Working Out Won't Gain you Distance?

[CardsChamps11]

Recently read an article that basically said working out and swinging hard wont gain you distance. In short, he said you need a "muscle specialist" to guide you through the process. He obviously uses MAT. (Link below to the article)

 

I honestly disagree heavily here. For years, long drive guys have proven through gym work and speed training that you can gain speed and distance. 

 

What do you think? 

 

https://golf.com/gear/bryson-dechambeau-warns-golfers-distance-working-out/

[spineshank]

Not sure what you read but In the article he says to not just go working out but to get a trainer to assist so that you train the correct muscles and so you don't get injured. Also said he credits MAT to speed through the recovery process. 

[golfortennis]

Stick with your thoughts.  Whenever someone starts to say you need this specialization or that, try to figure out where the money trail is. 

[BradonM5]

That is a dumb concept, unless you don't think golf is a sport. How could getting stronger, faster, or fitter in general not gain you distance. Unless your technique got worse in concert. Getting more distance is one of the easiest things for handicap golfers, it can be done without every stepping foot on a golf course or practicing. If you take your deadlift from 185 to 305 you will hit the ball further after playing a few rounds. 

[esp13]

Getting strong is part of the equation. You need to be powerful.

 

Power is strength expressed quickly. Doing some kind of medicine ball throw, slam or chest pass movement and/or some kind of jumping or sprinting movement depending on capability and injury history. Basically whatever it is has to be done has hard as possible for a few reps (3-5) for 2-3 sets. Power work should not be done with high volume (reps + sets).

 

Increasing your strength will give you the potential to increase power. Golf is a power sport.

[Sean2]

3 minutes ago, esp13 said:

Getting strong is part of the equation. You need to be powerful.

 

Power is strength expressed quickly. Doing some kind of medicine ball throw, slam or chest pass movement and/or some kind of jumping or sprinting movement depending on capability and injury history. Basically whatever it is has to be done has hard as possible for a few reps (3-5) for 2-3 sets. Power work should not be done with high volume (reps + sets).

 

Increasing your strength will give you the potential to increase power. Golf is a power sport.

 

I agree. You still have to put a good swing on the ball. 

[miamistomp]

 Strength is the most over rated part of hitting a golf ball

   I was a competitive strength athlete for many years

      One of my college coaches was an Olympic weightlifting national champ and alternate to the Olympics

  The other was the WORLD record holder in the squat (  1014 lbs)

    They were both avid golfers

 

  I could out drive both of them - I was strong but no where near their level

    I was a better golfer and taller and more flexible so probably had more swing speed and efficiency ( no trackman in mid 70s)

 

  If you are already highly skilled you may get a bit of distance but a better more efficient swing is way more valuable

 

 Brysons new found strength is a red herring that the press loves-- he is more focused and has dialed in his swing--

   Anybody  remember Chi Chi ?

 

 

[ThinkingPlus]

If you want to know how much strength matters in golf, compare male professional golfers to female professional golfers.

[golfortennis]

1 hour ago, miamistomp said:

 Strength is the most over rated part of hitting a golf ball

   I was a competitive strength athlete for many years

      One of my college coaches was an Olympic weightlifting national champ and alternate to the Olympics

  The other was the WORLD record holder in the squat (  1014 lbs)

    They were both avid golfers

 

  I could out drive both of them - I was strong but no where near their level

    I was a better golfer and taller and more flexible so probably had more swing speed and efficiency ( no trackman in mid 70s)

 

  If you are already highly skilled you may get a bit of distance but a better more efficient swing is way more valuable

 

 Brysons new found strength is a red herring that the press loves-- he is more focused and has dialed in his swing--

   Anybody  remember Chi Chi ?

 

 

 

 

I think you are conflating a few things.  You were a competitive lifter.  That already puts you in the pointy end of strength.  We're not talking about guys who have built that level of strength.  We're talking about people who have to decide if they can actually carry their bag for 18 holes without being stuck on the couch the rest of the day.  There is a certain point where additional strength will not be beneficial, or more specifically, the time spent getting stronger still would be better spent on the golf game.  Your example of of yourself, who was probably in the 1% of strength, outdriving some guys in the top 0.01% of strength is a bit of a red herring. 

