Swinging it harder !

[spawn_ukuk]

Hey, Recently Ive been swinging my clubs harder, My friend is much smaller then me and he always swings the club very hard and it goes a mile, I have always accept that I hit the ball an OK distance on average with driver 230 yards with the odd longer one, and also hitting it straight more times then not and that was enough for me.

Last 2 weeks I decided to start swinging the clubs harder and I must admit the extra distance is surprising, Most people say that swinging it harder means less control but I have not really experienced that when swinging it harder.
I just really concentrate on how i want the club to go into the back of the ball and swing it hard.

The 17th on my local course is a short par 4 at 280 yards, The tee box is 8 feet higher then the green, and with swinging it hard plus hitting the ball right out the middle I got to the green, I never done that ever before.

How many people swing within there selves and how many people really do try to swing it hard?

 

[duncan mackie]

Most people say that swinging it harder means less control but I have not really experienced that when swinging it harder.

...

How many people swing within there selves and how many people really do try to swing it hard?

you appear to be contradicting yourself

swinging within yourself is in control - regardless of how hard you are trying to hit it (whatever that is - the clubhead is free floating at impact)

if you are not swinging within yourself you are out of control; almost be definition.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

If I swing hard I lose control and timing. I may hit 1 out of 10 brilliantly but the other 9 are questionable at best with at least 5 of those utter rubbish. If I swing more gently I get the timing right more often and so get a better result.

Interestingly I find I do not hit a hard swung iron further then a gentle one, presumably because it is more arms than arms and body but there is a difference with a hybrid of about 10-20 yds. However at the moment I am taking reliability over power as I have found fairways to be more pleasurable than rough. Whatever works for you is the answer.

 

[spawn_ukuk]

you appear to be contradicting yourself

swinging within yourself is in control - regardless of how hard you are trying to hit it (whatever that is - the clubhead is free floating at impact)

if you are not swinging within yourself you are out of control; almost be definition.

I think you know what I'm trying to say , even thought I maybe have not worded it right, I prefer that you either answer the question as I intended to ask or say nothing, Thank you

 

[Francisceo]

If I swing hard I lose control and timing. I may hit 1 out of 10 brilliantly but the other 9 are questionable at best with at least 5 of those utter rubbish. If I swing more gently I get the timing right more often and so get a better result.

Same here....

 

[Foxholer]

I've had times when either/both have worked!

Though the 'go hard at it' has always been 'with control'. It's when it's just an uncontrolled slash that Driving, particularly, becomes a liability. Also noticed that if the 'harder' approach worked well with Driving, it also transferred to better striking with the irons!

Staying balanced is the key to swinging harder for me!

@Duncan I didn't see any contradiction! I must be interpreting it slightly differently.

 

[spawn_ukuk]

I've had times when either/both have worked!

Though the 'go hard at it' has always been 'with control'. It's when it's just an uncontrolled slash that Driving, particularly, becomes a liability. Also noticed that if the 'harder' approach worked well with Driving, it also transferred to better striking with the irons!

Staying balanced is the key to swinging harder for me!

@Duncan I didn't see any contradiction! I must be interpreting it slightly differently.

I'm glad that most people understood the question I tried to ask

 

[Alex1975]

I did an experiment for this last week. Shot 1 is smashed and shot 2 is smoothed.



Shot 2 the smash factor is up to basically maximum, ball speed is up, Spin is down, launch is down, landing angle is way down so roll is way up, total distance is 21 yards longer.... I shall smooth and not smash I think....

 

[spawn_ukuk]

I did an experiment for this last week. Shot 1 is smashed and shot 2 is smoothed.



Shot 2 the smash factor is up to basically maximum, Spin is down, launch is down, landing angle is way down so roll is way up, total distance is 21 yards longer.... I shall smooth and not smash I think....

Smooth works well for you

 

[Ads749r]

I only go full power with driver and 3 wood as I hit them quite straight. If I slow it down and try and take some off it for placement it's a massive slice. Irons I'm more 90% power if I go full power with anything above 8 iron I lose distance.

