What attributes do you think contribute best to the Long Ball?

[300_Straight]

Hitting the ball farther always seems to be a hot topic. I recently (I know it happened a few years ago) just saw a competition between Jamie Sadlowski vs. Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson & Robert Garrigus for Long Drive. It was actually pretty neat seeing them all hit the long ball. I then watched the ESPN Sport Science episodes on both Sadlowski and Dustin Johnson/Bubba Watson and found some interesting things.

 

Key Attributes: X Factor and Flexibility, Wrist Strength, Length of Swing Arc, AOA, Hip Speed, Leg/Glute Strength, Core Strength, Using the Ground, etc.

 

X Factor: This seems to be a huge indicator of how far you can hit the ball because it generates torque. Torque = Speed. Now, DJ has an X Factor of 111*, while Sadlowski has 117*. While that's still a difference, it isn't huge to say the least, yet Sadlowski out-drove Johnson by over 50 yards in that competition and produces a clubhead speed 20+mph faster.

 

I'm obviously not going to get into all of them, but I always thought that X Factor was the most important part of the LD swing. Yet, Sadlowski's X is only marginally better than Dustin Johnson's, yet he hits the ball much, much further. Trying to balance all of the key attributes evenly seems to be a better approach. I'm sure most of this is self explanatory, but wanted to hear others' opinions on this as well.

 

What has helped you hit the ball farther? What kind(s) of training have you done & did it help? What DOESN'T work?

[dlam]

Those long drivers look like a human centrifuge machine.
I think trying to establish and maintaining inward direction of centripedal force while allowing to feel the outward acceleration is difficult to do at extreme high velocity
takes incredible flexiabilty and strength
And within the context of balance takes a lot of skill.

[03SMURF]

If anyone tells you to only target certain muscles to swing the club faster I suggest you simply ignore them. Train the whole body. Just being a better athlete goes a long way and most importantly it helps prevent injury. Work towards being stronger, faster, leaner and more flexible and you will hit the ball farther. Also, you have to actually practice swinging harder. These are all things that LD guys do that Pros and regular Joe's either don't or go as hard at. Finally, technique may be most important. You still need a good swing that gets you in the right positions.

[playa]

I've always thought there is a bit of a chicken or the egg thing with long driving. Long drivers all have wrist strength, core strength, good balnce and are flexible. But are they long because they have all these things, or do they have all these things because they hit lots of balls and just trying to hit it longer. Obviously specific training helps, but surely hitting balls and trying to swing faster on the range will increase strength and flexibility in the right areas too. I remember some quote from Hogan about getting golf strong, and that hitting balls on the range will give you plenty of strength. I also agree technique is key. I have seen plenty of real athletes who aren't golfers who can't hit the ball out of their shadow due to poor technique. I guess if we are talking beginners, working on technique is the best way to gain yards, but for experienced golfers building strength and flexibility is what you should be concentrating on, both from gym training and hitting lots of balls.

[VinceRKG]

HOnestly its either your born with those fast twitch muscles or your not, no one can go from 100mph swing after years of golf and suddenly get to 140mph+. You have be able to be in that zone to begin with. THAN you have other factors in plane, timing down, great impact control, experience with longer shafts, powerful swing. I saw a big boy from Texas who works in oil field swing and hit the ball at 147mph and did not get to past top on back swing. But damn did he hit the ball hard.

[EKELLY]

The numbers might be similar for Dustin and Jamie, but Jamie can hit 150 MPH it impact. That snap at impact that others have mentioned is the key. Precision timing and transfer of energy......

[CmacLD]

I have studied the trackman numbers and swings for a while hoping to find that extra yardage hers what I found

-CHS is key for LD ( may not be most important for golf but to bomb it has to be in the 120's) there are other factors that can get you a bit more

-how you get there is through SS training (overspeed,sprinting,resistance stretching ,flexibility for sure will gain you mph ,results will vary depending on your starting point and what kind of athlete you are) i.e I come from a very strong hockey and baseball background iam not very tall 5 7" with 2 years of training I went from 124 to a top of 133 trackman #s ( but have hit big numbers as well with SF at 1.5 SS at 120mph ,but that doesn't happen all the time)

-Once you have speed,the rest is getting the club face square ( practice,practice,practice) but who does this other then Long Drivers who goes to the range and hits a bucket just with driver,,,,but that is what long drivers do.

-That is why Dustin is going to be far more accurate then Jamie and Jamie is way more farther then Dustin.

 

The Big Distance is the product of CHS and Position on the Face contact ( square and angle ) the rest is just numbers it produces spin rate, ball speed.

 

I highly suggest if you can get your numbers checked it for me was the key to address what I need to work on. It also helps not burn money away on heads and shafts without knowing what suits you, small changes in loft and tee height can have as much as 10 to 15 yards,but if you don't see the results it is hard to believe the results,, the range sometimes can't tell you all. and although some sims read different if on the same one the numbers will be a good comparision

 

So if you want to gain distance you have to know your starting point,,,I see a lot of guys tell me they just hit the bomb 300 yards ,,when we go indoors cz were Canadian ah the same guys cant get to 275 trackman . Once we were able to break down the numbers we could determine what they could improve on. One guys was not going to get is SS up much cz of shoulder issues but had a flat swing we increased the loft and changed angle of attack ,the results was a better launch angle and 10 yds more distance,

 

Hope this helps

[justwellsy]

For reference, look at the baseball swing of Mike Trout. He gets the bat head to the ball quicker than anyone I have ever seen and the ball comes off his bat with tremendous speed. Baseball bats are shorter and thicker than driver shafts so it's easier to deliver to the contact point faster, but it's still along the same lines.

 

For me personally, I have no problem getting the swing speed to 118-120 mph comfortably. The big difference for me is the angle of attack and the spin rate it produces....I don't always get a similar angle of attack based on ball position. when the angle of attack isn't up to par and my spin rate goes up, I fly the ball 280 to 285. When I get down around 2200 RPM, I can fly it 310-315. Now I just need to figure out how to recreate those numbers with a consistent fade because as of right now I'm only that long in the air with a draw.

[EKELLY]

For reference, look at the baseball swing of Mike Trout. He gets the bat head to the ball quicker than anyone I have ever seen and the ball comes off his bat with tremendous speed. Baseball bats are shorter and thicker than driver shafts so it's easier to deliver to the contact point faster, but it's still along the same lines.

 

For me personally, I have no problem getting the swing speed to 118-120 mph comfortably. The big difference for me is the angle of attack and the spin rate it produces....I don't always get a similar angle of attack based on ball position. when the angle of attack isn't up to par and my spin rate goes up, I fly the ball 280 to 285. When I get down around 2200 RPM, I can fly it 310-315. Now I just need to figure out how to recreate those numbers with a consistent fade because as of right now I'm only that long in the air with a draw.

Exactly, carry increases with no additional effort.........I'm 20 behind you......LOL