A Nervy Proposition: Bryson Does The Math Then Does The Mash
It’s a new year on the calendar, but golf’s monster masher Bryson DeChambeau is his same old self, trying to turbocharge his swing again— and thereby re-invent the game of golf.
The man who brought you irons the same length and bulking up is now intent of pushing his central nervous system (CNS) to the breaking point in pursuit of more speed. According to Golfchannel’s Mercer Baggs, “DeChambeau has recently been working alongside World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire in a bid to improve his ball speed. Berkshire set the world record (228 mph) en route to winning the WLD final in 2019.” So far DeChambeau has not hit the 200-mark in competition but claims to be getting closer.
DeChambeau, winner of the U.S. Open, says he worked so hard that he nearly blacked out on occasion: "There was times where I was seeing a tunnel and I had to stop… A lot of it has to do with pushing the limits of your body and going for long hours of swinging your golf club with a golf ball and trying to help up the ball speed.
"I don't know if you've ever experienced a runner's high or something like that, where you get these extra endorphins and that's kind of what breaks your neurological CNS, I guess, is what breaks your nervous system down, which is a great thing. And over time as you keep building it and you keep pushing it and pushing it, just keeps going up and up.”
The goal is a 200-mph swing. If he succeeds in pushing his ball speed to these levels he might break the notions of measured swings and steady posture. And render many courses archaic. Golfchannel’s Brandel Chamblee equates the CNS training to the freedom of a youngster again, letting go for hours on the range with no fear. Concerned with money and points, pro players rarely pushed that hard on the Tour, says Chamblee.
Until DeChamabeau decided to restore it to the Tour.
As we wrote last October in an article about the death of subtlety intro sports, not everyone is impressed by 400-yard drives as a steady diet. “British golfer Matthew Fitzpatrick is not impressed, saying the 380-yard drives of DeChambeau and a few other Goliaths made a “mockery” of the sport at the recent U.S. Open at Winged Foot. “I drove it brilliantly, but I was miles behind. He’s in the rough and miles up and he’s hitting wedges from everywhere.
“I just looked at Shot Tracker (Thursday), some of the places he hit it and how he’s cutting corners,” Fitzpatrick told reporters. “When he’s on, there’s no point. It doesn’t matter if I play my best; he’s going to be 50 yards in front of me off the tee. The only thing I can compete with him is putting. Which is just ridiculous.”
It’s also a threat to the portfolio of great courses around the world that are on the verge of being made obsolete when DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson et al. can simply bypass the famous bunkers, hazards and more by cutting corners or over-flying them. Say bye-bye to almost any course built before 2010.
None other than Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have echoed this thought about distance in the past. They have joined the chorus asking for restrictions on the tech used— particularly the ball. (A movement echoed in MLB by traditionalists who see a “juiced” baseball and tech creating long-drive contests.)
Some of this criticism harkens back to the complaints about Tiger Woods who forced physical fitness on the PGA Tour in the 1990s. Competitors initially whispered that Woods was a steroid product and had extraterrestrial powers. Eventually they headed to the gym to compete with Woods.
For now, DeChambeau, admittedly a mad scientist, is unapologetic, saying he’s worked “long in to the night” to get to this stage. Having added an extra 30 pounds in the last offseason, he says he’s taking advantage of nothing illegal. “You know, I would love to have a conversation with (Fitzpatrick) about it and say, ‘Hey man, I would love to help out. Why couldn’t you do it, too?’ I don’t think it takes less skill.”
Fitzpatrick agrees that DeChambeau is not breaking any rules. His objection is artistic. “It’s not a skill to hit the ball a long way, in my opinion. I could put on 40 pounds. I could go and see a bio-mechanist and I could gain 40 yards; that’s actually a fact. I could put another two inches on my driver. I could gain that, but the skill in my opinion is to hit the ball straight. That’s the skill. He’s just taking the skill out of it, in my opinion. I’m sure lots will disagree. It’s just daft.”
Ask Canada’s Mike Weir, who was unable to match the prodigious distance achieved by Phil Mickelson as they battled for the lead on the PGA Champions Tour. Where Phil was on par-5s in two, Weir was hitting irons on his third shot to make the green.
But, like the 400-yard homer (in baseball), fans seem to like it— even if it means 8000-yard courses and Earl Weaver golf.”
The same goes for basketball where the low-post game has been abandoned in favour of long-range 3-point bombers, turning the game into a long-distance event instead of a contained game. As the TV beer ad used to say, “Those that like it like it a lot”.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). The best-selling author of Cap In Hand is also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his new book Personal Account with Tony Comper is now available on http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx