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Effort

I found my consistency improved when I focused on easier swings - about 80-85% - and I didn't give up any distance in the process. I think what really improved were transition and balance. As others have noted here, I will occasionally "step on it" if a) it's my 5 wood, or b) I'm having a good ball-striking day.
 
I think some of this depends on what level of amateur ability is being talked about. In my experiences when talking about mid and high cappers I see almost as many people swing too slow to the point of it being a detriment as I do swinging too hard. There are tons of people trying so hard to be deliberately slow so that they don't over swing but so much so that its actually hurting them more than helping.

That said I do think what a lot of amateurs do is swing harder (or try to) the further from the hole they are. It took me a long time to realize that a 4 iron doesn't have to be swung any harder than a 8rion just because we are further from the hole. And that its the club (the 4 iron) itself that will produce the longer yardage needed even with the same swing as the 8. I think that happens often with a lot of people especially newer the game.


I will say one thing I have seen so many times through the years. Nearly every time during a round that I may ever hear someone occasionally say things like "Im going to give this one everything" or "Im gonna really hit this one" or "Im gonna put some extra into this one".....9 out of 10 times it ends up being one the worst or shortest hits they made all day.
 
Moved to Swing Tips.
 
Butch Harmon made a statement to Golf Digest related to our conversation. He said, "But with irons, there’s no excuse for swinging out of control, because you almost always can use a longer club. If you grab an iron you have to hit perfectly to get to the green, go back and take the next longer iron. Not using enough club on approach shots is the silliest fault I see. With the right club in your hands, you’ll swing within yourself, make better contact and hit more greens."
 
DG_1234 said:
The "jumping at the ball because they are swinging so hard" (Justin Thomas style) works well only because today's equipment (heads-shafts-balls) is so forgiving.
This is why I believe the pros who played with wooden heads and steel shafts possessed more skill than players today using modern equipment. For example, during Sunday's final round at some Major in 1975, if a guy was feeling pressure his rhythm-tempo-timing might get a little quick, resulting in some serious duck hook tee shots or blocked slices into the trees or water. With today's forgiving equipment the Tour pro who gets nervous with his driver swing might still find the center of the fairway (or at least be barely off target ).
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You should remind Phil M of this when he’s playing in the US Open.

Guys come out of their shoes because they have been trained to crouch on the down swing a explode up and through the ball. The Freddie Couple and DL3s of the world were long with very quiet lower bodies and solid mechanics. If DJ or Rory had a quiet lower body with their SS they would hit nothing but duck hooks.
 
Add me to the list of people who only feel comfortable swinging as fast as possible. Things start to go horribly wrong when I try to slow things wrong.

Started lessons a while ago thinking one of the first things i'd be told was to slow it down. To my surprise he encouraged the faster speeds, happy days.
 
I feel the need to take a strong swing, especially with my irons. I try to visualize it as accelerating through the impact zone. This seems to produce the best, most consistent results. At the same time I also know how over swinging can be penal with the driver for me. If I rip it too hard it's going left. In both cases though, if my tempo or rhythm is good the harder I can go at it.
 
I personally feel like if I try to "Grip it and Rip it" I end up either hitting a big fade, or blocking the ball out to the right. When the thought of "Swinging Hard" comes to my mind, I instantly tense up my arms and my grip. Then, I'll tear at the ball with my arms. Basically, I swing out of sequence with my arms (instead of my body), use a quick tempo, don't allow my arms to turn over, and end up with an abrupt and abbreviated follow through, with my body out of balance.

I know I'm completely re-working my swing this season, but I can statistically show that I'm generating a more fluid and efficient swing, and creating better ball flight and longer distance by thinking about making proper contact, and a smooth swing.

Just my $0.02 at this point. Once I've got the necessary reps of the new swing comfortably, who knows... I may try to rip it, again. :)
 
When I am hitting off the tee, I try to give it all I have. Two or three really hard practice swings, then immediately full swing at the ball. If I hit it easy, I don't tend to follow through fully, and get a big high slice. With an iron, on the other hand, I only hit it about 80%, usually one more club than I should, and get it on the sweet spot more often. Swinging hard with my irons gets me more fat and thin shots and ruins my scoring.
 
