This Senior Golfer Wants to Combat Lost Driving Distance

Any golfer will despair when they start losing distance from the tee, especially when it has less to do with technique than the irreversible passage of time.

I’ve been fairly consistent in driver distance off the tee over recent years, averaging about 230 yards total.

But this season, despite being fitted for a new driver, I have noticed the gap between my ball on the fairway and those of my regular playing partners is beginning to increase.

I think it is something to do with getting older. I turned 70 in 2022 and slowly but surely my swing and ball speeds are moving in the wrong direction.

The new Trackman studio at my club has revealed a 2mph decrease in my swing speed since I was fitted for the Callaway Paradym driver in September 2023. It now stands at just under 85mph with average ball speed of 121 mph. Carry is a mere 187 yards on the indoor Trackman, down from 202 yards last September. The stats suggest the driver is the best fit for me, so I must be doing something wrong even if it’s just a matter of not committing to hit the ball hard enough with the relatively new driver.

I know as well as anybody else that you can’t turn back the clock, but I’m not prepared to let things slide away from me without a fight. With this is mind I have acquired a set of SpeedStix swing trainers to see if I can get back some much needed distance.

SpeedStix. What are they?

A colleague gave Speedstix a full review in 2021 and you can see the outcome here.

In a nutshell they are a tried and tested speed training system which when used in combination with an online fitness training programme is designed to increase your swing speed by potentially 10 per cent which could equate to 27 yard increased carry. That’s not to be sniffed at. Now the weather has picked up I’ll be out in the garden putting them to the test to see if they are suitable for the thousands of seniors who are suffering from the same issue as me.

I’ll be reporting back soon with the results.