 

Secondly no one is saying technique doesn't matter.  Of course it does.  But just because someone like a whippet can hit it far, can they actually hold up multiple years doing it that way?

 

Third the ball they played in Rodriguez' day (and the fact they didn't have a toaster on the end of stick to hit it with) made swinging all out a dangerous proposition.

 

I've always said, as long as you can get the club in the right positions, you can never be too strong. 

[bluedot]

There is no one answer to this; it depends 100% on the individual.  You could take five golfers and get five different answers to the question, "What will give me more distance?"

 

There are FAR more golfers whose swing speed is limited by things other than strength, with technique probably being the most common.  Second to technique would probably be either mobility or flexibility, and strength would follow those. 

 

All of that said, as BradonM5 points out, golf is a sport, and in ANY sport, all other things equal, stronger is better.  A stronger golfer might not hit it farther, but he might be more consistent, or better out of the rough, or have better stamina, and so on.

 

I think the takeaway from all of this is that gaining distance just isn't a "one size fits all" approach.  What works for one player won't work for another, simply because the two players have different deficiencies that are limiting their current swing speed.

[Krt22]

1 hour ago, ThinkingPlus said:

If you want to know how much strength matters in golf, compare male professional golfers to female professional golfers.

True, especially given a golfWRX 4 cap can beat an LPGA pro

[Arn]

If some of your muscles don’t respond when your brain sends a signal to them you won’t be training them properly. Supporting muscles will jump in and carry the weight. MAT addresses that and ensure each muscle is responding to the signal from your brain. He’s right, it’s just more nuanced than a straight yes or no answer. Maybe he should’ve said MAT allows you to optimize for the highest performance.

[Pepperturbo]

This 70yr old disagrees with the Op's link, as well.  There is 4 reasons I still hit the ball good.  I been going to the gym since my youth, followed by exercise training for football, later exercises for in-country activities carrying a 70lb ruck and weapons, then many years of CAT racing, along with martial arts and then take up golf at 40.  All the exercises varied per activities but made me stronger today, and now my gym regime is kinda rudimentary by comparison, but still exists, that's the key.  Most of my friends do NOT exercise, even most of my twenty-something son's friends don't exercise. 

 

Add to exercise, today's Driver, shaft and ball technology - and the ole man is still in the game.  The Ventus Velocore shaft has made a huge difference.  I still swing and hit the ball hard and spin the ball a lot, and run circles around lots of younger people that are in my employ.  I say these things so others know they too can get in better shape, which allows them to swing faster even harder, to play better golf.  Course, if someone has a physical limitations that's a different topic.  But I play with lots of arthritis and pain, no meds and still keep moving fast. 

 

PS Edit; all the years of working out, I have various professionals offering me direction.  And all those years, my body infrastructure was built to withstand the regimes and pounds and pounding.   Tigers body IMO was not geared to what he put it through hence it reacted.  

 

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by Pepperturbo

[Greenie]

I have no opinion on working out and hitting the ball farther.

 

When I hit the ball farther and played my best golf I had a friend of mine stretching me three times a week. I felt being lose and limber helped me the most.

[b_f_c_99]

I see lots of terrible golfers try and hit it further by speeding up their arms.  These players tend to look at the swing as one big lever and I’f they make their arms go faster the ball will go further.  
When in reality the goal is to make the club head go from one side to the other faster.  The arms need to move slower than the club head but they don’t seem to grasp this.

[vman]

I do know a skinny 16 year old, who couldn't knock out a press up, but hits it well over 300...he does have long arms though and can throw a ball an unbelievably long way. 

[b_f_c_99]

15 minutes ago, vman said:

I do know a skinny 16 year old, who couldn't knock out a press up, but hits it well over 300...he does have long arms though and can throw a ball an unbelievably long way. 

