Why Don’t Your Drives Go Far? They Only Go 200 Yards For One of These Two Reasons! 

Complete details of the information we talk about in this video plus some extras can be found here: golfingfocus.com/why-dont-your-drives-go-far-slow-and-steady-loses-the-race/

As a very senior golfer, I have quit trying to hit the ball farther and do not care much about my score anymore. As a result, I enjoy golf a lot more than I have ever enjoyed it.

In our retirement, my wife and I play a lot of golf-walk 18 holes at least 3 times per week. Very few golfers over 60 years of age get 200 yards closer to the green-from the tee. I am 5'2" and 71 years old...I likely average getting 200 yards closer off the tee. We play with lots of younger players who can hit nearly 300 yards-very few of them get 200 yards closer to the green :) We play for exercise and the joy of a nice walk...we are the fastest players on the course.

I recently turned 60 and was concerned about my distance with the driver so I consulted my coach and we did the numbers. My launch angle was too low and my spin was too high. After some changes to my swing, I increased my club head speed from 92mph to 99mph, my launch angle from +1.5 to +4.5 and my spin down from 3,600rpm to 2,250. Unsurprisingly my carry distance went from 225 yds to 260 yds. Bashing balls on the range to improve is a waste of energy if you have swing flaws!

My drives only go 200 yards, but I am 79 years old. Like everyone I too try to get a little more distance. The biggest thing in golf that affects distance is what tees you play from.

As a senior I see most golfers my age not carrying the driver 200 yards... My suggestion Play off the senior tee's and play shorter courses. Their ego insists they play off the standard tees... I have a lot more fun shooting close to par than struggling to shoot in the 80's on a 6500 yard course.

As usual top class research and information. Well done and so professionally presented.

Honestly, the greatest piece of advice I ever got was a few weeks ago when older gentleman stopped me at the range and said, “if you try to swing with less power, the drive will feel smoother , and the drive will eventually go farther and more importantly, more accurately.” Boy did that click.

I have been working on my driver in the simulator and now i can't chip. I was Mr shortgame. This game. 😂

Great, informative video! Thank you.

We all have physical limitations and need to manage expectations. I'm kind of a gear whore, but instead of chasing the latest and greatest clubs, I've decided to do something different. So I put a hitting bay and launch monitor in my garage and I just started taking lessons. Not sure if it will make much difference, but at least I can take a lesson and then practice daily. My goal is better consistency. If I end up gaining distance, that's icing on the cake. At 59, I'm not a short hitter and I don't play tees longer than 6500 yards, so distance isn't my issue. It's consistency. My instructor seems great. Knowledgeable and patient. Shows me video's and gives my drills. He's not overly technical and talking about every little position in a swing. I like that. I think all the positions really don't exist in real time. I told him, lets start with the basics, grip, stance, posture, takeaway, and then build from there. Either way, I love golf. Playing golf on a nice day and nice course is way better than work!!! In short, it doesn't matter what I score. I'm not trying to be any type of tournament golfer. But hitting consistently good shots is more fun than bad 🙂

ONLY go 200 yards? 200 yards is a damn good drive for amateur golfers. People don't realize how far 200 yards is. Most people think that that long drive must be 250 yards, but in reality it is 200 yards. That only leaves a 5 iron into a 350 yard par 4.

Great video. Really interesting.

Great timing for me on this video as I have been discovering (like another commenter) some very interesting things in the offseason from going to golf simulators which track a great deal of useful data. I found the same thing you pointed out - that it's not so much your swing/club head speed, but your striking that determines how long and true your drives (and other shots) go. I mean I certainly swing at the same pace each time but, if I mishit, the simulator shows a much slower ball speed and, of course, the distance is way shorter. So my winter plan is to use the indoor simulator to help me (hopefully) get more consistent striking. I will see about some pro instruction as well.

I believe it is better to do a 3/4 (75%) swing and hit the ball 100%, then to do a 100% swing and hit the ball 75%.

Today I hit 218 yards with just an old 250cc driver figured I’ve only been playing a few week and get consistent with this small old thing then go for upgrade most certainly won’t be a very expensive brand new driver but will be an upgrade nonetheless

If you arent hitting the sweet spot then you need to practice until you can. I use a damp towel to wipe driver face between strikes in the nets. I start with half swings then progress. Once I hit 10 good ones in a row then use the range for ball flight.... Access to launch monitors is good, I then focus on swing speed, Attack angle and spin numbers. I also use a free app to video my swing and analyse..

You have to play alot and hit the driving range more. Can't be a weekend warrior and expect to play well. Also got to be focused, in good place mentally.

Great vid thanks, one thing I’ve noticed is all the guys I play with who hit pink castle tees with driver are shorter than the ones who use the higher orange tees, this must have a bearing on launch angle?

We worry way too much about distance when we should focus on chipping and putting especially for those of us that can't play on a weekly basis. You're going to lose a ton more strokes in the short game than you ever will from a 200 yd drive in the fairway!

As a golf geek this type of video is right up my street. The data doesn't lie. Every time I'm at the range I see strong, fit looking guys with high swing speeds barely driving the ball 200 yards because of too much spin. It's obvious from the flight of the ball, it spins up and then just drops out of the sky. High launch with low spin gives you that rainbow shaped flight and a lot more distance.

