Hmm i mean um i wish you the best of luck with that i'm just intrigued. And for the purpose of this title of the podcast i think you've made a huge mistake [Music] you're on a quest. For distance aren't you uh and the viewers will have seen the first video already hopefully yeah. So five weeks ago we released a video because it's getting close to the six week kind of uh recap basically where i went on a mission to try and increase my club at speed from what is currently 110 miles per hour trying to get closer to 150 miles per hour yes. And i would think well obviously you i would know i reckon i probably know your game as well as anybody you've seen me hit more shots than anybody else in the world right. And over the last 12 months or so i think your driving has come on leaps. And bounds thank you when we would film videos before or would play or whatever it might be you would either be a bomber or massive snap up left occasionally kind of blocked right but it was fairly wayward. But long yeah as you alluded to in the first video you've lost distance a little bit not much. But a little bit of speed a little bit distance but i definitely think you've gained a lot of accuracy it's very rare that you'd miss a fair way. Or miss it by much yeah. So i think although this has been a good video the first one was a good video. And the second one where you follow up and give all your feedback hopefully will be another good video. So we've got a couple of good videos from it i think this quest. For speed and distance is a massive mistake. For your game okay. And i want to kind of again it's a little bit devil's advocate in there coach guy but a little bit of why i think it's a bad move. So launch monitors are amazing pieces of kit aren't they yes you know as well as anybody how beneficial they are a coaching um. For the club reviews for seeing gains stuff like that yeah club fitting yeah you couldn't go back you couldn't go back to a time now they didn't exist could you imagine a world where you can't get spin rates. And ball speed and distance exactly but my issue potentially certainly fit for you a little bit is how are they becoming an ego inflator um. So what i mean by that is before launch monitors were a thing if you you would only have you could only really go off someone's game by what you would see with your eye wouldn't you correct. So if me and you were playing. And i was out driving. Or you were driving me you would literally say you hit it further than me. Or whatever because it's what you're seeing on the golf course but what now was. So much more focused on club head speed and ball speed so the club head speed is what you're really looking. For aren't you but um i've made some notes here and i'm hoping i'm going to get this out as well as i planned it over the weekend when i rehearsed it in the bedroom because it was. So good they wouldn't know what i'd like to stand on it was that good um. But so again before before launch monsters we didn't really know what clubbed speed or we didn't know ball speed yeah. And when playing what i call real golf it was very much about where the ball went on your total distance. But we know on the golf course often hitting the fairway will result in more distance because it's going to bounce a little bit more etcetera. And certainly when playing on the golf course certainly with this hole is a slight little bit even a slight dog lag hitting it straight over that line would therefore. get more distance will certainly put you in close to the hole. For your next.
Shot so being accurate on the golf course can actually aid with distance obviously big time carnet um certainly at the golf course i grew up that's very hilly. So hitting us in line we get certain bounce on certain slopes would result in more distance so it's like dog leg left let's say i'm hit one 250 you might go 260. but if you go further right and i go over the tighter line i've got a much shorter shot in so i'm perceived in a longer hitter hence the tiger line exactly even though you've hit the golf ball further it appears i've hit it further because of the line whereas obviously on launch monitors it's very much about speed isn't it it's black and white it's i i hit it 160 miles per hour you with 162 miles per hour let's say yes i think with this whole kind of launch range of thing now. And speed and certainly again club head speed i think we're focusing too much on the speed. And not the distance so i've just done some simple maths here um so a lot of people listening will know what um obviously ball spit is it's how fast the ball comes off the face club speed is how fast you're swinging the golf club. And then.
We have what's called smash factor which is quite simply it's your ball speed divided by clubbed speed. And it's it's typically seen at 1.5 roughly is the optimum with the golf club. And golf balls we use today.
You can get a bit more whatever that's roughly we would love to be at where tall are yeah if you're swinging 117 miles an hour which is much quicker than you are now we'd love to be. But your smash factor dropped down to at 1.39 which i seen some of your shots today.
Did do you have that would give you a [ __ ] of 162. okay however. a club at speed of 112 which is five miles an hour slow which is a lot slower yeah. But a 1.47 smash factor would give you a 164 ball speed and therefore. would be a longer golf shot if we're going off the same spin. And launch and etc so what are those two on the golf course the slower swing speed player will be hitting it further probably more likely than not. But on a flight on it on a trackman or on a gc quad if you're going. For clubbed speed you're gonna be more impressed by the 117 aren't we and do we think that by you changing your speeds if you try. And get so much faster and possibly miss the face more and tighten it more the tone off the heel you're gonna lose ball speed and therefore. end up losing distance is that where we're at that's where we're at okay. So let let's go a little bit on this journey just to pad it out a touch more i've never ever ever been worried about distance in my whole golf life even when i was a junior going through college as a even when i turned professional. For the first time i never ever felt like i was sure i always felt like i wasn't the longest obviously you play with golfers that just you know because of their size. And their build and their club speed do hit it further. But in general there's very little times where i would ever ever be concerned about my distance and as guy rightly said i think as we've been out on the golf course a lot more filming certainly the last couple of years. And to be honest i spent much less time on launch monitors i know people might find that hard to believe but when i was coaching a lot more when i was at trafford. Or lytham or prairie in between lessons or or even hitting shots as demonstrations for for clients or after coaching i would spend time hitting balls on launch monitors much more probably one than what i do now. And you're right launch monitor numbers i was very good at um you know i knew what those numbers were i could i could almost you know somewhat predict as soon as i hit a shot what the what the club head speed was what the ball speed would be. And what the distance would be and i think in the last year there's been there's been probably three. Or four things that have made me want to try and increase my speed okay number one you thank you. So when we played golf a couple of times last year i never ever ever thought i was short. And you don't play much golf no. And annoyingly you were hitting it longer than me [ __ ] yeah 12 yards yeah well. And harry one of our editors who's here now he says we don't talk about it's enough on the page enough time to see so i'm gonna give him a little shout out he's nodded in the background we played at formby hall and completely out the blue i hit a decent well sorry i hit a decent tee shot i did i kind of played it down. But it was a nice tee shot you stood up. And you hit it famously 12 yards past me yeah harris stood up. And famously well unfamously but famous now hits it probably 12 yards past guy four yards past me and what's your handicap doesn't have one doesn't play golf doesn't play golf using one of my drivers stands up there with his horrible grip and his disgusting grit and smashes it 24 yards past me yeah then.
