Are high handicappers losing out by hitting the ball too hard?

[Dave B]

The biggest improvement in my game came when I slowed my swing down and worked on tempo rather than force and ignorance.

Like putting, the key was to have a steady smooth take away followed by a steady acceleration through the downswing.

Many high handicap players swing back to quickly and either lose control at the top or snatch at the top forcing the shot.

A relaxed take away followed by a smooth down swing can work wonders and whats worse is when you get the shot right it is so easy as the ball flies of the face. The hard part is repeating the swing.

Incidentally I used to be able to hit a 7 iron 165-170 yds when I had TM R7's however I recently upgraded to TM Tour Preferred CB's and my 7 iron only goes 140- 145 yds so I am hoping that I gain a few extra yards when the weather warms up.

 

[kid2]

All im saying is "Nice and slow and watch it gooooooo"

Best advice i was ever given......But.......
You need to swing at a half decent speed to knock it at least a respectable distance.....

Think of it this way.....If you swing too fast you need to be bang on with timing down to the nearest 1000th of a second....
Chances are the chances of that happening on a regular basis are slim....
Now if you swing with a nice smooth natural tempo...It might feel slow but ill guarantee you that if you try this drill on a launch monitor you'll see the difference straight away...

See the thing people dont realise is that tight muscles are slow muscles.....Loose muscles are very fast...
Take for eg. a sprinter.....If you tried to sprint with tight muscles you wouldnt be as fast as you would when you are nice and loose.

 

[Wolfman]

I changed to a 3/4 swing L to L this year and my ball striking has improved and my distance has increased

In fact many people actually over swing in a full swing and the results speak for themselves

When you focus on a 3/4 swing often you actually end up swinging slightly more nearer to a correct full swing if that makes sense.

Over swing and too fast in the back swing are the devil !!

 

[JustOne]

I think most club golfers swing waaaayyy too slow. With over swing.

If you shorten your swing but speed up your tempo you don't have time to twaddle about getting the club off plane or manipulating the club on the way down. It's just a turn... and go!

 

[pokerjoke]

I think most club golfers swing waaaayyy too slow. With over swing.

If you shorten your swing but speed up your tempo you don't have time to twaddle about getting the club off plane or manipulating the club on the way down. It's just a turn... and go!

I agree,i have a short backswing,with all the power just before the strike.
Overswinging looks wrong and generally is.

 

[garyinderry]

see my thread on attacking the pins in the ,ahem, experts section. 3/4 swing and clubbing down has really made a difference to my approaches.

 

[Shanks a lot!]

I always seem to want to crush the ball, with varying degrees of success (hence the user name!) and never really thought it could be the swing speed that may be the problem.
I'll feel like a right pillock if this is the case. Think i'll force myself to slow down at my next range session!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I'm gonna answer your question with a question...

When was the last time you hit a green in regulation and two putted for par and as you walked off the green the guy marking your card asked you what club you hit into the green?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

For me, the one plane swing my teaching pro is working on is about clearing the hips aggressively and feeling the clubhead is going left. According to the book by Jim Hardy the hips almost can't turn too quickly so it allows me to be quicker and firm through the ball. My biggest killer is a hip sway and not a turn and not getting the backswing in a laid of or down the line (worse case scenario) position.

Like Murph I'm having great days, good days and the why did I bother days and its hard taking out on the course at the moment. I'm trying to break 30 years of a real leg drive into a more solid turn. For me I can turn as hard as I like which is a world away from hitting it hard.

 

[Alex1975]

I'm gonna answer your question with a question...

When was the last time you hit a green in regulation and two putted for par and as you walked off the green the guy marking your card asked you what club you hit into the green?

Saturday...

