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Long shots, genetics or technique ?


yanni
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Genetics definitely play a role, but not as much as people think. If you have a 6 foot frame to work with from the get-go, you will obviously be able to make a bigger swing with less effort than someone who stands 5 feet tall with shorter arms. A bigger swing path = more time to gain momentum through impact.

This is where technique and flexibility come into play, though. Having a large frame/swing only correlates to distance if you can do two things, 1) swing at a high rate of speed through the slot, 2) maintain a square club face on impact.

I am not a tall or big person by any means, but I gain a lot of my strokes by being able to hit a wedge or low iron into the majority of holes I play. The biggest adjustment to my game that I made in order to hit the long ball has been working on my shoulder flexibility as well as timing my hip turn.

If you are a smaller person and want to improve distance, you should first make sure you are able to hit the ball squarely, but after, elongate the path of your lead arm without compromising your spine alignment and swing plane. It definitely isn't something that happens in one range session as it oftentimes takes multiple seasons in order to find 15-25 yards from the tee. But genetics definitely are not the only thing that factor into hitting big drives, I would say it is much more contingent on technique and timing than anything else.

 

In the bag:
Driver: R9 Supertri
3W: R9
3i-PW: Mizuno Mp-68
Wedges: Taylormade Racs
Putter: PING Redwood blade

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7 hours ago, yanni said:

Today at the range I hit the ball around 200-220 yards with my seven iron which is pretty insane compared to how far hit it before. I was doing this on hard practise mats though. So on the fairway this might be less.

Good to meet you online, Rory.

7 hours ago, yanni said:

Ok. Now for the driver. I did some corrections to my hand position and stance. No slice anymore which of course makes the ball flight straighter and longer. I hit is pretty consistently 220 yards.

Your 7-iron and driver distances don't seem to add up.

Edited by natureboy

Kevin

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I dont know how accurate those numbers are. Those driving range balls just fly 60% the distance of normal balls. So they also make some corrections to the distance markings. The only point I want to make is that I hit the 3 wood longer than my driver and my 7 iron pretty far. So there something wrong with my driver swing or driver

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10 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Good to meet you online, Rory.

Your 7-iron and driver distances don't seem to add up.

42 years old and only playing 2 months, hits a seven iron 220 yards. I would not say that is a prevarication, but seems highly unlikely. He did not say how he measured the distance i.e. range finder, yardage marker, estimation. If it is accurate then it is impressive. He already addressed the disparity between 7 iron and driver. That part is very easy to accept. I am pretty sure I hit my 5 wood longer than my driver most of the time.

"James"

:titleist: 913 D3 with Aldila RIP Phenom 60 4,2 Regular Shaft,  :touredge: Exotics XCG-7 Beta 3W with Matrix Red Tie Shaft:touredge: Exotics EX8 19 deg Hybrid w UST Mamiya Recoil F3 Shaft:touredge: Exotics EX9 28 deg Hybrid w UST Mamiya Recoil F3  shaft, / Bobby Jones Black 22 deg Hybrid:touredge: Exotics EXi 6 -PW  w UST Mamiya Recoil F2 Shaft, SW (56),GW (52),LW (60):touredge:  TGS),/ ODDYSEE Metal-X #7 customized putter (400G, cut down Mid Belly)

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24 minutes ago, Hacker James said:

42 years old and only playing 2 months, hits a seven iron 220 yards. I would not say that is a prevarication, but seems highly unlikely. He did not say how he measured the distance i.e. range finder, yardage marker, estimation. If it is accurate then it is impressive. He already addressed the disparity between 7 iron and driver. That part is very easy to accept. I am pretty sure I hit my 5 wood longer than my driver most of the time.

If you have the technique and swing speed to hit a 7-iron 220 yards (reasonably high) after playing only 2 months, it seems highly unlikely that you will only hit driver the same distance. Usually there's a gap of ~ 100 yards between the two. Also a 220 7-iron implies the swing speed is ~120-130 so the 3-wood would usually be closer to 280.

@IndianaDundee could be on to something with the damaged / cracked driver head.

@yanni may want to google earth his range and confirm that the range markers are accurate from where he's hitting. Often times a range places permanent markers relative to a fixed point and the hitting line moves up and back. They expect you to step off the difference. Also it's smarter to quote carry distance with irons vs. total distance. If you are catching it super thin and it's rolling forever, that's not really a 'quality' iron shot for most purposes (though could be for links / high wind).

Edited by natureboy
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Kevin

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37 minutes ago, yanni said:

I dont know how accurate those numbers are. Those driving range balls just fly 60% the distance of normal balls. So they also make some corrections to the distance markings.

I am a bit confused by this.  Is there a special range ball that only goes 1/2 as far.  The ranges I hit at use just use regular balls (well cheap balls like Top Flight and Ti Tech) that travel the same distance as the balls I play.  I use plastic practice balls when I want to practice full swings at home, but they max out at 20 yards or so.

@natureboy brings up a good point about not trusting range markings.  The range I hit at has accurate marks from a sprinkler head about 20 yards behind the mats.  It is also downhill to the 100 yard mark then starts uphill from the 200 yard out to the woods at 350.  If you trust those marks you will think you can chip 50 yards but a 250 yard drive stops where it lands.  Come to think of it the course markings aren't too accurate around here either.  I know of 3 holes that say they are 315 to 330 yards that I can drive the green.  One I put a 3 wood dead center of the green from the tee.  I GPSed one last week at 287 yards when the card says 330.

