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Why the obsession with distance?

Thechosen1 said:
While true why don't we see more of a "it's your swing" not the equipment push? If that makes sense. Amateurs believe that a driver will make their ball fly straighter compared to their swing making it go more straight.
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Anyone who thinks that a club is going to straighten out their swing is confused and they are going to be disappointed.
 
I do but the game is long enough as it is and most folks aren't going to dedicate hours to lessons. So they buy what they think will fix their game. I know what you saying but we are a society of instant gratification, buy this club and hit long, buy this wedge and spin it from the rough...buy this putter and make every putt. Its the nature of the beast
Thechosen1 said:
What's sad is that money talks. I'm just curious though JB and others. Do you believe the game could be more enjoyable for more amateurs if they took lessons instead of buying a $400 driver(that might not even help)
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I went through a pretty major swing change last year and lost 30-40 yards of driver distance during the process. Until you realize how bad it sucks to be hitting 4 or 5 iron into a green instead of 8 or 9 iron, on a regular basis, you will never understand why distance is important. Fortunately for me, I got the majority of that distance back, but if I had not, I would have been looking for any edge that could get me a little further down the fairway.
 
yorkem said:
I went through a pretty major swing change last year and lost 30-40 yards of driver distance during the process. Until you realize how bad it sucks to be hitting 4 or 5 iron into a green instead of 8 or 9 iron, on a regular basis, you will never understand why distance is important. Fortunately for me, I got the majority of that distance back, but if I had not, I would have been looking for any edge that could get me a little further down the fairway.
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It's a nightmare.

Kevin
 
pjcedog said:
Anyone who thinks that a club is going to straighten out their swing is confused and they are going to be disappointed.
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I will say that I have a buddy that used to hit a horrendous slice. He bought one of those really offset Cobra's that I would not be able to keep in the fairway and it gives him a slight fade. He hasn't changed drivers in about 5 years.
 
JB said:
I have no idea. It would depend on the person. Some people like new things. Its like asking if the game would be more enjoyable if you never wore orange. There is no way to answer that for someone else.
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The simple answer to that is yes.
 
I agree accuracy is king, I even slowed my swing down abit a few years ago to gain more accuracy. That was a big mistake for my game it messed up my swing and tempo alot, Im now back to swinging faster and Im currently driving pretty well. I drove a green on a short par 4 at a local course I play alot today, 260 to green and had 9 feet for eagle. I never could have done this when I tried slowing my swing, and the feeling I had when I hit that perfect drive so long( for me ) and straight was better than almost anything else in golf.
 
You know, this thought has been in my mind for awhile, to take it easy and just hit fairways, my home course and really the only one i play is kind of long 3157 gold, 3400 something whites, but except for one par 5 it's manageable. But every time i get up there i just what to crush it.

I don't care were it goes as long as it's 260+ Down.... .... That could be why I'm no good.

I am abnormally long with my irons anyways, so next time out I'm focusing on accuracy, at least until my driver gets fixed

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TrapShot said:
Is this why no one wants to shorten the shaft on their driver?
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Many people play shorter drivers, including myself at 44 inches. Heck, tour pros play 44.5 inch drivers.
 
Thechosen1 said:
I understand the average joe will want the feeling of "hitting it like the pros" but with the game in its current state(rounds over 4:30 hours well into 5 hours for example) and every ad we see on TV is "+5 yards" or "+27 yards" just from a driver or irons. Why the obsession; when did it happen? How come the average joes are so worried about distance rather then accuracy? I just have the mindset of wanting to be in the fairway rather then in the rough. Personally over the last year I have lost 5-10 yards on my driver by reducing my swing and in turn I have a ton more accuracy and have lowered my scores.

I just am curious as to why everyone likes the long ball, but if you can't control it, then you'll be looking in the woods more times then not. Is anyone with me though? Would you take accuracy over distance? Or am I just overreacting

Discuss
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Thechosen1 said:
While true why don't we see more of a "it's your swing" not the equipment push? If that makes sense. Amateurs believe that a driver will make their ball fly straighter compared to their swing making it go more straight.
Click to expand...

This is a big part of american culture... why do the hard work when there is a quick fix.
Do I want to spend time and effort to be a better golfer, or buy a club that will instantly make me a better golfer.

It works for diet pills and it works for golf clubs.
 
There is a legit reason for people wanting distance gains, especially when it comes to tee shots. I can tell you this from personal experience; having recently switched to a driver that actually fits me compared to what I have been playing in the past, I have gone from hitting a long iron in to a green to hitting a short iron in to the green. If a 30 yard distance gain can switch you from a 6iron to a 8/9iron for your second shots on par 4s, then I think it's something to go after.

I can tell you that since I have seen a slight distance gain from the tee, resulting in hitting short irons with my second shots, that my scores have gone down by multiple strokes.
 
as a long hitter, id rather be more accurate than long recently i have really gotten my driver accuracy down really well. but before i would lose a lot of balls in the woods and rough and would cost me strokes and usually would be blow up holes. that being said what JB said is really dead on short hitters still hit into the woods and rough. i always say you want what you can't have i always wanted to be a better putter and have a better short game cause that has always been a struggle for me. i do think a lot of people wish they could hit it further though. but i also think they want to for the wrong reason. they think its macho and want to outdrive their buddies. the only thing its good for is giving you a better chance to score if you can control it i mean id rather hit my AW into a green as my second shot than my 6 iron.
 