What did harry done his next.
Show it doesn't matter after that shanked out of bounds. But he would have been in prime position yes. So that was one of the things that definitely reminded you know stuck in my mind let's say um. So it's kind of part of your fault yeah. And then.
We played here at the marriott and again famously even though i beat you that's the thing so you forget that you beat me and you played well i played unbelievable i was like four on the power of something stupid the match that we played. And beat you yes. But you hit it past me too many times like too many times so we talk about we talk about um what's the right word ego on launch monitors i would actually say a lot of this ego started out on the golf course it could have dawned but let's just say i did that driving on the first hole whatever. And then.
It's in your head then.
You might try and swing fast to try and get past me but then.
By swinging faster and making it a less efficient swing and missing the middle of the face and they're full losing distance so you're swinging it faster but actually going to get less distance i'll come back tight in a minute the next.
Time more recently remember traffic golf center either was it after christmas. Or around christmas and we were going to do a top tracer video with matt yes. And we didn't actually release the video in the end i remember that and i beat him on the wedges which is very rare. For me and maybe that's something i played down in my mind now matt fryer matt he's a papa every like literally when i talk about not being worried about distance never been worried about matt like matt fryer why is it nowhere like he literally paps this little fady horrible thing on the fairway he finds fairways yes. But it isn't horrible we stood there at trafford and he pummeled me on distance pummeled me but what was his club head speed was it was it less than yours no it was more was it slightly more he was getting ridiculously fast at ball speed which again i'll come on to in a minute. And he was. And i i just couldn't compete and i was like what the hell. And then.
The last thing possibly more kind of ego um i don't know maybe with the things like bryson and distance on on tour becoming much more of a talking point with rory and dj and bryson um and even full-time players like peter finch um increasing club head speed significantly it was like whoa what the hell if i don't do something now am i going to look back in two years. And regret not trying to increase my speed like i'm at at the moment i feel like i'm slightly falling back on on a lot of players if i don't do something now is it going to become too late that was my mindset. So i started doing some more training started to get stronger start doing speed sticks which i'm still in the process of right now and you are right right now as i record this podcast. And record the video soon to be released on the hitting of shots i am hitting the golf ball terribly have you lost distance on average yeah on average when it goes right though at the moment it's ridiculously longer. So let a little teaser the full video will be coming out pretty soon in the next.
Couple of weeks i reckon now i've walked my club at speed to round about i've seen i've seen on the launch monitor speeds of like 117 miles per hour like you said what i've definitely not translated it to. Yet is extra ball speed which is going to be actually correct i've not even literally because i can't hit the middle of the club face at the moment that's what i'm thinking is that a mistake though is it are you going to fly the middle of the face with that speed have you got the time to practice etcetera. So this is where i reckon then.
I've possibly done one mistake okay. So at the moment in the month of february in the last five weeks there's been a lot going on. So for example of homeschooling lockdown and homeschooling so being at home being with the family a lot more is definitely more of a priority in my life because obviously it's hard with three kids at home. For my wife and stuff then.
We're trying to work out more so i've been getting up much earlier in the morning doing workouts before the even the kids get up not every day but kind of three to five times a week um i've then.
Decided to try and walk four miles every single day yeah which again is time consuming. And then.
Also try and do the sweet a speed stick training plus trying to make videos plus trying to do a podcast now the one thing that definitely has taken a massive massive back seat in all of this is hitting golf shots yeah like i have hardly hit any golf shots in this period of time um apart from the videos that we've been making. But because of that i've upped my clubhead speed i've got stronger i've got faster i'm hitting the ball harder let's say i'm all hitting at it harder but the moment because i have literally been doing next.
To no golf shot practice my strike is horrendous. So i don't think i've made a mistake. Yet but if if i was to look back at it. And think what could i have what would i have done differently in the last five weeks that would be it i would have hit more golf shots yeah i reckon in two. Or three weeks when i've i can hit more golf shots. Or maybe i'm not doing the walk 18s or spending as much time at home and the kids start to go back chasse when they go back to school pretty soon and hopefully we get to get on the golf course end of march i honestly believe i can generate that clubhead speed into ball speed you can get more distance whether it'll last whether i'll hit more fairways whether i'll miss it more time will tell. But as long as i'll drive you again out drive harry out drive matt fryer start to get closer to bryce and dj rory but my plan is to ignore you by swinging it slower than you. But being more efficient and still out driving you i think what i'm gonna get to i think i'm gonna i think i can get my maximum club at speed up to about 120. But i think my normal speed will be more like 115. yeah because the swing speed in at home in the sim is. So different to swinging on the golf course without bounds left or water right in a match etc but the idea at the moment is i'm literally training. For speed so then.
Once i get the speed that i can control it hmm i mean um i wish you the best of luck with that i'm just intrigued. And for the purpose of this title of the podcast i think you've made a huge mistake.
