Hit The Driver 300+ Yards!!!

Does this video really give you the technique to hit 300 yards ?

http://www.golfshake.com/video/watch/349/Golf_Tips_Hit_The_Driver_300_Yards.html

For other long driving videos check out the golf video section and the section dedicated to driving or the golf swing . 

I did a 300yd plus drive the other day at the range, easy.  It helped having a 50mph tailwind though, my 9 iron was going about 175yds!

He has tremendous speed through the ball and an excellent finish.

I have 20 stones to help me.

My sixteen stone does not help me.

Yes the swing speed it pretty impressive, makes it look all to simple.  Which it's supposed to be.

This is the first time I have had someone explain that it is OK to fall backwards when hitting driver. If I lose my balance at all when driving it is that I fall backwards rather than forwards. I do tend to tee it high and look to feel as though I am  throwing the clubhead at the ball with plenty of extension at the strike. (all this from a closed stance). Next time I play I will feel better if I lose balance in the manner shown.

I'd be happy with 200 yards, hell 100 wouldve been better than my first two balls on Saturday which both found the lake 5ft in front of me

200 yds would suit me as well, Colin.

lets be honest, we'd all substitute 50 yrds to hit every fairway everytime. Driving long is not the be all and end all of this game.

it helps yes. but great putting and short game is the holy grail in this fantastic if not bloody frustrating game

For golf course driving (or indeed most other facets of golf) I have not seen better instruction than in the book 'How I play Golf' by Tiger Woods. ISBN 0-466-52931-1. With regard to both course and competition driving - Tiger's recommended  wide swing arc, and braced left leg on follow through for extra distance are absolutely critical.

If one plays golf for scoring, which is of little interest to me as my golf is almost invariably for recreation and relaxation on my own at dawn, then there is a strong argument for not going for 300 yards plus drives unless one can hit them consistently accurately. That is difficult as unlike irons, whichTiger says  he hits at 80% power for accuracy, drives are hit HARD. An inaccurate hit is magnified the further it travels. The distance one hits a driver should never be scaled down to iron power play as such should arguably not exist. (According to Tiger - my general golf guru).

I furthermore suggest that golf course driving is an entirely different animal to L.D. where distance is the main criteria. Many golfers wrongly talk about massive golf course drives, and securing them, as though they were talking about L.D. If I hit six balls in a L.D. competition I need at least two to land on and finish on a 40 yard wide grid. If I were a serious golfer then such inaccuracy would be laughable!

But, for those interested in Long Drive videos, forget about the grainy rubbish on uTube and instead perhaps look at my Directory of Long Drive web sites (approx. 50 of them) which I have listed at www.incepta.ca  The videos at www.krankgolf.com are my favourites.  (Route: Long Drive Team / View Swing Videos). Every month on the American L.D. web site www.longdrivers.com a new L.D. video appears, but sadly the old ones are not placed in a viewers' library.  But the young big guns swing so fast that it can be difficult for an untrained eye to spot the detail. The up and coming very young big gun, who I predict will on day take the World Open LD title is Ben Tetz. But I would not recommend copying his set up. To set one's hands ahead of the ball at address for driving  would be suicidal for virtually all other players!

My philosophies can at times be unpalatable. Everyone to their own. But enjoy whatever you do. Golf is FUN, FUN, FUN!

JP,

That's a shame. Hopefully they will get the problem fixed soon. Computers!! Backswing width (for me at least) is primarily secured by pushing the club head far away from your hips at takeaway. For competition Long Drive (in which many conventional principles are broken  there will often additionally be  a much greater transfer of weight onto the right foot which can sometimes be noticed via a lifting of the left foot and the head shifting to the right for right handed swingers. But, the more complications one builds into a swing the more the margin for error. My belief for regular golf is "Keep it simple!" Accuracy takes precedence to ultimate distance on the golf course. Optimising ball distance is technically extremely difficult as inter alia the ball has to be faded or drawn onto any cross wind (with the wind) unless one is competing against poor LD opposition.  A ball that does not move with the wind loses considerable distance.  I'm rambling again. Sorry. 

JP,

You made me laugh because you brought back to me two chiropractitioners' comments to me which were essentially that it was nigh impossible to injur yourself at golf, except perhaps on bending down to remove a bag of clubs out of the boot / trunk. Apparently it is the most therapeutic of games!

I have had the 'pleasure' of showing them a badly twisted spine; a broken bone in the hand; countless tears and strains; and a few injuries that they had never seen before. If I ever see them again I can now also tell them about you! 

