How many years of practice to hit a Driver 270+ yards?

[Mr. Desmond]

No you're right, he has a lovely swing but gravity is unhinging his wrists he doesn't have to think about it and neither do you.

Agreed.

You don't want to think about it -- but for most of us, the swing did not get there naturally -- it takes work to internalize your swing so you don't think about it -- you get out of the way and allow the swing to do its thing.

[Robster 7]

Agreed. You don't want to think about it -- but for most of us, the swing did not get there naturally -- it takes work to internalize your swing so you don't think about it -- you get out of the way and allow the swing to do its thing.

I knew we'd come to an agreement of sorts at some point ;-)

[Hammer 4]

Agreed.

You don't want to think about it -- but for most of us, the swing did not get there naturally -- it takes work to internalize your swing so you don't think about it -- you get out of the way and allow the swing to do its thing.

Agreed. To bad it takes so dang long to get to that point..LOL

[Lihu]

Agreed. To bad it takes so dang long to get to that point..LOL

I'm wondering why? It seems like it should be an easy concept to get. It took me 1 and a half years of serious learning, and still did not get it. Then I take a couple good lessons, and things just started coming together this last month.

[Robster 7]

I'm wondering why? It seems like it should be an easy concept to get. It took me 1 and a half years of serious learning, and still did not get it. Then I take a couple good lessons, and things just started coming together this last month.

Yeah, two turns and a swish, easy. ( if only!)

[Spitfisher]

270 yards or more, it comes down to club head speed, Not power, club head speed and ideal launch conditions, including low spin will allow the ball to travel that far.

How long will this take? it depends who and when they start striking the ball. If you are a women the answer will likely be never, If you are an adult guy, athletic it still might be never. I will say the taller you are, with a gift for a high reactive muscles, you can do it with some practice, but as someone also pointed out- you either have it or you don't

Having traveled for years with a launch monitor for several golf companies, most men think they hit the ball further than they think, I have had men tell me repeatedly they hit the ball 260-275, I can have them warm up and make decent contact with the ball, put them on the launch monitor, with a quality ball and a majority of the time they hit it 235-240 and occasionally one close to 260. This usually after I hand them a driver 1.5 degrees higher in loft.

if I only had a dollar for every........

235-240 is pretty far on the courses I normally play.

That wasn't carry, that was total distance including roll- in other words carry for those distances were closer to 215-225

[TN94z]

I think working on impact is the best way to get there.  Once you have a solid swing making solid contact, the rest falls in the "you either have it or don't" group.  You can work on power accumulators, workout, and gain some flexibility, but I would think that would only be good for a few yards.  A timeline for this happening doesn't really have an answer.  Kind of like how long before I'm a single digit handicap?

[nono]

You are assuming, of course, that we are not carrying years of injuries to our bodies from when we were teens

what??? lol

[joekelly]

Don't you think that some golfers can achieve good, solid impact, even square and center on the driver head, and not get much distance?  Hitting the ball straight and far is very elusive.  One of those two elements we all can find, but few can find both.

[sofingaw]

Don't you think that some golfers can achieve good, solid impact, even square and center on the driver head, and not get much distance?  Hitting the ball straight and far is very elusive.  One of those two elements we all can find, but few can find both.

I think this depends on what exactly is meant by 'much distance'. It means different things to different people.

I think though, that unless physically handicapped, -some are, of course- but, unless handicapped, no.

I don't really think that if one makes square, center contact with a driver swing that is on plane that they will hit it prohibitively short. I, for example hit it an average of 225 or a bit more, with an occasional 250-260 in there. I truly feel like I am barely 'waving' at the ball, and it just gets in the way. Even on the big ones. This isn't a boast on my strength, but truly a slow (backswing especially), easy feeling swing that produces fine results. I must swing this easy, slow way to keep the ball in play. To get center contact often enough. Sure, 225 is not a bomb, but if it's in the fairway, a fine shot and plenty far.

Maybe I can see that someone won't get 'most' distance out of a center contact shot every time. But I'd say they would get 'much'. All based on my definitions, I admit.

[Foursum Golf]

I'm fine with my 240-250 yard drive on the fairway - thats the one constant in my game & the least of my problems...

Same here. I'm usually the first in my group to hit their second shot but it's in play.

[mmoan2]

Didn't read all of the comments here, but mine is "who cares?" Work on your swing, learning proper technique and increase your flexibility through core exercises and the like. I'm 6'2, 250 and hit cleanup on every baseball team I ever played on through college so I can hit the ball 300+ but occasionally into the wrong fairway or worse. I also lack flexibility so guys 150 dripping wet with rubber bands for fiber-twitch muscles can accurately outdrive me. Perfect your swing and you may end up being the Jim Furyk of your foursome. Worse things could happen.

[AveoBigandTall]

For me that kind of distance came pretty naturally -

I can hit my 3 wood 270 carry and can push 300 yds (with roll) with it (NOT WITH CONSISTENCY and not with a reliable enough flight path)  most of the time i tee off with my 3 wood - and carry 230-250 with some reliability.

My driver which i rarely hit i can carry over 300 (i may hit my driver 10 times a year - i actually took it out of my bag and carry two 3 woods and 1 5 wood)

Also keep in mind I am 6'4" and about 285 - but the key for me is my wingspan and therefore my leverage when swinging a club - i am pretty tall  but my arms are longer than normal for a 6'4" guy - as example in dress shirts i wear a 39" sleeve length - so makes for a pretty long swing even at 3/4.

But a long swing leaves alot of room for error (and i leave the face open more than my fair share) so that kind of speed (117 driver speed) with an open face equates to a pretty wicked slice if i am not careful

So can i carry 270 - yes pretty easily but do i is the question and the answer is on most courses i dont have to - im approx a 15 or so handicap so even with my length i dont push it and go for many par 5's in two so most of the time dont need much more than 250 off the tee.

[pharrell77]

Reaching 270 yards happens more often than sometime we image especially for low handicapers. If you generated 100+ss alone with center mass contact then 270 becomes 270++++.I am honestly fairly long and a consistant ball striker, however doing a instruction session I was fine turning my 3-wood and completly blistering the ball with 113 ss, but  my impact was just right of center closer to the toe.Neither the less after some minor adjustment my next swing with the comparable ss I inked out 278 carry not total but carry yardage.

[Stretch]

Thought this might be useful as a reference for what is possible at various swing speeds. This is from a big data set (everyone who had ever recorded a TrackMan combine test) and I guess otherwise pretty much speaks for itself. [IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/29/aqury6yd.jpg[/IMG]

[Stretch]

What is also kind of interesting is that at any swing speed there is roughly the same distance gap (around 50 yards) between the guys who hit it really badly and the guys who hit it really well.

[Lihu]

What is also kind of interesting is that at any swing speed there is roughly the same distance gap (around 50 yards) between the guys who hit it really badly and the guys who hit it really well.

Do you also happen to have the same information for all the clubs? It would be interesting to see the smash factor shown explicitly as well. This chart is really cool information. Thanks for sharing.

[dchoye]

One of the things that helped me a lot this year to gain yardage on my driver is not anything related to my body muscle but training my eyeballs to keep moving through the ball during the swing If my eyes stop moving and looks at the ball during my swing I tend to lose swing speed for some reason