cares.

[Dyna]

The average golfer smashes one to get it 250. key word "smash". then there are the exception of guys who are just phsyical built, and can smash it crazy distances WHEN they connect.

Physical build doesn't have squat to do with it, experience & technique are key. Do Bubba Watson or Angel Cabrera look like weightlifters? Yet they will kick anyone on this boards ass with a 3 wood never mind a driver.

[The Golfing Polack]

Trying to figure your driving distance on a course or at the range is impossible. At the range who knows who set the distances, or how far back the tee area is that particular day. On the course yardages are measured very strangely, especially on holes that dogleg either direction.

If you want to know how far you carry go somewhere that has a launch monitor. I always figured that I hit the ball really far, but until started actually seeing what my average (being key) driver goes around 250-260, with an occasional freak swing of 290-300 I am a lot more humble about my distances. Usually the people I play with are playing the whites anyway, so I only use driver on the par 5's, as I like to keep an 8 or 9 iron into the green.

Go hit your driver and your ball on a launch monitor about 50 times and you will know your average driver carry distance.

[shortgame25]

Dyna your right and your wrong. who can hit it further, the average guy who has been golfing for the last 10 years or the physically fit or atheltic guy? Usually the average guy. But your wrong when you say being physically fit doesnt have squat to do with hitting it long. and your wrong bubba watson is a strong guy, and lets not forget his 6.5 degree driver isnt getting him some etra distance. To bomb it everything has to be in sync, duh, but if your trying to tell me being physical fit doesnt help bomb drives, then i wonder why the hell tiger and some of the other guys hit the weights with light reps to build quick muscles? I guess that doesnt help him bomb it according to you. So what im saying is, two average guys out golfin, the one who is physical stronger will most likely, not always hit it a little further. What gets you decent? club head speed. its as simple as that. so once u do have everything together, you try to build clubhead speed. how do u do that? you get quick, strong muscles. So dont even think of trying to tell me a 5'9 guy that weighs 170 pounds thats sat on his ass and hasnt done anything physical since he was in 5th grade doin a lap around the gym will be able to drive as long as a guy who is either naturally an athlete or has put the time in to build himself into one. Weither u like it or not thats the truth.

[Dyna]

What I meant by physical build was...it doesn't take biceps the size of WWE wrestlers or a massive chest to be a good golfer......look at Ernie Els & tell me he is buff. Sure it helps to be athletic but I have seen some fat out of shape guys who can play pretty damn well.

A person can be built like the proverbial brick shit house but unless they have the technique or a God given talent to hit the ball well, they can easily be beaten by a scrawny 17 yr old kid.

[shortgame25]

haha yeah thats exactly what i just said. I never said u need big biceps... i just said being tone with quick muscles and good technique and you can hit a good drive. Yea there are fat out of shape guys who r good golfers. do they bomb it? No. do they have a solid game? absolutely. Ernie isnt exactly a small guy though, he is kinda tall and long and that alone can build good clubhead speed.

[TD22057]

Go hit your driver and your ball on a launch monitor about 50 times and you will know your average driver carry distance.

How accurate does everyone think the launch monitors are? I hit my 8 iron 150 very consistently but the couple of times I've hit it on a monitor, I had one read 125 and another 135.

[doublesuited77]

Physical build doesn't have squat to do with it, experience & technique are key. Do Bubba Watson or Angel Cabrera look like weightlifters? Yet they will kick anyone on this boards ass with a 3 wood never mind a driver.

they probably have more forearm strength than anyone around here. I agree with your general point. Weightlifting or football strength won't give youpower. However, forearm, shoulder and leg strength combined with excellent balance (most important) will.

[lamebums]

How accurate does everyone think the launch monitors are? I hit my 8 iron 150 very consistently but the couple of times I've hit it on a monitor, I had one read 125 and another 135.

I struggle to reach 220 yards on the launch monitor, but on the course I hit it 250 and it's without that much roll. Every now and then I hit one 280-290, sometimes with roll and sometimes with not so much. (The launch monitor says I carry even less). I've verified my distance many times however with yard markers and measuring the distances with Google Earth.