Do golf lessons work?
- Thread starter bradleywedge
- Start date
chrisd
Major Champion
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
And it isn't something I'd necessarily want to take to the course. The idea behind the lesson and the much faster swing speed was to get a feeling of the correct down turn and really releasing the hands through input. It goes back to what you'd teach a young kid taking golf up. Learn to hit it as hard as they can and then straighten the direction later. As a disclaimer, it was measured via Topgolf and not his usual launch monitor (which apparently went bang with black smoke coming out - sounds expensive!) and have a feeling it may be ball speed and not club speed. I will double check the exact data
Bxm Foxy
Active member
PGA Tour pro's about 90mph with a 7 iron I think.
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
I’m a bit surprised your pro has got you swinging faster, although the idea is to get you to turn and release better swinging faster will surely become ingrained something you really don't need.
It’s not that long ago the top 25 coach was trying to get you to shorten your swing and get a better tempo.
Last edited:
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Whatever he was trying to get me to do has clicked. 17 points on the tougher back nine straight out of work, off the train, out the cab and onto the course with no warm up or loosening. Even started with a double for a single point and then started hitting it nicely including an approach to 6 feet from 100 yards for birdie on the 15th. I need to go back to the pro, but it seems the faster swing is actually as a result of making a better and fuller turn and the by product is I am giving myself more time to turn back and as a result a better tempo back and through. The speed seems to come without actually trying to force it but through a better release. I want to double check that what I felt last night is what we were looking to achieve and that the faster swinging wasn't simply something he wanted to get me doing
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
Good to hear I hope it lasts, but I think the faster you swing the harder it is to square the club face at impact and will lead to nothing but inconsistency.
I have a friend who has the fastest swing speed I’ve seen on anyone he’s the same handicap as me and drives the ball around 60 yards farther than me, he had 42 points yesterday but that was the first decent score he’s had every other round he’s so inconsistent because he swings to fast it’s almost impossible to get the club face square at impact.
hovis
Tour Winner
rory, dustin and Brooks manage just fine. a fast swing speed does make it harder to square the face at all. it does make harder to get away with an open or closed club face at impact though as 10% off line for a 300 yard drive is 30 yards and only 20 for a 200 yard drive giving the illusion that the bigger hitter is less accurate.
for some people swinging harder will help as it ensures you use your body better and achieve a more natural release
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
That made me laugh don’t think because Rory etc can do it means we can.
A open or closed club face at address is surely the same as trying to have the club face square at impact.
The faster you swing must make it harder to square the club face, so imo unless you have very good hand eye coordination and are decent player most would get better results swinging
Slower.
Curls
Journeyman Pro
Maybe it’s just that he’s not steering it any more? Focusing on getting through impact with speed takes your mind off not hook-pulling it out of bounds left or slicing into the drink right. I think lots of people don’t realise they subconsciously over steer especially off the tee and would be better off building a routine that frees their mind of negativity. If your mind is focusing on OOb left, you end up swinging around yourself and flinging it left. Either a target in the distance or - like Homer - the impact zone - is a better place for your mind to be imo. The key word for me was “releaseâ€. That to me means he’s swinging through the ball and not at it. Keep it up Homer whatever works, works. End of. The trick is keeping it working long term ðŸ‘ðŸ»
hovis
Tour Winner
i dont think you understand the concept of how a clubface squares to the target line. if you are trying to generate speed by throwing you hands and the ball then you are correct. it would take alot of coordination to square the face. if you have a fast swing and missing the planet then swing speed is not the culprit. it's turning an pivoting correctly to allow the clubface to work naturally.
perhaps YouTube search for "rate of club face closure" and see for yourself
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
There was a guy I played in a club match against Tylney Park recently who swung the club at ridiculous speed. I thought on occasions he was going to swing off his feet. It was just such a quick and what looked a very aggressive swing at the ball and he struggled on the front nine. However once he clicked on the back nine, it went for miles and he played some excellent golf. For me, I couldn't or wouldn't want to swing that hard and fast - it seemed to an extreme - and he's front nine showed how it could go badly wrong went the timing wasn't dialled in. That's before the physical limitations of my old and creaking body
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
I watched one, no I should say part of one god that was a bore, I might not understand all the technical aspects of the swing but what I think is the bigger and faster a swing is ,it must make it harder to square the clubface at impact.
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
That sounds like my mate 😂 We had a pro come up in the summer and he advised my friend to slow down his swing, he tried for a while and couldn't do it and went back to swinging fast, he showed me some impact marks on his driver and they were all over the place, it's a pity as he could be a lot lower h/c if he just slowed down a bit, it's frustrating watching him sometimes as I know there's a good player in there.
Grant85
Head Pro
While it's horses for courses, the method to teach the youngsters these days is 1st of all get them some speed, then work out how to keep it in the park. As basically it's very difficult to generate speed when you have already learned to play the game.
I am certainly frustrated that I don't hit it further, but am certainly above average distance wise for my handicap. However when you see a guy who hits it long and straight, it makes a mockery of some holes where distance is always a factor and there is always something in there that says 'if I could just hit it a little bit further'.
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
I'm part of a team that coach youngsters we have around 40 and we don't coach them to swing fast, you are maybe speaking of older children ours range from 6 to 12 year olds.
I agree we would all like more distance and it certainly makes the game easier if your a big hitter, but you have to be realistic and know that playing from the fairway is the way to score well.
I agree we would all like more distance and it certainly makes the game easier if your a big hitter, but you have to be realistic and know that playing from the fairway is the way to score well.
I am not sure that is the case at all. It has a certainly intuitive sense that to do things with precision, if we do them more slowly, we will have more control and so less variation. But that the problem with so much golf swing theory. Its waffle and half baked ideas. The evidence is more that those who have fast swings, are the better golfers. And not just because the hit it further, but because the are more accurate too. Physically, it is perfectly concievable, that it is the same strength and muscle speed, that achieves the high club heat speed at impact, is a critical factor in being able to keep the clubhead the desired path rather than 'wandering' and so hitting the ball less consistently.
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
Is this evidence of players with faster swing speeds are better players ment to be the pros? If so I would agree with you. But for the rest of us the players with faster swing speeds I’ve seen over the years
for the most part are the more inconsistent.
I also agree there is plenty of waffle spoken about the golf swing.
Pros included but not exclusively.
While we can all quote exceptions, and even some of those probably coming from a confirmation bias, I think there is a strong correlation between clubhead speed/distance, and, both golf level (handicap or onward onto the pro world), and the consistency with which the ball is hit. (speaking purely of the long game here, obviously shortgame skill, putting, variety of shots, competitive experience, cool head, strategy, etc matter in the overall package).
There is no such thing as the single figure golfer who only drive it max 150 yards, but doesnt spread it more than a few yards off line. Nor the guy who can drive it 300 yards but cant hit a fairway and so plays of 30.
The long game is about consistency and distance but they are two sides of the same coin. One often hears of the person claim they can hit it well, but just needs to be a bit more consistent. This is an illusion - consitency is good golf. The good shots are not proof that they could can do it, and so if they could make that shot happen more frequently they would be playing to their true potential. The good shots are just the good end of the spectrum of the erratic level they play to.
Pros just preach the cosmetics of how successful golf swings look - they dont truly understand what makes that swing work. But like the stopped clock being right twice a day, sometimes provoke an improvement in their student.
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
I read your first paragraph and found it hard to follow, not sure about the rest of your post so found it difficult to respond.
