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I couldn’t agree more getting stronger in the gym was helpful, but not nearly as helpful as understanding the sequencing I needed to achieve to take advantage of that new strength
Let's talk about swing speed.
If you don't want to read it (it's short), here's what worked for him:
1) Get stronger by lifting weights
2) Hit more balls and swing fast
3) Work on technique
I'm not sure if what worked for him would work for everybody, but we are all looking for more distance (or we wouldn't be on this thread), so the more ideas we have as to how to increase our swing speed, the better. Right?
BornAgain
Smooooth
Great topic. I think the degree of importance of swing speed will vary with age. I'm 65 and been playing over 50 years but many years not much at all. Picked up the game again 5 years ago but just this year finally have more time with retirement to work on my game. I used to be a 270 average 107 SS in my mid 30's when I played a couple years regularly. Now I'm a 240-250 average 97 SS player and playing better golf than when I hit the ball further. The thing is, I can (and just did testing drivers) still hit 105 but it is not natural feeling anymore and tough to sustain.
Also, my form is better and I don't breakdown the wrists and L arm to get there so I'm in the fairway (and out of trouble) at a far higher clip.
All that said, I think (for me) the way I get there to higher SS and keep good form is, getting shoulders to 90 degs. to ball on backswing, hard turn at top, and weight shift to R side then push hard back through to L side and the arms and rest of body will follow and increase in speed. There are other factors obviously, but this is generally what works for me to get there.
Also, my form is better and I don't breakdown the wrists and L arm to get there so I'm in the fairway (and out of trouble) at a far higher clip.
All that said, I think (for me) the way I get there to higher SS and keep good form is, getting shoulders to 90 degs. to ball on backswing, hard turn at top, and weight shift to R side then push hard back through to L side and the arms and rest of body will follow and increase in speed. There are other factors obviously, but this is generally what works for me to get there.
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BornAgain
Smooooth
Here is a good video on rotation and weight shift that has helped me. I do the drill with club behind at my waist (5:50 mark in video) before each round and also in daily drills. Video is focused on iron play. When I do the drill, I try to rotate backswing motion and get far enough to point the end of club to ball (full 90 degs.) which will help with swing speed.
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That was good stuff up to drill 3. The drill is great (as were the first two! The problem is he said nothing about how to properly release the club with your hands and wrists. He assumed all golfers knew how to do that. The vast majority of amateurs don't release the wrists and hands properly. Doing so is essential to get the results he promises.
Agreed. Lots of distance left on the table not releasing the wrists properly. Too much focus on rotation in videos.
Big Sky77
Member
View attachment driver.mov
I tend to struggle with grip, if I keep a loose relative grip I get a better "snap" and usually gain speed, but tend to get in my head and grip too tight and lose some speed
I tend to struggle with grip, if I keep a loose relative grip I get a better "snap" and usually gain speed, but tend to get in my head and grip too tight and lose some speed
Big Sky77
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I'm creeping up on 60 years old. My driver swing speed is right at 100 +/- depending on the day. i have zero time to get into a gym but i do a fair amount of physical labor in the course of my work week that helps to keep my strength and conditioning. My main focus right now is maintaining flexibility and being able to keep putting a fairly athletic move on the ball. Maybe, once i've retired, i can spend some time in the gym.... when i'm not playing golf.
Maybe I'm at a different point in my swing journey, but I think I could more easily get more distance improvement through a 10% improvement in smash factor than a 10% improvement in swing speed.
That's number 1 for me and then work on increasing swing speed maintaining the improved smash factor.
Saying that, using the legs correctly I hit my best sounding and furthest drive ever yesterday....
A
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That's number 1 for me and then work on increasing swing speed maintaining the improved smash factor.
Saying that, using the legs correctly I hit my best sounding and furthest drive ever yesterday....
A
Sent from my XQ-AT51 using Tapatalk
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Objectively and mathematically a 10% improvement in either WILL produce the same distance gain. The reason is in both cases you are trying to push ball speed and ball speed = swing speed x smash factor.
