Walker and DeChambeau

[Sean2]

Reading Global Golf Post this morning, I saw a couple of interesting things: 

Jimmy Walker played with a steel shafted driver and 3-wood this week. He was messing with his old steel-shafted three wood during the lockdown and said he was "blown away" by how well it worked. He also decided to put a steel shaft in his driver. They are the TT X100. Be curious to see how that plays out. He averaged 322 yards with it this past week. 

Bryson worked out a lot during the lockdown. He wants the strength to hit the ball farther. His driver is 5.5º and he is looking to get a 3-wood that is 10º. His goal is to carry his tee shots 340 yards.

 

[WristySwing]

DeChambeau is hitting it some unreal distances. I think of the two Bryson is going about it in a little bit more sense. He is working out and working on flexibility and speed training to get to his goal. Walker...well, I don't know if steel makes a load of sense these days. He may have been hitting it 320+ but he also was cut at +6 over the first two rounds while DeChambeau finished 3rd. Different players of course and Walker hasn't really contended in anything since he got Lyme Disease but it seems like Bryson has really figured out what works for him and he is focused on that goal. He reminds me a lot of Tiger at the same age, he won't settle until he can be perfect.

As an aside, I'd love to see the WRX community freak out at a 10* 3 wood, 14* 5 wood. If they lose it at a 43* PW or 26* 6i imagine....

[animalgolfs]

Anyone know of a stout shaft that launches my 10* 3wd a touch lower?

 

I'm having trouble keeping the launch down

[setter02]

I have some old Rifle 7.0 steel wood shafts that might work out for ya, could always tip them a bit more, just in case!

[Ri_Redneck]

RIP Alpha 90 TX. Available at Ace Hardware in the Hoe Handle section!

BT

[MtlJeff]

The Dechambeau thing is kind of fascinating. I've posted before that some of these REMAX long drive guys have some looking swings, where i wondered how long it would be before there's some pro who just kind of treats the game like that. Bryson is kind of trying that i guess, where it's just a pure mathematical "longer is always better" type approach . I would imagine there will be days where this approach is a disaster, as you can be pretty wild with a 5.5 driver going full bore. But some courses it may really work.

I imagine this will make a lot of people mad, if he is succesful with it

[arbeck]

Strokes gained says it's really the way to go. And it makes sense. If you hit it 340 and your are playing against someone who hits it 300 not only are you hitting your next shot from 140 instead of 180, you might be hitting a gap wedge instead of a 7i. A gap wedge from the rough at 140 probably is going to end up closer to the whole on average than a 7i from the middle of the fairway. Add in the times you hit the fairway with the long drive, and the advantage is clear. And that's assuming the guy who hits is 300 is much more accurate. Because you move that 7i to the rough, and you have an even bigger advantage.

I think guys like Matthew Wolf are going to be the first in a long line of guys with that mindset. Especially now since the instructors I know are more than happy to let kids swing hard and do anything they can to increase their speed at young ages. My lessons as a kid were all about slowing down and trying to control things. Now, they want you as fast as possible and they'll figure out control later.

This all assumes that the USGA/RA don't do something to roll things back. Right now distance is the most important skill on tour. It's not just that guys hit the ball too far, it's that being able to hit it far is more important than anything else. If they develop a ball rollback that forces diminishing returns of ball speed as the swing speed gets over 120, this all might change.

[Sean2]

I expect down the road some school will give him an honorary doctorate. :-)

[capking]

Well the ultimate would of been Patrick Reed gaining 25 pounds of muscle and gaining 30 yards...

[MtlJeff]

Yes agreed, I'm pretty interested in monitoring his progress. Though as mentioned im not convinced this is a recipe for consistency, there will likely be some events where this does not work, as 340 with a 5.5 degree driver , it doesn't much to hit it off the planet either.

But some events he will probably look unstoppable, kind of like Rory at congressional way back

[chipa]

They criticized Jack Nicklaus for hitting it so far it didn't matter if he was in the rough. I think he hit a 360 yard drive at a long drive contest back is 1963. He also consistenly drove it 300 yards, he was probably 40-60 yards longer that the field when he was hitting it good, no wonder he won so much.

[Indygolfer85]

Guys on TXG today said that his irons shafts are something like an 11 on the rifle scale ?

[Myherobobhope]

Honestly, my biggest takeaway was to get into the gym and add some club head speed... I’m an average wrx er with an 112 driver speed... a 10% gain puts me at 122... that sounds fun.

ill be curious if many other recreational golfers start speed training outside of speed sticks.

[xxio]

He can always hit his 10* 3w on tight courses. Probably goes 300.

