Is Distance Really That Important for Amateurs?

[k-troop]

Here's an anecdotal story that supports the long game over short game argument.

Played the Navy Course at Seal Beach on Friday.  Shot 74 with five 3-putts (two were for pars).  My ball striking was well above average for the day, while my putting was terrible.  Drove the ball very well all day; of 14 par-4s, I only had two approaches longer than 9i.  Had 17 GIRs or nGIRs.  No penalties, though I did have 1 LSW "penalty" when I drove behind a tree about 40-yds short of a par-4 green and had to hit a punch shot to a green protected by a bunker (that was my only approach that wasn't an nGIR for the day, but I hit an excellent pitch and made par anyway).

I would qualify 74 in the "good round" category for me, particularly on a course I've never played before.  My scores are typically in the 72-78 range, with occasional rounds in the low 80s (and under par once in every 20-25 rounds or so).

The illustrative point for me is this:  I can shoot 74 with a horrible putting day because I was driving the ball solidly and long, and had very short approach shots all day.  I was able to reach two par-5s in two shots.  On the flip side, if I were hitting the ball 20-yards shorter (which would have been a 7% or so loss in distance) all of my approaches would have been 6i-8i instead of PW-9i.  That surely would have reduced my nGIR numbers, and I never would have been able to score as well--even if I had an average or slightly above average putting day.

[Morocco Mako]

The goal of every golfer should be to shoot the lowest score.

Being able to drive the ball off the tee a certain length may be a requirement to be competitive in certain tournaments, but being able to drive the ball off the tee and keep it in bounds is also a requirement to be competitive in certain tournaments.

There's an old saying: every journey starts where you are standing right now.

Some of the recent books (like "The Lowest Score Wins" on this site) have done a great service to golfers, because it they have altered how people think about getting to the next level. But, how they get to the next level depends on where they are right now.

[Patch]

^^  interesting @Parker0065post above got me thinking ... the need for maximized distance may boil down to if a person is ultimately a competitive golfer or recreational golfer.   I think everyone would agree that if a person was on a high school golf team or plays in club tournaments, sure distance is a huge factor and an advantage.     If a person plays for their own enjoyment, keeping it in play and playing a bit more conservatively might well be the better option.     Depends what you want to get out of the game ...

Over all, I think your's in one of the better answers to the original question. I know I play  for my own enjoyment 100% of the time. I am probably a recreational golfer 95% of the time. When I do enter into a more competitive round, I still play for the enjoyment of just playing.

[RFKFREAK]

^^  interesting @Parker0065post above got me thinking ... the need for maximized distance may boil down to if a person is ultimately a competitive golfer or recreational golfer.   I think everyone would agree that if a person was on a high school golf team or plays in club tournaments, sure distance is a huge factor and an advantage.     If a person plays for their own enjoyment, keeping it in play and playing a bit more conservatively might well be the better option.     Depends what you want to get out of the game ...

For me, even though I've never played in a tournament or a competitive round (even with my golfing buddies it's not a competition against them), I would say whereas I play to enjoy myself, I'm still quite competitive and go into a round trying to score as low as I can and try and make decisions to achieve that goal.  If I shoot under 100, that's a, "victory," for me.

[golf-noob-bruce]

The goal of every golfer should be to shoot the lowest score.

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

[Dave2512]

The goal of every golfer should be to shoot the lowest score.

It usually is. Can't say I play with even one person that enjoys hitting a succession of crappy shots on the way to a high score. I suppose everyone has an acceptable score goal where that at the end of the day meeting it brings satisfaction. However some apparently enjoy the torture of making the course longer than their skill can hack. As important as distance is my experience is men rarely accept their limitations.

[turtleback]

How about looking at it from a little different angle..

Say you have 2 players A and B and the only thing you know about them is that A drives the ball 220 on average and B drives the ball 240 on average.  What are the odds that B is the better player?

Now you have 2 other players, C and D, and the only thing you know about them is that D is 1% (or some other percent that would be comparable to the 20 yard difference in the other case) more accurate than C.  What are the odds that D is a better player than C?

IMO, the odds in the first case, that the longer player is better, would be higher than the odds in the second case, that the more accurate player is better.  IF you think that my assessment is right, then I think that pretty much demonstrates the point.

[Somerset Simon]

I was down at the driving range on Monday evening.

Two bays up, there was a young guy (early 20's) getting fitted for a new driver.

He obviously had some basic talent.

He had a pretty good looking swing, nicely on plane, good balance, etc.

But... he was clearly obsessed with distance.

He was absolutely lashing it, achieving 145 mph club head speed on the monitor.

