Swing speed

[G_Mulligan]

Hi Guys

I just have a query on swing speeds. I have been working with a coach and my swing has gotten alot better recently and my iron play and short game have become pretty good. I still suffer from a slice off the tee so I am very reluctant to really let the driver go fully and often use my hybrid which is fairly straight.

Anyway I was in AG buying a new driver a couple of weeks ago my coach who also works there had me on the launch monitor and said my swing is far too slow (about 85mph). I have been using tour tempo and thought my speed was starting to get faster certainly my rythm has gotten alot better. I said I was worried about my slice and losing my tempo but he was adamant speed was the key and other things could be fixed later. I have tried swinging faster and everything seems to be going horribly wrong especially my irons which I am now catching fat or pushing right.

The question is, is speed and distance everything or can I get to low single figures with a 220-230 yard drive but really solid iron game and great short game? I mentioned to my coach a while ago that I would like to get into golf coaching after uni but he said I would be laughed at being a coach with a slow swing!

 

[Imurg]

Arnie once said " Learn to hit it hard, then learn to hit it straight" - at least I think it was Arnie.

 

[bobmac]

Arnie once said " Learn to hit it hard, then learn to hit it straight" - at least I think it was Arnie.

Nah, he sid "I'll be back"

 

[Ethan]

I would get a few lessons. There is probably something in your swing inhibiting a faster swing, such as a poor coil or too little body action. May be worth looking at some golf exercises too. TPI.com is a good place to look. Tempo is important, worked OK for Luke last week, but if you got up into the 90s swing speed it would add 15 or 20 yards to drives and you would be hitting 1 or 2 irons less into greens, and that would help a lot!

 

[Imurg]

Arnie once said " Learn to hit it hard, then learn to hit it straight" - at least I think it was Arnie.

Nah, he sid "I'll be back"

Hasta La Vista Bobby

 

[richart]

Arnie once said " Learn to hit it hard, then learn to hit it straight" - at least I think it was Arnie.

Nah, he sid "I'll be back"

Wasn't Arnie, as in Palmer , your idol Bob,or were you more a Bobby Jones man ?

 

[Waitforme]

My SP is around 80 - 85, driver carry is about 200 - 205 I think , 225 ish total distance. My HC is 6.7.

But ... I want more distance as per post earlier this week, to that end I've got a lesson booked for tomorrow.

So, yes , you can get to SF with a slow swing speed but I'd imagine it would be easier with a faster one , all things being equal.

Edit .... just noticed you said low single figure ... don't know !

 

[Ethan]

Quite a few LPGA Pros don't carry the ball much more than 220 in the air and manage to get it around 6400 yard courses (the sort of length many of us play comps over) in under par, so it can be done. They have pretty sharp short games and iron games though.

 

[G_Mulligan]

To be honest it is the short game I get the most joy from I get alot more satisfaction in holing a chip or pitching it close than I do when I occasionally hit a good 250 yard drive. I would like a longer drive and I see the point made about having 1-2 less clubs in with the iron 6-8 iron is a big diffirence acuracy and control wise.

 

[sawtooth]

.... too little body action.

yes, or too much body action will be counter productive also.

 

[Region3]

No-one else has mentioned this so I could be reading it wrong, but it sounds to me like your pro means club speed, not the length of time it takes you to make your swing from takeaway to impact.

They're not related to each other. More clubhead speed will be mostly down to technique, and you can still have a nice smooth tempo in doing it.

 

[surefire]

No-one else has mentioned this so I could be reading it wrong, but it sounds to me like your pro means club speed, not the length of time it takes you to make your swing from takeaway to impact.

They're not related to each other. More clubhead speed will be mostly down to technique, and you can still have a nice smooth tempo in doing it.

I get what you are trying to say, but without being funny, the quicker you can get from takeaway to impact, generally the faster the clubhead will be moving - providing you haven't only sped up the backswing or shortened your swing.

Of course it's all well and good the clubhead moving faster, but it still needs to be facing the right way, and hit the ball at the right point. A 120mph swing cutting across and topping the ball, isn't really that useful.

 

[G_Mulligan]

No-one else has mentioned this so I could be reading it wrong, but it sounds to me like your pro means club speed, not the length of time it takes you to make your swing from takeaway to impact.

They're not related to each other. More clubhead speed will be mostly down to technique, and you can still have a nice smooth tempo in doing it.

I like the idea of this. I assume when you say club speed you mean at impact. So I work on a smooth fluid swing that explodes with pace at impact. I like this a lot. I am off to the range now

 

[surefire]

I like the idea of this. I assume when you say club speed you mean at impact. So I work on a smooth fluid swing that explodes with pace at impact. I like this a lot. I am off to the range now

This is an idea that is thrown around a lot, but lets think about this another way.

Why would you try and add loads of speed at the last minute?
Doing it that way is just going to be harder.

We know from school physics that F = MA

If you're going to add the speed at the last minute, you'll need more acceleration to achieve the same clubhead speed, therefore you will need to apply more force to the club, not to mention that you'll have to time it just right.

If you were in a 1/4 mile drag race against someone, would you accelerate as hard as you could until the finish line, or would you take off slowly and then just before the finish try to absolutely floor it?
Assuming you use the same car (representing your strength and mechanics etc) for each method, which one do you think would have the highest speed as you cross the line (impact)?

