Doug, in his question and comments below threw me a curve.  As I was reading his words, especially referencing Joe’s question about losing distance, I thought I was being led to answer how one can maintain or regain lost distance with the driver.  With his last sentence he states he can still hit it long but less consistently and with less accuracy.  So, does Doug want me to address consistency and accuracy or loss of distance?  In the interest of Joe and Doug I will answer both.

Joe says:
Surge, I turned 50 as all golfers get older they lose distance. Is there an exercise I can do so I can get back some?

Doug Banks says:
Surge…., Joe, on February 22, 2010, asked a question about distance. I am interested in your answer. Somehow, those of us that are “seasoned” enough to (maybe) understand the game, and young enough (like Joe) to still be strong, would like to know what time “blurring” concepts…exercise, or whatever, will allow us to regain/retain, the distance we once had. I can still hit it long, but, less consistently, and I lose accuracy…
I like to play with the Kids….
Doug

The Surge says:
Hello Everyone.  Distance is the #1 issue for most golfers.  After all, golf is a game of distance, hitting the ball from tee to green.  And hitting longer drives to have shorter shots to the greens usually means hitting more greens and hitting it closer. That means making more putts and shooting lower scores, which is the essence of why we play.

Before I answer Doug and Joe in this article, I will directly answer them by referencing previous daily articles where I discussed these same topics and more.  On 10/24/09 I wrote “Think Distance…Control or Accuracy” which this title speaks for itself.  Doug’s mention of exercise or whatever was well covered on 12/3/09 in the article “Winter Workout.”  Joe and Doug’s reference to age was covered on 12/6/09 in “Getting Older / Distance Shorter.”  Then on January 23, 2010, I wrote “Diminishing Driver Distance” which referenced The Golf Channel’s documentary celebrating Jack Nicklaus on his 70th birthday.  I highlighted Jack’s references of his losing clubhead speed and distance since his late 50’s to early 60’s.  I also referenced comments by 49 year old Kenny Perry in Golfweek Magazine where Kenny was mentioning he was already seeing was already seeing 4 to 6 yards loss of distance with his driver.

Starting with answering Joe’s question: Yes, you can do exercises and stretching and some weight training. Good diet and nutrition also add to getting and staying healthy and fit.  And as I always say, we must only enter into doing these programs with the consent of your doctor and the advice and guidance of experts in these areas you choose to work on your fitness.  Naturally, I cannot overlook mentioning that your golf clubs are a big part of playing golf.  Getting fitted by a certified club fitter to make sure your clubs are the correct fit, especially in the shaft flex or stiffness, is critical to your clubs performing relative to you present state of health and fitness.

This means that as we age, as soon as we see or feel changes in our strength, fitness, endurance, speed, and for golf, loss of driving distance and loss of carry in our iron shots, it is time to see the club fitter.  You need to see if you need changes in your shaft flex and load and kick characteristics of your shafts as well as changes in your set makeup, like adding more hybrids.

To Doug, since you still have distance, but not the consistency and accuracy your desire, I think you need to focus on the consistency and the accuracy.  After all, hitting it more solid and straight, if even a little shorter than bombing it crooked, in the long run, your statistics will prove you’ll always be longer in the total picture.

In the article “Think Distance or Control/Accuracy,” the article begins with this.  “Dale Weaver wrote in a blog the other day, I’m more of a control thinker than of a distance thinker.  I’d much rather have a 150 yard shot straight for the green from the fairway than a 100 yard shot out of the rough.”  What do you think about Dale’s course management style of thinking?

I think that Dale and The Surge are brothers of the “Straight is Great” fraternity of golf course management.  As far as I am concerned, the only place to play golf consistently and successfully is out of the fairway.

Doug, I recommend you and everyone, whether you hit it long or not long enough, will play better golf and shoot lower scores if YA’LL join Dale and me in the “Straight is Great” fraternity.  Playing from the short grass is the way to play to shoot lower scores.

One major fact of life after birth is simply that every day we grow older.  The more we work at staying fit and healthy the longer we can perform to a higher level.  Giving a lesson a year or so ago I came to a major conclusion about fitness and performance, both from watching my students and from witnessing my own growing older issues.

Many of my students, like myself, were working at keeping fit and healthy, but we were still losing distance.  In my case, my loss was not as significant as most of my students.  In fact, my loss was minimal compared to most of them.  I concluded that was because my swing was much more consistent and I hit the ball much straighter because my ball striking was much more solid and on line.  So, it was obvious a good swing and good ball striking are great equalizers to slowing down loss of distance.  What is the primary thief of stealing distance from us as we age?

LOSS OF SPEED and STAMINA is the culprit.  I ran this by Dr. Armstrong and he agreed whole heartedly.  Many of us can still do things as well and sometimes better as we have more time as in retirement to play golf and practice more.  But what we can’t do is walk and run as fast or hit as many practice balls on the range or play as many holes or work as many hours as we did in our younger days, even if we still keep working out.  Why?  Because our muscles don’t fire as fast as they used to.  They also loose strength and stamina even when we may get more flexible.  When the muscles slow down due to age, everything we do slows down.  And as far as golf is concerned, slower arms = less club speed and less club speed = less distance.  This is a fact of life.  The sooner we admit it and accept it and make the appropriate adjustments, life and golf go on in a better and more productive way.

The answer for playing good to better golf is simply mastering the PPGS, the body friendly swing and joining the “Straight is Great” fraternity.   To join, there are no indoctrination or hell night trials to take and pass.  The only requirement is to know and accept the consequences of aging, and work at staying fit and healthy.  Then the last step is you decide that accuracy is more important than distance.  And congratulations, you are in.  Now all you need to learn is the secret handshake.

(Note to Inner Circle Members: Be sure to visit the Member Forums for the new Golf School, March 10-12, At Port St. Lucie, FL. Click here to see what our students said about the last one. And I’d say you have about 5 days left to get a custom made driver, exactly like the one I use.)

The Surge!

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