My Swing Speed Journey

[VVega]

Even if you didn't change where you generated force from, the timing of the force probably makes a difference. From a short swing you can be aggressive all the way to the ball, and you there is likely to be less need need to reduce force to compensate for being out of position.

Yes, I agree timing is more challenging in a full swing. So in theory then I have a lot of potential to produce more force from a full swing if I can improve its mechanics so I don’t loose the power somewhere

In meantime, I’m very curious to see if I can play actual golf with a static position swing.

 

[VVega]

Yes, I agree timing is more challenging in a full swing. So in theory then I have a lot of potential to produce more force from a full swing if I can improve its mechanics so I don’t loose the power somewhere

In meantime, I’m very curious to see if I can play actual golf with a static position swing.

Just to add, I think the timing challenge is coming from a transition /direction change at the top of the swing which at higher speeds becomes less and less forgiving. Just a slightly wrong move in transition at speed then requires a lot of work to recover…

 

[mrio]

Yes, I agree timing is more challenging in a full swing. So in theory then I have a lot of potential to produce more force from a full swing if I can improve its mechanics so I don’t loose the power somewhere

In meantime, I’m very curious to see if I can play actual golf with a static position swing.

I have seen a lot of different kind of swings, but never that. However, if it works, it works! you may be the first! good luck

 

[Golf is fun]

Yes, I agree timing is more challenging in a full swing. So in theory then I have a lot of potential to produce more force from a full swing if I can improve its mechanics so I don’t loose the power somewhere

In meantime, I’m very curious to see if I can play actual golf with a static position swing.

In theory yes, a longer swing will always be faster, assuming rate of force production is the same and constant.

The real world challenge is that going longer could introduce technical errors like change of plane, clubface position etc... and there is also the possibility you cannot sustain the rate of force production for the complete duration of the swing either due to having to make a swing compensation or due to your current physical limits, although the latter is unlikely for most people.

 

[Golf is fun]

I can sense some kind of engenieering background, but maybe is just good logic!

Combination of sports science, physics and my day job in tech which requires logic.

I think it helps having come from a sport where the object you are working with has more mass than you. When a beginner learns to lift you see them move the bar around them, this works up until the point where the bar weighs more than you, then you learn it's more efficient to not keep changing the direction of the force you apply to the bar and instead put one big force in an upwards direction and then move yourself around the bar. It's harder to learn this in golf as an adult because the clubs are light enough to be overpowered, but if you watch kids swing you can see because they cant overpower the club they tend to have nice smooth well sequenced swings.

 

[HPIMG]

I did my speed training at the driving range today. I’ve been doing it usually in the back garden with foam balls. So after the routine I hit 15/20 balls all around 110mph then I had a bucket of ball so went through all my clubs I was getting an extra 20 yards carry on all my clubs.
So how do we get to keep the speed after the routine because I always reset back to low 100s on a new day.

 

[Orikoru]

I did my speed training at the driving range today. I’ve been doing it usually in the back garden with foam balls. So after the routine I hit 15/20 balls all around 110mph then I had a bucket of ball so went through all my clubs I was getting an extra 20 yards carry on all my clubs.
So how do we get to keep the speed after the routine because I always reset back to low 100s on a new day.

Maybe just bring your speed sticks out on the course and make it part of your pre-shot routine.

 

[HPIMG]

Maybe just bring your speed sticks out on the course and make it part of your pre-shot routine.

Aye 6 hour round of golf

 

[Golf is fun]

I did my speed training at the driving range today. I’ve been doing it usually in the back garden with foam balls. So after the routine I hit 15/20 balls all around 110mph then I had a bucket of ball so went through all my clubs I was getting an extra 20 yards carry on all my clubs.
So how do we get to keep the speed after the routine because I always reset back to low 100s on a new day.

You're asking how to warm up before a round of golf? It sounds like you already have the basis for your answer. I'd explore how much you can trim it down, but getting the blood flowing, some pattern of sets and reps that involve 20ish swings of your speedsticks and a few balls at max speed isn't that excessive really.

 

[HPIMG]

You're asking how to warm up before a round of golf? It sounds like you already have the basis for your answer. I'd explore how much you can trim it down, but getting the blood flowing, some pattern of sets and reps that involve 20ish swings of your speedsticks and a few balls at max speed isn't that excessive really.

Yea I could do a few swings before a round but probably would only do that before a comp or medal and I don’t know would that speed last a full 18. Just wish I could keep my swing at 110mph I find it frustrating how it resets everytime I start the speed training.

 

[Golf is fun]

Yea I could do a few swings before a round but probably would only do that before a comp or medal and I don’t know would that speed last a full 18. Just wish I could keep my swing at 110mph I find it frustrating how it resets everytime I start the speed training.

If it doesn't last 18 holes, would that be due to fatigue? If you took an aggressive practice swing or 2 before each drive it should only take a couple of seconds, but keep you primed.

It's not really resetting each session, it's that you have to get warmed up to perform at your peak. You wouldn't (or shouldn't, I guess some people would) try to sprint full speed, attempt your max deadlift, or do any other high intensity athletic endeavour cold and expect a good outcome, why would the golf swing be any different?

 

[VVega]

Yea I could do a few swings before a round but probably would only do that before a comp or medal and I don’t know would that speed last a full 18. Just wish I could keep my swing at 110mph I find it frustrating how it resets everytime I start the speed training.

You wouldn’t expect your max to be just there all the time on demand? If you want to have 110 readily available you need to make it your “floor” not the “ceiling”. Properly warming up is still the best advice though.

 

[VVega]

I wonder what the swing weight on that is? It has so much weight in the grip it must have changed the swing weight massively.