 

[viscount17]

one of the results of having the ego trampled at my club fitting was that I had a much slower driver swing than I thought - around 86 - 88 (I'm sure I used to be faster!). the fitter said that to hit it further - under control - I should slow it and smooth it out. once I cottoned on to it I was 20 - 30 yards longer (on the monitor).
on course I now just concentrate on smooth and it seems to be working as I'm straighter more often.

 

[Swinger]

I like the idea of this. I assume when you say club speed you mean at impact. So I work on a smooth fluid swing that explodes with pace at impact. I like this a lot. I am off to the range now

This is an idea that is thrown around a lot, but lets think about this another way.

Why would you try and add loads of speed at the last minute?
Doing it that way is just going to be harder.

We know from school physics that F = MA

If you're going to add the speed at the last minute, you'll need more acceleration to achieve the same clubhead speed, therefore you will need to apply more force to the club, not to mention that you'll have to time it just right.

If you were in a 1/4 mile drag race against someone, would you accelerate as hard as you could until the finish line, or would you take off slowly and then just before the finish try to absolutely floor it?
Assuming you use the same car (representing your strength and mechanics etc) for each method, which one do you think would have the highest speed as you cross the line (impact)?

Its more of a gradual acceleration throughout and there should be no flooring it at any point.

Its not just about getting the fastest swing speed out of each shot, they need to be travelling in the right direction.

There is only one direction in a drag race and most of the mechanics to control the car are under the bonnet. You can 'floor it' all day long if you like but I doubt it'll get you anywhere on the golf course!!

With a gradual acceleration you give your body time to do the things its supposed to at the right time. It is also more repeatable as people can groove the tempo and it can also be extremly powerful.

 

[surefire]

Its more of a gradual acceleration throughout and there should be no flooring it at any point.

Its not just about getting the fastest swing speed out of each shot, they need to be travelling in the right direction.

There is only one direction in a drag race and most of the mechanics to control the car are under the bonnet. You can 'floor it' all day long if you like but I doubt it'll get you anywhere on the golf course!!

With a gradual acceleration you give your body time to do the things its supposed to at the right time. It is also more repeatable as people can groove the tempo and it can also be extremly powerful.

I was acutally advising against the "floor it at the last minute" technique, however I do think you should start fast and finish fast.

There should only be one direction in your downswing, unless you are making compensations.

Sometimes people are advised to slow down, usually as it will give them time to get in synch and\or make the appropriate compensations they need to hit the ball. Yes this can work, but it's not the optimal situation.

Of course I'm sure you'll note that in my first post I did say:

Of course it's all well and good the clubhead moving faster, but it still needs to be facing the right way, and hit the ball at the right point. A 120mph swing cutting across and topping the ball, isn't really that useful.

However the thread was about swingspeed. Obviously there is a point where contact out the middle at a slower speed is worth more, than a really high speed that barely gets the ball on the clubface.

 

[G_Mulligan]

Obviously I caused quite a stir with the explosion at impact remark . I think in my head I did see it as a gradual build up with a smooth backswing and accelerate on the down swing with fastest point being at impact.

Well anyway I went to the range and to put it bluntly it did not go well. I warmed up hitting irons nice and crisp then hybrid off the deck was pretty good but the driver was terrible. I think I was maybe moving my arms without my whole body as I was concentrating just on speed so lost any fluidity. Will try again tomorrow...

Any drills I can try to increase speed or move arms and body in sync?

 

[Swinger]

I was acutally advising against the "floor it at the last minute" technique, however I do think you should start fast and finish fast.

Would it matter how fast the back swing was? The club has to change direction at the top so what is the point in getting there at full speed?
All you would do is use more effort stopping it and changing direction and more than likely put yourself off balance creating less chance of getting to top speed through impact.

There should only be one direction in your downswing, unless you are making compensations.

Which direction is that?

Of course I'm sure you'll note that in my first post I did say:

Of course it's all well and good the clubhead moving faster, but it still needs to be facing the right way, and hit the ball at the right point. A 120mph swing cutting across and topping the ball, isn't really that useful.

However the thread was about swingspeed. Obviously there is a point where contact out the middle at a slower speed is worth more, than a really high speed that barely gets the ball on the clubface.

No. Sorry, my mistake.
The conversation is about swing speed and not a combination of that and striking.

 

[surefire]

Would it matter how fast the back swing was? The club has to change direction at the top so what is the point in getting there at full speed?
All you would do is use more effort stopping it and changing direction and more than likely put yourself off balance creating less chance of getting to top speed through impact.

In my comment regarding start fast and stay fast, I was mainly referring to downswing, but I think you raise an interesting point regarding the backswing.

Although you don't need the backswing to be as fast as the downswing, it still needs to be a reasonable speed. At a decent speed backswing, you will dynamically stretch some large muscles, such as the lats, at the top of the swing. This then triggers the contract reflex in the muscle, which causes a powerful contraction which will result in a faster downswing.
Without this speed, you won't get the stretch, and therefore the powerful contraction.

To see this in action, see how far you can lift one leg in front of you keeping it straight. Then see that if you swing it, it will go further and stretch the muscles more*.

*Disclaimer, don't go overboard and get a hamstring or lower back injury.