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For the past week or 2 I've been really baffled by how pros can drive 300+ yards? Is it due to a down hill course and weather conditions (i.e. strong back wind blowing behind the ball etc.) or is it all technique?

I think I have a good technique and I can drive an average of about 245-255 yards at the golf range, but the golf range I go to is up hill so I never know how far I'm actually driving. I use to go to the range and work on my distance everytime but now I've realised that it's a bad mentality to take onto the practice range. I now concentrate more on technique, working on rhythm, tempo, shape of swing etc, rather than trying to hit the ball as far as posible. I think when you have the right technique, the distance will come naturally but will I ever drive 300+ yards like pros?

With the pros its is all technique, athletic ability, and yes sometimes a wind at their back or downhill. This has been discussed many times here, and a lot of people wont agree with me and that is fine, but until someone proves it and I actually see it, then in my book the verdict is to hit a 300 yard drive you've got to have at least a 115+ mph golf swing. All things perfect, a 115 golf swing should get you out there around 300, but that is probably with great contact, no wind, etc.

You may actually be hitting it further than 255 also...don't let the range fool you. A lot of ranges have 80% balls which carry only 80% of the actual distance you're hitting it, which for you probably still wont be 300 but will be further than 255.

I hate range balls. I sometimes wonder how effective beating them actually is at helping you to improve your swing. I mean, I imagine it's probably fairly commonplace for decent players to use a slightly different swing on the range simply because the ball is a rock than they do on the course with their softer balls. That's not effective.

At different times, I know I've been a little gun shy about hitting range balls. Any day I'm hitting the ball a little thin I dread and usually don't go to the range. Hit those rocks thin and you won't be practicing long, after all!

Agree that with the Pros. it is technique, athletic ability, time to practice with teaching pros., working out in gym and etc. These are all things that the weekend golfer just does not have a ready access to.

Not only are the balls an issue for me, but also bouncing irons off of the artificial mats. For me, shots that would normally be fat, are corrected somewhat. I can feel the good, solid hits, its just that the bad ones also tend to go straight and pretty far which doesn't help in correcting the swing flaw I'm trying to work on - which is why I'm at the range in the first place.

Not all pros can and or do hit 300 to begin with. I like to leave myself out 140 to 160 due to the fact that gives me a 5,6 or 7 iron to the green which are my most reliable and accurate clubs. By no means am I any kind of expert but I would venture a guess that the pros go about it the same way.

A 380 par 4 only requires a 230 drive. Why try to step on it and risk putting it in the long stuff when I know my distance and accuracy starts to become inconsistent with the shorter clubs to begin with.

Good fro you,

Many pros hit at least 500 to 800 balls a day for 5 to 6 days a week and play at least three times a week, and more of their time on the short game than anything. You are correct the Distance just comes and its best to be the last thing you learn.

Now what I have said here is not for everyone, there are people like Love who practice less because they know themselves and he doesn't need much practice. Like myself I started to play at 2 years old and members of my family are golf pros and the more I practice the worse I get. This is just because it is natural for me and if I don't know how to manage my thoughts on the course I can get in my way.

For everyone technique eventually is less important that course management and constructive mental outlook.

MORE THAN ANYTHING LEARN TO KNOW YOURSELF. I didn't learn this till I was in my late 20's. It sounds like you have started to figure this out.

I hit my 3W from the tee nearly as often as I hit my driver, and sometimes more so. I'd rather have a 4I to the green from the fairway than a penalty shot or a 6I from the trees. If I'm hitting my driver well that day, I'll play the driver a lot. I'm accurate when I can be. But even on those days, the difference between a PW to a green and an 8I is minimal, and if I want to work the ball at all, I go with the 3W.

not to metion, they are playing top condition courses that also when cut the fairways they are rolled to get a better bounce and roll. I have very often hit 270- 280 and be 1 yard from the hole my ball made when it hit the soggy to damp fairway

geez, i guess i'd be exhausted hitting 500 to 800 balls a day. no wonder it's a slooow process,lol.

stagday

It's about centeredness of contact. If you strike the ball squarely in the middle with the club having slight accelleration from impact to seperation, it is quite possible to drive it 300 yards with less than 115 mph.

I had a driver which I would only swing a 105.. quite consistently I would hit it 300 or more.

But, like in bowling where they set up the lanes to produce more strikes for the pro's, they set up the courses to be fast including the fairways. The fairways are cut almost as low as the greens and often the superintendents don't water them for the duration of the event.

These are true statements.

I've been blessed (cursed?)with a high swing speed(I've hit 128mph on a swing speed "thingy"). I can crank out 300-yard drives if I want to. This past Summer I hit one 342 yards( OK it was the rarified air of Colorado with a slight right-to left breeze to accent a slight draw).
Here's what I do if you a re interested.
1)I don't think of swinging hard. I just swing.
2)I concentrate on making SQUARE CONTACT with the ball
3)Most importantly(IMHO) I look 300+ yards out. I look where I want the ball to land. I swear if I looked at the 225-yard mark the ball would go there. LOOK FURTHER OUT and EXPECT your ball to go there. I swear this helps!
I also race dirt bikes thru the woods. I used to hit all the junk on the trail, including rocks, roots, ruts and trees themselves.......... UNTIL..... I was told to "LOOK WHERE YOU WANT THE BIKE TO GO", not at the stuff you don't want to hit. It works.
Try it.

Square contact is a must...centeredness? You could certainly do worse than hitting one "in the screws", meaning dead center of the club face, such as thinning one off the leading edge of the clubhead. Probably you won't be disappointed if you do hit it square in the center. That said, I have noticed while watching tv that most of the long batting pros attempt to catch the ball in the equator with the top edge of the club face or at least the top third...clearly seen when they use that super slo-mo shot link or something like that. One of those technique things. Makes me think ball compression may be more useful to them than the club's c.o.r.

I wholeheartedly agree with the lady master...technique first, then add power a little at a time.

I don't focus on results so much at the range because half the balls are out of round and/or dead...I concentrate on timing, tempo, form, contact...most of us know when we've done it right or wrong without even looking. Ever play at dusk, bust it off the tee with a good feel, and never find it? Find it in the middle? The shot happens right in front of you, not downrange.

All the ranges at our little W Tx nine-hole courses have grass tees. Mats? Only if you have to....

Shade

I'd venture to say most pros use about a 1, 2, or even a 3 iron on a 380 yard par 4.