how to get more distance ??

here's what i've read online; try teeing the ball lower and try and hit it high on the clubface. apparently the sweet spot on drivers sits a little higher on the clubface, partly cos golfers who swing out and over the top, they’re coming down pretty steep on the ball and tend to hit the ball high in the clubface. so the manufacturers moved the sweet spot so golfers can get a more solid feeling and get a little better distance.

i'm trying this out myself. not sure of the results yet but we golfers love to experiment right?

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but the real secret to toekong's massive distance has been staring at you in the face ever since his first few posts, and reiterated in his last.

"And also mind you, i have been playing badminton for 20 years so my coach says that is why i have a faster downswing, even faster than his son's."

What he has been doing while playing badminton for the last 20 years is really what we have all been trying to do at the range, a very efficient leveraging of his muscles with a very fast uncocking of his wrists. Think about it, badminton players are able to send something as light as a shuttlecock zipping at such a blinding speed that their opponent is unable to retrieve it. He may have been playing golf for only 4 months, but he has a 20 year head start on the rest of us.

Better go search for a slow mo video of Lin Dan's badminton swing on YouTube to unlock the secret!

So I suppose our next golf training is going to be at the badminton court?

ironfist wrote:

here's what i've read online; try teeing the ball lower and try and hit it high on the clubface. apparently the sweet spot on drivers sits a little higher on the clubface, partly cos golfers who swing out and over the top, they’re coming down pretty steep on the ball and tend to hit the ball high in the clubface. so the manufacturers moved the sweet spot so golfers can get a more solid feeling and get a little better distance.

i'm trying this out myself. not sure of the results yet but we golfers love to experiment right?

Sorry to correct you bro Ironfist, but there is some misinformation here about the sweet spot moving higher up the face cos of golfers hitting it more often there, if that were so, why is the sweet spot in the same area of the clubhead for the pros as well, who don't swing the way we amateurs do?

The other alternative to teeing the ball lower to hit it higher on the face, is to simply tee it higher so at least half the ball sits above the clubhead. This encourages a flatter upward sweeping swing rather than the steeper swing which a low tee would promote (one of the reasons for sky high balls to the right).

As for why the sweet spot moved (I'm trying to recall from memory).... years ago, there was talk that contacting the ball on the top third of a metal driver seemed to give more distance. That talk became loud enough that testing was done to confirm if this was true. The sweet spot then was always set to be in the middle of the driver's clubface, and when the ball was struck on that spot, impact felt and sounded good, or as some would say, orgasmic. Back then, the advice was to tee the ball up so that the top third of the ball would be above the clubface, therefore equating the centre of the ball with the centre of the clubface on impact.

Testing eventually bore out the the talk to be true. What was discovered (even manufacturers didn't know this), was that the top third of of the driver's clubface had a hot spot, which is entirely different from the sweet spot in the centre of the face. What striking the ball on the hot spot did was give more distance, but it did not feel or sound as good. Whereas striking the ball on the sweetspot felt and sounded good, but didn't give as much distance. The science of this was that the hot spot lowered backspin for a more optimum launch angle (something they couldn't test in those days), which is what we see in all drivers today.

After the test results were made public, manufacturers moved the sweet spot to match the hot spot in the top third of the clubface, resulting in the low spinning, high launching drivers of today. Thus too, why today we now tee at least half the ball above the crown of the driver.

fantastic background info there BM. yeah i wasn't too sure about that info which i repeat again i read online and by no means spewed forth from my n00b brain to this forum. haha and no need to be sorry bro. i've only been interested in golf for abt a year so there's tons of things i'm still learning about.

No worries, I just wanted to make that the others don't get mislead and confused by the misinformed article you read.

I am fortunate and old enough to have read the actual test article which I probably still have in the mountains of golf magazines I have lying around.

Birdman: Thanks for the writing there. Very informative. Very orgasmic for a golf geek like me who read into the science and physics of all golf-related stuffs.

It seems like I have finally found a place to discuss in-depth on the geeky aspects of golf. This is something that I cannot do with my current golf kakis.

When I try to talk about such "technicalities", they either look at me with a "are you crazy?!" stare or dismiss me off with a "don't know what sh** you are talking about".

Coming back, maybe I AM crazy...