He was getting good distance, probably 20 yards more than me, around 250 carry with range balls.

But half his balls were going 30-40 yards off line.

I don't know anything about his short game, but I would be willing to bet I could beat him by at least 5 shots (maybe 10) on a typical UK championship links course, despite the fact he is 20 yards longer.

This is a very good example of what I often see when I watch young players these days.

Far too many of them seem to think it is impossible to shoot good scores unless you hit the ball pro distances.

Granted, if your ambition is to be a pro, then yes, you do need to hit your driver 280+.

But at amateur level, 250-270 is plenty far enough to get a scratch handicap and compete at national level.

Focus on technique and you will naturally achieve your maximum distance with maximum accuracy and consistency.

Focus on distance and you will probably just destroy your swing.

[onthehunt526]

Erik, You're right. One myth about golf is if you hit it shorter your more accurate... A 5° miss is not going to be amplified as much on a shot if 220 yards vs 260 yards. However, people who miss fairways by 5 feet who hit it 280 yards mistake that they are wild... that's actually pretty accurate for 280 yards...

[Hoya Destroya]

I think a lot has to do with your age and swing speed. As you get older swing speed starts its decline. I see very few seniors who consistently hit their tee shots over 200 yards and that filters down through the entire bag. That is true even for those with excellent fundamentals. If that golfers can bump that tee shot to 220 (10 pct) it opens up a whole new game-approach club,course management, hazzard avoidance. So for us distance it is the most important element

[inthehole]

I was down at the driving range on Monday evening.

Two bays up, there was a young guy (early 20's) getting fitted for a new driver.

He obviously had some basic talent.

He had a pretty good looking swing, nicely on plane, good balance, etc.

But... he was clearly obsessed with distance.

He was absolutely lashing it, achieving 145 mph club head speed on the monitor.

He was getting good distance, probably 20 yards more than me, around 250 carry with range balls.

But half his balls were going 30-40 yards off line.

I don't know anything about his short game, but I would be willing to bet I could beat him by at least 5 shots (maybe 10) on a typical UK championship links course, despite the fact he is 20 yards longer.

This is a very good example of what I often see when I watch young players these days.

Far too many of them seem to think it is impossible to shoot good scores unless you hit the ball pro distances.

Granted, if your ambition is to be a pro, then yes, you do need to hit your driver 280+.

But at amateur level, 250-270 is plenty far enough to get a scratch handicap and compete at national level.

Focus on technique and you will naturally achieve your maximum distance with maximum accuracy and consistency.

Focus on distance and you will probably just destroy your swing.

This was my point earlier in this thread - I see far more of these young guys that are obsessed with distance.     They have ridiculous length but no accuracy ... I haven't been paired with one yet that I haven't beat handily and I'm not even a single digit hcp (one of these days I'm sure I'll be paired with a really good player with distance AND accuracy, just haven't seen this species of golfer yet) ...

[Jakester23]

This was my point earlier in this thread - I see far more of these young guys that are obsessed with distance.     They have ridiculous length but no accuracy ... I haven't been paired with one yet that I haven't beat handily and I'm not even a single digit hcp (one of these days I'm sure I'll be paired with a really good player with distance AND accuracy, just haven't seen this species of golfer yet) ...

What is your definition of "these guys you haven't seen "?

[Lihu]

I was down at the driving range on Monday evening.

Two bays up, there was a young guy (early 20's) getting fitted for a new driver.

He obviously had some basic talent.

He had a pretty good looking swing, nicely on plane, good balance, etc.

But... he was clearly obsessed with distance.

He was absolutely lashing it, achieving 145 mph club head speed on the monitor.

He was getting good distance, probably 20 yards more than me, around 250 carry with range balls.

But half his balls were going 30-40 yards off line.

I don't know anything about his short game, but I would be willing to bet I could beat him by at least 5 shots (maybe 10) on a typical UK championship links course, despite the fact he is 20 yards longer.

This is a very good example of what I often see when I watch young players these days.

Far too many of them seem to think it is impossible to shoot good scores unless you hit the ball pro distances.

Granted, if your ambition is to be a pro, then yes, you do need to hit your driver 280+.

But at amateur level, 250-270 is plenty far enough to get a scratch handicap and compete at national level.

Focus on technique and you will naturally achieve your maximum distance with maximum accuracy and consistency.

Focus on distance and you will probably just destroy your swing.

What kind of monitor? It seems like he should have been getting 350 yards carry with that kind of speed.

[saevel25]

What kind of monitor? It seems like he should have been getting 350 yards carry with that kind of speed.

about 395 on a good hit, and 320 on a really really bad hit.

