Originally Posted by
Bluefan75
OK something got off the rails somewhere. I was just clarifying what I posted. Faldo was a long hitter in his day. Not the longest, but he was out there. Was he strong enough? I don't know, but he didn't swing as hard *relative to his max* as guys do today because there was a much bigger penalty for missing the sweet spot(or in some cases, the ball nearly completely). Guys today go after it all the time because with the large heads, you really can't miss the ball, and off-center hits are not punished nearly as bad. So there's no need to hold back and control the swing very much.
Somehow someone took that to mean I said strength didn't matter or some such thing. There is most certainly a benefit to additional strength. Shots out of the rough, plain old endurance, you name it. Equipment has changed the equation though. For better or worse, but it has changed things. One could actually argue the equipment tips the balance towards strength over skill compared to many years ago. Putting old equipment back out there wouldn't negate the benefits of strength in any way, but it would change the way, off the tee, you could put it to best use.