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Let's talk about swing speed.

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That post

aka GolfOrElse
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I am completely lost on how to swing fast.

For the past few years since I've returned to golf and started to become more conscious of swing speed and wanting to swing faster, it's always perplexed me on how to get there. I'd go to the range or play and feel like I was swinging it fast while putting a lot of effort into swinging it but I wasn't swinging it fast.

This was proven time and time again when I would go to some store with a trackman and see a driver swing that was less than 100mph or a mid-70s 7i and be completely shocked. I often think how in the world am I swinging it this slow?!?! I workout 4x5 times a week, do heavy lifting, and feel like I'm pretty strong, but strength is obviously only a small portion of the equation.

I see these guys like Grant Horvat who has never even accidentally touched a weight and he's hitting it 280-300y pretty consistently. Meanwhile, I'm barely poking it out there 240. There has to be much more to it and I'm not ashamed to admit I don't know what that is. I'm positive that I'm trying too hard, tensing up and that's obviously impacting my swing speed and strike quality. I know we always hear 'Smooth is fast' but I just can't figure it out. When I think smooth it ends up just slow. I realize that it's more than likely my sequencing is off and I'm not getting the most out of things like ground forces and rotation. I desperately want to figure it out though.

I need to understand what guys like Rory and Micah Morris are doing that I'm not. I'm the same size as both of them. I realize I'm not a professional but there has to be something I'm missing in my swing to get a little closer to where those guys are. I need to figure it out. I've got about a million videos floating around on the internet so I'm sure somebody could point out an area I need to clean up or something I need to do to maximize my speed potential. I'll be happy to post some if that helps.

I'm at the end of week 1 of speed training with Superspeed. I'm going to go through all 10 weeks of 'Level 1' before the season starts up again in the spring but I'm a little nervous that all the work I'm doing with that is going to be useless if it's something in my swing that is killing the speed.

Those of you who have 'cracked the code' and know how to swing it fast and poke it out there 280-300y consistently and have a 90+ mph 7i swing help me out, PLEASE!!!
 
Disclaimer I am not an expert, but on the shop the other day it seemed like you were more arms than rotation.

No idea if that leads to more speed, simply an observation.
 
I think one of the most common solutions for more efficient energy production in a golf swing is the activation of everything.

So I ask, Mr OP man... Are you an all body swinger? Ground leverage? Momentum? Or are you solving certain things with certain moves?
 
Scooby45 said:
Disclaimer I am not an expert, but on the shop the other day it seemed like you were more arms than rotation.

No idea if that leads to more speed, simply an observation.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that observation. That is absolutely a fault of mine and the reason it happens is because in my mind I'm going to swing it faster if I'm using my arm and shoulder muscles. But that's obviously not the case. I just don't know how to gain speed from the ground up.
 
That post said:
I am completely lost on how to swing fast.

For the past few years since I've returned to golf and started to become more conscious of swing speed and wanting to swing faster, it's always perplexed me on how to get there. I'd go to the range or play and feel like I was swinging it fast while putting a lot of effort into swinging it but I wasn't swinging it fast.

This was proven time and time again when I would go to some store with a trackman and see a driver swing that was less than 100mph or a mid-70s 7i and be completely shocked. I often think how in the world am I swinging it this slow?!?! I workout 4x5 times a week, do heavy lifting, and feel like I'm pretty strong, but strength is obviously only a small portion of the equation.

I see these guys like Grant Horvat who has never even accidentally touched a weight and he's hitting it 280-300y pretty consistently. Meanwhile, I'm barely poking it out there 240. There has to be much more to it and I'm not ashamed to admit I don't know what that is. I'm positive that I'm trying too hard, tensing up and that's obviously impacting my swing speed and strike quality. I know we always hear 'Smooth is fast' but I just can't figure it out. When I think smooth it ends up just slow. I realize that it's more than likely my sequencing is off and I'm not getting the most out of things like ground forces and rotation. I desperately want to figure it out though.

I need to understand what guys like Rory and Micah Morris are doing that I'm not. I'm the same size as both of them. I realize I'm not a professional but there has to be something I'm missing in my swing to get a little closer to where those guys are. I need to figure it out. I've got about a million videos floating around on the internet so I'm sure somebody could point out an area I need to clean up or something I need to do to maximize my speed potential. I'll be happy to post some if that helps.

I'm at the end of week 1 of speed training with Superspeed. I'm going to go through all 10 weeks of 'Level 1' before the season starts up again in the spring but I'm a little nervous that all the work I'm doing with that is going to be useless if it's something in my swing that is killing the speed.

Those of you who have 'cracked the code' and know how to swing it fast and poke it out there 280-300y consistently and have a 90+ mph 7i swing help me out, PLEASE!!!
Click to expand...
What is your age?
The swing speed needed to hit high trajectory 3-irons and 285 yard carry drives is common for players in their 20's and 30's but as players reach their 40's swing speed slows.
 
You swing with you legs and core. The arms just provide angles and leverage.

Skinny guy with big levers can hit the ball far.
 
First, age is a factor. Father time is undefeated. Next, if you were never blessed with good strength or quickness genetics, I'm sorry but your parents ruined you.

Second, mechanics HAVE to be somewhat sound. Proper mechanics are the fastest way to swinging fast.