[boogielicious]

I was down at the driving range on Monday evening.

Two bays up, there was a young guy (early 20's) getting fitted for a new driver.

He obviously had some basic talent.

He had a pretty good looking swing, nicely on plane, good balance, etc.

But... he was clearly obsessed with distance.

He was absolutely lashing it, achieving 145 mph club head speed on the monitor.

He was getting good distance, probably 20 yards more than me, around 250 carry with range balls.

But half his balls were going 30-40 yards off line.

I don't know anything about his short game, but I would be willing to bet I could beat him by at least 5 shots (maybe 10) on a typical UK championship links course, despite the fact he is 20 yards longer.

This is a very good example of what I often see when I watch young players these days.

Far too many of them seem to think it is impossible to shoot good scores unless you hit the ball pro distances.

Granted, if your ambition is to be a pro, then yes, you do need to hit your driver 280+.

But at amateur level, 250-270 is plenty far enough to get a scratch handicap and compete at national level.

Focus on technique and you will naturally achieve your maximum distance with maximum accuracy and consistency.

Focus on distance and you will probably just destroy your swing.

No one is debating that accuracy is not important.  But again, you present an anecdote that doesn't really apply.  You have no idea what the young guys objectives were for the session.  He could have been just trying something out with max effort.  On the course, he could go back to his normal swing, with his normal accuracy and now have a driver set up that is longer off the tee.

[Somerset Simon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Somerset Simon

I was down at the driving range on Monday evening.

Two bays up, there was a young guy (early 20's) getting fitted for a new driver.

He obviously had some basic talent.

He had a pretty good looking swing, nicely on plane, good balance, etc.

But... he was clearly obsessed with distance.

He was absolutely lashing it, achieving 145 mph club head speed on the monitor.

He was getting good distance, probably 20 yards more than me, around 250 carry with range balls.

But half his balls were going 30-40 yards off line.

I don't know anything about his short game, but I would be willing to bet I could beat him by at least 5 shots (maybe 10) on a typical UK championship links course, despite the fact he is 20 yards longer.

This is a very good example of what I often see when I watch young players these days.

Far too many of them seem to think it is impossible to shoot good scores unless you hit the ball pro distances.

Granted, if your ambition is to be a pro, then yes, you do need to hit your driver 280+.

But at amateur level, 250-270 is plenty far enough to get a scratch handicap and compete at national level.

Focus on technique and you will naturally achieve your maximum distance with maximum accuracy and consistency.

Focus on distance and you will probably just destroy your swing.

What kind of monitor? It seems like he should have been getting 350 yards carry with that kind of speed.

I'm not sure. It was a black box next to the tee that flashed a light when he struck the ball.

It was linked to the pro's iPad and I could hear him calling out club head speed, carry distance, spin rate, etc.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Somerset Simon

I was down at the driving range on Monday evening.

Two bays up, there was a young guy (early 20's) getting fitted for a new driver.

He obviously had some basic talent.

He had a pretty good looking swing, nicely on plane, good balance, etc.

But... he was clearly obsessed with distance.

He was absolutely lashing it, achieving 145 mph club head speed on the monitor.

He was getting good distance, probably 20 yards more than me, around 250 carry with range balls.

But half his balls were going 30-40 yards off line.

I don't know anything about his short game, but I would be willing to bet I could beat him by at least 5 shots (maybe 10) on a typical UK championship links course, despite the fact he is 20 yards longer.

This is a very good example of what I often see when I watch young players these days.

Far too many of them seem to think it is impossible to shoot good scores unless you hit the ball pro distances.

Granted, if your ambition is to be a pro, then yes, you do need to hit your driver 280+.

But at amateur level, 250-270 is plenty far enough to get a scratch handicap and compete at national level.

Focus on technique and you will naturally achieve your maximum distance with maximum accuracy and consistency.

Focus on distance and you will probably just destroy your swing.

What kind of monitor? It seems like he should have been getting 350 yards carry with that kind of speed.

I'm not sure. It was a black box next to the tee that flashed a light when he struck the ball.

It was linked to the pro's iPad and I could hear him calling out club head speed, carry distance, spin rate, etc.

250 carry corresponds roughly to 145mph ball speed. Maybe that's what he was calling out?

[Somerset Simon]

250 carry corresponds roughly to 145mph ball speed. Maybe that's what he was calling out?

That's possible, but he certainly was giving it 100%, well beyond the effortless looking swing that most pros have.

It's also possible he was trying to impress the pro and doesn't normally swing that hard.

But it was clear to me that he would benefit from easing back a touch and focusing a bit more on control rather than distance.