Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.

Diagnose Why You're Losing Distance Off the Tee

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify where you're making contact on the clubface and its impact on distance
  • Evaluate your club head speed to determine if it's affecting your performance
  • Develop a plan to address specific swing faults that may be costing you distance

In this video, we’ll explore common reasons for losing distance in your drives and how to assess your swing for improvement. Understanding the factors affecting your contact and club head speed is key to regaining that lost yardage.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.360
In this concept video, we're going to discuss losing distance so it's very

2
00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.400
frequent in this adventure of learning golf that you're going to have great

3
00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:14.360
weeks and then bad weeks or great rounds followed by bad rounds. Well one of

4
00:00:14.360 --> 00:00:14.480
the

5
00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.040
more frustrating things for a lot of my students is when you have a great day

6
00:00:18.040 --> 00:00:22.320
and you're driving the ball 290 300 yards and then you go out there the next

7
00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:28.080
day and you're topping out at 260. Now I get a fair amount of emails as far as

8
00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:32.740
what do you think I'm doing and I always respond with let's start with the

9
00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:37.440
objective data and you tell me what you think might be happening so we can come

10
00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:42.920
up with a plan. So there's a few little objective things that you want to try

11
00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:43.200
to

12
00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:50.280
zero in on. One is going to be contact so the first time you know you start to

13
00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:55.320
have issues as far as losing distance that you've already gained the first

14
00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.520
thing I want you to do is either spray the face or take impact tape or you

15
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:04.040
can even just take a strip of electrical tape and place it across the face and

16
00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:09.550
monitor where you're making contact with it. If you're making contact with it

17
00:01:09.550 --> 00:01:09.800
in

18
00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:13.520
a place that's a little bit further away from the sweet spot than what you're

19
00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:19.280
used to you can lose significant amount of distance. With a driver hitting as

20
00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.400
much as a half inch off sweet spot which really a half inch you know kind of

21
00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:23.520
the

22
00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:27.080
size of the width of your thumb isn't going to be a whole lot so if you're

23
00:01:27.080 --> 00:01:32.280
hitting a half inch off of the sweet spot that could cost you 20 yards or so

24
00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:37.440
so that could potentially or sorry 20% of your distance so if you're used to

25
00:01:37.440 --> 00:01:42.140
hitting the ball about 300 yards and we take away 20% that would be about 240

26
00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:42.320
so

27
00:01:42.320 --> 00:01:47.160
perhaps you're doing in your swing that is affecting your contact. The next

28
00:01:47.160 --> 00:01:52.840
piece I would look at would be club head speed so obviously it's very hard to

29
00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.720
monitor club head speed unless you have a launch monitor but if you do have a

30
00:01:56.720 --> 00:02:01.280
launch monitor you can always just pop it up quickly take a few swings or even

31
00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.920
just a radar monitor quickly take a few swings and see if you've lost it. I'll

32
00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.440
tell you that that seems to be the least common. Usually I'm going to look at

33
00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:16.920
contact first then I'm gonna look at club head speed and that one rarely is it.

34
00:02:16.920 --> 00:02:21.120
The third thing we'll look at will be ball flight and specifically we're gonna

35
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.600
look at the height of the shot as well as the curve so if a ball if my long

36
00:02:26.600 --> 00:02:31.360
drives are kind of having this nice little plateauing kind of climbing high

37
00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:35.560
and then plateauing and then landing and today I'm hitting a ball that's kind

38
00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:35.640
of

39
00:02:35.640 --> 00:02:39.680
spinning a little bit high off to the right that's gonna help me understand

40
00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:44.160
what I might be doing differently with my face or my path that's causing me to

41
00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:49.800
have basically a decrease spin loft and I'm not transferring as much energy to

42
00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:55.400
the golf ball. Now the last little I'm gonna call it kind of 3b or 4 is going

43
00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:00.800
to be what are the conditions that you're playing in. Now frequently I've had

44
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.680
players especially since I've been teaching here in Colorado where we have

45
00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:09.240
dramatic changes in temperature. You could have a day where you're hitting

46
00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:14.160
well great and then the next day is about 20 degrees cooler and now I've

47
00:03:14.160 --> 00:03:18.640
got a jacket on I've decreased the range of motion I've probably slowed down my

48
00:03:18.640 --> 00:03:23.950
club head speed a little bit I've you know affected my spin loft and and

49
00:03:23.950 --> 00:03:24.680
because

50
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:28.960
of having to swing around all this clothing and that's caused me to lose

51
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:34.400
distance. So I try to communicate that every day you kind of have to gauge a

52
00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:39.720
little bit unless you've got all these variables under control. So use the

53
00:03:39.720 --> 00:03:45.200
logical kind of post shot routine to be able to to really zero in on why you

54
00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:45.400
may

55
00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:49.780
be losing distance and that will help you develop a plan to adjust your

56
00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:54.520
pattern to get either the path or the face to the path back on track so that

57
00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:57.960
you can get contact and if it's because of the temperature and you're the fact

58
00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:01.560
that you're wearing more clothes you're just gonna have to deal with the fact

59
00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:05.160
that today what I would normally hit my eight iron I'm now gonna grab a seven

60
00:04:05.160 --> 00:04:10.200
iron but that's kind of the the big picture of how you play golf and how you

61
00:04:10.200 --> 00:04:15.520
adjust for how your game is going to change a little bit but by tracking it

62
00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:20.020
we'll figure out these patterns and you'll know what you should adjust.

Have questions?

Ask Mulligan for help
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.