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20 minutes ago, IndianaDundee said:

I am a bit confused by this.  Is there a special range ball that only goes 1/2 as far.

Yes, some ranges with limited space use "restricted flight" balls that don't fly nearly as far as regular golf balls (60% sounds about right).

- John

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On 9/23/2016 at 11:45 PM, yanni said:

I am 42 years old and started playing golf about 2 month ago. I am making progress and just learned how to take a divot after the golf ball which took quite a long time. Now  the rate of fat or thin shots have changed totally. This has improved my game a lot. Also with the driver am making progress. 

But what die not really change a lot compared to the beginning is the distance of my shots. I feel I am more flexible now and maybe have a bit more clubhead speed. I am hitting the driver about 180yards (average). So I am lightyears away from those younger players (and also players in my age) that just hit the ball around 250yards. I am wondering if this mainly genetics or technique they developed? I heard Oliver Heuler say (some of you might know him) that the type of people of can run very fast can also swing the golf club very fast (even if they normally dont play golf at all). This has to do with the ability of their muscles to contract very fast. 

If you look at your career. Were you gaining distance you more you practised or was this pretty much set from the beginning on ? Of course you can add distance through better technique, fitted driver etc. But can you actually change your swing speed fundamentally ?  

Technique will easily make the biggest difference imo.  A couple big things that helped me were learning to stand tall and keep my arms extended during all parts of the swing.  It's easy to slouch or let your arms fold during the swing and that really trashes distance (plus you'll probably hit it fat or slice it too).

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The length of the driving range is limited by houses and a road. So the ball flight is way shorter as with normal balls. So what reads 200 yards on the driving range in reality is much shorter. But I think this does not really matter for now.

What I found out is the following. When doing my grip I twist my left wrist extremly to the right. At impact this delofts my clubs a big time. The head is very closed. The iron 7 I was talking about at least becomes an iron 4 loftwise ( i am judging this by eye on comparing to my other clubs). So now numbers maybe begin to make sense. Loftwise we are talking about an iron 4. What happens to the driver is that it even gets a negative loft which explains why balls just go up in the air with a very long tee. The 3 wood on the other hand gets the loft the driver should have. So this makes the longest shots. This is also explains why I had a very hard time hitting my hybrid. This hybrid (4 iron) becomes something like a club with loft 0. 

So probably I am twisting my wrist to much ( there is a special term for this hand position which I don't remember). But this gives me 2 advantages. 1) I don't slice the ball with the driver 2) It is easier to hit down on the ball with the iron for me. Before this I had the wrist turned to the left (I think this is called neutral grip) which did not work at all for me. So I think in general this hand position helps a lot when not overdoing it. The V of the left hand index and middle finder should point to the right shoulder as far as I know. My V pointed right of my shoulder.

I will tweak this position a bit. I think I am just overdoing it at the moment. I am pretty sure the iron 7 distance will get down when doing this and the driver distance will get up. We will see.

Edited by yanni
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Lol @ 7i 220 yards...

I'm of the technique now where I take a shorter back swing and I don't try to power my swing, it's completely relaxed, but I focus on the BEST club release that I can. With this I get the amateur distances with my clubs: 7i = 140 yard carry, 8i = 130 yard carry, etc. I'm totally fine with this. With my drive I can hit (really) 250 yards (including roll out) with a nice easy swing. On a firm fairway with a nice flush shot I can sometimes get 265 yards. 

At the end of a round of golf, I haven't particularly strained any part of my body and I have plenty of energy to do other things. I'm also hoping this keeps me free of injury so I can have a long golf "career" (hobby). 

I'm shooting mid to low eighties on my home course; 6213 yards, 124 slope, 68.7 rating (par 72)

Edit: Also, I'm a pretty athletic 28 year old in good health with probably above average strength in my arms, upper body, and core; also running ~sub 24-min 5k's. For point of reference.

Edited by jkelley9

D: :tmade: R1 Stiff @ 10* 3W: :tmade: AeroBurner TP 15* 2H: :adams: Super 9031 18* 3-SW: :tmade: R9 Stiff P: :titleist: :scotty_cameron: Futura X7M 35"

Ball: Whatever. Something soft. Kirklands Signature are pretty schweeeet at the moment!

Bag: :sunmountain: C130 Cart Bag Push Cart: :sunmountain: Micro Cart Sport

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My take is that the right genetics  leads to better technigue in anything a person does. Anyone can swing a golf club, but the right (golf?) genectics allows for some golfers to play better than others.

In college, in one of my science classes,  I remember an instructor talking about individuals' "genetic timimg barriers" which essentially meant that once a person hit that activity's physical barrier, that was as good as they were going to get at that activity. 

Myself, in my younger days I played all the major sports. I was better at baseball than football. I was better at football than basketball. My basketball game was better than my track talents.  Golf was 5th on on my list of playing talents. 

As for my distance with various clubs, as a 6 hndcpr,   I could hit the ball far enough to hold my own against other players. Now days, do to age, and injuries, I don't hit the ball as far. Since I don't hit the ball as far, I don't score as low as I use to. Can I work on hitting the ball farther? Probably, but the amount of work I would need to put in now, would not equal the rewards I might see. Simple fact is, I have become lazy with my sports talents. :beer:

In My Bag:
A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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The simple fact of the matter is, if you're a relatively normal, healthy, 45 year old man, and hit your driver 180 yards, it's all about your swing....or as you say, technique.

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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Note: This thread is 2731 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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