The physics here are simple. It's all too easy to get caught up in the idea that swing speed is the primary goal goal, yet, we all know that when we try to swing harder, the results are usually not good. The fact of the matter is that the the distance the ball travels is related, not to the swing speed, but rather to the amount of energy transferred to the ball. The amount of energy given to the ball is equal to the amount of work done on it, which in turn is equal to the integral of the F.ds, or, in other words, the force applied to the ball times the distance where you continue to apply the force. Compressing the ball, and keeping it on the clubhead for a longer distance is critical. The energy transferred to the ball can take two forms, rotational energy (i.e. spin) and velocity, and the best combination seems to be about 2000 RPM, and the rest in velocity. If a player swings fast, but can't sustain that swing speed for long, force times distance is low, and thus the ball jumps off the club with little more speed than the clubhead had, reflected in a low "smash factor", and the ball is not going to go very far. If a player strikes the ball off center, the head is less able to hold the ball on the face, and again, the ball will jump off the club and not go very far. On the other hand, if the player strikes the ball in the center of the club, and with a body position that allows him to maintain force on the ball over a longer distance, the ball will compress and stay on the club a long time, absorbing more energy, and coming off the club with a much greater velocity than the clubhead itself was traveling. That is reflected in a high "smash factor", and the result will be an optimal drive, assuming that the launch angle was good. To do a simple comparison, let's say that player A swings fast, but has poor body position and ball striking, and thus, a low smash factor. He swings at 110 mph, but only achieves a smash factor of 1.15, so the ball leaves at 127 mph. Now let's look at Player B, who has a slower swing, but better ball striking and body position. He swings at 90 mph, but achieves a smash factor of 1.5, so his shot leaves with a velocity of 135, and travels further. LPGA players achieve so much more distance than average players with the same swing speed, partly because they have optimal launch angles and spin, but also because they have a higher "smash factor". I'm told that Fred Couples used to say "Swing easy, and hit the ball hard", which sounds illogical, but the physics explains it. You need to swing at a speed that is comfortable so that you can get your body into a position that allows you to strike the ball in the center of the club, and a body position that allows you to sustain continued force on the ball, so that you can compress the ball, and hold it on the clubhead longer, and thus increase your smash factor. I'm 70, and my swing speed is down to 85-88 mph, but per ShotScope, my performance average (i.e. average eliminating the really bad shots) is about 223, which is adequate. As I age, my swing speed will fall from here, but I can continue to try to improve my ball striking and body position, and thus not lose distance.

I started golf 3 months ago and just hitting 200-220 average :(

200Yds?? I can only hit 150 yds. But I do score in the mid 80's.

Tee the ball a little higher and a little forward for a better launch angle. Real power comes from turning your hips as much as possible in the backswing. I see far too many guys failing to make a full turn or sliding instead.

This video provides a lot of worthwhile analysis of the reason for distance, but unfortunately I had so much trouble understanding the speaker, that I wasn't able to appreciate the full value of this presentation.

Something about my setup with the driver is not working. I hit my irons farther than all my buddies. If a pin is 150 out, Im grabbing my 9 iron. I carry my 4 iron about 210-215. But all my buddies drive the ball further than me. Even when I feel like I make solid contact on a fast swing, my driver only goes about 225-235.

We all know why, we need to know how to increase & maintain swing speed. Low speed low spin = low distance. Low speed needs spins to keep the ball in the air.

I used to get 300, now I'm old, 200 is good now

Most golfers I play with have the clubhead speed to average at least 220. It's the technique and the ill-fitting or outdated driver. Some guys are playing a 15 or 20 year old driver that's less forgiving that any modern low spin driver. They are out there suffering before switching to a 3 wood that's 25 years old and suffering more. Life is short, fellas. Get a Ping driver and play easy golf.

Because I'm 74yrs old😢

200 yards is far for me, I'm 63 years old! Distance doesn't mean anything if it's not straight! The mainstream media focuses on how far the pros hit the ball 95% of us are not pros!

I'm 53, 16 handicap, and if I'm lucky I get to play once a month. I'm more confident of hitting the green with a hybrid from 200 yards, than I am from 60 yards with a wedge...........My short game is terrible, yet because I don't get to practice at all, I'm more concerned that I'm slowly losing driver distance. Which is stupid, because of course I am. I'm 53, out of shape and crap.......so still driving around 240/250 is not to be sniffed at.........BUT I JUST WANT SOME OF MY DISTANCE BACK!! Maybe I should concentrate on my short game 🤣

I don't think those stats are correct. I shoot around 100 regularly (with every club in the bag). If I play a round at my local golf course, with nothing but a 7 iron, I shoot 100 or so. Trouble is while I hit it further with Driver, I hit a lot of wild shots.

I challenge the info in this video. According to Trackman data the average attack angle for a male pro is around -1.5, woman pro, on the other hand is +3. Looking at the chart @ 6 minutes into the video, your spin rate is way too high, it should be around 2500 rpm for maximum carry for both men and women. Perhaps a driver fitting is in order instead?

Because your swing speed is 80 mph math don’t lie

you can learn strike you cant learn swing speed . i cant go from 85 to 110 mph swing speed . speed is king

I had to pause at 5:46 - 4.5 MPH of club speed is significant and shouldnt be overlooked. You used a poor example here to prove your point. You gained 30 yards but increased club speed by 4.5 mph - "According to studies, every mile per hour gained in club head speed results in the ball traveling 2.3 yards further."

Get a lesson , great would never have thought of that.