Bryson testing 48 inch driver ?

Orikoru

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Just heard the interview on telly but it's quoted here: http://www.golfwrx.com/633728/bryson-dechambeau-preparing-to-put-48-inch-driver-in-play/

He's already using less than 6° loft, so if he does this as well he's basically in long drive competition territory with the likes of Kyle Berkshire. If he can do that and still keep it in play... Christ.

I think I'm right in saying most pros go the other way and go shorter to 44 ish inches for control? Some of them might be having a rethink.

:oops:
 
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I've watch some of the long drive stuff on TV and the number of times they keep the ball in the grid is quite low and it is a much wider target than your average fairway. Fair play to him if he can make it work but you still need to get the ball on the green and into the hole.
 

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I've watch some of the long drive stuff on TV and the number of times they keep the ball in the grid is quite low and it is a much wider target than your average fairway. Fair play to him if he can make it work but you still need to get the ball on the green and into the hole.
He'd still be 50-100 yards shorter than equivalent level (top) LD guys!
His obsession with length off the tee being where he can gain strokes on the field will be short-lived imo.
It was Tiger's 'most visible' advantage when he first arrived on the scene, but it was the rest of his game (and his mindset) that was really what made the difference!
 

Orikoru

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He'd still be 50-100 yards shorter than equivalent level (top) LD guys!
His obsession with length off the tee being where he can gain strokes on the field will be short-lived imo.
It was Tiger's 'most visible' advantage when he first arrived on the scene, but it was the rest of his game (and his mindset) that was really what made the difference!
Are you sure? This has the winners and distances hit to win over the years. Some were over 400 yards, but most are in that region. Bryson is hitting 350 yard drives regularly, the longer shaft should push him closer. It's not unreasonable that he'll be hitting the odd 400 yard drive.
 

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Remember that those were only 'winning' lengths - in the Final round. There would have been several that were longer in earlier rounds.
...Bryson is hitting 350 yard drives regularly, the longer shaft should push him closer. It's not unreasonable that he'll be hitting the odd 400 yard drive.
I seriously doubt that (getting very close to 400)! And he's likely to be all over the place far too often for it to be beneficial.
While (typically) he's tried one and was all over the place, 'his team' is trying to develop a shaft stable enough to benefit from that length, I believe he'll itterate from his current 45.5 to 46, 46.5 etc until length/accuracy is optimised. And that might possibly get him to 375 or so, with acceptable degree of (in)accuracy - which would still be massive compared to the rest of the field.
And we'll see how his committment to length over accuracy works for him this week - as he has committed to that approach!
Btw. He has hit a 423 yard drive (1st at Memorial) already (carrying bunkers at 330), but almost 80 of that was roll down a (slight) slope
 

Orikoru

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I seriously doubt that (getting very close to 400)! And he's likely to be all over the place far too often for it to be beneficial.
While (typically) he's tried one and was all over the place, 'his team' is trying to develop a shaft stable enough to benefit from that length, I believe he'll itterate from his current 45.5 to 46, 46.5 etc until length/accuracy is optimised. And that might possibly get him to 375 or so, with acceptable degree of (in)accuracy - which would still be massive compared to the rest of the field.
And we'll see how his committment to length over accuracy works for him this week - as he has committed to that approach!
Btw. He has hit a 423 yard drive (1st at Memorial) already (carrying bunkers at 330), but almost 80 of that was roll down a (slight) slope
From what he was saying, he's quite happy to be in the rough if it's so far up he can reach green with 9 iron or PW. Obviously it has to be in play but not necessarily fairway. So yeah, he just needs a shaft stable enough to not lose the ball!
 

Foxholer

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423 yards - pah

I give you Rory McIlroy 436 yards You tube link
Not a pi**ing contest! And his was with the (Scottish) 'breeze' and downhill. There's plenty of similar massive length drives made on the Hawaiin corse in the 'right' conditions!

But BdC is planning on maximising distance off the tee in order to have an advantage over the rest of the field every tournament.
 

