Bryson DeChambeau pushing body to its limits in pursuit of ball speed

Bryson DeChambeau has revealed how he "nearly blacked out" in his attempts to further increase his ball speed over the off-season.

The US Open champion, who already tops the PGA Tour standings for average ball speed with his driver, has set his sights on getting even faster as he tries to continue to build his distance advantage off the tee.

DeChambeau spent time working alongside World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire last month in a bid to improve his ball speed, with the seven-time PGA Tour champion admitting to pushing his body to its limits during his latest pursuit.

"There were times where I was seeing a tunnel and I had to stop," DeChambeau said. "I mean, you just have to stop. That's about when you stop. There's a lot to it. I did not blackout, but I came very close, just like he [Kyle Berkshire] did.

"He was a 117, 118 mile-per-hour golf swing in college and he has gone all the way up to 150 now. He's obviously done the right things and he's done it completely naturally and without anything and I wanted to learn from him.

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"I took it upon myself to ask him some questions and we spent a few days together and we've been talking back and forth. He's been giving me tips on what to do and how to keep the speed out here on Tour.

"I spent my off-season swinging my butt off as hard as I can. There were times where everything hurt in my body and it was breaking down my whole nervous system and rebuilding it back up. I like doing that. It's fun testing the limits of my body and seeing what I can and can't do."

DeChambeau managed 211mph on the range ahead of the Sentry Tournament of Champions but is yet to reach over 200mph ball speed during a competitive round on the PGA Tour, although the world No 5 is expecting further progress over the year ahead.

"I'm going to keep getting speed until I try and get around 205 to 210, in that range," DeChambeau added. "Once I achieve those speeds and I'm comfortable with that, not trying to swing my butt off, it just happens naturally, that's when I'll probably stop and go down the chipping rabbit hole and try and understand my chipping and wedging a lot bit better.

"I still feel like I'm over a year, to year and a half out from it. That's what Kyle projected for me. He's like, I think you can get there within a year, year and a half if you keep pushing the boundaries.

"Now, the difference is I've got to keep playing golf, right? I've got to keep trying to play my best. I've got to putt, got to chip, and all that, whereas he had time to just go at it with the driver, and he made a gain of five miles an hour in a year.

"I think I can get a baseline average of probably four to five, so it's probably going to be a year and a half, hopefully, if I keep doing the right things and I'm healthy."

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