[trilochana.nejman]

I think you are wrong on both of these thoughts, the pro's are better in every way shape & form. And they hit their irons further than most of us could ever hope for.

I'm not so sure about that.

This past June, I went to a practice round at the U.S.Open and this was the very first time I had ever had the opportunity to see pros "up close". Many people have told me over the years that if I ever had a chance to see the pros in person, that I'd be blown away by their distances.

But that wasn't what impressed me.

What impressed me were three things:

1. Their accuracy
2. Their consistency
3. Their tempo.

Of those three things, it was the tempo that actually blew me away.

Almost to the man, every single player I saw had virtually the same tempo. No one was coming out of their shoes to hit a shot and yet they all struck the ball very cleanly and very forcefully.

As far as distance was concerned, with the exception of a few of the really big hitters, I wasn't that overly impressed with distance. This was especially relevant to me because of where the Open was being played. I have played hundreds of rounds of golf on Bethpage Black from every tee they have and I know every inch of that course and every yardage.
Besides, "Tour" iron distance is more about de-lofting and "pre-bottom" contact than anything superhuman. Put that skill together with the tempo's I saw and the distance is academic.

Please don't think I'm patting myself on the back or comparing my game to that of the PGA players, but the places they were putting their tee shots were the same places that I generally put mine and I remember thinking to myself that I was not far off in terms of that category.

For example, I watched some pro tee off on 6 which is a shortish par 4 that usually only requires an iron or small fairway wood off the tee to set up the approach. The pro hit a 4 or 5-iron and placed his shot about 20 yards short of the hill which separates the front and back portions of this hole and it's the ideal spot to hit to. The distance to that point is only around 220 or so, yet there were some male patrons in their 50's who were giggling like school girls at the notion of a 220-yard 4 or 5 iron. I don't see that as a big deal - especially off a tee. Especially from THAT tee. I've hit that tee shot myself many times and with the same clubs.

As I said, the idea that these guys can hit that same shot to the same spot time after time and that they produce that shot with what almost appears to be a lazy swing is what really impresses me - far more than distance. I used to joke with people over the years that the only difference between a good amateur and a Tour pro is about 3,000 balls a week and based on what I saw that day at Bethpage, I'm not so sure that's actually a joke.

To be sure, there's a lot more to competing on a PGA level than consistently hitting a ball to a certain spot, but that has more to do with a person's mental toughness and course management acumen than anything else. I walked away from that day with a new way of looking at swing tempo and swing mechanics, but I wasn't blown away by their distance - I was more encouraged by it than anything else.


-JP