WrightBalance.com - Golf Tips

Golf Tips and Articles

Golf Tips & Articles Archive

The Distance Disease

Email this Article to a Friend

Let's discuss distance as an expectancy. Men, in particular, are fixated on distance. When they find themselves in a group with a long hitter, they tend to compete. There must be some unwritten guideline of level of masculinity being equated with distance off the tee. These pairings with long hitters tend to create effort and tension in the swing of the shorter hitters in the group that spills into a deterioration in performance. This results because of a change from focused concentration on hitting targets to another player's performance.

Kenny Knox earned $423,025 in 1991 on the PGA Tour. Then at the 1992 PGA Championship he was paired in the final round with John Daly, who eventually won. Knox acknowledges that Daly’s distance got to him. Not long after that tournament, Knox pursued instruction to learn to hit the ball further. With his swing changes went the rest of his game. Kenny Knox said it best: "The feel that you have, that’s how you play the game. I really have lost that ability to play the game. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m tired of swinging like somebody else wants me to. When you’re thinking mechanics, you’re always changing your thoughts on the golf course. You make a good swing and say, ‘That reminds me of a swing I made at the 1986 Honda Classic-now I’ll try this...’"^ix

There is also the matter of attention. Remember, what you feed attention grows. PGA Tour player Tom Watson estimates that between fifty and seventy percent of golf fans want to watch John Daly, the 1990's PGA Tour long driver, first and foremost.^x

I find it amusing to watch amateurs, usually men, try to compete with the distance of a long hitter in their group. I also find it interesting to listen to the "awe" expressed over a long drive. "Did you see that? He hit it off the planet!" Or, "He nearly drove the green on number 7!" Shots close to the pin or long putts are admired, but nothing like the long drive.

Advertisers are aware of the distance disease: "Hit it further," or "The longest Ball in Golf." They must sell balls; these slogans have been around for a while.

When Senior Tour driving distance leader Jim Dent was asked how he has changed over the years, he says: "Chipping and putting, which I worked on a lot before I came out on the Senior Tour. [Years ago] I almost never worked on them. I used to practice hitting the ball long because I thought that's all I had to do. I found out that wasn't true. You have to get the ball into the hole to [score well]."^xi

Larry Mize finished forty-third on the 1994 PGA Tour with $386,029 in official money. His average driving distance was 256.9 yards and his accuracy in hitting fairways was 78.8 percent. He placed fifth in driving accuracy on tour.^xii

Corey Pavin finished number one on the PGA Tour money list in 1991. He was named PGA Player of the Year. His average distance off the tee was 252 yards in both the 1991 and 1992 seasons. He says: "I lost concern for distance long ago. I can hit it 270 when I want to and that's far enough. I made eight eagles last season..." Pavin finished eighteenth and eighth on the 1993 and 1994 money list respectively with similar driving statistics.^xiii He won the 1995 US Open, finishing sixty-six out of seventy-three players in driving distance with an average of 257.3 yards.

Tom Kite, winner of the 1992 US Open, ranked fifty-first in hitting fairways, twenty-ninth in hitting greens, and fifth in putting among the sixty-six players who played the final two rounds. Kite had twenty-five putts both Saturday and Sunday. During the last round he made putts of fifteen, eighteen, twenty, and thirty-five feet, and shot an even par 72 to win by one shot. Similarly, Jeff Sluman hit only six greens on Sunday while making only one bogey and shot a one under par 71 to finish second in the tournament.^xiv

Monte Scheinblum was the 1992 National and World Long Drive Champion and finished second in that event in 1991 and 1993. Monte's goal is to one day play on the PGA Tour. He's a good player. Two weeks before winning the Long Drive Championship in October 1992, he shot a 63 at Southern Links in Illinois to tie Ray Floyd's course record. Monte will be the first to tell you that he didn't tie the course record by hitting the ball long; he did it with his short game. The better he hits his short irons, putts, and chips, the lower his score. Due to his distance and course management, Monte uses his driver much less than the average tour player.^xv

PGA Tour player Dennis Paulson finished the 1994 season second in driving distance. His longest drive of the year was 385 yards. Jose Maria Olazabal shot a course record 63 on Thursday, the first round of the PGA Freeport-McMoran Classic. Dennis broke the course record the next day with a ten under 62. He followed on Saturday with a 74 and finished fourth in the tournament. Dennis said he didn't hit the ball much better the day he shot 62 over the day he shot 74. The difference was his putting.^xvi

When Jack Nicklaus won the 1992 Senior US Open, he reportedly used his driver seventeen times in 72 holes. Gary player won the 1962 PGA Championship at Aronimink without ever using his driver.^xvii

So, what should you do when everybody is hitting it past you and you find yourself swinging for the fences trying to keep up? Peter Thompson won five British Opens and some one hundred other tournaments around the world. He relates advice he received from Sam Snead: "Sam once gave me a wonderful tip. He told me on the downswing, the longer you take to hit the ball, the farther you will hit it. It's just a feeling. You wouldn't vary one 10/100ths of a second-but it's the feeling of not rushing that's the trick."^xviii Recall that one of Nicklaus' three swing keys was to feel the same pace on the downswing as on the backswing.^xix

I would also encourage you to practice with a focus on grip pressure. Feel a very light grip pressure and hold that same pressure feeling for the entire swing. If you go after a ball on the tee, you will likely increase your grip pressure at the top of the swing and hit an errant shot.

Research shows:

Twenty-five percent of the game is wood play.
Forty-three percent is putting.
Approximately seventy-two percent of the game is played from 150 yards in.

When you are on the tee, focus your concentration on your fairway target and repeat the feeling of your practice swing. A distance focus will tend to create effort, tension, and errant shots. Your best distance and accuracy will come naturally, not forced.

Email this Article to a Friend