# Measuring swing speed



## Redwood (May 26, 2009)

Does anyone know of a DIY way to measure swing speed?

Being out in Cornwall I don't have anywhere local that I know of where I could get this done, so was hoping some clever forummer had come up with a way to achieve this, using a video camera maybe?

Cheers
Redwood


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## Adjani (May 26, 2009)

Post a video here, we`ll guess it


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## SimonC (May 27, 2009)

Take your average driving distance on good shots and divide it by 2.5 as a rough guide. So if you drive the ball 250 yards your club head speed is 100mph. It's not perfect but it's about as accurate as you will get without going on a launch monitor.


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## Adrena1in (May 27, 2009)

I'm sure that if you were able to video yourself, you could set the camera to capture at 30fps for example, then play the video back one frame at a time, and measure as best you can the distance the club-head moves in a single frame.  If you measure it in feet, multiply that figure by 20.45 to get the mph.

Or, go onto eBay and take a look at the launch-speed monitors you can get on there.  Don't know how accurate they are, but probably better than guessing.


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## RGDave (May 27, 2009)

There is no DIY method I can think of.

However, if you want to know in relation to playing stiff shafts or not, then I'm close to the upper end of regular...but *short* of stiff, definitely
Driver speed. 90-95 mph

Driver distance  _up_ to 250, ave 230?
5 i distance  _up_ to 180, ave 170?

Before anyone has a pop, if you are below these, it's unlikely you'll be over 95 mph, even with all the variations in clubs/shaft/launch angle/the kitchen sink/my aunties cat's BMI......

Unless you are getting 100 mph, forget stiff.

If you are not doing this for this reason, I think the 2.5 idea is  *inspired genius* 

If I think about a player (who's game I know well) and divide their driver distance by 2.5 it's going to be close to an average guide.

Our asst' pro 115 mph......287.5 (yep)
My mate 110 mph......275.....(yep)
Me 95......237.5.....
Our old captain (who said it was "about" 90)....225.

That's clever......

is there anyone on here who  _knows_ they are averaging 100 more or less spot on??


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## PeterPumpkinEater (May 27, 2009)

There is no DIY method I can think of.

However, if you want to know in relation to playing stiff shafts or not, then I'm close to the upper end of regular...but *short* of stiff, definitely
Driver speed. 90-95 mph

Driver distance  _up_ to 250, ave 230?
5 i distance  _up_ to 180, ave 170?

Before anyone has a pop, if you are below these, it's unlikely you'll be over 95 mph, even with all the variations in clubs/shaft/launch angle/the kitchen sink/my aunties cat's BMI......

Unless you are getting 100 mph, forget stiff.

If you are not doing this for this reason, I think the 2.5 idea is  *inspired genius* 

If I think about a player (who's game I know well) and divide their driver distance by 2.5 it's going to be close to an average guide.

Our asst' pro 115 mph......287.5 (yep)
My mate 110 mph......275.....(yep)
Me 95......237.5.....
Our old captain (who said it was "about" 90)....225.

That's clever......

is there anyone on here who  _knows_ they are averaging 100 more or less spot on??
		
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Nearly spot on Dave. I had my swing speed measured with the Driver last week at 105mph (average) and I hit 3 drives on Monday morning 265, 285 & 272 = Average 274yrds / 2.5 = 109mph.


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## Redwood (May 27, 2009)

Guys, 

Thanks for the feedback.  It was actually in relation to Bob's post on shafts stiffness.

I currently play DG R300's, which I wasn't fitted for, and my ball flight is quite high, even with the longer irons.  Playing where I play I would like to be able to get a lower, more penetrating flight.

I'd guess that my average drive, if caught out of the middle, and is straight, is around 250-ish, so it may be around the 100mph range.


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## bobmac (May 27, 2009)

Take your average driving distance on good shots and divide it by 2.5 as a rough guide. So if you drive the ball 250 yards your club head speed is 100mph. It's not perfect but it's about as accurate as you will get without going on a launch monitor.
		
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Spot on Simon 
Redwood, if your hitting it about 250, you are at the point where you could hit either.
The best thing to do is try both shafts in a similar club. So say a Ping g10 with a red shaft in reg and stiff and see which has the better flight for what you are after.
If your ego wont let you change to a regular, ask Imurg how it feels to be on the short stuff more often  
Good luck


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## Adrena1in (May 27, 2009)

is there anyone on here who _knows_ they are averaging 100 more or less spot on??
		
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I've been in a launch monitor thing once, and at first I was swinging at a little over 100 mph, and it dropped over the course of 20 or 30 hits to around 95 mph, so the chappie there didn't know whether to recommend Stiff or Regular flex in my Driver.  I opted for Stiff because this was a while ago and I feel I'm swinging better now, (or do I just mean "faster"?  Still only getting perhaps 5% of my drives going where I want them to though!  I'd happily sacrifice 20 mph of swing speed for a straight flight every time!)


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## slugger (May 27, 2009)

i'll drive past you in the car at 100mph if you want. then you can see if you can keep up with me with your swing 

not totally accurate, but it'll be fun


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## Parmo (May 27, 2009)

240-260 = 96 to 104 mph swing speed, though I have noticed when I don't try and smash the ball but take a steady swing I get better distance, how does that work out on this theory?


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## Imurg (May 27, 2009)

Spot on Simon 
Redwood, if your hitting it about 250, you are at the point where you could hit either.
The best thing to do is try both shafts in a similar club. So say a Ping g10 with a red shaft in reg and stiff and see which has the better flight for what you are after.
If your ego wont let you change to a regular, ask Imurg how it feels to be on the short stuff more often  
Good luck
		
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I can regularly carry 250 with the driver and I was clocked at 100ish mph on a monitor with a 3 wood. I used stiff shaft in my driver and I blocked a lot right. Changed to a regular and I can still hit it as far - perhaps a tad further - but its mostly straight. 
I always reckoned on being an inbetweenie on flex. Almost too quick for regular, not quite quick enough for stiff.
Now I don't care - I'm using regular. At my age the swing ain't gettin' any faster!!


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## andiritchie (May 27, 2009)

I think its about Smash factor Parmo

ball speed divided by clubhead speed will give a reading 1.50 is near as perfect can be

Think its how well you strike the ball


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## RGDave (May 27, 2009)

I think its about Smash factor
		
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Yes. Going back to my original reply, our asst' pro should be hitting the ball approx 275 yards, but sometimes he gets over 300, this can only be when the smash factor is ideal and/or the ground conditions give him extra yards.

I have on occasion popped over 250, and this is either down to the S.F. or course conditions.

t.b.h. at the moment it's irrelevant....I can hit my 3 wood almost perfectly but haven't hit a great driver in games and games......not even a fluke "monster" drive for weeks.....


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