Well, I’m pretty sure I tore the cartilage in my back trying to build speed… and I’m still planning on chasing distance.
I think there is a certain distance for courses where you gain a competitive advantage… for my course it’s a 305 yard carry on our hardest par five. It’s a downhill, then back uphill with a tough green… second shot (after laying up to the end of the downhil fairway) is blind up a hill… and then you have 100 yards in because you can’t hit 3 wood as the hill is too steep. I hate this hole.
The strategy I’m working on is 120 mph club head speed and I’ll just carry the hill and have a 200 yard (likely 7 iron at that swing speed) shot in.
It’s just one example from the course I play, but if I get there, it will save me at least one stroke a round and remove a ton of variability. (If you hit it through the fairway, you are in a ditch or 6 inch Bermuda… it’s a dumb hole).
Of course, that type of gain will roll over to every other hole… I’d have 100 yards or less into most greens and it would make one par four possibly reachable.
That also helps reduce my variability in training. If my wedges and driver are honed, they will cover the majority of my shots.
My girls aren’t interested in golf yet, but I’m going to teach them to swing as hard as they can and then worry about control.
Them swinging at 110 in high school will be very fun.