Re: Upper body strength and distance

On Jul 9, 12:39 pm, Annika1980 <annika1...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jul 9, 9:32 am, "John B." <johnb...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

This is probably a stupid question, but how much does upper body
strength have to do with hitting distance?

I always heard that strong legs produce distance, but I think that is
largely a myth.
Not that you don't want a strong base, but developing your upper body
is the fastest way to increase your distance.  There is much talk
these days about the core muscles around the stomach, but I think you
need strong arms and shoulders, too.

I used to hit the ball the same distance as my friend, Young Joseph,
back when he was a scrawny 150 pounder.  Then he started running a lot
and gained a little bit of distance as his fitness improved.  But when
he started working out with weights he gained about 30-40 yards
seemingly overnight. Now he's longer than dammit (ask Bill-o or
Sparky). He's also maintained his flexibility which is also
important.  He can stand at the cup and pick his ball out of the hole
without bending his knees. Sam Snead used to could do this, as well.

Ouch!  I just tried that and I can't even touch my ankles without
bending my knees.
Young Joseph can put both palms flat on the ground with his legs
straight.
How about everybody else?

I can still put my palms on the floor w/o bending my knees. I once
heard Bill Clinton, of all people, say that if you get over 40 and all
you do is run (which is the case w/me) you lose all your upper body
strength. He proved it: I saw him play golf once and he only went
about 150 yds. off the tee.
.

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