Swing or Hit...

[kid2]

Id be interested to know what the difference between swinging and hitting a golf club....

Now when everyone is talking golf terminology its always i swing this way or i swing that way or iv and out to in swing path or vice versa....


You'll always hear the term swing through the ball....
Would you ca,, someone like Freddie Couples a swinger of the club likewise maybe Luke Donald....
And then maybe someone like KJ Choi or Tiger or maybe even Lee Westwood a hitter....

I was just messing about on the practice range last night after hitting my quota of balls for my session i collected them and decided to head back to my bag and abandon all swing thoughts and just feel the club heads weights in the swing around me.....

I was fairly surprised at the contact and the shots...I was drawing the ball with ease...Nothing felt like i was forcing it and it was travelling a bit further than my own swing....Maybe only a few yards.....I felt very loose hitting the ball....In complete contrast to the way i swing...But i find that comfortable too...Just a different type of comfort....

I was taking very shallow divots that were straight but and i know this is a big...... but..........Because i was feeling the weight of the club head collect the ball as i swung through impact it felt like the clubhead was racing past my hands after impact......Not sure if thats a right feeling of not.....

Is this really the feeling that Fred Couples feels.....When you see him swinging a club it looks effortless and to me last night it felt the same....

Im just not sure would it hold up on a sunday medal round!

Just a bit of fun though.

 

[macca64]

hav'nt got a clue if im swinging thru or just hitting it at the moment,or both even,thnk i try a smooth swing and hit thru the ball,
only god knows

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Swinging or hitting. Made no difference tonight it was a mess. Work to be done and fast with the club champs on Saturday

 

[leaney]

I've given up on trying to swing the club. I just try and hit the ball as hard as hard and it works a lot better for me.

 

[kid2]

Swinging or hitting. Made no difference tonight it was a mess. Work to be done and fast with the club champs on Saturday

Homer your as bad as me Pal......i was hitting it crap last night at the practice area....But i put it down to a long days work and a late night watching tv the night before so i was a bit lethargic....

Probably why i started swinging with free abandonment.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I think you need to both swing and hit!

At my fitting earlier in the week the pro said that I was holding back. It's true - I was trying to swing easy and hit it straight.

The pros hit it as far as they do because (amongst other things) they hit it hard so he got me to hit a few as hard as I could.

It worked - I hit them further and (surprisingly) straighter. Took that attitude on the course today and played some of my best golf ever.

 

[duncan mackie]

you swing the club, the club head hits the ball - what's to debate?

 

[kid2]

you swing the club, the club head hits the ball - what's to debate?

Duncan....My debate is that there are 2 ways of hitting a golf ball.....By either pulling the club into impact with the left hand or pushing it into impact being a right hand dominant move........

So you have a swinging motion vs a hitting motion....Im wondering which is better?

 

[RGDave]

Swing or hit?

What about wafting?



Works for me.

 

[kid2]

Swing or hit?

What about wafting?



Works for me.

:rofl:

 

[SocketRocket]

Surely you have to use both hands. I have always been confused with the 'Hitting' V 'Swinging' methods. To me the difference is dependent on which club you use. Wedges and mid irons need to hit the ball fairly steeply then hit the ground in front as the club bottoms out. Longer clubs have less forward tilt to the shaft so they sweep the ball away with a very slight divot. Teed up shots like the driver have to sweep.

 

[kid2]

Surely you have to use both hands. I have always been confused with the 'Hitting' V 'Swinging' methods. To me the difference is dependent on which club you use. Wedges and mid irons need to hit the ball fairly steeply then hit the ground in front as the club bottoms out. Longer clubs have less forward tilt to the shaft so they sweep the ball away with a very slight divot. Teed up shots like the driver have to sweep.

Kind of confused myself SR.....Thats why im interested in the replies.....
It felt ice and smooth last night when i just swung at the ball and collected it on the way through....But im not sure if id be able to do it for a full round.....I was hitting nice soft draws with a 6 iron...Barely grazing the surface of the grass....It was like i was cutting the grass at the top of the root and taking a slither of a divot....Much like sweeping it off the ground rather than taking a healthy sod..But i wonder would it hold up under pressure?

 

[duncan mackie]

Duncan....My debate is that there are 2 ways of hitting a golf ball.....By either pulling the club into impact with the left hand or pushing it into impact being a right hand dominant move........

So you have a swinging motion vs a hitting motion....Im wondering which is better?

ah - I don't use either of those so I'll leave you to your deliberations.

 

[DaveM]

Not that sure what the difference is in the context of the op. But I always understood the difference between hitting and swinging. Was Hitting was when someone tried to throw the club from the top of the swing. Bit like trying to hit with a bat sort of thing. A swing was more a around the body pendulum motion with the ball just getting in the way.

In context of the op guess I would say Swing, but accelerate though the hitting area and give it a good whack.

 

[Foxholer]

I'd sooner use words like 'flowing' and 'rhythm' than 'smooth' and 'tempo'. Flowing implies minimal tension, while smooth can involve an enormous amount of incorrect tension.

Nick Price, Trevino, Palmer and Paul Casey are distinctly punchy hitters, while Luke, Couples and Scott (I think) seem more 'swingers' - albeit with different tempos.

It's the score that counts though!

If I started thinking about which hand was leading (I think it's probably the left, then wrists, fingers add forearms brace at impact with stronger right arm bracing most) then I'm pretty sure my swing would disappear!

 

[kid2]

I'd sooner use words like 'flowing' and 'rhythm' than 'smooth' and 'tempo'. Flowing implies minimal tension, while smooth can involve an enormous amount of incorrect tension.

Nick Price, Trevino, Palmer and Paul Casey are distinctly punchy hitters,




while Luke, Couples and Scott (I think) seem more 'swingers' - albeit with different tempos.

At the moment FH. im falling into the first group.....Mainly because im getting good results....

I was just a little curious last night when i started just swinging the club.....
Probably got something to do with me being half way through "Golf is not a Game of Perfect" by Bob Rotella.....

 

[AyrshireGolfer]

Having spent the past 4 weeks trying to get rid of a slice I had developed I was trying all types of swings and set up's to correct it.

This lead to top shots, fat shots, duck hooks, more slices etc etc.

Blew up doing this on the front 9 and decided to hit with no thoughts in the head and just hit the ball.

First shot was a beautiful draw shot with a 3 hybrid, then at the next tee I stuck a 6 iron to 10 feet at a par 3. Finished the back 9 as if I was a different player.

Absolute mystery, but hope it can hold out for the medal tomorrow.

 

[Slicer30]

Ah Rotella... he fired the same debate in my head.

My practice swing (no ball) were lovely smooth and good rythym. When I stepped up to the ball, I'd try to add a little on top of the practice swing. throw myself into it a little bit more. This is what I label as hitting. I'd also be trying to force the club during impact, again not good.

As DaveM mentioned, for me the best results seem to come by putting a good swing on the club and letting the ball get in the way of it.
No doubt, when I do that and just swing I play better.

 

[JustOne]

Swinging is a pulling action with the left arm (No4 power accumulator, left arm releasing from the chest)

Hitting is pushing action with the right arm (No1 power accumulator, right arm straightens from a bent position)

 

[One Planer]

I try and picture it this way.

Freddie couples "swings" (oo'er). Tommy Gainey "hits"

I'm somewhere between at the minute