Diagnose Why You're Losing Distance Off the Tee

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify where you're making contact on the clubface and its impact on distance
  • Evaluate your club head speed to determine if it's affecting your performance
  • Develop a plan to address specific swing faults that may be costing you distance

In this video, we’ll explore common reasons for losing distance in your drives and how to assess your swing for improvement. Understanding the factors affecting your contact and club head speed is key to regaining that lost yardage.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.360
In this concept video, we're going to discuss losing distance so it's very

2
00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.400
frequent in this adventure of learning golf that you're going to have great

3
00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:14.360
weeks and then bad weeks or great rounds followed by bad rounds. Well one of

4
00:00:14.360 --> 00:00:14.480
the

5
00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.040
more frustrating things for a lot of my students is when you have a great day

6
00:00:18.040 --> 00:00:22.320
and you're driving the ball 290 300 yards and then you go out there the next

7
00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:28.080
day and you're topping out at 260. Now I get a fair amount of emails as far as

8
00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:32.740
what do you think I'm doing and I always respond with let's start with the

9
00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:37.440
objective data and you tell me what you think might be happening so we can come

10
00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:42.920
up with a plan. So there's a few little objective things that you want to try

11
00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:43.200
to

12
00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:50.280
zero in on. One is going to be contact so the first time you know you start to

13
00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:55.320
have issues as far as losing distance that you've already gained the first

14
00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.520
thing I want you to do is either spray the face or take impact tape or you

15
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:04.040
can even just take a strip of electrical tape and place it across the face and

16
00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:09.550
monitor where you're making contact with it. If you're making contact with it

17
00:01:09.550 --> 00:01:09.800
in

18
00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:13.520
a place that's a little bit further away from the sweet spot than what you're

19
00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:19.280
used to you can lose significant amount of distance. With a driver hitting as

20
00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.400
much as a half inch off sweet spot which really a half inch you know kind of

21
00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:23.520
the

22
00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:27.080
size of the width of your thumb isn't going to be a whole lot so if you're

23
00:01:27.080 --> 00:01:32.280
hitting a half inch off of the sweet spot that could cost you 20 yards or so

24
00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:37.440
so that could potentially or sorry 20% of your distance so if you're used to

25
00:01:37.440 --> 00:01:42.140
hitting the ball about 300 yards and we take away 20% that would be about 240

26
00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:42.320
so

27
00:01:42.320 --> 00:01:47.160
perhaps you're doing in your swing that is affecting your contact. The next

28
00:01:47.160 --> 00:01:52.840
piece I would look at would be club head speed so obviously it's very hard to

29
00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.720
monitor club head speed unless you have a launch monitor but if you do have a

30
00:01:56.720 --> 00:02:01.280
launch monitor you can always just pop it up quickly take a few swings or even

31
00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.920
just a radar monitor quickly take a few swings and see if you've lost it. I'll

32
00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.440
tell you that that seems to be the least common. Usually I'm going to look at

33
00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:16.920
contact first then I'm gonna look at club head speed and that one rarely is it.

34
00:02:16.920 --> 00:02:21.120
The third thing we'll look at will be ball flight and specifically we're gonna

35
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.600
look at the height of the shot as well as the curve so if a ball if my long

36
00:02:26.600 --> 00:02:31.360
drives are kind of having this nice little plateauing kind of climbing high

37
00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:35.560
and then plateauing and then landing and today I'm hitting a ball that's kind

38
00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:35.640
of

39
00:02:35.640 --> 00:02:39.680
spinning a little bit high off to the right that's gonna help me understand

40
00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:44.160
what I might be doing differently with my face or my path that's causing me to

41
00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:49.800
have basically a decrease spin loft and I'm not transferring as much energy to

42
00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:55.400
the golf ball. Now the last little I'm gonna call it kind of 3b or 4 is going

43
00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:00.800
to be what are the conditions that you're playing in. Now frequently I've had

44
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.680
players especially since I've been teaching here in Colorado where we have

45
00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:09.240
dramatic changes in temperature. You could have a day where you're hitting

46
00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:14.160
well great and then the next day is about 20 degrees cooler and now I've

47
00:03:14.160 --> 00:03:18.640
got a jacket on I've decreased the range of motion I've probably slowed down my

48
00:03:18.640 --> 00:03:23.950
club head speed a little bit I've you know affected my spin loft and and

49
00:03:23.950 --> 00:03:24.680
because

50
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:28.960
of having to swing around all this clothing and that's caused me to lose

51
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:34.400
distance. So I try to communicate that every day you kind of have to gauge a

52
00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:39.720
little bit unless you've got all these variables under control. So use the

53
00:03:39.720 --> 00:03:45.200
logical kind of post shot routine to be able to to really zero in on why you

54
00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:45.400
may

55
00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:49.780
be losing distance and that will help you develop a plan to adjust your

56
00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:54.520
pattern to get either the path or the face to the path back on track so that

57
00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:57.960
you can get contact and if it's because of the temperature and you're the fact

58
00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:01.560
that you're wearing more clothes you're just gonna have to deal with the fact

59
00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:05.160
that today what I would normally hit my eight iron I'm now gonna grab a seven

60
00:04:05.160 --> 00:04:10.200
iron but that's kind of the the big picture of how you play golf and how you

61
00:04:10.200 --> 00:04:15.520
adjust for how your game is going to change a little bit but by tracking it

62
00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:20.020
we'll figure out these patterns and you'll know what you should adjust.

Have questions about this video?

Ask Mulligan for personalized guidance on technique, drills, or how to apply what you've learned.

Ask Mulligan
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
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