Rlburnside

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I can’t blame him for trying to take advantage of his length, but he shouldn’t be able to blast it as far as he can and think he will be able to play out of the rough every time, the courses in the USA don’t punish wayward drives enough.

Another thought what about the safety aspect? it’s ok now with no crowds but imagine what will happen when they come back someone is far more likely to get hit.
 

Orikoru

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I can’t blame him for trying to take advantage of his length, but he shouldn’t be able to blast it as far as he can and think he will be able to play out of the rough every time, the courses in the USA don’t punish wayward drives enough.

Another thought what about the safety aspect? it’s ok now with no crowds but imagine what will happen when they come back someone is far more likely to get hit.
I'm excited to see how well or poorly he does this week, since the rough looks disgusting. Wonder if he'll re-evaluate - or whether he's just focused on winning the easier weekly PGA courses anyway.
 

Rlburnside

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I'm excited to see how well or poorly he does this week, since the rough looks disgusting. Wonder if he'll re-evaluate - or whether he's just focused on winning the easier weekly PGA courses anyway.

Well he seems to be saying that he will only be laying up if it’s into the wind, im looking forward to this one, if he takes this strategy at Winged Foot imo he will have no chance of winning.
 

Lord Tyrion

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So he's moving away from the single length theory, or is he having his wedges at 48" too?
His wedges need to be short as he needs them for chopping and hacking o_O.

I heard him yesterday and his interview was either enough to make an architect cry or make them determined to do him over. He didn't care about where his ball ended up, he knew he could get it close enough to then hack out with a PW or 9 iron. They have to start to make him care, as per The Memorial. It is in their hands, or the hands of the people who set the courses up for tournaments. What they must not do is simply make courses longer. That plays into his hands, makes for a very dull watch.
 

robinthehood

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His wedges need to be short as he needs them for chopping and hacking o_O.

I heard him yesterday and his interview was either enough to make an architect cry or make them determined to do him over. He didn't care about where his ball ended up, he knew he could get it close enough to then hack out with a PW or 9 iron. They have to start to make him care, as per The Memorial. It is in their hands, or the hands of the people who set the courses up for tournaments. What they must not do is simply make courses longer. That plays into his hands, makes for a very dull watch.
Let's see how he fairs this week.... bomb and gouge is nothing new. Let's see if he really can take it to the next level.
 

sunshine

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Not seen anything of Winged Foot this week, but if the fairways are narrow and the rough is brutal, then his logic could be:
If I hit "normal" driver I'm still going to find the rough a lot of the time and have to hack it out with a wedge. I might as well knock it into the rough further up the hole so at least I have a chance of hacking my wedge on to the green.

Either way, I'm now intrigued to see how it works out. Stealing from a meme (from my favourite film) on another thread: That's a bold strategy Cotton
 

evemccc

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Not seen anything of Winged Foot this week, but if the fairways are narrow and the rough is brutal, then his logic could be:
If I hit "normal" driver I'm still going to find the rough a lot of the time and have to hack it out with a wedge. I might as well knock it into the rough further up the hole so at least I have a chance of hacking my wedge on to the green.

Either way, I'm now intrigued to see how it works out. Stealing from a meme (from my favourite film) on another thread: That's a bold strategy Cotton

Good use of that Dodgeball quote there ??

I actually hope it works for BdC at least in the short term, and he wins this week.

He’s innovating and not afraid to push conventional norms - and good luck to him. Although in principle I like good iron players, and don’t like US golf courses and the obsession with ‘Hitting bombs’
But don’t see Bryson as too different to the very modern game, Brooks, DJ, Rory etc
 

HomerJSimpson

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It was Tiger's 'most visible' advantage when he first arrived on the scene, but it was the rest of his game (and his mindset) that was really what made the difference!

And there is perhaps the difference. Woods knew (or at least thought) he could make most up and downs with his short game especially the putting in his pomp so to some degree he could drive with a degree of abandon
 
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