[WristySwing]

I am also really interested in this as well. I have a set of Superspeeds I have been working with over the winter and while I haven't gone out to play yet it's fun to hit the sim at work and see how much easier it is. My dispersion on the monitor is no worse than before but I am 2 clubs longer than I was in October/November. As @arbeck says, put simply, that is an advantage where I can now hit a club with more loft, is shorter, and I am 20 yards closer to the hole, all else equal. I literally can't think of a single course where longer hurts you. The objective of the game is to get it into the hole in as few strokes as possible and getting it closer to the hole off the tee is the easiest way to do that. The scary thing I have noticed is he is super accurate still. Every drive I saw, now I missed all of Sunday due to work, was laced right down the middle of the fairway. His irons and wedges he just hit soooo high with so much spin they hit and stuck immediately. As long as he has his distance control down (which, be honest, which tour pro doesn't?), he could just throw darts at the flag because his ball speed, peak height, and spin is going to be so high because of his speed, the descent angle is going to be so steep he is going to stop the ball with ease.
This could be a scary move for a lot of pros. I don't think we are going to see another Tiger-like run but I do think he's going to be in the winner's circle a heck of a lot more than he used to be. Off topic but as Arbeck says, I too was in the training camp of "swing slow for control" from all my coaches, and I hate them all for it. I am at least 20 yards shorter than most people my age, and at the time was easily 45 yards shorter than any good player. I am hoping to continue training to get some speed. Obviously I'm not going to be scaring 130 like Bryson, but I'd like to get to 110, which is a 10% improvement from where I was.

[dcmidnight]

My biggest takeaway was watching Bryson hit a drive 350+ on a long par 4 - and then taking four more strokes to get the last 100 yards. At least three times when I was watching he either took two shots to get out of the bunker or took two chips to get the ball on the green. Saturday I think he was 3rd from last in both SG putting and SG around the green. Will be interesting to watch him on some wide open tracks once he gets warmed up.

[Jc0]

That's not because of his speed. The shafts he is using are basically to remove all flex out of the shaft for the most control possible.

[tgoodspe1991]

It'll be interesting to watch DeChambeau's progress. You gotta hand it to the guy for approaching the game in different and incredibly committed ways. What other Pro put on that much muscle in such a short amount of time? Bryson's ball speed (which has a lot to do with loft btw, not just speed) has jumped like 20mph in 6-months.

Meanwhile, between injury and quarantine, Brooks is starting to pack on the pounds lol

[scott_Donald]

One thing about DeChambeau's weight gain, there is a limit to how much muscle you can put on without pharmacological help.

There is newbie gains but still, majority of that 25lbs is fat.

Rather than weight I would love to see how he has improved in the gym - Squat, Clean, Snatch, jump height etc and yes I really couldn't care less about bench(Brooks).

What he actually does in the gym and how his program is structured for the year.

[chipa]

@scott_Donald As someone who does weightlifting I thing the snatch is pretty advanced and can be hard on the shoulders when the form is off (I'm not good at them). Power cleans and front squats are great and don't require a lot of practice to learn to do correctly.

[Tasals]

He putted above average +0.25 strokes gained putting for the tournament. His third round was pretty bad putting wise, but his second was phenomenal they basically canceled each other out. He was giving up 0.8 shots to Berger and Morikawa around the greens.

[Chuck905]

Has it not crossed anybody minds that he could be roiding?

Wake up guys, TW played the same song.

[marmaduk]

He may have had 4 shots from 100 but I’d still take that 100yds over 150yds all day long. May not pay off every time but it will on the long haul.

[Christen_The_Sloop]

Why would he? There are many healthier options and I am sure he's getting better advice than us. He could be taking creatine, pounding steak and potatoes and having protein shakes consistently. Also, usually people who take steroids are not the analytical type. They are usually found on the shallow end of the IQ pool. Didn't DeShampoo also talk about how he was into controlling his breathing, using some technique or other. Does that sound like someone who wants roid rage to enter into the equation?

So, to ask the question, proves you haven't put much thought into it. Kind of says more about you than it does the topic of the conversation.

[Celeras]

You don't know what roiding looks like if you think Bryson is roiding. Dude thickened up everywhere and put on a lot of fat as well, unavoidable when bulking. Looks like good old fashioned hard work to me.

[Chuck905]

Smart people can do stupid things, it’s the business I am in.

I have an engineering (like him) and business management educational background, can you assume I am smart? Decbeau is human like all of us, hell he can be a dumb ass too like that cyclist guy or all pro athletes, but yeah rule it out based on your “high IQ theory “.

My previous comment originated from a trust worthy club pro which I did not dismissed coming from a retired athletic background.

I cannot 100% rule it out unless we want to make believe moving forward lol

Lastly, I don’t know or even care about Deaxbambeau other than his one iron length club stuff, Walker has a major win which is a news above shoulders than the Dexhambeau.

Honestly, there is nothing wrong with body builders crossing over to golf!

[capking]

I agree, he’s a millionaire so I doubt he’s going to roid. He was working out 3 times a day and kept flexibility. If I worked out as much as he did I’m pretty confident I could throw a football a quarter mile.

[PowderedToastMan]

If your expertise is telling you that Bryson is using PED’s, you need to bulk up on your expertise.

[Tasals]

So McGuire didnt use steroids because hes a millionaire? Nor do a bunch of NFL players?

 

Steroid use also helps improve recovery and numerous other benefits. Bryson said he originally put on 25lbs of muscle in 3 months last off season? Cmon that isnt natural.

[capking]

If it was anyone else I would question it, but I think BD would go full blown crazy to achieve it. He calls his shot and does it. McGwire also didn’t have any testing at all.(not justifying it I still think the HR record is 61)