Originally posted January 23, 2018 and resurrected from the archives
One of the reasons I barely watch any televised golf, in addition to the execrable swing analysis regularly dished out, is the hype machine that exists to pump the modern players up as so strong, and so long, and so incredible when they are hitting 330 yard drives.
Originally posted on the Smash Golf blog October 22, 2009 – I have work to do and pulled this out of my archives.
For those interested, I used my KZG PFT-333 driver, 9 degrees loft, regular flex shaft (I play XS but it was a gifted driver that I could absolutely smash, so I used it until I caved the face in the spring of 2010.
Original Post
I have written already about a drive I hit on this hole recently, when I nearly drove the 363 yard 18th at my golf course. Today, the temperature was cold and falling and the course was wet from two days of rain.
I’m not talking about average drives here, but Jack Nicklaus has made a solid case that he’d likely have been able to drive the ball close to 400 yards with today’s equipment.
It’s not just the clubs that would make the difference, but the balls they use in the Modern Golf era.
I began to play golf in the mid-90’s, so I remember when ball technology really took off.
A little levity on this Friday, perhaps?
The solitary nature of my swing research means that I’m usually lost in my own world of swing analysis for hours at a time hitting balls, and I tend to forget that A) There are other people at the range, unless they do something to bother me and B) Not everyone can drive the ball over 300 yards.
I get some chuckles at times when I’m back home making swing clips or just analyzing swing after swing looking for things to work on, and then I notice what others around me are doing while I’m working out.
I have spent much of the past couple of years just focusing on swing models and tinkering, but as recently as 2022, I was still banging drives of 330 yards and upwards with off the rack drivers.
This is the proof that my model search ended a while ago, but it took my being satisfied that I had looked into everything I possibly could, at which point I began to look back through my swing archive (2010-2024 is a lot of clips) and break down exactly what the optimal swing model looks like.
Update: I accidentally inserted previous Jack-DJ comparison pics, apologies. The correct pics have now been inserted /update
Here we go, WAX Nation – I actually kept looking through my archives and, incredibly, I found a video clip from just two days after the May 14, 2015 clips that I had gone over, with a setup that matches Jack Nicklaus’ adjusted setup even more, this one from May16th.
Not only did I get very close, I recorded myself hitting a drive right down the pipe with a hang-time of 7.5 seconds.
For reference, the average PGA Tour hang time for a drive is 6.3 seconds.
That’s a blast!
It looks crazy at first with all of the bouncing and shifting around before the back swing pivot, but if you look closely at the reigning World Long Drive Champion Martin Borgmeier’s swing action, it’s pretty solid.
You can see the swing I’m featuring below on YouTube and I’ll break down what I like about it, as well as the “flying foot” compensation that has taken over the entire golf world from junior tours to long drive: Continue reading
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