Clubhead speed and swing plane change

[U_of_Bucky]

At 67 years old I have been seeking a way to regain lost clubhead speed. I measure my speed at the driving range with a SwingByte or an SC500 launch monitor.

90 mph to 93 mph gain
Dropping my trail foot
Flaring my trail foot out. Both these gave me more shoulder rotation on the backswing. They also put a manageable draw into the ball flight. Using the Gary Player "walk through" drill also helped with extension. Good Accuracy.

93 mph to 100 mph gain

My goto swing plane is a two-plane similar to Tom Watson with Stack and Tilt overtones. I changed to a steep Bubba Watson plane to incorporate more arm width and leg power. I know these appendages are more involved as I have muscle fatigue and soreness post an extensive range session. The Tom Watson swing does not produce near the stretch or muscle fatigue. Unlike Bubba I use the closed trail flared stance.

Ball flight is towering. Draw and fade are in the bag. My accuracy has suffered. This is the second day of "Bubba". 70% of my drives are point and shoot. Another 10% are somewhat tolerable random direction faults. The remaining 20% are 30 yards further into the woods! Generally, the Out of Bounds misses are pulled hooks with some scattered BIG slices.

I am anxious to get irons, hybrids and woods tamed and to the course.

 

[PatsFan]

I've been pondering trying the single plane approach to become more consistent.



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[chenrio]

Those are some very impressive gains ! Steeper swing plane always feels more powerful and accurate to me, but everybody has to figure out what works best for their individual swing. I like the higher ball flight and some have mentioned you might lose some distance, but I haven't experienced that at all.

 

[Brassie]

At 67 years old I have been seeking a way to regain lost clubhead speed. I measure my speed at the driving range with a SwingByte or an SC500 launch monitor.

90 mph to 93 mph gain
Dropping my trail foot
Flaring my trail foot out. Both these gave me more shoulder rotation on the backswing. They also put a manageable draw into the ball flight. Using the Gary Player "walk through" drill also helped with extension. Good Accuracy.

93 mph to 100 mph gain

My goto swing plane is a two-plane similar to Tom Watson with Stack and Tilt overtones. I changed to a steep Bubba Watson plane to incorporate more arm width and leg power. I know these appendages are more involved as I have muscle fatigue and soreness post an extensive range session. The Tom Watson swing does not produce near the stretch or muscle fatigue. Unlike Bubba I use the closed trail flared stance.

Ball flight is towering. Draw and fade are in the bag. My accuracy has suffered. This is the second day of "Bubba". 70% of my drives are point and shoot. Another 10% are somewhat tolerable random direction faults. The remaining 20% are 30 yards further into the woods! Generally, the Out of Bounds misses are pulled hooks with some scattered BIG slices.

I am anxious to get irons, hybrids and woods tamed and to the course.

Same age as you, swing caddie SC300 launch monitor and my instructor has been working with me on arm extension and then as vertical as I can get everything to the top. Don't laugh, but I have caught myself not fully cocking my wrists on the backswing, so I have to remind myself just before the swing, to do so. Don't know why I'm doing that. I've been able to get to 98 mph swing speed and generally hit good, aimed tee shots. They don't go real far, like in the 240-260 range with roll but good enough to play from men's regular tees. Every now and then I'll push one right, not sure how that is happening.