My Swing Speed Journey

[Springveldt]

Do you know your sequencing is bad?

It's interesting the step swings are slower, as even at elite level they tend to be faster, just because you can use more lateral and vertical force. However, I would have thought the worse someone's sequencing is, the bigger the gain they can make with a step swing, as this almost forces better sequencing, the only exception being if it feels so unnatural you can't do it subconsciously. I guess in the latter case this could indicate sequencing is so bad it's unnatural, but it could also indicate that it's a new movement pattern you just haven't yet fully programmed, especially if you didn't previously play any other sports with similar concepts.

Probably because ever since I took the game up again in 2016 the one thing I've never, ever been able to do is have my hips open enough at impact, my right heel is always still on the ground at impact. I'm just always in a rush from the top to get to the ball, it's just my natural instinct. Even when I've filmed myself doing the step drill one of two things happen, I'll either start my downswing while my lead foot is in the air (it hasn't actually got the weight down yet) or I come to a physical stop after the foot is down and kill all momentum I had in my backswing. It just feels really uncoordinated to me.

I've always had decent hand to eye coordination, even as a kid I was decent at things like snooker, pool, darts, tennis and golf. I was crap at football, I could read the game OK, was decent at passing but my left leg was just for standing on, I had zero skills, couldn't take anyone one as my feints or stepovers were so slow and uncoordinated all my mates would end up laughing. I hate dancing, the only time I've ever really danced with the wife was our engagement and wedding dance. I've basically got 2 left feet when it comes to coordinated movement with them.

I'm contemplating going getting a lesson from a pro who has a force plate just to see if they could shed any light on it, my golf swing feels like so much effort to not really generate a ton of speed.

 

[Golf is fun]

Probably because ever since I took the game up again in 2016 the one thing I've never, ever been able to do is have my hips open enough at impact, my right heel is always still on the ground at impact. I'm just always in a rush from the top to get to the ball, it's just my natural instinct. Even when I've filmed myself doing the step drill one of two things happen, I'll either start my downswing while my lead foot is in the air (it hasn't actually got the weight down yet) or I come to a physical stop after the foot is down and kill all momentum I had in my backswing. It just feels really uncoordinated to me.

I've always had decent hand to eye coordination, even as a kid I was decent at things like snooker, pool, darts, tennis and golf. I was crap at football, I could read the game OK, was decent at passing but my left leg was just for standing on, I had zero skills, couldn't take anyone one as my feints or stepovers were so slow and uncoordinated all my mates would end up laughing. I hate dancing, the only time I've ever really danced with the wife was our engagement and wedding dance. I've basically got 2 left feet when it comes to coordinated movement with them.

I'm contemplating going getting a lesson from a pro who has a force plate just to see if they could shed any light on it, my golf swing feels like so much effort to not really generate a ton of speed.

It's always worth getting the opinion of a pro, especially if they have the kit to measure what you are doing, however I thought I'd ask a silly question - Have you tried starting the step sooner? If you have a fast tempo, which it sounds like you do, it could simply be starting the step too late, which means you have to either start the downswing before the foot is planted, or have a weird awkward pause. Not saying it's definitely this, but sometimes the simple explanation fits. The other simple explanation is if you get yourself in a funky position at the top which makes it impossible to step in time, think reverse pivot, arms pinned across chest this kind of stuff, you'd definitely want a pro to diagnose that though.

 

[Springveldt]

It's always worth getting the opinion of a pro, especially if they have the kit to measure what you are doing, however I thought I'd ask a silly question - Have you tried starting the step sooner? If you have a fast tempo, which it sounds like you do, it could simply be starting the step too late, which means you have to either start the downswing before the foot is planted, or have a weird awkward pause. Not saying it's definitely this, but sometimes the simple explanation fits. The other simple explanation is if you get yourself in a funky position at the top which makes it impossible to step in time, think reverse pivot, arms pinned across chest this kind of stuff, you'd definitely want a pro to diagnose that though.

Yeah the step sooner ends up being point 2 that I come to a complete standstill at the top of my backswing. It could be I'm in a funky position at the top, maybe a slight reverse pivot as in my actual swing I tend to keep a lot of weight on the front foot as if I try the "load up the right side" thing I never get back to the left on time and chunk the crap out of it. It won't be arms pinned across the chest as that's something I worked really hard on, to make sure I get the pushing hands away feeling. When my driving starts to go off I always fall back to the swing thought of if directly behind my head is 12 and the ball is at 6 then pushing my hands as far out towards 10 as I can to stop the left arm collapsing across usually helps.

