Swing speed v back swing

[USER1999]

I am made from pipe cleaners, and need a really full swing, full shoulder turn, to hit it out of my shadow.

I watch Tony Finau, and Gary Woodland, who seem to be having a contest as to who hits it further with the shotest back swing.

TF is a big unit, GW less so, but still solid.

There are guys at my club with very short swings, who hit it miles, but when I try it, nah, packing a pea shooter.

It seems like a magic trick to me

 

[hairball_89]

For me, a shorter back swing is a good thing. Or at least, what *feels* like a shorter back swing.

Simply, the slower i move my arms back in my back swing, and the less distance my arms travel beyond parallel to the floor, the less sideways movement I have during my swing. This all means I can power through the ball. Usually when I think 'I really need to hit this' or 'my last few shots with this club went miles' I get excited and speed everything up, I move side to side and end up with an appalling shot.

What am i trying to say? The ball doesn't care how you get to it, just that you get to it relatively square and with (bugger loads of) power. But then again, you say you're made of pipe cleaners, I'll be polite and say I'm a lump...

 

[bobmac]

A shorter backswing does not necessarily mean less wrist hinge.

 

[USER1999]

A shorter backswing does not necessarily mean less wrist hinge.

I get that, and have tried it, but it just becomes a wristy flick. Still no boom!

 

[bobmac]

I get that, and have tried it, but it just becomes a wristy flick. Still no boom!

150yds flat/carry, what do you hit? I hit a 6 iron

 

[Deleted member 25172]

I am made from pipe cleaners, and need a really full swing, full shoulder turn, to hit it out of my shadow.

I watch Tony Finau, and Gary Woodland, who seem to be having a contest as to who hits it further with the shotest back swing.

TF is a big unit, GW less so, but still solid.

There are guys at my club with very short swings, who hit it miles, but when I try it, nah, packing a pea shooter.

It seems like a magic trick to me

To me, full shoulder turn long backswing is like magic. I swing Finau-style, i.e., very short, simply cause I cannot extend my swing any further. Can get the ball out and about anyway luckily, but I’m always looking in ave at people who have nicer looking, long and smoother swings.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As someone who has always over swung the idea of a Finau like short swing and generating decent power and distance is the thing of dreams and sheer jealousy. We have some guys at my club that really don't seem to do anything like a full turn, or even what looks like a tight coil and boom, it goes for miles. I always tread their balls down in the rough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hobbit]

Read an article a number of years ago that talked about fast muscles and slow muscles. Yes, there’s an element of strength involved but it’s also about how quickly certain muscle sets react.

If you think about different sprinters and the times they run, and even the same sprinter seeing their times come down through a season. It’s the speed of the muscle that generates the speed of movement of the legs.

It’s the ability to move quickly that generates swing speed. Add a bit more strength and it’ll go a bit further.

Think about prop forwards. More muscle than you can shake a leg at but slow compared to a winger.

 

[USER1999]

150yds flat/carry, what do you hit? I hit a 6 iron

7i probably, may be an 8, in a traditional loft, none of this new fangled rubbish!

 

[Kennysarmy]

7i probably, may be an 8, in a traditional loft, none of this new fangled rubbish!

There was me thinking you were going to say 5i

 

[bobmac]

7i probably, may be an 8, in a traditional loft, none of this new fangled rubbish!

With my old blades I hit my 6 iron 150

 

[USER1999]

It's not really about distance, more so how such a short back swing can generate so much power. Hobbit may be onto something in his post above.
I like the short swing approach, as it seems simpler, with less to go wrong. Sadly, for me, if I try it, I am packing a pea shooter.

 

[USER1999]

With my old blades I hit my 6 iron 150

Your 6 is probably my 7, and a new sets 9!

 

[Crow]

I think a short backswing needs really good hands and a full follow through.

 

[bobmac]

Your 6 is probably my 7, and a new sets 9!

It's 33 degrees

 

[jim8flog]

Ronan Rafferty won the European Tour OoM and he had a very short back swing.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

I'm similar a long smooth relaxed swing(cough cough).

When I swing shorter(say 75% long) it feels like I have to accelerate like a nutter to get the swing speed upto normal mph, I was surprised I could actually get within a couple of mph of my normal driver swing(yeah have tested it, sad person alert!)

The people with shorter swings, how do you control the shorter irons distance ?

Do you have to swing softer/slower or can you still do it on how far back you take the club, to control distance, to be able to vary the distance slightly, so say hitting 60 or say 70 yards easier ?

 

[Springveldt]

I've shortened my back swing after a recent lesson and at first I felt the same, the ball was going nowhere. For reference I was swinging my 7 iron at 92mph on trackman with my longer swing and I was at 83mph with the short swing. I went back for a lesson last week and my shorter swing is now at 87mph with a 7 iron but I'm getting far better delivery numbers with dynamic loft and the ball is going as far as it used to. The shorter swing is much more controllable though, I'm not hitting the 30 yard left pulls that used to plague me.

 

[jim8flog]

It's 33 degrees

that even less loft my 7 (34 degrees) Mizuno JPX900 Tour

 

[bobmac]

The point I was making was that Chris hits his irons the same distance as me so stop worrying.
The other point I hinted at was if the wrist hinge comes late in the backswing and you shorten your backswing, you may end up with very little hinge which would rob you of power/speed/distance.
As Chris has been playing quite a long time and is almost as old as Richart, it's probably best not to make any big changes or indeed start any long books.
If you want a drill Chris to reduce flicking the ball, try this one.
You may want to replace the back ball with a small rolled up towel. (H&S)