Swing speed

[Leftie]

I'm sure that peeps will tell me I'm wrong but ...

I always thought that swing speed had very little effect on distance. It's clubhead speed that's important, and this is mainly down to technique.

As an example, how many times have you decided to lay up short of trouble (say taking a club that will leave you 5 to 10 yards short) taken an easy swing and hit the ball straight into the hazard? The easy swing produces better tempo and timing and you hit the ball 10/15/20 yards further.

Play every shot as a lay up - easy to say but very difficult to achieve.

 

[Swinger]

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.

Interesting.

I'll do some experementing at the range next time.

Does dynamic stretching only occur at and above a certain speed or is this something that happens as slower speeds but at much smaller amounts?

I guess there would be a optimum speed also as there is a point that damage could occur or you would be putting too much effort in for very little extra gain.

 

[surefire]

Interesting.

I'll do some experementing at the range next time.

Does dynamic stretching only occur at and above a certain speed or is this something that happens as slower speeds but at much smaller amounts?

I guess there would be a optimum speed also as there is a point that damage could occur or you would be putting too much effort in for very little extra gain.

Without getting really in depth here, I'll try and give a better picture of what’s going on.

There are 2 ideas to consider here:

Muscles typically won't relax past the point where they will get damaged, or won't have the strength to contract and return the joint to its original position.

So if you take a muscle close to this point, the natural reflex is for the muscle to tense, to protect the joint and itself. Hence the contract reflex which is very strong.

The other point to consider is that normally you won't be strong enough to reach this position. The only way to get the stretch is from an outside force or momentum. So in the leg swinging example I mentioned, you will also be able to move your straight leg further if you lay on your back and use a band around your heel to pull the leg, or get a friend to push\pull the leg.

So based on the above information, you can see that if you slowly move towards the position, you will reach the point where the muscle tenses to protect itself and then stop.

If you move into this position faster, momentum will carry you further, before the contract reflex kicks in and creates the forceful contraction.

There will be an optimum speed for each individual based on their strength and fitness.
Overdoing it would have potential for injury, so be careful, and be aware of your physical limits and any signs your body is giving you.

 

[G_Mulligan]

Some very helpful posts here so thank you all for that. I am still recovering from a nasty back injury which lost me 5-10 mph on my club head speed which was not great to begin with. I can definitely see what leftie was saying with regards to relaxing as tense muscles are definitely slower and more prone to pulls and strains. I have started an exercise routine for strengthening my neck and back muscles so hopefully that will help a lot.

Surefire I can see what you are saying and you clearly know the science behind it but I think you would need to be very careful over stretching muscles at speed that do not have the elasticity to stretch that much normally. I think the ideal would be to have muscles that can stretch that far comfortably and then use the dynamic stretching to create the muscle power and contraction reflex you talk about.

 

[surefire]

Surefire I can see what you are saying and you clearly know the science behind it but I think you would need to be very careful over stretching muscles at speed that do not have the elasticity to stretch that much normally. I think the ideal would be to have muscles that can stretch that far comfortably and then use the dynamic stretching to create the muscle power and contraction reflex you talk about.

I agree, you do have to be careful, overdoing it for whatever fitness level you have would not be good.

It's just like flicking an elastic band, the further you stretch it back, the faster and further it will fly when you let go, unless its old and brittle in which case it will just snap!

In fact, I think what you say about staying within limits is spot on, its no good having a high swing speed, a booming drive on the opening tee shot, and then being stretchered away and not playing again for 6 months because you have damaged yourself doing it!
As long as you are getting some stretch at the top, you will get some benefit. If you could hold your backswing position all day long, then you are not making optimal use of the body.