The Exceptional Driving Championship

[ColinMB]

Hey folks,

Did anyone catch this last night on the G-channel? I was eating supper and it came on and basically it's your typical long ball/driver challenge except you get more points for accuracy. So hitting it deep on the 'grid' may get you points, but hitting it consistently straight and deep will win you the match.

Anyway, I'm watching these guys and I'm totally blown away by how some of them don't look like they're swinging that hard at all. I mean barely moving their shoulders.... they seem to collect everything, and slowly release it all at impact, almost like an illusion.

It's at that moment I'm watching these guys hit 320, straight, that I realize how little I seem to understand about 'power'. I was pretty impressed. Sure they're using pure distance balls and long shafts, but it was their mechanics that impressed me.... combined with the small stature of some of them.

With the direction golf is going, it makes me wonder if these guys learned the 100 yard and in game, why they don't go pro. (Must be an amateur to compete in the long drive).

Anyway, since by far the weakest part of my game is driver and driver distance, I'm always very impressed watching people half my size drill it 300+.

 

[twitch127]

Anyway, I'm watching these guys and I'm totally blown away by how some of them don't look like they're swinging that hard at all. I mean barely moving their shoulders.... they seem to collect everything, and slowly release it all at impact, almost like an illusion.

I haven't seen their patterns but one reason they look like they are swinging easy is because the more trigger delay you have ie. snap release the slower the hands look. This is the endless belt effect - the smaller the pully the longer the linaer section. Hands travel slowly due to the long linear (straight line) section until they reach the pully section where they speed up and whirl around the pully. The hands and clubhead will have the same rpm but different surface speeds as they go around the pully due to centrifugal acceleration ie the catching up action of the clubhead to find its in-line condition

With the direction golf is going, it makes me wonder if these guys learned the 100 yard and in game, why they don't go pro. (Must be an amateur to compete in the long drive).

Long driving and playing golf at tour level are as different as the guy in the backyard throwing a ball to his kid and playing for the yankees

Anyway, since by far the weakest part of my game is driver and driver distance, I'm always very impressed watching people half my size drill it 300+.

Good topic for next Manzella Live - generation of power and different ways to assemble, load, store, deliver and release the power package.

 

[Bigwill]

Hey folks,

Did anyone catch this last night on the G-channel? I was eating supper and it came on and basically it's your typical long ball/driver challenge except you get more points for accuracy. So hitting it deep on the 'grid' may get you points, but hitting it consistently straight and deep will win you the match.

Anyway, I'm watching these guys and I'm totally blown away by how some of them don't look like they're swinging that hard at all. I mean barely moving their shoulders.... they seem to collect everything, and slowly release it all at impact, almost like an illusion.

It's at that moment I'm watching these guys hit 320, straight, that I realize how little I seem to understand about 'power'. I was pretty impressed. Sure they're using pure distance balls and long shafts, but it was their mechanics that impressed me.... combined with the small stature of some of them.

With the direction golf is going, it makes me wonder if these guys learned the 100 yard and in game, why they don't go pro. (Must be an amateur to compete in the long drive).

Anyway, since by far the weakest part of my game is driver and driver distance, I'm always very impressed watching people half my size drill it 300+.

It's not really a long drive competition, per se; length is a factor to a certain degree, but once you get to a certain yardage, the points level out, so there is a higher premium on accuracy, so a shorter hitter can beat a longer hitter. I think that there was only one guy in the final 8 that longdriver-type length, and he wasn't stepping on it. It's a competition that just about any decent driver of the ball can win, as opposed to a long drive competition, which is limited to athletically gifted or very strong players having a chance to win.

There are actually quite a few very good players on the long drive tour. Quite a few mini tour players, and even some tour hopefuls. Some of these guys can really play; they aren't all .just one-trick ponies

 

[mandrin]

twitch127, be careful simply repeating 'scientific' ideas from the yellow book, it really isn't the best scientific golf reference around.

I haven't seen their patterns but one reason they look like they are swinging easy is because the more trigger delay you have ie. snap release the slower the hands look. This is the endless belt effect - the smaller the pulley the longer the linear section.

Interesting - hence a golfer with very short arms should be able to obtain very high clubhead speeds since it means using a very small pulley?

Hands travel slowly due to the long linear (straight line) section until they reach the pulley section where they speed up and whirl around the pulley.

Just the opposite occurs in a real golf swing. The hands slow down prior to impact. Moreover long straight lines are really not part of any real golf swing. There are only curvilinear trajectories. (btw., hands/belt have a constant linear speed)

The hands and clubhead will have the same rpm but different surface speeds as they go around the pulley due to centrifugal acceleration ie the catching up action of the clubhead to find its in-line condition

Hands and clubhead only have the same angular speed if they have no relative motion. Since the club, approaching impact, has a rapid angular motion relative to that of the hands this idea of hands and clubhead having the same rpm is not correct. Moreover, the catching action up - i.e., release action- is not caused by centrifugal force.

