What is happening when a shot goes unexpectedly farther than normal?

[Piz]

A "wrist-to-floor" moment?

[paininthenuts]

At best I normally drive about 250 yards, and when I say at best, I mean once a round if I am lucky. A few weeks ago I hit about 280 yards without the assistants of wind. I made no attempt to hit the ball particularly hard, but the ball went like a rocket. I have tried to simulate what happened since, but haven't hit a ball anything like it 

[CyboNinja]

You had the combination of a perfect release as well as perfect contact which is rare for most of us.

[chilepepper]

When I have one of those shots I just chalk it up to the stars aligning. That and the golf gods jerking my chain to show I do have potential. Of course the gods also remind me I'm a mere mortal more frequently

[JonMA1]

On 7/25/2016 at 4:51 PM, cutchemist42 said:

As an example of the one that truly stood out, I play my 5iron all the time on this hole for a 160 shot and I consider myself a weak hitter.

160 is what I consider the stock distance (not carry) of my 5 iron as well. And like you, the potential for >180 is always there, especially off the tee.

While getting extra distance is cool, I'd prefer to get closer to my expected distances - at least from good lies. Even if I miss left or right, it's a good feeling to know i pulled the correct club and got the desired distance on an approach shot. 

On 7/26/2016 at 0:38 PM, Piz said:

A purely struck shot, particularly with an iron, is a glimpse into the future.  You can do that.  It demonstrates what the oft-repeated advice to "let the club do the work" actually entails.  The secret to hitting the ball farther, with less effort, is to use less effort.  

Great post.