 

[Alex1975]

I had a bit of a eureka moment on the course today when I had to lay up on the Par 5 10th 2nd shot having gone just off the fairway left where a huge tree is a problem never mind quite a carry across water. So a nice easy 7 iron hit deliberately with draw so I didn't overshoot the fairway on the other side. Had to do similar on the 11th (note to self - line up on the right side and trust the shot shape)! I then recalled a similar shot the round before on the 17th and how smooth and swishy (best word I can think of) my lay up shots feel compared to say hitting the same shot to a pin. So for the rest of the round I tried to create that feeling and hit some really nice shots with no loss of distance and more consistency in the strike and direction.

Chatted to my coach later and we discussed how the driver is not about hitting a pre-determined distance rather than getting the most you can out of the club. Irons are about swinging within yourself and discovering then hitting the required distance rather than getting the maximum yardage from it.

It works for me :thup:

Great post, this is exactly what I am talking about. Also enjoyed what your coach said about the driver, it's obvious really isn't it!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Saturday...

Smartar$e

 

[Alex1975]

Smartar$e

Hehe sorry, I did take your point.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Hi All,

I have been trying to carry my 7 iron 150 yards at the range all year and don't think I have managed once.

What loft is your 7 iron? 150 yards is a 6 iron carry for me! I understand that if you hit it harder it should spin more, go higher but not necessarily fly further.

 

[spawn_ukuk]

I think a solid hit is much better then a hard hit
Ive recently concentrated on a good solid hit instead of really trying to hit it hard
and ive now been hitting my 8 iron 150 yards, thats pretty decent going for a 8 iron well for me anyway

 

[SocketRocket]

To create distance you need a good smash factor and one component is clubhead speed. Hitting hard is not a good way to create high clubhead speed, infact it normally reduces it due to the tension in the arms and wrists.

It is possible to create fast clubhead speed without hitting hard. You need to have relaxed arms and wrists, try and remove as much tension as you can without letting the club come out of your hands. If you take the club to the top with a good shoulder turn then start the downswing with your lower body, push the right knee into the left as you rotate your hips and resist the need to throw the club down from the top. Next rotate your torso and shoulders while your arms stay as loose as noodles and come along for the ride, as they whip around your body with loose wrists you will be able to effortlessly create fast clubhead speed with a nice steady tempo.

I like this feel of hitting the ball with my body.

 

[Matty]

On of the things I've been working in in the last 6 months or so is making sure I'm not trying to kill the ball when I swing.

If I take a smooth, controlled swing it's fast, contact is good, the balls goes (pretty) straight and a reasonable distance.

If I try to batter the life out of the small white thing I top it or end up with a wild slice that's massively destructive for distance and direction and puts me in all sorts of trouble.

Having spent my time doing this I've started eliminating bad shots from my game and my scores are loads more consistent.

So, in answer to the OP question - as a high handicapper I can say that yes - I was losing out by trying to hit it too hard!

 

[DaveyG]

Great thread this is mate. Although I wish i had read this a couple of days ago. On friday for the first time i was smashing it up the bank at the range with my 3 wood. Saturday, sunday monday and tonight i have spent my time hooking everything left. It was like if was going round a corner when it got 160 yrds down the range. I think its hit me now in persuit of those back bank shots i am trying way to hard and if i take some off my back swing it will do me the world of good.

Break tomorrow then will test my theory thursday! Wish me luck

 

[Alex1975]

Great thread this is mate. Although I wish i had read this a couple of days ago. On friday for the first time i was smashing it up the bank at the range with my 3 wood. Saturday, sunday monday and tonight i have spent my time hooking everything left. It was like if was going round a corner when it got 160 yrds down the range. I think its hit me now in persuit of those back bank shots i am trying way to hard and if i take some off my back swing it will do me the world of good.

Break tomorrow then will test my theory thursday! Wish me luck

It's not your theory... It's mine

 

[viscount17]

I found out about swinging too fast when I was fitted for my clubs
ego bash #47 'you're not fast so stop trying to pretend you are'
ever since I've been trying to keep it smooth - if I do the timings right and I have half a chance of the club face being square when it gets back to the ball, too fast and the one thing it isn't going to be is square. and smooth doesn't mean wussy - get the timing right and the smash factor is right up there too.