Swing Speed - Holy Cow!

Haven't read the whole post but........

If your goal is to increase your swing speed from 90+mph average to 115+mph average, a word of warning. It is possible to increase speed over a matter of months but it is also very likely that without preparing the body for the extra speed and stresses, you will injure yourself. Be it a pulled muscle, extra wear on joints, etc.......
Flexibility and muscular strength and support is necessary to not only control the extra speed but to also protect the body from injury.
 
Correct me if I am wrong people but swing speed is not the same as club head speed is it?

For instance the OP here can swing hell for leather but still not reach optimal club head speed. I think the latter comes from a careful, gradual build up of speed combined with a correctly timed (not rushed) release of the club head.

Isn't this why pros make it look effortless yet still hit it farther than most amateurs. I read somewhere that pros will expend a fraction of the energy when swinging a club compared to the amateur.

Seems like less is definitely more when it comes to golf.
 
What am I supposed to be looking at there? They pretty much all seem to be able to crank it up to the 116mph mark when they want to which will put it out to the 300yrd line (or beyond) in the right conditions. Even Luke Donald averages something like 278yds which is MASSIVE compared to most club golfers averages (and with 112mph swing he's considered a 'shorty').
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I know these guys are faster than the average club golfer, but that wasn't my point.

My point was you don't have to be a bomber to compete. If you take 116mph as your mark, approx 100 of the 185 on the list get equal to or above this as their MAX speed. Thats just over 50%.

Looking at average speeds, Donald ranks 99 out of 185, again thats just slightly below the middle. If he is a 'shorty' what are the guys below him? 'Micro' hitters?
Donald certainly is a short hitter compared to the guys the commentators and TV cameras like to focus on, but in reality, he is right in the middle.

In fact, I would be interested to see the correlation, between driving distance, driving accuracy and position on the money list, so I might see if I can pool this together.
 
You'll find most of the longer drivers are lower on the Money lists - generally.

I think Donald is 178th out of 185 this year on the PGA in driver distance.
 
You'll find most of the longer drivers are lower on the Money lists - generally.

I think Donald is 178th out of 185 this year on the PGA in driver distance.
Click to expand...

I find the Luke Donald thing interesting.
He is right in the middle of the pack for average swingspeed, but right at the bottom for distance.

I could believe such a stat for an average hacker, but for a pro I find it hard to believe he is missing the sweetspot by miles and so wasting all his speed. Doesn't seem to make sense.
 
Tim, you need to take the blinkers off mate. You posted on here for one of two reasons, either to wow us with your new radar tracker, or to ask advice on how to get a faster swingspeed. You've had a plethora of advide provided by a wide range of people, including a PGA teaching pro. The answers you seek are already posted, yet you continually choose to refute it.

Until you take the blinkers off and start to take notice of some of the things being offered in this thread there seems little point in it continuing.
 
Sorry - by "swing speed" I was referring to clubhead speed.

Isn't this why pros make it look effortless yet still hit it farther than most amateurs. I read somewhere that pros will expend a fraction of the energy when swinging a club compared to the amateur.
Click to expand...

I'm convinced it's all in the release of the wrists. I'm aged 40, but quite athletic. I'm one of the biggest hitters on my driving range, yet I have only been averaging 95mph (estimated) on my biggest swings. I get a good shoulder turn, plenty of forward momentum and a big arc with the arms. That's why I was so shocked to see the real figures. I was expecting to be much higher.

Obviously the pros have learned good technique. But I don't for one minute accept that they are somehow "special" in terms of their physical makeup. Luke Donald is not a 6ft 6 powerhouse of muscle - he's complete opposite - yet his clubhead speed averages 115.

This is one of the most illuminating gadgets I've bought.
 
I get a good shoulder turn, plenty of forward momentum and a big arc with the arms. That's why I was so shocked to see the real figures.
Click to expand...

Question is, can you hook all this together in the right sequence. I bet your timing is a bit off. Not much, but that's where the pro's come in. Everything is in perfect synch. You are looking for another 15 mph. You aren't going to get it by swinging faster, that will only put you more out of synch than before.
 
I'm convinced it's all in the release of the wrists. I'm aged 40, but quite athletic. I'm one of the biggest hitters on my driving range, yet I have only been averaging 95mph (estimated) on my biggest swings. I get a good shoulder turn, plenty of forward momentum and a big arc with the arms. That's why I was so shocked to see the real figures. I was expecting to be much higher.

Obviously the pros have learned good technique. But I don't for one minute accept that they are somehow "special" in terms of their physical makeup. Luke Donald is not a 6ft 6 powerhouse of muscle - he's complete opposite - yet his clubhead speed averages 115.

This is one of the most illuminating gadgets I've bought.
Click to expand...

Sorry mate but this just seems a gloat about a piece of kit. Personally I don't think you are ever going to achieve the speed you are aiming for. Add in the fact "I'm one of the longest at my range comment" and this smacks of a look how far I can hit it will waving thread. Soory but there will always be someone longer AND STRAIGHTER so accept you are pretty good, get a short game and get you handicap down that way
 
I get a good shoulder turn, plenty of forward momentum and a big arc with the arms. That's why I was so shocked to see the real figures.
Click to expand...

Question is, can you hook all this together in the right sequence. I bet your timing is a bit off. Not much, but that's where the pro's come in. Everything is in perfect synch. You are looking for another 15 mph. You aren't going to get it by swinging faster, that will only put you more out of synch than before.
Click to expand...

