Jack Nicklaus once revealed the three things that he would do in his golf swing when he wanted to hit the ball further off the tee, noting that just trying to swing harder would not work for him.

Jack Nicklaus was one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour for the vast majority of his career. Even in 1980, the year the Golden Bear celebrated his 40th birthday, there were not many players who could compete with Nicklaus for driving distance.

If you had to pick now, would you rather have Justin Rose or Eugenio Chacarra on your Ryder Cup team?

Nicklaus’ achievements are all the more impressive when you consider the equipment he was using. The drivers were considerably more difficult to hit than they are for the best players in the world today.

Interestingly, Nicklaus would reject the idea that golfers need to swing harder if they hope to hit the ball further.

What Jack Nicklaus would do when he wanted to hit the ball further

Writing for Golf Digest in 2013, the 18-time major champion revealed there were three important keys that he would stick to if he was particularly keen to step on a drive.

He wrote: Throughout my career, I invariably came to holes where I needed a few extra yards – carrying a hazard off the tee, or hitting a drive far enough on a par five so I could go for the green in two.

But when I consciously tried to swing harder, the ball didn’t go farther. I learned, however, that if I thought of three things, I could hit it longer:

1.) Relax my arms at address and keep them relaxed throughout the swing.

2.) Start the club back lower and slower, even slower than I thought possible.

3.) Make sure to complete my backswing.

These thoughts were effective under pressure because they were basically feel-oriented and nonmechanical. They also got me into the proper position at the top of the swing so I could release the club fully through impact, which created maximum clubhead speed. I’ve always contended that you can’t start releasing (unhinging the wrists and rotating the right arm over the left) too early, as long as you actively move to your left side starting down.

If on the downswing you stay back on your right side and release early, you’ll cast the club, which results in a loss of clubhead speed. However, if you make that same release but shift your weight properly starting down, it looks like the perfect golf swing, and the club pulls your body around into a balanced finish.

How far Jack Nicklaus drove the ball at his peak compared to his peers

Obviously, there is a lot less data when it comes to how far Nicklaus drove the golf ball throughout his career.

But in 1967, IBM did do research into how far the biggest hitters on tour hit their drives. As reported by Golf Digest, they found that Nicklaus averaged 276 yards across 11 events. Across the top-10 players, the average was 270.2 yards.

Interestingly, the PGA Tour average during the 2000 season was 272.7 yards. Had Nicklaus been driving the ball the same distance as 33 years earlier, he would have been around 60th on tour in 2000.

When you consider how much the game had moved on by then, Nicklaus’ numbers from his peak really become remarkable.

But then, should anyone really be surprised to see Jack Nicklaus leading the way in any category?