Keep in mind, that you don't necessarily have to pick one over the other. For example, one of the most popular swing faults is manipulating the club during the swing. Generally, if you remove the manipulation and learn to swing the club instead of trying to hit the ball the result is improved swing speed and smash factor.
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Big Sky77
Member
Not always, for me I can kick my clubhead speed up around 10% at my max CHS, but almost never hit the ball as well and tend to get way more spin and thus a much lower Smash Factor and generally lose yards see my videos above. If you are decent to good golfer your 10% rule is more likely correct for either
I see all these charts that show SS relative to index and relative to age. For a lot of us we think my speed is pretty good comparatively.
But if that bar we’re comparing to is set low mostly due to a lot of the golfing population having poor-ish swing mechanics, many of us might be leaving a decent amount of distance on the table. In other words - and I’ve been guilty of thinking this - maybe we erroneously believe speed sticks or months in the gym are the only way left to pick up a few MPH when it’s something easier to attain.
Buckeyegolfnut
Well-known member
I'm trying to determine the exact meaning of the sentence I highlighted. Does it mean the more tightly you grip the club the farther you can hit it? Or, does it mean that the more innate grip strength you have the easier it is for you to hang on to the club? I'm in the latter camp. I've always had a lot of hand strength. Also, forearm strength. I don't have to expend a lot of effort in order to control the club, although I have to remind myself of that every so often.
Also, you don't want to be increasing your grip strength on the downswing, which is where you need some suppleness for a proper release. Easing the transition from backswing to downswing can help with this. I somehow became a "jumper" somewhere along the way. This was probably caused by my backswing becoming shorter and shorter, and needing to find some way to generate clubhead speed. Referring to the "swing epiphany" thread, one of the epiphanies I had was that making a more complete backswing allowed me to "smooth out" the transition. This actually resulted in better clubhead speed and more distance.
IIRC in his Little Red Book, Harvey Penick wished that there was some other name for the grip other than "grip"! He felt that the word grip connoted a situation that was far more tense than what was required for a golf swing.
Apparently the long drive guys have more grip strength than the pros and the pros more than amateur golfers. I think you can grip it firm in the fingers and still be loose enough in the arms and wrists. Marcus Edblad grips the lead arm by hold the middle finger quite firmly which I haven't heard of.
I’ve read this as well. A loose grip is different than loose wrists. The whole “grip the club like you’re holding a baby bird” is something not every good golfer does.
Again, I’m just sharing something a very good instructor posted - not something I know to be true or false.
If you don't have control of the club, your body will not let you generate as much force as possible. It's a weird thing in our brain, it will only allow you to move something fast enough you can control. Having a weak dead fish grip on the club will limit your ability to be fast.
stryper
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How firmly do you hold a hammer when trying to drive a nail? That should be about right for driving a golf ball as well. 
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I would use the word “ahold” instead of “control”. Control can promote manipulation of the club, which is the bane of many amateur swings. Ahold I think conveys the idea you want. If your body thinks the club may fly out of your hand it will restrain itself.
I changed every "control" with "ahold"
I'm not going to get into semantics, if you like "ahold", fine. I like control. Tomato/tomato
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Big Sky77
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Do people tend to find their 7 iron is 12-15 MPH slower than their driver speed, at least that's a "general" number I heard should be different?
- Thread starter
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It’s working!!!!!
Speed training is working.
I’ve been hitting driver harder and better than I’ve hit it in 20ish years, probably..
The past 2 rounds I’ve had several 270+ bombs.
I’m putting myself in very nice wedge opportunities off the tee. I should probably contemplate moving back to 6700. I couldn’t be happier with the 10 week results on Superspeed. I’ll start maintenance soon.
Speed training is working.
I’ve been hitting driver harder and better than I’ve hit it in 20ish years, probably..
The past 2 rounds I’ve had several 270+ bombs.
I’m putting myself in very nice wedge opportunities off the tee. I should probably contemplate moving back to 6700. I couldn’t be happier with the 10 week results on Superspeed. I’ll start maintenance soon.