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Why the obsession with distance?

Smallville said:
Sounds like a good scramble partner.
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At least he was honest and didn't shoot u a line of s&@t. As said b4 good cpts choice player or scramble partner.


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Why do people buy fast cars? Same answer.
 
InHartWeTrust said:
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
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That's for darn sure. I played today and was grouped with a couple of older guys and so played from the white tees (which are around 6,300) instead of the blues I usually play (around 6,800).

I'm not a bomber, but I hit the ball a decent distance (275+ when I drive it well; 150 club is 8 iron). I hit driver on only six holes. Everything else was a 3 or 4 iron. I would have hit my 3 wood, but I've been snap hooking that b*tch all year.



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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Chicks dig the long ball.
 
Older guys aren't always short hitters. Nothing I like better than playing with a group of 20 somethings and when they all rush out to look for their ball ahead of all the rest I can safely say it most likely is my ball out there in front not theirs.
 
Hammer time...
 
InHartWeTrust said:
The best scramble partner makes the putts.
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Didn't say he would be the BEST scramble partner. But if you have a bomber on your team, the other three would have a lot easier time of getting it on the green (or closer to the pin) than they would from 50 yards back.
 
Golf is alot easier when you can get into the short irons on your approach shots. It isn't really hard to figure out why people want to hit it far.
 
Moving up is the key for most players, nothing helps your score more than having wedges for second shots on all but the very longest par 4s and to be chipping some of your 3rd shots on the par 5s.
 
Cause a commercial with bubba saying, want to be more accurate? Just sucks
 
As I get older, I guess I will lose my distance. So I want it now!

On a more serious note, with length, ultimately one can choose a shorter more accurate club into the green and have confidence to reach longer holes in regulation. Also, it boosts confidence.
All good things for lower scores.
 
Think of it like this. We guarantee 17 more yards and These irons are built with driver DNA. With materials and limitaions on clubs these things can happen. Now think of an add that says our clubs wont go as long but we guarantee your approch shots will hit 17% more greens. No one would want that because they would think they are getting an iferior product without the distance and because a lot of golfers have bad swings they just cant say something like that. It's just not sexy for the average golfer.

As for when well I think it probably started the very first day to people played against each other.
 
Because it's fun.

Sorry, that's all I got :act-up:
 
Forgive me if anything is redundant, I haven't had the time to read through all 5 pages...

While I agree that overtly trying to get more distance can lead to trouble, I disagree with the assumed correlation between distance and inaccuracy.

My distance occured naturally. I never tried to hit it longer but as my swing grew more efficient, the distance increased. At 44 yrs old, I'm longer now than I've ever been and my accuracy has improved significantly. For a long while my distance to accuracy ratio was similar but as I better understood my swing and key positions I needed to reach in order for everything to fall together, accuracy improved.

Longer does not equate to better. But longer with all things being equal, is better. If you, today, were longer by 20 yards off the tee yet were still as accurate as you are now, your scores would improve. I mean, who would not sign up for 20 more yards? To assume a consequence for that distance is reaching. I get it that the mantra of most equipment advertising is magic-fairy-dust distance gains. Although I know for a fact that technology has increased both distance and accuracy for today's golfers, I also understand that there is an endless chase for magical golf clubs. But to deny the value of increased distance is simply, denial.

The advantage of distance though is only realized through proper course management. I personally leave driver in the bag for 90% of par four holes under 400 yards (dependent upon conditions, of course). The landing area just seems to narrow too much where I'd hit it and the advantage, distance to accuracy-wise, is certainly one to consider.

If I hit my 4 wood, say an average of 260 off the tee, I'd like to think that I have an accuracy advantage over another player hitting driver averaging the same distance.
 
I used to be a 300+ off the tee guy. Not a lot of fairways hit but every once in while I'd hit a drive onto a green on a 350 yard hole. Started taking lessons 5 years ago and worked on irons first then the driver. My accuracy is better than ever. Driving distance averages 275 - 280. Won a long drive at an outing last week. 340 off the tee in the most narrow part of the fairway.

While not obsessed with distance, I REALLY like hitting it long and in the fairway and watching the other guys in the foursome drool a little bit. The other really cool thing is decided between the 54 degree or the PW in.

Yes, there is an obsession with distance. It can shave a few strokes off your score and make the game more enjoyable. Only a golfer who has never smashed a long drive in the fairway would wonder why there is an obsession with distance.

At 56 the key for me is exercising to give my body more flexibility and core strength. Played with an 85 year old last week who averaged 250 - 260 off the tee. And he had knee surgery 6 weeks before. Flexibility!
 
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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Thainer21 said:
Long hitters don't appreciate a short-hitters need for hitting it longer.
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War Eagle said:
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.
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Zeff said:
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.
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InHartWeTrust said:
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
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Wake said:
Golf is alot easier when you can get into the short irons on your approach shots. It isn't really hard to figure out why people want to hit it far.
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Seems to me that the people who downplay the advantages of more distance off the tee, are the people who are getting that distance!
 
Smallville said:
Seems to me that the people who downplay the advantages of more distance off the tee, are the people who are getting that distance!
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Something tells me that it is an odd sense of humility... Or something.


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When first learning to play I was a teenager who wanted to crush the ball every swing. I was a teenage boy. that's what we do.

Dad said hit it straight before you worry about hitting long. More distance just gets you further into trouble otherwise.

He was right, but I still swung out of my shoes every time. My best shot became punching out from under trees and fading it up the fairway a hundred yards...because I wouldn't stop swinging out of my shoes and got lots of practice punching out of the trees. :)

Most of us still behave like teenagers when the driver comes out. We can't help it. Lol
 
Distance is an obsession only for what it can do. I'd like to think that if I was able to hit it 300y, I'd never want more than that. I suspect I'm fooling myself there, admittedly.
Another...20-30 yards on my drive, I could play any set of tees at the locals easily. Right now, if I'm not hitting my best drive I can recover from the whites, usually have an outside chance to recover from the blues, but from the tips it's an extra shot.

And we all, deep in our black little hearts, want to play the tips. Or at least to be able to with some small degree of competence.

Other than that, it's the shorter approaches. 9i vs 6i, it adds up over time.

Mind you, this is all assuming at least the accuracy I currently have. If I could hit 12/14 fairways every round, I'd give UP another...10, maybe 20y. If I had to choose between 300y with 6/14 and 230 with 12/14...I don't know. Out of the fairway tends to be wet or lost here, and you can only play so many scrambles.
 
I played today from the gold like i usually do, (its because that's were leagues are played and i want to get better in league) its 3157, 9 hole course. I don't know how that compares.

I do know I didn't have my diver, only my 3h. I still shot what i normally do ( 57 :( ) i was only hitting the 3h about 200 on average. My driver is usually 270. I lost 70 yards and played as good as i usually do, and should have done way better (inside of a 100 yards and i struggle, really really really badly) part of it maybe because I was a little more accurate than i usually am. Part off it maybe that i was forced to use a club i couldn't hit before and learned how to hit it, which opened a couple of shots up i couldn't make before.

I do know there are a few holes i won't use my driver much anymore because the accuracy with the 3h even 70 yards shorter is a bigger benefit.

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