| The long distance golf driver is a development in golf | | | | actually lose distance instead of gaining it! |
| club design that has been welcomed with open arms | | | | So the bottom line is that with a long distance driver, if |
| by many golfers. Up until about 20 years ago, the only | | | | you strike the ball at the wrong spot, even by a tiny |
| way to increase your distance was to improve | | | | fraction of an inch, all the advantages will disappear, |
| technique, but since then there has been an endless | | | | and you may find yourself worse off than with a |
| development of long distance golf drivers. | | | | regular driver. |
| But do they actually work? Let's take a look at the | | | | Some of these new distance drivers cost a lot of |
| theory and the facts. | | | | money, and it could be argued that the money could |
| The short answer is that if the long distance driver is | | | | be better spent on some sessions in the nets to |
| going to work for you, there is an essential proviso. | | | | improve your swing! |
| This is that your swing needs to be consistent and | | | | In some cases you may even find that you get more |
| accurate. | | | | distance by using a shorter club. This is a mental issue, |
| The long distance driver works due to basic laws of | | | | that people hold a driver in their hand, and think they |
| physics. The shaft is longer, which means that the | | | | need to give the ball an extra hard wallop. That is |
| speed of the club head as it strikes the ball increases, | | | | simply incorrect, and the thought of hitting harder often |
| and therefore the ball goes further. The modern | | | | ruins the swing. |
| equipment has lighter shafts too, meaning you can | | | | So if your swing is not yet consistent, you might be |
| swing faster to increase this impact speed even more. | | | | better off taking a low iron or a driving iron, and work |
| All well and good, but here's the kicker - with a longer | | | | on increasing your accuracy first. Over time, you'll find |
| shaft and higher speed, you get a bigger arc of the | | | | your distance shots improve. |
| swing, and the sweet spot on the ball gets smaller and | | | | If you have an accurate and predictable swing, then it |
| smaller! This means that to get the advantage of the | | | | could be a great time to move on to trying out a long |
| physics of the design of this club, you need to | | | | distance driver. |
| consistently hit the ball at the exact correct point. If you | | | | So to sum up, long distance golf drivers do work, but |
| don't, you not only lose the advantages, but the same | | | | you need to have the technical swing to get the full |
| laws of physics start to work against you, and you | | | | benefit. |