zxcvzxcv wrote:
Driving averages among golf pros have risen from 256 to nearly 300 in recent years, and where John Daly started hitting over 300 to lead the tour on many occasions, Rory McIlroy hit 326 in 2023. To what extent the difference is due to weight training, doping, and/or technology remains a question.
""But it’s Tiger Woods who’s often credited with revolutionizing the sport’s attitude towards the gym.
Aged 24, Woods said his daily routine would involve a four-mile run, a weightlifting workout, several hours of hitting balls and putting practice, another four-mile run, then an evening playing basketball or tennis if he fancied it."
It is about one part technology, one part training (both strength and speed) and one part a totally different kind of athlete picking up the clubs.
Lee Trevino, Gary Player and Chi Chi Rodriguez were about 5'7". Palmer, Niklaus and Hogan were the big guys at about 5'10". Then, distance started to become a factor with big tall guys like Els, Faldo, and David Love III (all about 6'3") hitting a very long ball. Now, there are very few pros who are shorter than 6' and every player on the tour has an extensive strength training component to their day. There is not a big difference between a gym session for a golfer and for a MLB baseball player. The golfer won't lift as heavy, but that is about all the difference. And a lot of training and swing style has been adopted to increase swing speed.
Technology is also a significant factor. The ball has improved so much that the PGA is going to start dialing back ball flight starting in 2030 (players are pissed and will probably block it). I played a lot in the late 80s and 90s. I bought a good Taylor Made driver in the late 1990s and could carry the ball about 220-230 with it. I got back into playing in the late 2010s and bought the latest Taylor Made Sim2 driver. My carry went up to 250-260 just with using the latest tech and probably would have been longer as I was now in my late 40s. Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson are in their 50s and have been able to maintain driver distance thanks to club technology and improved fitness/strength/speed training.