Everyone is different and has an opinion of there own about distance. I think a lot of it depends on skill level and if your playing the correct tees. I normally play from the white tees, yardages at the courses I play range from 5900 to just over 6500 from those set of tee boxes. I don't kill the ball off the tee..pretty average I think. I typically average around 250 to 275 dependent upon playing conditions and slope. For me I would trade off yardage for consistency and G.I.R. at the drop of a hat. Also I think distance is over-rated if you can't take advantage of it. Who cares if your tee shot is 280+ in the fairway and 120 to the green and you walk away with a bogey or worse.
 
A good friend of mine is a scratch golfer. He is 59 and just doesn't have the distance that he used to. He is struggling to keep his scores down when he is hitting long irons / hybrids into greens.

He has gamed the TM Superfast for awhile now. The RBZ marketing got his attention and he went into Golf Galaxy to check it out two weeks ago. GG has a TM employee on staff to help get people in the right (TM) equipment. The salesman hooked him up with the new RBZ driver. He has added loft, carry, and roll. His average drive is 15-20 yards longer now. That is a TWO club improvement.

Oh, and he was "fit" for his Superfast when he bought it. The newer technology clearly increased his distance.

He was already a golf junkie and is enjoying the game A LOT more now.
 
Hawk said:
Spend a month or two as a short hitter and you'll see why haha. It sucks to hit hybrids when other people hit irons. At least for me it does.
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Don't I know this to be true! I hit a 230 yard drive on average so I end up with 170 yds. on a 400 yd par 4, that's a hybrid for me.... which sucks .... all I want is another 20-30 yds. with my drives :banghead:..........but we have some lessons on the horizon here, so maybe that will help. I know for a fact ho'ing drivers doesn't.
 
it's easier to lie about the length of your teeshots, than it is to lie about your scoring ability
 
Because long off the tee is just plain impressive.
 
RxGus said:
This is a big part of american culture... why do the hard work when there is a quick fix.
Do I want to spend time and effort to be a better golfer, or buy a club that will instantly make me a better golfer.

It works for diet pills and it works for golf clubs.
Click to expand...
With all due respect, a lot of people have demanding jobs, families, and other commitments which combine to make time, not money, their scarcest resource. It's simply not feasible for many people to be a good parent, spouse, worker, member of the community and then invest the hours of practice time necessary to be a good golfer. I would hesitate to ascribe quick-fix, instant-gratification motivations to someone who buys nice clubs in an attempt to improve his game. Golf is, after all, recreation.
 
I played with a guy the other day who, on the first tee told me how long he hit the ball. He said he went to the range 3 times a week and hit his driver exclusively. The old "gorilla" joke came to mind. He had no short game and couldn't break 100. I asked him why he didn't work on his short game, and his reply was "I enjoy hitting the ball long!" Nothing wrong with that, he had fun and never got annoyed when he messed up around the green. I enjoyed the round with him. I think there could be many more people like him.
 
JB said:
Who is going to push it? THe USGA? They do that already? Golf courses? They do too. There is no money in it for the companies to push that. Golfers of the amateur variety dont like to take lessons. That is fact. Whether it be embarrassment, misinformation about what a teacher is going to do, bad prior experience, or just dont want to. People dont want to change their swing no matter how bad it is. Then you add that the equipment companies have put in a huge amount of research that CAN in fact make the game more enjoyable for people without fixing their swing.
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Very true JB. The facts you just stated make the point why some of those amateurs get the adjustable driver. They can minimize their flaws with some adjustments here and there.


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Thechosen1 said:
I understand the average joe will want the feeling of "hitting it like the pros" but with the game in its current state(rounds over 4:30 hours well into 5 hours for example) and every ad we see on TV is "+5 yards" or "+27 yards" just from a driver or irons. Why the obsession; when did it happen? How come the average joes are so worried about distance rather then accuracy? I just have the mindset of wanting to be in the fairway rather then in the rough. Personally over the last year I have lost 5-10 yards on my driver by reducing my swing and in turn I have a ton more accuracy and have lowered my scores.

I just am curious as to why everyone likes the long ball, but if you can't control it, then you'll be looking in the woods more times then not. Is anyone with me though? Would you take accuracy over distance? Or am I just overreacting

Discuss
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I think people who can't bomb the ball just think of how cool they think it would be to be able to. Once they were able to and saw how difficult it can be to control it, they would quickly get over the infatuation of it and go back to playing for fairways and greens.

Just my .02
 
Golf is not the only thing where distance is king. Baseball and home runs, basketball with 3 pointers, football with the deep pass, target shooters with 1000+ yard shots. So distance is not simply a golf obssesion, it applies to several sports and other human frailities. Goes back to the longer, stronger, faster.

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royalwulff said:
Golf is not the only thing where distance is king. Baseball and home runs, basketball with 3 pointers, football with the deep pass, target shooters with 1000+ yard shots. So distance is not simply a golf obssesion, it applies to several sports and other human frailities. Goes back to the longer, stronger, faster.

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That is actually a very interesting, and valid point you're making here. Repped.
 
GenErr said:
I played with a guy the other day who, on the first tee told me how long he hit the ball. He said he went to the range 3 times a week and hit his driver exclusively. The old "gorilla" joke came to mind. He had no short game and couldn't break 100. I asked him why he didn't work on his short game, and his reply was "I enjoy hitting the ball long!" Nothing wrong with that, he had fun and never got annoyed when he messed up around the green. I enjoyed the round with him. I think there could be many more people like him.
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Sounds like a good scramble partner.
 
I leave nothing in the tee box, from the fairway or the rough for that matter. I tend to have my worst shots when I slow down. I have a medium tempo back and fast back down. However I could care less about gaining distance or losing distance. I already hit it far anyways so it really does not matter. I just want Gir's.


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