 

[Springveldt]

Just finished a session in the garden and the wife will not be pleased when she sees the grass when she gets in. Even on top of some fake grass I've twisted 2 large muddy patches.

Started off green 120, blue 118, red 116. Step was green 124, blue 122 and red only 114. I added in the heel lifts today and they were green 126, blue 124 and red 120. Final green ones I had 129, 131, 130.

Maybe I didn't warm up enough first but thought I had. For the steps I changed it up a bit so I was only taking a small step, which felt a bit better but they still feel uncoordinated. I also hit PB's on the left side with green at 107, blue 104 and red 104. Never had them that fast.

 

[HPIMG]

I just finished a round in the canaries hired clubs got an old sim 2 and the shaft was so flexible i thought it was going to snap lol. I was hitting 300 yard drives today, I’m usually maxing out at 280 . Not sure if it was the heat playing in warm weather but big high bombs all day. Still shot +7 greens were ridiculously fast. Definitely the fastest greens I’ve ever seen.

 

[Springveldt]

I just finished a round in the canaries hired clubs got an old sim 2 and the shaft was so flexible i thought it was going to snap lol. I was hitting 300 yard drives today, I’m usually maxing out at 280 . Not sure if it was the heat playing in warm weather but big high bombs all day. Still shot +7 greens were ridiculously fast. Definitely the fastest greens I’ve ever seen.

Ball definitely travels further in hot weather. Which island are you on? I'm going to Gran Canaria in 2 weeks, it's our first venture abroad since covid.

 

[HPIMG]

Ball definitely travels further in hot weather. Which island are you on? I'm going to Gran Canaria in 2 weeks, it's our first venture abroad since covid.

Gran Canaria I played the Anfi tauro course today that was some course probably the 2nd best course I’ve ever played only 2nd to trump international.

 

[hambugerpete]

I just finished a round in the canaries hired clubs got an old sim 2 and the shaft was so flexible i thought it was going to snap lol. I was hitting 300 yard drives today, I’m usually maxing out at 280 . Not sure if it was the heat playing in warm weather but big high bombs all day. Still shot +7 greens were ridiculously fast. Definitely the fastest greens I’ve ever seen.

Well I just started level 2 in my freezing cold back garden. I'm not jealous at all

 

[TigerTime]

I am up 7mph after the completion of my first program. Big win.

 

[Springveldt]

Lunchtime session and the best thing I can say about it is that I done it. Started off with the green at 129, never had that before but I think it may have been a misread as the other 2 swings were 121 and 123. After that it was all downhill, everything was around 4mph down on my usual swings. Cut short the left hand side drills as it was starting to rain and I wanted to make sure I got all the dominant side drills done.

Maybe it was the crap nights sleep as I only had 4 hours or maybe it's because it's the 2nd session in 2 days and my body isn't used to it or maybe it's just one of those days I'm a bit slower. Wasn't happy with the results anyway.

 

[Springveldt]

Was at the studio last night and one of the lads I play with joined me. Was an interesting session, he’s a much better player than me and faster as well.

Warming up we noticed that my 8 iron speed was 86/87mph while his was usually 88/89mph so not that much between them.

When we started playing (Bethpage Black off the 6600 tees, that’s a tight course) I was only swinging my driver at 100mph while he was 109mph.

After the round I did some speed training and the 100 went to 103 then 105 with better strikes, ball speed over 150mph and carries over 250. The final swing was 108.5mph which I was happy with.
My mate was still 109mph with ball speeds in the low 160’s and 270+ carries then going after it he could “only” squeeze it to 111mph which was interesting.

Maybe I just need to start swinging hard at it on the course.

 

[VVega]

Warming up we noticed that my 8 iron speed was 86/87mph while his was usually 88/89mph so not that much between them.

Out of interest, was the carry also comparable or not really? A more able player can produce better numbers out of the same CH speed, generally. Trackman says a PGA player has 89 speed for 8i carrying 164.

I think it’s easier to swing a short club as fast as better players but have a large gap in speed with longer clubs. I’d imagine it’s due to “power loss” somewhere in mechanics of a longer club swing.

 

[Springveldt]

Out of interest, was the carry also comparable or not really? A more able player can produce better numbers out of the same CH speed, generally. Trackman says a PGA player has 89 speed for 8i carrying 164.

I think it’s easier to swing a short club as fast as better players but have a large gap in speed with longer clubs. I’d imagine it’s due to “power loss” somewhere in mechanics of a longer club swing.