Third, you have to train FOR STRENGTH. Not train for "fitness". You have to get stronger because stronger means more force production capabilities.

Fourth, you have to TRAIN for speed. You need to spend sometime trying to swing as fast as possible and not worry about spraying the ball. Accuracy is taking a backseat in this. Go for speed!

Lastly, speed trainers are popular and seem to help. Consider one.

Capture.PNG
 
Canadan said:
I think one of the most common solutions for more efficient energy production in a golf swing is the activation of everything.

So I ask, Mr OP man... Are you an all body swinger? Ground leverage? Momentum? Or are you solving certain things with certain moves?
Click to expand...
No, I'm absolutely not. It's not something that I'm confident I even know how to do properly if I wanted to.
 
That post said:
Thanks for that observation. That is absolutely a fault of mine and the reason it happens is because in my mind I'm going to swing it faster if I'm using my arm and shoulder muscles. But that's obviously not the case. I just don't know how to gain speed from the ground up.
Click to expand...
Maybe I’ll learn that and teach you, and you can teach me how to get a positive AoA. Then we can both hit bombs!
 
baylrballa said:
You swing with you legs and core. The arms just provide angles and leverage.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I keep hearing this and know it to be true. I just don't know how to get the sequencing right.
 
blugold said:
Third, you have to train FOR STRENGTH. Not train for "fitness". You have to get stronger because stronger means more force production capabilities.

Fourth, you have to TRAIN for speed. You need to spend sometime trying to swing as fast as possible and not worry about spraying the ball. Accuracy is taking a backseat in this. Go for speed!
Click to expand...
I am doing both. I'm also doing speed training. That's all in the first post.
 
That post said:
No, I'm absolutely not. It's not something that I'm confident I even know how to do properly if I wanted to.
Click to expand...
There's always the YouTube rabbit hole. I've heard there are a ton of ways to start leveraging your lower half that not only support your golf swing, but also work as a decent exercise.

Let's go on this adventure together haha
 
Canadan said:
There's always the YouTube rabbit hole. I've heard there are a ton of ways to start leveraging your lower half that not only support your golf swing, but also work as a decent exercise.

Let's go on this adventure together haha
Click to expand...
Squat and lunge challenge in February? Have to do something to pass the time 😂
 
Canadan said:
There's always the YouTube rabbit hole. I've heard there are a ton of ways to start leveraging your lower half that not only support your golf swing, but also work as a decent exercise.

Let's go on this adventure together haha
Click to expand...
Lets! Scoob can join too.

Lately at the gym in addition to strength training, I'm dedicating one day to 'Stability' last year I very often got off balance in my golf swing and it was pointed out to me a few times. I think working on stability will be the first step to me being able to use ground forces the right way.
 
Just my little journey, I was always mid or high 90’s with my SS and could never get to 100+ and have great dispersion.

Two things I noticed, I was all arms and not using my lower body and my fade/slice was killing any well struck shot.

I lost weight, worked on my core and flexibility and didn’t worry about heavy lifting. I found drills to help me engage my lower body and use the ground more.

Now I’m routinely in the high 90’s to low 100’s and the distance is there because I became efficient with my motion. The harder I tried to swing the worse the results. I found a tempo and steadily increased my downswing until I found a move that felt powerful but not out of control .
 
blugold said:
Items 1 & 2 may be pertinent.
Click to expand...
I agree. I do think I am 'quick' in other ways. Was always the fast one on the baseball team for example. I'm mid 40's and plenty of guys my age are swinging it 100mph and hitting it 280+ so I think I still have time.
 
Better learn how to use ground force/leverage.
 
That post said:
Lets! Scoob can join too.

Lately at the gym in addition to strength training, I'm dedicating one day to 'Stability' last year I very often got off balance in my golf swing and it was pointed out to me a few times. I think working on stability will be the first step to me being able to use ground forces the right way.
Click to expand...
Whoa whoa whoa, exercise?

Sounds like a lot of work.
 
Canadan said:
I think one of the most common solutions for more efficient energy production in a golf swing is the activation of everything.

So I ask, Mr OP man... Are you an all body swinger? Ground leverage? Momentum? Or are you solving certain things with certain moves?
Click to expand...
I’ll echo off of this.

My 7i swing speed last year was right around 90mph. In my GolfTec swing evaluation we did a short lesson. The main goal outside of my takeaway was to get my hips rotating more in the backswing. By simply doing that I picked up 2-3mph and that’s without picking up a club for a month or two.

I’m definitely swinging faster than I was 4-5 years ago, and a lot of it just sort of…happened. But in that time there were a lot of swing changes and learning to be more efficient. As you commit to a swing and become more comfortable with it, you might begin swinging faster
 
Canadan said:
Whoa whoa whoa, exercise?

Sounds like a lot of work.
Click to expand...
Well, you're taller maybe it's not as important since you can use gravity IDK hahaah.. It works for Grant Horvat who's never seen a weight in his life.

For us short guys I think being built like a brickhouse could be a requirement.
 
Canadan said:
This is a pretty wild take and isn't supposed to simulate a twist.

Click to expand...

I see these guys all over TikTok. I'll give this video a look.
 
That post said:
I see these guys all over TikTok. I'll give this video a look.
Click to expand...
For a guy trying to simulate a turn without knowing how to, it could be an interesting adventure.

The way he talks, the turn should come naturally.
 
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