Not as much as it’s not all sitting just at the end of the club.

FWIW, my total 340g with 70g shaft and MCC midsize is D3, so nothing too extreme.

 

[SocketRocket]

If you listen to the long drive guys, they say 80% of the training is gym work. You must have been doing it wrong.

Long drive guys don't make good golfers. They can hit the ball far but not with good dispersion or accuracy.
Look around your own club, are the best golfers beefcakes? Probably not but still can hit the ball a good distance.
Good club head speed is mainly generated through the release of the club through supination of the wrists. Good technique is the major player here, relaxed wrists, arms and shoulders are critical.

 

[VVega]

Look around your own club, are the best golfers beefcakes?

Looks like you are confusing strength with hypertrophy.

 

[VVega]

Good club head speed is mainly generated through the release of the club through supination of the wrists

Watched the video and if you just watched how he is hitting, you will see how he is pushing off the ground to create that speed of his.

 

[mrio]

Long drive guys don't make good golfers. They can hit the ball far but not with good dispersion or accuracy.
Look around your own club, are the best golfers beefcakes? Probably not but still can hit the ball a good distance.
Good club head speed is mainly generated through the release of the club through supination of the wrists. Good technique is the major player here, relaxed wrists, arms and shoulders are critical.

This thread is about speed. And regarding speed, when you focus on technique almot everyone loses speed (the only ones that benefits are absolute begginers with some huge technical faults)

Regarding good golfers I will also add that when you focus on speed, or whatever other skill in golf (ball contact, face impact, swing path, etc...) and you train for it you get better AND you may even improve technique. There is a book that talk about this in detail... The Practice Manual by Adam Young. I have seen lots of guys getting stuck by overfocusing on technique... I myself have been guilty of that.

About long drivers of the golf there are some of the best ball strikes of the ball, check a training round of Kyle Berkshire in Youtube. Being a +3 with how "bad" he approaches is just... incredible. His long game +150 yards is astounding.

BTW, I think technique is important too, but there are other things much more important to train in golf like skill, focus, etc... allmost all the good golf techniques of any guy have been reached by training other things. The more you train with purpose the better you are and the better technique you acquire.

 

[hambugerpete]

Long drive guys don't make good golfers. They can hit the ball far but not with good dispersion or accuracy.
Look around your own club, are the best golfers beefcakes? Probably not but still can hit the ball a good distance.
Good club head speed is mainly generated through the release of the club through supination of the wrists. Good technique is the major player here, relaxed wrists, arms and shoulders are critical.

The thread is about speed.
Bryson de chambeau competes in world long drive and is pretty decent in that and tour golf too.
Kyle Berkshire is also a decent golfer.
If you want to hit the ball a really long way then you're going to be needing strength id think.
I'm not trying to hit it miles, just further than I did at the start.

 

[Golf is fun]

Long drive guys don't make good golfers. They can hit the ball far but not with good dispersion or accuracy.
Look around your own club, are the best golfers beefcakes? Probably not but still can hit the ball a good distance.
Good club head speed is mainly generated through the release of the club through supination of the wrists. Good technique is the major player here, relaxed wrists, arms and shoulders are critical.

It's a common misconception that distance and accuracy are mutually exclusive. Firstly to hit the ball far you generally have to find the sweet spot to maximise ball speed from the given clubhead speed. Secondly a fast swing doesn't mean a wild swing, theoretically assuming a swing is somewhat sound it should be the opposite - is a bike more stable when you ride at 0.5mph or 20mph? Is a gyroscope more stable when it spins fast or slow?

Now longer hitters do have a greater dispersion, but that's just the nature of the beast, 1 degree off will be less dispersion at 200 yards than it will at 350 yards, and so good golf does have a point where trading speed for dispersion is worthwhile, but most average club golfers won't be at this point. In fact the typical blub player could do with gaining both speed and accuracy, not trading one for the other.

Regarding beefcakes, although strength and size are often correlated, they don't have to be. If the secret to clubhead speed is through technique and being relaxed and flexible rather than strength why don't women hit the ball further than men? Women typically have better mobility but worse strength, and at the elite level some even have arguably technically the best swings. Surely they should be dominating long drive and playing off the longest tees?

 

[SocketRocket]

It's a common misconception that distance and accuracy are mutually exclusive. Firstly to hit the ball far you generally have to find the sweet spot to maximise ball speed from the given clubhead speed. Secondly a fast swing doesn't mean a wild swing, theoretically assuming a swing is somewhat sound it should be the opposite - is a bike more stable when you ride at 0.5mph or 20mph? Is a gyroscope more stable when it spins fast or slow?

Now longer hitters do have a greater dispersion, but that's just the nature of the beast, 1 degree off will be less dispersion at 200 yards than it will at 350 yards, and so good golf does have a point where trading speed for dispersion is worthwhile, but most average club golfers won't be at this point. In fact the typical blub player could do with gaining both speed and accuracy, not trading one for the other.

Regarding beefcakes, although strength and size are often correlated, they don't have to be. If the secret to clubhead speed is through technique and being relaxed and flexible rather than strength why don't women hit the ball further than men? Women typically have better mobility but worse strength, and at the elite level some even have arguably technically the best swings. Surely they should be dominating long drive and playing off the longest tees?

Of course you need some strength to hit the ball but it's not the prime factor in distance. Strength and weight create the initial momentum to allow the arms and wrists to freewheel but only to a certain degree. I asked the question whether the best golfers at your club are all pumped up beefcakes?
What comment do you have for the video I posted, do you disagree with the results this guy achieves.