No he was longer. His 9 iron is the same ball speed as my 8 iron. On good hits my ball speed is around 110mph and 150 carry with an 8, slight fats are around 105mph and the odd nuked one will be 114mph. His 9 iron was 110mph ball speed.

My 8 iron static loft is 34, his 9 is low 40’s I think but at impact the dynamic loft and launch angles are nearly the same. He just gets more shaft lean and compresses it better.

Definitely a power leak on driver, I’m all arms, shoulders and effort.

 

[Springveldt]

Good session today, green started at 126 and wasn't a misread as the other two were 124 and 125. The final green session was 131, 132, 130 which is at my maximum. Also had what I think is a PB for the blue, had 127 with the heel stomp. Also had a 127 with the red but I'm pretty sure that is some sort of misread as the next fastest ones were 120 and 118.

Hoping to get another session in on Thursday then I've got Trackman booked for Friday again and will do the driver session again.

 

[mrio]

Good session today, green started at 126 and wasn't a misread as the other two were 124 and 125. The final green session was 131, 132, 130 which is at my maximum. Also had what I think is a PB for the blue, had 127 with the heel stomp. Also had a 127 with the red but I'm pretty sure that is some sort of misread as the next fastest ones were 120 and 118.

Hoping to get another session in on Thursday then I've got Trackman booked for Friday again and will do the driver session again.

Nice speed!! I will be waiting for a post after your Trackman session to compare sticks number with actual driving, I am very interested!

 

[hambugerpete]

I've taken a fews days off as it's not been fun doing the sessions in biting cold. Back on it tomorrow though as it's warming up a bit !

 

[Golf is fun]

I've taken a fews days off as it's not been fun doing the sessions in biting cold. Back on it tomorrow though as it's warming up a bit !

Out of curiosity, do you or others find reduced performance on cold days?

I'm currently taking a bit of a break whilst I work on technical changes, but for years I've worked out at home in my garage and I've always found weights felt heavier on really cold days. I'm never sure if the cold means my body isn't working as well so I can't use my full strength/power or if it's just psychological, as even though I commit to doing it it's not the most fun, especially given all the equipment you touch is cold steel. So I wonder if the same effect applies here.

 

[hambugerpete]

Out of curiosity, do you or others find reduced performance on cold days?

I'm currently taking a bit of a break whilst I work on technical changes, but for years I've worked out at home in my garage and I've always found weights felt heavier on really cold days. I'm never sure if the cold means my body isn't working as well so I can't use my full strength/power or if it's just psychological, as even though I commit to doing it it's not the most fun, especially given all the equipment you touch is cold steel. So I wonder if the same effect applies here.

Certainty felt that way, first week of stage 2 and I was slower than final week of stage 1.
Only 1 mph but it was so cold and I just rushed . Not taking a proper rest between blue and red.

 

[Springveldt]

Nice speed!! I will be waiting for a post after your Trackman session to compare sticks number with actual driving, I am very interested!

I will probably be able to get driver to 108mph on Trackman while trying to hit the ball (flat out, not caring where the ball goes).

When I put Trackman into swing speed training mode I got the driver to 113mph with no ball.

The speed I'm posting with the sticks is measured by the blue sports sensors radar (superspeed used to sell these before the prgr) so I'm not sure how accurate it is but I've been using it for 5 years so at least I'm consistent with what I'm measuring with.

I also wrote down what superspeed said the stick speeds translate to when they were still selling the blue radar. It seems to match up pretty well, I can get the green to 131, the blue is usually around 124 and the red is normally anywhere between 117 and 120 which puts me in between 105-110mph with driver with full effort swings. On Trackman I'm usually around 102-103mph when playing on a course but when I go to the range or shot analysis and start swinging harder it gets to around 105mph. Then speed training, flat out hitting a ball but not caring where it goes has been 107-108mph the last 2 weeks. Long term goal is to get course playing to 105-106, swinging harder 108 and flat out 110mph. If I can get to that this year I'd be delighted.

 

[Springveldt]

Out of curiosity, do you or others find reduced performance on cold days?

I'm currently taking a bit of a break whilst I work on technical changes, but for years I've worked out at home in my garage and I've always found weights felt heavier on really cold days. I'm never sure if the cold means my body isn't working as well so I can't use my full strength/power or if it's just psychological, as even though I commit to doing it it's not the most fun, especially given all the equipment you touch is cold steel. So I wonder if the same effect applies here.

I think so, colder days do seem slower for me. Also, I'm slower if I do them on my path or driveway compared to the garden. I'm not sure if that's because you can dig into the garden better or if you are just worried about sliding around on concrete/tarmac.