Like you, I think that I need to put on knee supports before playing. 

An excellent point JP.

** 

Darren,

To answer your opening question as to whether or not the swing video can provide the technique to hit 300 yards: My view is that although the video must be years old (as he mentions 52" drivers which were made illegal some years ago) fundamentals do not change and his extremely basic instructions remain correct.

However, for 99% of golfers 300 yards is an ENORMOUS distance and no video, gym work, or coaching will ever enable them to hit that long on a regular basis. There is no magic formula for hitting long.

There is a line in 'Chariots of Fire' (one of my favourite films) which is something along the lines that you cannot add what God has not put in.  To my chagrin, after many dedicated years training as a middle distance runner, I realised that God had not given me enough to ever become a world class athlete.

When you see how many people struggle to drive a car correctly it is not difficult to see why so many golfers struggle to co-ordinate their golf swing - a much more technical operation. The majority that do manage it will still fail to  generate enough club head speed, and no amount of drinking creatine or attending kung fu classes will enable them to find that speed.        

Now for the good news: If I wanted to be a great course player I would give little consideration to the possibly of hitting 300 yards. 280 - yes, 300 no. It just is not necessary. Today's balls and shafts effectively make courses so short that the relative distance one had to hit the ball in the 1960s is certainly no longer required. I suggest that golf skill has become more important than power than it has ever been before in the history of golf.

When I returned to golf just over a year ago (following a 41 year break) one of my favourite pastimes was hanging around in a couple of club builders' workshops and watching them work with their customers.  On no occasion did I ever witness a male customer walk in and not immediately talk about distance, rather than some other more important facet of the game! I enquired why male golfers were so obsessed with distance. I was informed that it was because most male golfers had got it wrong, it was possibly a macho thing.

So, what am I saying? Possibly that golf and smashing a ball do not go hand in hand. I used to play tenpin bowling as a scratch player and could have rolled my ball far faster. I can honestly say that I never rolled one fast ball in all the years that I tournament played. Not a perfect analogy but the import is hopefully clear.

One final comment about hitting a driver a long way: If I were only allowed to state the two most important things I would not even include lessons in my list. Number one would be - do not throw your money away on off the shelf drivers. Get a custom driver built by a master builder with Trackman facilities. Initially forget what the head looks like - 95% of a driver is the shaft. That is how important it is. It takes an expert, or at least ten scrapped drivers (often many more), to properly fit a golfer to the correct driver shaft. The only good driver is a correctly fitted driver! There is only the smallest chance that an off the shelf driver will totally work properly for you. And, the best components have never been heard of by most golfers because they are not cheap and cheerful! Amongst other top quality driver heads I use Alpha C830.2 plasma welded. Have many of you have heard of them? Every Long Drive competitor knows of them, Killer Bee, Krank,  Bang and the several other best manufacturers in the world. All dedicated hitters find them with little or no advertising in place. And, the best components are not always greatly more expensive than their well known cheep and cheerful counterparts.    

My second recommendation would be: Howsoever you swing, learn to accurately repeat it so that you repeatedly STRIKE THE BALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CLUB.  Many experts say that a ball hit at 85% effort off the centre of the face of a driver will outhit an off-centre hit. I do not know if the percentage is correct, but the principle is definitely sound.

I have not intended to put down lessons given by pros.(which are vital to the handful of players than truly attempt to apply any sound advice given) or unfairly malign their wares. The fact remains that most golfers will not take lessons. Instead they look for an effortless fix. And, whatsoever I say, 99.9 % of drivers sold will always be off the shelf purchases.

Having put something into the sport (again) I now want something out: This weekend's Senior Long Drive title. Hope to see some of you at the UK Golf Show on Sunday.

Goodbye, until next week!    

*******

P.S. (Thursday 10th April)

I have secured a place in Sunday's UK Seniors' Final. Jo Miller whupped me by 33 yards but he's 33 years younger (a yard for each year), and competing in the Open (young mens) Division. Adam Stacey (one yard down on Jo) also succumbed to Jo's brute strength but will he turn the tables on Jo in the final? Adam was third in the World LD Champs. a couple of year's back, but Jo holds to European record with 474 yards, hit on winning the European title a couple of years ago. Who knows, particularly as more 'Big Guns' from all over Europe will register for the preliminaries over the next three days. Exciting times.

The LD season has truly begun!