You haven't met Ghoonk yet! I'm just an idiot compared to him.

When he gets going, I also think "don't know what sh** you are talking about".



But you will definitely love him, as we all do.

I still don't know what sh** he is talking about though.

Did someone call?

Wah.... You finally pop up! Which bedouin tent have you been hiding in?

Your presence is sorely missed.

We have dropped in our two cents worth, please add in your two dollars.

Birdman wrote:

Wah.... You finally pop up! Which bedouin tent have you been hiding in?

Your presence is sorely missed.

We have dropped in our two cents worth, please add in your two dollars.

he's been test driving audis and zhnging his ride!

Great cars, but time to upgrade, Audi there a dime a dozen.

Lamborghini Murcielago or Gallardo at the very least la....

Then he'll really be driving for show.... both on and off the course!

Birdman wrote:

Great cars, but time to upgrade, Audi there a dime a dozen.

Lamborghini Murcielago or Gallardo at the very least la....

Then he'll really be driving for show.... both on and off the course!

Erm i am just stalking him on facebook, and being envious.

When will i be able to afford an Audi A5, let alone a S6 like someone

I was wondering how come you so in the know?

RS4 over the A5 anyday la... A5 poser only, RS4 is more hardcore.

he driving S6 now....even more power

Oh, been busy with the S6 that just joined that stable. Having an RS4 and S6 teaches one why it's no fun to have more than 2 loves in one's life -- RS4 is great fun to drive, lovely V8 snarling soundtrack, and handles incredibly well, while the S6 is a great way to start and end the day, cosseting, yet so very agile despite the 2-ton laden weight, and the V10's soundtrack is truly something to behold (despite the fact that I only get 500 km off an 80l fuel tank with normal driving -- thank god 80l of 90RON costs just SGD40 here!)

I'm done with low-slung cars and fancy supercars in this place. While the roads aren't bad per se, there are some poorly repaired patches that remind me so sorely of what happens when the wonderful agencies and companies in Singapore rip up the roads, patch it back, rip it up again, patch it back, etc -- it kinda gets bumpy, even in a Merc E class. In fact, it was between an S8 and an S6 for me, but the S8 was quite a few pennies more, and would be a tight fit in the garage at the villa

The A5 3.2l quattro isn't a bad car, has a nice interior, good handling and power. Still a tad pricey in Singapore for my liking though. The S5, on the other hand, is quite good, except that Audi went and used that useless 343bhp V8 out of the S4. Despite that, the century sprint is still accomplished in 5 seconds, which isn't bad at all, especially when the convenience and precision of the DSG is brought into play. The new RS5 runs the same engine as the RS4, with a modified airbox and a couple of tweaks that brings power from 420bhp on the RS4 to 450bhp on the RS5, which is more than the R8 V8.

Now, how to get more distance?

For irons, I've noticed one thing -- I had the tendency not to hit down on the ball with a flat left wrist, and as a result, was not compressing the ball enough. Using my normal swing, a 7i goes around 150 yds or approx 135m. By flattening my left wrist (almost feels like delofting the face, but it doesn't, as ball flight shows), the 7i goes 170yds easily, and I've hit 5i into 210 yds consistently with the new technique. Takes some getting used to, and I'm not spending enough time at the range to groove this. The upside of this technique is more backspin (ball stops dead on a green), more distance (easily another 20%) and it changes errors from a tendency to fade to a tendency to pull if not struck well. I get into less trouble with a pull, which jurongtiger will attest to.

For driver, I'm not really sure how i get my distance. I don't put much effort into my swing (jurongtiger and a couple of friends I know say my swing looks very 'easy' / relaxed), and I get around 250 yds easy. Tendency for me is to fade my shot (not by choice) and that steals distance. I've noticed that by maintaining my spine angle and avoiding use of the hip to trigger the downswing that I get more distance and straighter shots. On impact (correct swing), my hips are either in line with target or slightly closed -- opening the hips too early results in my hands not catching up fast enough and face angle gets caught open. I've also learned that instead of trying to rip my shot, an easy swing that catches the sweetspot of the clubface gets me distance and accuracy.

Flat left wrist buddy, that's the way to go for the irons. Purer contact, great trajectory, and then a hop and a stop. Sweet! Worked a treat for me too for a stretch of six months till I fiddled around too much and lost it. Working to get it back now, and I'm getting occasional flashes of it, but not enough for consistent GIR.

