I have been playing around with an el cheapo launch monitor (Sureshot) that just measures swing and ball speed. My swing speed is normally around 100-105 mph, but I was trying a few different things in the nets just to see how various swing changes could affect my swing speed. What I found interesting was that if I put the ball way forward in my stance (i.e. level with my left big toe), I actually increased my swing speed by about 3-4mph and ball speed by about 6-7mph. I normally play the ball at least two inches further back in the stance. My feeling (and feelings are always dangerous) was that I was managing to stay behind the ball better at impact with the ball that far forward, and that this was greatly helping the quality of strike.
I tried it on course this afternoon, and I certainly hit the ball further than normal. It was going much higher than usual (and I already hit a fairly high ball) and it easily cleared the fairway trees and consistently finished about 20 metres further into the left scrub than normal (most straight pulls, and occasional pull hook).
I assume (and this is probably wrong of course) that the higher and WAY left ball flight is due to hitting more 'up' on the ball and also because of the change of impact point on the swing path. As soon as I moved the ball back in my stance, the flight straightened back out, but equally I feel that I lost that additional bit of distance. Is this the trade-off that I just need to accept?