Category Archives: distance

Can You Swing Easy and Hit a Golf Ball Far?

[ Nov. 2, 2018 – A less wordy version of this post ]

Someone once asked me, how do you hit the ball as far as you do when you have such an easy swing?

I said, That’s the answer. What’s the question?

When you hit the ball on the center of the clubface, that being the golf swing’s primary distance generator, you get all the distance you deserve. You’ll hit the ball straighter, too.

This doesn’t mean to swing with no power at all, just that if you’re trying to muscle the club through the ball to get your power, that actually slows the club down and you get less distance.

Ease back until you make centered contact consistently. That is the source of distance.

When you can do that, it will feel like you’re playing a different game.

How Far Should Novice Golfers Hit Their Clubs?

Distance. That seems to be the reason play golf, to see how far you can hit the ball. There’s the part about getting the ball into the hole, too, but if you asked any golfer if they wanted to hit the ball farther or score lower, the answer would likely be farther, every time. We can take care of scoring later.

This is a question that new golfers face, and it’s a mistake to look at the professionals for the answer. Male professional golfers routinely hit their 5-iron 200 yards. Heck, it was reported that Dustin Johnson recently hit his 7-iron 240 yards.

Let’s not concern ourselves with those numbers. What can golfers new to the game expect?

The answer depends on you. Most novices don’t hit the ball very far. Men might hit a 9-iron 120 yards, a driver 200. A woman new to the game might get 90 and 150, respectively. Whoever you are, much of it depends on your athleticism and your prior experience with ball-and-stick sports.

Every golfer has to realize there is a limit to the distance they can hit the ball. Hitting the golf ball a long way is a talent. Some baseball players hit home runs, others don’t, and you can’t tell by looking who can hit them and who can’t.

Similarly, some people can just hit the golf ball a long way.

What is important for the novice is learning how to hit the ball accurately. That means you make contact in the center of the clubface, with a square clubface square to the swing path. When you do that, you will get all the distance you are capable of. What that distance is doesn’t really matter. All you have to do is play from the right set of tees and you can play for fairways and greens all day.

Really now, what distances can a novice attain to? Look at the Trackman data for professional golfers. Go the LPGA Tour Averages chart, second column from the right. Make sure the Select Units button says Yards. For male novices, take 85 percent of these distances, female novices, 75 percent.

Those are the distances you’ll get until you learn how to hit the ball on the center of the clubface, with a square and in-line clubhead, and hitting the ball first, ground second.

And you know what? Even if you never hit the ball farther than that, if it goes straight, you can get a good score.

See also: Leave the Long Clubs Home

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

Hit It Hard by Having Good Balance

I played 18 last Friday, and on the 17th hole I hit the shot of my life. The result wasn’t much, it was just a 7-iron into the green. It went straight and as far as a 7-iron usually goes for me. What made the shot special was the feeling I had when I was hitting it.

Just before I took the club away, I had a real good feeling, like there was nothing to it, if I just take the club away there is nothing to worry about. I remember getting to the top of my backswing, and starting down. I remember hearing a gentle click, but the next thing I was aware of was standing facing the target, watching the ball, in a textbook finish, with perfect balance, and no feeling of expended effort.

I have never felt that way before, and it was wonderful. How did it happen? What made that shot so easy? Balance.

In balance from address to the finish, a golfer finds that all effort is directed toward the task, hitting the ball, and none toward keeping the body under control. A balanced body is in control.

A powerlifter once told me that the key to lifting greater weights is to lift the weight absolutely straight up. If the barbell wavers a bit forward or back as it’s coming up, then energy must be expended to stay balanced, energy that could be used instead to lift the weight must be redirected to another purpose.

Do you want to know how to get maximum swing speed and the most accurate hit? Keep your body under control by maintaining it in balance throughout the swing. You don’t have to hit the ball hard. Just don’t waste energy on things that don’t have to do with hitting the ball and you will hit the ball hard and far.

Do you ever see an LPGA player with less than perfect balance? Of course not. That’s one reason they hit the ball so much farther than you do. There is no wasted energy in their swing, and it’s all because of their balance.

Do you want to improve your balance? Here’s how. Hit wedges, lots of wedges from 40 to 80 yards. Go to the range and hit pitches with your first 30 balls. Use your gap wedge. use your sand wedge. Make easy swings with each club, thinking only of good contact.

After you’ve hit those 30 balls, hit one with your driver. You will go, Wow.

But forget about the ball did. Remember what that swing felt like, and how it ended up. It was effortless and you hit the drive of the year. Those 30 wedges put balance into your brain and you stayed balanced when you hit the driver.

Let’s repeat the lesson. To hit the ball well, you have to hit it hard. To hit it hard, you have to use all of your energy to hit the ball, none for other purposes. The way to do that is be in balance from start to finish.

Now go and hit those wedges. Go!

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

Distance in Golf

If you would like to hit the ball farther, raise your hand. I thought so. If you didn’t raise your hand, then thank you for visiting, but you don’t play golf, do you?

Everyone who plays golf would like to hit it farther. Most of all just for the fun of it. But also because you play holes on certain courses that would be a lot easier if you could tack twenty yards of carry onto your drive, or could approach the green with a 7-iron instead of a 5-iron.

The farther you hit the ball, the easier the game is, and the more fun. That’s why every golf magazine has headlines on the cover for articles on how to hit the ball farther. Every month they do that. Oh, sure, sometimes they’ll talk about hitting it straighter, but farther is sexier than straighter, and sex sells, so it’s distance all the way.

Here’s the truth about distance, though. Distance is a talent, not a skill. Good technique will let you realize your distance potential, but if your potential is not to be a long hitter, there’s little you can do about it.

What that means is that any swing change you want to take on should only be for hitting the ball straighter. And guess what? When you make centered hits, with all the clubhead geometry lined up, you will hit the ball a long way. That’s why the diminutive LPGA pros hit the ball farther than you do. They’re certainly not stronger. They’re much more precise. They are the model for recreational golfers to follow.

If you go for straight, long will take care of itself.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com.