I would guess that my normal swing is probably around 75% these days. I used to be a "Grip it and rip it" guy, and it never really worked well for me. All it did was to magnify my inconsistencies. I had the notion for a few years of using what I called an "old man swing." When my game got unbearably frustrating, I would switch to that swing and things would get better, sometimes drastically. After taking lessons a couple of years ago, I found that I was indeed onto something. I was taught to swing easier and let the clubhead do the work, instead of trying to power through with my arms. It made a huge difference in my game. Even today, I occasionally fall back into that 25 year old habit, until I realize what I'm doing and correct it. It's definitely a work in progress for me.
 
Rusty Casino said:
Working with the Superspeed sticks made me realize what I thought was going 100% for me is actually 85/90%
Now swinging those SS sticks is 100% and I’ll save that for the SS training.
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I'm starting the Superspeed sticks too and experienced the same feeling. My hope is that, in the long run, swinging 100 percent with the sticks will add speed, then if I throttle back when the ball is there I'll still be swinging faster than I would at 100 percent effort prior to the training.
 
I try to swing 75% but it's actually 100% since I have no feel and the results are awful.
 
leftshot said:
Ask the tour pros what the most common mistake they see amateurs make and they'll talk about the way we swing too hard. They might express it using different terminology or pointing out different ways it shows up like swinging out of their shoes, yanking it from the top, too quick, too fast, swinging at 110%. But they all talk about the fact that THEY swing at 60-70%...and we don't.

So let's talk about this. Where are you with this? Guilty as charged? Guilty of some aspect of this but have overcome others? Working on it? Making progress? Finally figured this out? If you've made progress what worked for you? What didn't?

If you've made progress or conquered this category of swing faults, how has it helped your game? What are the benefits you've found?
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for me, I have found many of my companions (and me all too often) confuse swinging hard with swinging fast. When I look like I am putting no effort into it my swing is super smooth...but, and here for me is the key part, no slower. Trackman claims when I swing smooth I am actually 3-10 mph FASTER on my swing. Then I get all hopped up for some shot, want to swing faster but instead swing harder. The results are not pretty...

What has worked for me and for my playing partner is the swing thought "swing so slow you feel like you are not swinging at all". The result for us, and please...your results WILL vary so don't think I am suggesting this for anyone else...but when we do, we both consistently hit it further and straighter than when we uncork a swing.
 
I tend to over swing at times either too fast, too hard or longer back swing sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't. I do find when i swing 80-90 percent and a smoother tempo my strike definitely improves and so do my shots, i am much more consistent.
 
leftshot said:
Ask the tour pros what the most common mistake they see amateurs make and they'll talk about the way we swing too hard. They might express it using different terminology or pointing out different ways it shows up like swinging out of their shoes, yanking it from the top, too quick, too fast, swinging at 110%. But they all talk about the fact that THEY swing at 60-70%...and we don't.

So let's talk about this. Where are you with this? Guilty as charged? Guilty of some aspect of this but have overcome others? Working on it? Making progress? Finally figured this out? If you've made progress what worked for you? What didn't?

If you've made progress or conquered this category of swing faults, how has it helped your game? What are the benefits you've found?
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When I play well I feel like the backswing is null and void if that makes any sense. The legs knees and hips flex as you turn with a supple motion and somehow power is stored in that concept. The downswing builds up to the low point and in a little window you swing hard enough that's what I think. The pro's swing about 88% through the ball and make solid contact they never swing 60% unless it's a wedge. When they do swing 110% they make an effort to turn a little more still relaxed so they have a little more time to build up momentum to the low point and give it a ride. Amateurs think to hard and tighten their muscles to early so it appears their swinging out of their shoes,but in reality it's just out of sequence. Face it pro's swing harder then us 118 mph is hard and they tighten their muscles as well just like a 3 point shot or flick of the wrist in a MLB pitcher. It's fast twitch muscles like a baby jog before a jump or sprint they fire in sequence pretty darn hard.
 
DG_1234 said:
In very general terms, over swinging (applying too much effort) is done to compensate for faulty technique positions.
I remember a 7 year PGA Tour player member turned-instructor saying that a fundamentally sound swing should be able to strike good shots in slow motion, at half speed etc.... This was a test he and some other Tour pros routinely did to verify their own swing positions-mechanics.
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I've used this as a practice drill (should probably do it more). It's a great way to uncover sequencing issues and groove a mechanically sound swing.
 
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