The way I see it, you add distance to your game with more muscle which translates into more clubhead speed, more flexibility which produces a wider swing arc and more coiling of the upper body, or both. And more muscle comes with time and effort in the gym; more flexibility comes with more stretching exercises; and both come with commitment and dedication to attaining more distance. Personally, at the moment, I want more accuracy than distance so have slowed my swing to the point that I'm hitting the sweet spot consistently both with driver and irons/hybrids. However...full disclosure, I really do crave more distance. Who doesn't? With more distance you generally get closer to the green and the hole. With more distance you get to use shorter clubs for your approach shots and shorter clubs usually mean you increase your chances of getting closer to the hole, leading to more pars and birdies leading to lower scores. And if you're keep score, that's a very good thing (just to acknowledge, some people don't bother keeping score for a variety of reasons and that is just fine with me).
But there are potential downsides in the ascent to more distance. They are:
Going beyond your limits in the gym and getting injured, forcing an unforced exit from the game for a while as you recover.
Hitting it farther but losing accuracy, landing you in a lake, behind trees, in deep rough, in fairway bunkers, or out of bounds, all costing you strokes on your scorecard and damage to a fragile ego.
Not attaining enough added distance to make the effort worthwhile, losing time to work on other equally important aspects of this daunting game.
I use the gym, but am quite careful about always checking my limits and limiting myself from going too far beyond them. Ideally, the goal is to approach your limit, pause, then go slightly beyond, giving yourself days, even weeks or months, to increase that limit. That takes discipline and reining in an ego that wants to go faster and bigger and, golf-wise, farther.
As for hitting it farther while losing accuracy, I think more bogeys come from poor drives than any other cause. Slice it in the rough, probable bogey. Hook it OB, bogey or worse. Sky it, bogey. Top it, super long approach and, yep, another bogey. So I'll take accuracy any day rather than a few extra yards.
And, really, how much added distance are we talking about here. It was probably worth it for Bryson to pack on all those pounds and muscle to get 30 extra yards since competitive golf is his business. But is it worth it for you and I to bust our asses in the gym or on the road jogging or stretching until we throw our backs out to gain five or ten more yards so we can own bragging rights in our weekend foursome? I don't think so. I'm an older player with a couple of disabilities so I play from the forward tees. If reasonable, I'll try moving back in tees on certain holes where that still allows me to reach the green in regulation. But when I hit it solidly and keep it in play, I feel good, and my playing partners often acknowledge that accomplishment with congratulatory remarks.
So, sure, like most of you, I want more distance. I added a senior shaft to my driver, bought some softer Titleists, hit it on the screws as much as possible (for you youngsters, that's an old expression that dates back to Bobby Jones when that legend could at times hit a ball 300 yards with a wooden head driver, with screws holding its face plate on over the sweet spot, and a hickory shaft by "hitting it on the screws". Reportedly, he'd have the those screws replaced four times per season!), and, whadaya know, I'm keeping it in play, scoring pretty well, and having a helluva good time at 75.
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James Piot won the 121st playing of the U.S. Amateur by coming back to win the last five of six holes in the 36 hole final. As Yogi Berra said of baseball, in golf, too, "It ain't over till it's over!" Congrats to this 22 year old Michigan State player. As part of his prize, he'll be playing in three of the four majors next year, as long as he remains an amateur.
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It's the FedEx Playoffs starting this week, with the field being whittled down after several events leading to the final at East Lake when the top 30 compete for, what is now, 15 million bucks. Good luck, boys! I'll go with Collin Morikawa as the eventual winner. Now there's a young player who keeps it in play, hits with enough power to hold his own, and is consistently on the leaderboard, with two majors already to his credit. Sort of like a modern-day Bobby Jones.
Stephen, excellent post. Especially distance versus accuracy. I am constantly trying to decide which is most important to me. Since I have problems with post I shoot for accuracy. The FedX tournament should be great. I think Dustin J could win if he ever gets hot. My fan favorite is Louie O. Of South Africa . Can’t spell his last name. He has a beautiful swing. He just can’t close the deal,