The need for speed

[HawkeyeMS]

Following my pro telling me last week he thinks I hit my driver a bit like a girl (sorry girls) I decided to use a bounce game last night to try hitting it a bit more like a man.

I have always swung within myself with my driver as swinging too hard has always resulted in a massive slice. However, with my pro insistent that with my swing now more on plane and under control, I should be able to go after it a bit more I gave it a go.

Since I was playing off the yellows (the guys I play with sometimes on Tuesdays don't like playing off the whites) I had to wait until the 3rd before I could have my first go and boy did that feel good. Before you start wondering what I have started, this isn't about distance, it's about how it felt and looked. For some reason, swinging quicker, or at least feeling like I am swinging quicker, seems to suit me. It felt more in sync and more balanced (the "Luke Donald pose" was on full show let me tell you) and the flight was just beautiful: a mid trajectory and powerful push draw that just felt soooooo good. I don't know how far it went because I resisted the urge to measure it but it split the fairway and left me with a 50yd wedge to the pin. Further drives on 7, 12, 15, 16 & 18 felt and looked just as good and have got itching to get back out on the course to see if it was a fluke.

I must admit to being a little skeptical when my pro said I should swing harder but I'm so glad he did, it may or may not lead to longer drives but it's a hell of a lot of fun

 

[CMAC]

you might have actually been decelerating in your effort to swing 'smoothly', so a feeling of swinging quicker might actually be 'normal'.

Nice feeling isn't it when it starts to come together.

Hope it continues for you.

 

[Region3]

I find it all too easy to try to steer the ball when I swing easy. Give it a smack and your conscious brain has less chance of trying to control the body's movements.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I fully understand where you are coming from on this. In the past I have been guilty of a 'lazy' swing (I like to think of it as smooth) so have had to make an effort to get a bit more zip through the ball. One of the ways I've done this that works for me is to have a brisker backswing. On a launch monitor, a typical club golfer's swing from the time he starts the club away back to impact is somewhere around 0.8 seconds, my swing is typically about 1.4 seconds, almost twice the time of the average player. One of the benefits of this is a much better loading of the shaft due to a quicker transition at the top leading to a better release through the ball.

Good luck with it :thup:

 

[harpo_72]

There is also an element of swinging through the ball more and getting the release which just adds yards. I have been working on going through and getting the posed finish. I do it with all my shots and I seem to be hitting some nice yardages. The only issue is you can get a bit quick on it, causing the odd miss hit. I have compensated for that by trying to stay focused on the ball and letting my arms whip my body round and then my head .. Perhaps not explaining very well but I get this quite torqued up feeling and a better contact.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I have always thought your swing looked a little deliberate, especially when you haven't been playing so well and when you are on a roll you free up and swing marginally quicker. This seems to be an extension of this. I can't knock you as you are having a great season

 

[Foxholer]

Flowing is the word that I'd use to describe a 'good' swing - and the less tension the better.

Tempo can vary from the 'quick' twang (the 0.8 sec one D4S) to the apparent slow one of Els and others.

Speed of transition is a separate attribute. Unless controlled, a fast one, especially with a relatively slow backswing, can cause a number of problems when either the shoulders get ahead of the arms or vice versa.

Getting that looking, feeling and working right - in sequence and with timing - is what I refer to as rhythm.

So Rhythm and Flow without apparent Tension works best imo. How that's done and what it looks like is up to the individual.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

you might have actually been decelerating in your effort to swing 'smoothly', so a feeling of swinging quicker might actually be 'normal'.

Nice feeling isn't it when it starts to come together.

Hope it continues for you.

I'm not sure I was decelerating but I understand what you mean, that is certainly a danger. I've always driven the ball quite straight and until my pro mentioned it last week, hadn't really thought anything of it - straight is good after all.

My aim has always been to get to a good finish at the top of my backswing and even though I hit my driver quite well, it was rare that I managed to do that and it was rather frustrating. I think possibly my deliberate tempo was making it difficult to get everything in sync which caused my follow through a bit truncated.

 

[londonlewis]

I hit my driver a bit like a girl

Are you going to stop wearing those snazzy little skirts to the golf course?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Nope