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distance loss

Posted in: Swing Tips and Golf Fitness

bill321 Professional Champion
Go to Last Reply 157 Views 11 Replies 0 Likes
I played one of the great rounds of my life today, in terms of consistent ball striking. Stellar. I post this message with a smile. I just thought you'd all find the following stuff interesting. In the final analysis these are just meaningless numbers (my game is fine), but it's odd how one's golf quirks evolve. I have lost, since last year, 20 yards on each of my clubs. And I was an "outlier" to begin with, as far as being really short for my age and body type (5-foot-8, early 40s, lean). Here goes: Driver: 160-170 18 degree hybrid: 140-160 23 degree hybrid: 120-140 6 iron: 105-120 7 iron: 90-105 9 iron: 70-90 48 degree: 50-70 56 degree: 30-50 Yes, I've tried different balls. It makes no difference at all. Plus, for your future reference, if and when this happens to you, be prepared for two-pronged paranoia: 1) "the skycaddie satellite must've been whacked out of its orbit path, thus skewing the distance numbers on my handheld", and 2) "someone surreptitiously took my clubs to a club fitter and altered my lofts just to screw with me." I've subsequently extinguished these thoughts from my mind and faced reality. But it took some weeks.
Vincedaddy Legend
# 1 4/12/2014 7:35:54 PM
Make sure your balls don't have Dunlop logos. That could be your problem.
HOGAN418 Professional Champion
# 2 4/12/2014 10:58:22 PM
What kind of shafts do you have?? I would explore some different shafts in your swing speed range...
Mongo68 Legend
# 3 4/13/2014 6:41:30 AM
I've been noticing the same thing towards the end of last year and now this year also. Driver was 265-275, now 235 if I really catch it. 9 iron was 132-135, now 15-120. I was just custom fitted 2 years ago. Argh!
bill321 Professional Champion
# 4 4/13/2014 9:40:42 AM
What kind of shafts do you have?? I would explore some different shafts in your swing speed range... I switched to "senior flex" and it, too, made no difference. In sum, all of this seems to prove the axiom, "It's the indian, not the arrow."
Mark Simmons Legend
# 5 4/13/2014 3:26:45 PM
First of all, congrats on the consistent play. Having fun is really what it's all about. If you aren't bothered by the numbers and are still having fun--that's what counts! On the other hand, I've known golfers to get very frustrated by a lack of distance and the impact it has on their game. Some of them get so frustrated that they leave the game altogether, and that is a shame. Like you say, it's the Indian. Whether swing technique, physical conditioning, or change of attitude/expectations there is always something we can do to keep the game fun.
njgolfer Legend
# 6 4/13/2014 5:08:46 PM
I've been noticing the same thing towards the end of last year and now this year also. Driver was 265-275, now 235 if I really catch it. 9 iron was 132-135, now 15-120. I was just custom fitted 2 years ago. Argh! Sounds like you need to do some resistance/weight training to get the pop back. And no that does not mean the Jaypet training at the buffet.
LyinLewis Legend
# 7 4/13/2014 5:09:50 PM
When I lose distance it usually means I am releasing my lag too soon. It's not casting for me...but I release too soon which loses speed.
Don Freeman Professional Champion
# 8 4/13/2014 6:45:18 PM
When I lose distance it usually means I am releasing my lag too soon. It's not casting for me...but I release too soon which loses speed. ding ding ding......That's my take on it also. Premature release always kills your game.
Golfer Professional Champion
# 9 4/14/2014 10:25:42 AM
When I lose distance it usually means I am releasing my lag too soon. It's not casting for me...but I release too soon which loses speed. ding ding ding......That's my take on it also. Premature release always kills your game. Yep, That is the most common cause of it. That happened to me once and only took one round that my ball wasn't going as far and I started to try to hit the ball higher and without even thinking about it I released the club head way too early, once I noticed that everything went back to normal.
ParSeeker Legend
# 10 4/19/2014 5:19:29 PM
I turn 62 this September. The biggest change I notice is in flexibility. Early in the year I seem much tighter and don't make as good of a turn which does cause some distance loss. I try to do more stretching these days. I'm about 5' 10" and medium build... could loose a few pounds. My drives are 240ish and I hit my 7 iron 150-160. I do agree with the comments on loosing lag affecting distance and find myself letting my hands getting ahead of my body at times, especially early in the season.
Mark Simmons Legend
# 11 4/19/2014 10:38:40 PM
Yes, I've tried different balls. It makes no difference at all. This reminded me of a couple I played with yesterday. The wife had an arms-only upright swing and would rise up on the downswing. Needless to say she was blading and topping a lot of shots. Her best shots she only hit it thin. Noting that she was having trouble getting the ball in the air, her hubby/coach's solution was to substitute her ball for a different brand/model.

bill321

Professional Champion

Go to Last Reply

157 Views 11 Replies 0 Likes

I played one of the great rounds of my life today, in terms of consistent ball striking. Stellar. I post this message with a smile. I just thought you'd all find the following stuff interesting. In the final analysis these are just meaningless numbers (my game is fine), but it's odd how one's golf quirks evolve.