I don't have the luxury of your height and build, thus can't swing easy. I need to max it out, even then I'll still be behind your drive by about 25 yards. Active hips, fast hands, and max X factor for me since I'm undertall and overswinging.

As for your cars.... ever push 'em on a track? Pity if you use them for just daily commutes.

Actually, swinging easy is also the secret to lag. I had it right some time back and that gave me damn impressive fairway hit percentages and distance (280 yds average) but lost it after not playing for a month and some. Use it or lose it, I guess...

I used to track my Evo seriously -- it was a project car built within a specific budget and used an entire year, even through the hot summer months on track. Pretty amazing but was way too harsh for daily use, especially with the kind of stress I have to deal with these days at work

Never tracked the RS4, and I'm sure it would be really fun, but the idea of burning up tyres that cost SGD900 apiece isn't appealing, nor is the need for new pads and rotors (around SGD4k) every year. New bushings every year would put me back another SGD2k, so no point la.

The S6 will never see a track either, mostly cos I suspect that the 80l fuel tank will probably only survive 20 minutes, max.

I am no big fan of cars and drives an old chevy to work everyday so no comments.

But I do agree with the flat left wrist theory by Ghoonk and the over firing of hips at impact theory. I for one am guilty of that on many occasions, as Ghoonk can testify.

I think I have lots to work on before the game next weekend. And bro, if you say Jumeirah was windy, pls be prepared for Saadiyat. At the back nine, you are playing with the ocean to your left, about 800m away. Dun say I dun warn you. So you can use your low flight drives again. Unfortunately I dun have many options off the tee.... one dimensional drives for me...

Might make more sense to play my hybrid off the tee. Shall we meet up earlier and get some lunch and some practice before we tee off?

Yeah, I think the flat wrist is very crucial for the loft of the clubhead to come into the ball and pushing it down impacts solid backspin on the ball, which is the most important factor for ball's air time.

And we all know that long air time equals longer distance. This theory is used by long driver competitors who use stop-watches to measure their balls' air time.

If you look at the pro's iron shots, all very relaxed swing but all very very high flight and seem to float at the peak of trajectory forever. I used to wonder why pro's ball flight is like that, now I know why. The secret is backspin.

ghook: I believe the only way to compare the 2 cars, is to race them side by side. I can volunteer. But if you take one car, and I take one car, the variable of drivers is there. So after one race, we must do it again on same circuit, but swap drivers for the cars. Then we average the timing for the 2 races and voila!

no point comparing the 2 cars la. But thanks for the offer My housemate is an avid trackie as well, so I have a test driver on hand if i need one. Those days are past me already, am happy to be in a fast, comfy car. My next upgrade in 2 years would probably be into an RS6, and 3 years after that, probably into an S8 or an Arnage

Sure thing. We can meet up for 45min warm up session first. This time round I confirm wldnt be late cos my villa is 10min from the course! hoho

BUt lunch cannot, cos wife wld have prepared something and waitin for me at home liao... you know la... one month 3 games very hard to make wife happy... hehe

ghoonk wrote:

Might make more sense to play my hybrid off the tee. Shall we meet up earlier and get some lunch and some practice before we tee off?

I think you wld be in Dubai for a while man.. hehe.. come visit me in Saudi if the move materialise lah... the OCT90 there = 45 fils/L!!!!!!!!!!!! = 0.18 SGD

Now tell me wher got cheaper gas??

ghoonk wrote:

no point comparing the 2 cars la. But thanks for the offer My housemate is an avid trackie as well, so I have a test driver on hand if i need one. Those days are past me already, am happy to be in a fast, comfy car. My next upgrade in 2 years would probably be into an RS6, and 3 years after that, probably into an S8 or an Arnage

Eh, you think Saudi suka suka can fly in and out one ah? You better go and check the 'requirements' hor... the reason I didnt want to take up the Saudi offer was in the event that something happens to me there, my family cannot get access to me... or what's left of me.

Have heard horror stories about that place -- some idiot local langgar you (or your car), and you are at fault because (and this was quoted from a police officer at the scene of the accident) "this accident would not have happened if you were not in this country"... wtf. go figure.