 

[puttmad]

....

Hey folks,

Did anyone catch this last night on the G-channel? I was eating supper and it came on and basically it's your typical long ball/driver challenge except you get more points for accuracy. So hitting it deep on the 'grid' may get you points, but hitting it consistently straight and deep will win you the match.

Anyway, I'm watching these guys and I'm totally blown away by how some of them don't look like they're swinging that hard at all. I mean barely moving their shoulders.... they seem to collect everything, and slowly release it all at impact, almost like an illusion.

It's at that moment I'm watching these guys hit 320, straight, that I realize how little I seem to understand about 'power'. I was pretty impressed. Sure they're using pure distance balls and long shafts, but it was their mechanics that impressed me.... combined with the small stature of some of them.

With the direction golf is going, it makes me wonder if these guys learned the 100 yard and in game, why they don't go pro. (Must be an amateur to compete in the long drive).

Anyway, since by far the weakest part of my game is driver and driver distance, I'm always very impressed watching people half my size drill it 300+.

Colin,

I watch a lot of the replays of the Long Drive Series on Setanta Golf Channel and what sticks in my mind is the diversity of "athleticism" of the competitors, especially the women....

One spindly 17 year old kid (male) weighing no more than 10 stone, with skinny "no- muscle" arms and wearing borrowed golf shoes three sizes too big for him, bats it out 360 yards....
And the tiny jap women who bat it out 320-30 yards...

then theres the guy who hits in bare feet (360)........

I think its 95% technique......

One thing the majority have in common is the speed the clubhead moves the distance between just before impact to behind their back at the finish....watch it next time you get the chance....

 

[twitch127]

twitch127, be careful simply repeating 'scientific' ideas from the yellow book, it really isn't the best scientific golf reference around.

What is better then??? - That can explain scientific principles and outlay them directly into golf curricululm - the PGA manual

Interesting - hence a golfer with very short arms should be able to obtain very high clubhead speeds since it means using a very small pulley?

Wouldn't a short arm swing have a large pully section which allows a faster arm hand speed - ie hitting . eg. radial and not linaer motion

Just the opposite occurs in a real golf swing. The hands slow down prior to impact. Moreover long straight lines are really not part of any real golf swing. There are only curvilinear trajectories. (btw., hands/belt have a constant linear speed)

We all know that there are no straight lines and only curvilinear trajectories- This is just a concept Mandrin which can be very useful for golfers. I also understand how the kinematic sequence works - Don't try to make the endless belt CONCEPT something it isn't

Hands and clubhead only have the same angular speed if they have no relative motion. Since the club, approaching impact, has a rapid angular motion relative to that of the hands this idea of hands and clubhead having the same rpm is not correct. Moreover, the catching action up - i.e., release action- is not caused by centrifugal force.

What is it caused by then??

 

[ColinMB]

Colin,

I watch a lot of the replays of the Long Drive Series on Setanta Golf Channel and what sticks in my mind is the diversity of "athleticism" of the competitors, especially the women....

One spindly 17 year old kid (male) weighing no more than 10 stone, with skinny "no- muscle" arms and wearing borrowed golf shoes three sizes too big for him, bats it out 360 yards....
And the tiny jap women who bat it out 320-30 yards...

then theres the guy who hits in bare feet (360)........

I think its 95% technique......

One thing the majority have in common is the speed the clubhead moves the distance between just before impact to behind their back at the finish....watch it next time you get the chance....

Yes, that too... the disparity in athleticism is amazing. I went and had my speed checked again on driver... it's pretty bad. I believe that acceleration you're speaking of right at impact is probably the biggest thing. I wouldn't be surprised if most of us are slowing down at that point or have already 'spent' our power.

 

[puttmad]

....

Yes, that too... the disparity in athleticism is amazing. I went and had my speed checked again on driver... it's pretty bad. I believe that acceleration you're speaking of right at impact is probably the biggest thing. I wouldn't be surprised if most of us are slowing down at that point or have already 'spent' our power.

Its in the right arm mate...remember?...

 

[ColinMB]

Oh I remember... just can't put it together.

At the risk of over-simplifying... I think (for myself at least) it's about staying relaxed in the arms/hands/chest and just spending it all in the last 12" around impact.

I just got hooked up to a Cobra speed monitor, granted I was pretty pooped, but the one thing these speed monitors remind me of... the harder I go after the ball (sooner in the downswing) the slower I get. Golf is such a pain in the arse, isn't it?