I have lost, since last year, 20 yards on each of my clubs. And I was an "outlier" to begin with, as far as being really short for my age and body type (5-foot-8, early 40s, lean). Here goes:

Driver: 160-170
18 degree hybrid: 140-160
23 degree hybrid: 120-140
6 iron: 105-120
7 iron: 90-105
9 iron: 70-90
48 degree: 50-70
56 degree: 30-50

Yes, I've tried different balls. It makes no difference at all.

Plus, for your future reference, if and when this happens to you, be prepared for two-pronged paranoia: 1) "the skycaddie satellite must've been whacked out of its orbit path, thus skewing the distance numbers on my handheld", and 2) "someone surreptitiously took my clubs to a club fitter and altered my lofts just to screw with me." I've subsequently extinguished these thoughts from my mind and faced reality. But it took some weeks.

Vincedaddy

Legend

# 1 4/12/2014 7:35:54 PM

Make sure your balls don't have Dunlop logos. That could be your problem.

HOGAN418

Professional Champion

# 2 4/12/2014 10:58:22 PM

What kind of shafts do you have?? I would explore some different shafts in your swing speed range...

Mongo68

Legend

# 3 4/13/2014 6:41:30 AM

I've been noticing the same thing towards the end of last year and now this year also. Driver was 265-275, now 235 if I really catch it. 9 iron was 132-135, now 15-120. I was just custom fitted 2 years ago. Argh!

bill321

Professional Champion

# 4 4/13/2014 9:40:42 AM

What kind of shafts do you have?? I would explore some different shafts in your swing speed range...

I switched to "senior flex" and it, too, made no difference. In sum, all of this seems to prove the axiom, "It's the indian, not the arrow."

Mark Simmons

Legend

# 5 4/13/2014 3:26:45 PM

First of all, congrats on the consistent play. Having fun is really what it's all about. If you aren't bothered by the numbers and are still having fun--that's what counts!

On the other hand, I've known golfers to get very frustrated by a lack of distance and the impact it has on their game. Some of them get so frustrated that they leave the game altogether, and that is a shame. Like you say, it's the Indian. Whether swing technique, physical conditioning, or change of attitude/expectations there is always something we can do to keep the game fun.

njgolfer

Legend

# 6 4/13/2014 5:08:46 PM

Sounds like you need to do some resistance/weight training to get the pop back. And no that does not mean the Jaypet training at the buffet.

LyinLewis

Legend

# 7 4/13/2014 5:09:50 PM

When I lose distance it usually means I am releasing my lag too soon. It's not casting for me...but I release too soon which loses speed.

Don Freeman

Professional Champion

# 8 4/13/2014 6:45:18 PM

When I lose distance it usually means I am releasing my lag too soon. It's not casting for me...but I release too soon which loses speed.

ding ding ding......That's my take on it also. Premature release always kills your game.

Golfer

Professional Champion

# 9 4/14/2014 10:25:42 AM

When I lose distance it usually means I am releasing my lag too soon. It's not casting for me...but I release too soon which loses speed.

ding ding ding......That's my take on it also. Premature release always kills your game.

Yep, That is the most common cause of it. That happened to me once and only took one round that my ball wasn't going as far and I started to try to hit the ball higher and without even thinking about it I released the club head way too early, once I noticed that everything went back to normal.

ParSeeker

Legend

# 10 4/19/2014 5:19:29 PM

I turn 62 this September. The biggest change I notice is in flexibility. Early in the year I seem much tighter and don't make as good of a turn which does cause some distance loss. I try to do more stretching these days. I'm about 5' 10" and medium build... could loose a few pounds. My drives are 240ish and I hit my 7 iron 150-160.

I do agree with the comments on loosing lag affecting distance and find myself letting my hands getting ahead of my body at times, especially early in the season.

Mark Simmons

Legend

# 11 4/19/2014 10:38:40 PM

Yes, I've tried different balls. It makes no difference at all.

This reminded me of a couple I played with yesterday. The wife had an arms-only upright swing and would rise up on the downswing. Needless to say she was blading and topping a lot of shots. Her best shots she only hit it thin.

Noting that she was having trouble getting the ball in the air, her hubby/coach's solution was to substitute her ball for a different brand/model.

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