 

[CMAC]

Hey, Recently Ive been swinging my clubs harder, My friend is much smaller then me and he always swings the club very hard and it goes a mile, I have always accept that I hit the ball an OK distance on average with driver 230 yards with the odd longer one, and also hitting it straight more times then not and that was enough for me.

Last 2 weeks I decided to start swinging the clubs harder and I must admit the extra distance is surprising, Most people say that swinging it harder means less control but I have not really experienced that when swinging it harder.
I just really concentrate on how i want the club to go into the back of the ball and swing it hard.

The 17th on my local course is a short par 4 at 280 yards, The tee box is 8 feet higher then the green, and with swinging it hard plus hitting the ball right out the middle I got to the green, I never done that ever before.

How many people swing within there selves and how many people really do try to swing it hard?

its also mild and hardly rained in 4 weeks


but overall swing better not harder will work 99 times out of 100:thup:

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Swinging harder isn't necessarily swinging faster, and it is faster that is important. If your lucky enough to be able keep things in sequence such that harder does equal faster then all we'll and good but personally my timing is shot if I try and go after it and generally I hit a big slice. I'm sure if I could be bothered to work on it I could marry the two up but as it is I'm driving the ball so well of late I'm gonna stick with what I have.

I played with a fella on Saturday who didn't hold back on anything, as a result when he got it right he had 20 or 30 yards on me, which I could cope with since he was usually playing his 4th shot

 

[Lump]

I did an experiment for this last week. Shot 1 is smashed and shot 2 is smoothed.



Shot 2 the smash factor is up to basically maximum, ball speed is up, Spin is down, launch is down, landing angle is way down so roll is way up, total distance is 21 yards longer.... I shall smooth and not smash I think....

I wouldn't say smooth is better. You've just delivered the club better into the ball.
Swinging harder does work, but you have to still deliver the club into the ball the same to maximise your numbers.
You obviously swing more efficiently with a smoother swing.

 

[Swinger]

60% works well for me. Get tired swinging it any harder than that.

 

[JustOne]

I play a controlled lash! Normally epic fail is the end result.

 

[DaveyG]

I agree it messes with the sequence... I get far too handsy

 

[kikouno]

I really don''t see the point of swinging the club harder, not only you lose your timing, increase ball striking error margin but you could increase the strain on your back which could lead to injuries....you might get the ball further by swinging harder now but what if you get a back injury because you're pushing yourself too hard?

Maybe I'm wrong and you spend plenty of time conditioning your body and strengthening to cope with the added strain....

But if you swing harder most of the time you will grip the club harder which will tense your arms muscles and therefore reduce your overall swing speed.

I personally try to work on my wrist lag with a late release to get the extra yards with a smooth controlled swing, it seems to work most times. Of course sometimes I just want to rip it and I increase the power on a couple of holes but I still focus on keeping my arms loose with lag always on my mind.

 

[Khamelion]

When I leather the ball, the result is always a weak high slice, starts right and just keeps going right. Had one the other week that I hit out of pure frustration into the wind that actually went about 100yds forward, 50 yards right and 150 yards back, with the ball ending up on the adjacent fairway, but further back than the tee box I was hitting from.

Huge power dose not work for me.

 

[garyinderry]

swinging really hard I am likely to hook it.. no, wait, that's all the time! :swing:

 

[Maninblack4612]

Think I disagree with a lot of these posts. Ben Hogan said in one of his books that he sometimes hit the ball as hard as he could. I have a shot I sometimes play where I take a bigger shoulder turn and swing down aggressively. If I catch it right I get another few yards, if I miss, it usually goes about as far as a normal drive. I use it at long par 4s where a long drive means the difference between an iron or wood second shot, or not being able to reach at all. It is possible to swing harder & retain control, although it is a gamble, which I think is worth it if the worst that happens is that you hit it as far, or a little shorter, than a "normal" drive. The important thing is to retain enough control so that, if the shot doesn't come off, you're not in the next county or deep rough.

I can also think of at least one member who swings it really gently and who suffers from his lack of length. He's dead straight but I'm sure he could swing it harder & still hit the fairway most of the time. This would allow him to be much more aggressive with a shorter club and set up more birdie chances.