This is the point I was trying to make (but badly). You'll not going to increase club head speed (even if you needed to) by swinging harder at it. Pros get this right by perfect timing and a sequence of body movements that actually assist/complement the swing of the arms whereas most amateurs body movement is probably detrimental in my opinion.
 
This is the point I was trying to make (but badly). You'll not going to increase club head speed (even if you needed to) by swinging harder at it. Pros get this right by perfect timing and a sequence of body movements that actually assist/complement the swing of the arms whereas most amateurs body movement is probably detrimental in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I accept entirely that it's all in the technique. But I'm convinced that swinging the club fast requires a subtly different technique (as the video says) - one that can only be learned by swinging fast.
 
Been following this thread with interest. It's so long now I might as well add to it.

There are a number of very interesting issues.

How important is distance in becoming a good (scratch) golfer?

Is distance necessarily best achieved through increased swing speed or is better technique more effective?

Is distance more important than accuracy?

To what degree can you train yourself to increase your swing speed and how much is this limited by your physical make up?

How important is physical make up/natural ability compared to application and learned technique (nature v nurture)?

Should the OP have bought a device to measure his swing speed as an aid to increasing this?

Can deaf people detect differences in tone. Really interesting this one as I am partially deaf. Sound is merely vibration as detected by the ear and auditory nerves and interpreted by the brain. Can those variations be detected and interpreted through other means? Need to ask Dame Evelyn Glennie probably. Not really for this forum though.

That's a heck of a lot of really interesting topics and I've probably missed some. No wonder we're on page 6!

On the basis of what's been posted and my own views I think the answer to all the above is something along the lines of, maybe, possibly, it depends and we don't know. Not necessarily in that order.
:D

Been fun reading everyone's opinions though.

I would say to the OP that it seems your golfing expeience is at the moment somewhat limited, and maybe based too much on what you see on TV. I'd work on a good basic technique to start with and play with good players to see what makes them good players. You'll find your own method. It might be based on power and distance but equally you could become a short game wizard and find that's the key to low scores for you.

I also think until you've played a bit more, you should hold off looking down on "old folks" playing off 9 just because they won't get to scratch. That's a good h/c as many on here will testify. Wait til you get to scratch (or even s/figs) yourself first.

And by the way if what I see at my local driving range is anything to go by far more people spend more time smashing drivers all round the place than practising accuracy. Usually it's the better players who practise the latter.

There's no need to aspire to Tour distances unless you are young and talented and that's where you think your future lies. The Tour is a different game - 7,500 yard courses and need to shoot under par to make a living. That's not the game we play.

As Bobmac says (and he is as sound a judge on this kind of thing as you'll see on here) 250 yards down the middle 80% of the time will be quite good enough to see you to a low h/c, no worries, if you work on the rest of you game.

Anyway, talk about it, discuss it, but most of all enjoy it. :)
 
Most club courses are 6200-6700 yards long so I am not sure 30 yards more with the driver is going to make you a scratch golfer. In my experience I would rather hit an extra club from the fairway than a shorter club from the rough or woods.

If you just want to brag about how big you hit it, then knock yourslf out but as Sandy Lyle's father told him:

'Its TEMPO not TEMPER'
 
Looking at average speeds, Donald ranks 99 out of 185, again thats just slightly below the middle. If he is a 'shorty' what are the guys below him? 'Micro' hitters?
Donald certainly is a short hitter compared to the guys the commentators and TV cameras like to focus on, but in reality, he is right in the middle.

In fact, I would be interested to see the correlation, between driving distance, driving accuracy and position on the money list, so I might see if I can pool this together.
Click to expand...

It was in a recent GM.

Long hitters = Worst for accuracy.

Pro's can smash the ball a mile but it's their short game that gets them scoring.
 
What am I supposed to be looking at there? They pretty much all seem to be able to crank it up to the 116mph mark when they want to which will put it out to the 300yrd line (or beyond) in the right conditions. Even Luke Donald averages something like 278yds which is MASSIVE compared to most club golfers averages (and with 112mph swing he's considered a 'shorty').
Click to expand...
I know these guys are faster than the average club golfer, but that wasn't my point.

My point was you don't have to be a bomber to compete. If you take 116mph as your mark, approx 100 of the 185 on the list get equal to or above this as their MAX speed. Thats just over 50%.

Looking at average speeds, Donald ranks 99 out of 185, again thats just slightly below the middle. If he is a 'shorty' what are the guys below him? 'Micro' hitters?
Donald certainly is a short hitter compared to the guys the commentators and TV cameras like to focus on, but in reality, he is right in the middle.

In fact, I would be interested to see the correlation, between driving distance, driving accuracy and position on the money list, so I might see if I can pool this together.
Click to expand...

Another thing you're missing is that the driving distance stats are AVERAGE, that means for every duffed drive you have to hit some pretty massive ones to bring your average back up again. Swinging fast is the primary objective to playing the modern game at the highest level. People even laugh about Faldo now as he was a tiny hitter for his size, even with the old technology.
 
You do not need to be able to hit it miles to get to scratch old boy.

The best golfer I know, a chap called Munro, plays off +2 at Tain. He hits the ball about the same distance as me, but he has an awesome short game and boy can he putt.

I would be happy only hitting half the distance I can now, if I had his short game ;)
 
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