And he probably has that “fast hand” look, which is just the hands allowing the club head to speed up from side to side.

[pinhigh27]

2 hours ago, b_f_c_99 said:

I see lots of terrible golfers try and hit it further by speeding up their arms.  These players tend to look at the swing as one big lever and I’f they make their arms go faster the ball will go further.  
When in reality the goal is to make the club head go from one side to the other faster.  The arms need to move slower than the club head but they don’t seem to grasp this.

more arm speed does equal more CHS. 

 

a crap swing equals a slow CHS

[Sean2]

I think it's less about strength and more about where everything is at the impact position. 

 

Also, as a senior I have lost CHS. It's inevitable and just a part of life. 

[chippa13]

Distance is about graceful range of motion. 

[Fairway14]

6 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

If you want to know how much strength matters in golf, compare male professional golfers to female professional golfers.

 

The average LPGA player drives the ball 245 yards, the average PGA player, 285 yards. The 40 yards difference is due to height (5'5" average LPGA vs 5'11" PGA, as well as the natural muscular differences between males and females).

The bottom line is that if a guy wants to lift weights to look and feel better, that's great. But for adding yardage distance to golf shots, weight lifting is irrelevant.

[ThinkingPlus]

8 minutes ago, Fairway14 said:

 

The average LPGA player drives the ball 245 yards, the average PGA player, 285 yards. The 40 yards difference is due to height (5'5" average LPGA vs 5'11" PGA, as well as the natural muscular differences between males and females).

The bottom line is that if a guy wants to lift weights to look and feel better, that's great. But for adding yardage distance to golf shots, weight lifting is irrelevant.

Natural muscular differences = strength.  Height is a minor issue.  If a woman pro was as strong as the average male pro then she would hit the ball as far and generally be as good (there are some nuances with putting and short game that would still keep most of the women from being quite as good).

[mikpga]

Many variables to consider...

[chippa13]

Everytime I watch the LPGA I am jealous of the effortless, smooth swing distance.

[golfarb1]

Decades ago when I played ice hockey in Mass.  , many of the best golfers , both amateurs and pros , in the state were high school, college and former pro ice hockey players. That was before the slap shot became so popular. So how does one account for this . I attribute this  to the fact that ice hockey players developed very strong wrists and forearms due to hours of practicing their shots.  Pro golfers  likewise also developed strong wrists and firearms from many hours  of practice. 

I wonder how much of today’s distance  can be attributed to forearm and wrist strength.?

 

[chippa13]

I would attribute it more to the coordination of muscles working in conjunction with one another. Hockey requires a level of body coordination not found in other sports.

[Arn]

3 minutes ago, golfarb1 said:

many of the best golfers , both amateurs and pros , in the state were high school, college and former pro ice hockey players. That was before the slap shot became so popular. So how does one account for this

Hockey players use ground forces properly. Tons of hockey lads up here in Canada can rip it. Kids who play rep hockey from a young age often are bombers because it’s similar to the slap shot. Plus super strong legs. Don’t ask where it’s going.

[chippa13]

Considering the number of hockey players who golf opposite of how they play hockey, the slapshot motion isn't to credit for their distance. It is their ability to use the full range of their body in coordination.

[pinhigh27]

10 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Natural muscular differences = strength.  Height is a minor issue.  If a woman pro was as strong as the average male pro then she would hit the ball as far and generally be as good (there are some nuances with putting and short game that would still keep most of the women from being quite as good).

So Rory is stronger than the taller guys he hits it by? Ya right. Height matters, technique matters and strength matters a tiny bit. 

 

Avg woman in america is like 5' 5. How many 5'5 male tour pros are there that rip it? 

[Hawkeye77]

I refuse to acknowledge any prescription that requires me to go to a gym and start working out (or have someone supervise me doing it)!

 

Of course, my mental game requires none of that and it is still weak.

 

2020 - year of the sloth.