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leftshot

leftshot

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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?
 
I am old school so I don’t think you can over swing. I think back swing and transition can be to fast. But if transition and balance are good give me 100 percent every time. I hope that made sense haha


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I like to rip it from the top with everything I have. I feel like I have a higher likelihood of hitting a good shot when I give 'er hell. All that said, me "ripping it" produces a mind blowingly average 100mph swing lol. Ugh I need to hit the gym.
 
I should add that with an iron in hand the WORST thing I can do is try to swing super easy. Guaranteed dead pull when I do that.
 
ArmyGolf said:
I should add that with an iron in hand the WORST thing I can do is try to swing super easy. Guaranteed dead pull when I do that.
Click to expand...

Same here buddy, if I try to “smooth” it, it’s guaranteed to be blocked hard right


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I have to agree with sposey and Armygolf, here. If I'm not giving a full effort on my swing the results are off-line and woefully short. Every. Single. Time.

With that being said, there are times in my swing that I can get too quick (which is also disastrous).

Another thing that pros have, that we don't, is literally tens of thousands of hours of practice to groove a smooth swing with (almost) perfect impact on most all of their golf shots. We're watching these guys hit 9 irons 180 yards if needed. They're in perfect impact positions and understand dynamics of the swing that are just foreign to the average hack. I would imagine those factors would lead to technique that wouldn't require 100% effort on certain swings. They also know WHERE to generate speed in their swing. It's something we all can work on but knowing how is half the battle and most of these guys have had that ingrained in them for a lot longer than many have even been holding a club.
 
I'm about 75-80%, most of the time.

I will go after the ball at times but I really have to feel it. Like when I'd prefer 7i vs 6i descent on a particular approach and the shot just feels right to me, that type of thing.

I'm more likely to go after an iron or hybrid shot than most anything else. I won't often see the need with wedge and with driver I'm more about tempo so I'll very rarely swing with anything approaching max effort.

About the only time I'll approach max effort with wedge would be when hitting to a front pin with some trouble short or at least a less desirable leave.

If center is say, 5-10 more yards than my normal SW distance, I'll typically pull SW and go at it harder. With good contact, worst case I'm usually stuck around middle of green distance. Best case though, I get some spin back closer to the hole.
 
ArmyGolf said:
I should add that with an iron in hand the WORST thing I can do is try to swing super easy. Guaranteed dead pull when I do that.
Click to expand...

I'm the same, with any club really. Just leads to decel. And some ugly results. My instructor had said the real issue isn't that ams are trying to swing too hard and the pros don't - look at any of those guys with driver or even long iron in hand. He said it's that most ams don't know how to swing fast, so trying to do more if it just put them in worse position.
 
I think what they mean is really a bad transition or a swing that is all arms and no hips where people are taking big cuts at it.
 
When my ball striking goes downhill it is usually because I have been hitting it well and then start subconsciously trying to get more out of it. Yep guilty as charged. Generally speaking in my case, I start trying to swing hard with my arms taking over and it gets bad. I know it and usually correct it quickly but it rears its ugly head more often then I would like.
 
Swinging 100% gets me in trouble, that being said I swing a bit more then 60-70%. For me, if my back swing is to fast that is where I get out of whack.
 
It’s been something that has really helped my game, especially in irons and wedges. Finding the balance of ripping at it vs the focus on smooth tempo. I wish I could translate it to my long game all the time though.
 
Something I need to remind myself all the time. Find a nice tempo. It’s amazing for me the difference in my shot quality when I’m nice and smooth as opposed to quick and trying to rip at it.
 
It’s hard for me to comprehend a number of guys who have 170+ ball speed aren’t over swinging and are at 60-70% of power.

That being said I know they are way stronger and and not athletic than I am. I fall in the category of, when I’m feeling it and grooved I’m probably swinging around 85% and then I can adjust from there. I can “get on one” so to speak but sometimes that sends me down a slippery slope of losing my control. More times than not it’s a one off thing depending on the conditions.


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I think I typically swing somewhere between 80-90% unless it's a shot thay requires a "balls to the wall" swing.
 
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.
 
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
I would like to point out how many pros literally jump up to hit the ball because they are swinging so hard (at least on drives). But I agree for me at least when I swing easier it is much more consistent. I can crank it but a lot of time it sprays too much for my liking.
 
I think where a lot of golfers get into trouble is at the transition...they start much too quickly and actually end up losing club head speed as well as the ability to square the club head at impact. I find a smooth transition leads to more distance and more accurate shots...a violent one, not so much.
 
Architex said:
I would like to point out how many pros literally jump up to hit the ball because they are swinging so hard (at least on drives). But I agree for me at least when I swing easier it is much more consistent. I can crank it but a lot of time it sprays too much for my liking.
Click to expand...

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 ).
 
Used to be an over-swinger a lot of the time. My accuracy suffered a bit- as well as when I DID connect, I would go through doglegs and the like. I learned that I didn’t need those extra Wheaties swings most of the time if at all. So I learned to focus on tempo and throttling back to gain control. Playing long enough to not be too burdened with too many swing thoughts other than “1-2-3”. 1,2 for backswing and 3 should be contact. Other than the odd off day when driver decides to find places off the beaten track, more fairways are hit. Might need an extra iron for approach, but I’ll take a fairway hit instead of hacking back into play and pressing to get up and down.


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Sean said:
I think where a lot of golfers get into trouble is at the transition...they start much too quickly and actually end up losing club head speed as well as the ability to square the club head at impact. I find a smooth transition leads to more distance and more accurate shots...a violent one, not so much.
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Think this is where The "100%" measurement gets a little misconstrued. I noticed it, myself, when I was at the rang last week. I was REALLY struggling with both distance and direction (surprise ya 28+ hack). the more frustrated I got the harder I started swing from the top. I stopped. Walked over to my truck to grab my Powerade and just let myself settle down a bit. When I returned to my clubs I just told myself "forget about the distance, just start making some solid contact". I smoothed things WAY out at the top of my swing (not giving the full pause but, I guess, collecting myself and the stored power of the coil) started smoothing out the transition and made sure to get a decent "whip" at the bottom of my swing.

After a few successful strikes, I started going more 100% (again not from the top of my swing but at the BOTTOM of my swing) and BINGO my dispersion tightened up and my distance was right back in my wheelhouse.
 
I think there's some validity to that concept - because most golfers who are struggling almost invariably and immediately improve when they focus on a nice smooth swing and not trying to kill the ball.

For the folks who are stating that they do better when they really go after the ball with full force - I suspect that part of the reason for that may be that when you are just lining up to 'grip it and rip it', you really don't have any opportunity to overthink the mechanics or individual aspects of the swing, and you are just relying on muscle memory and instincts.

Golf is hard. If really going after the ball at full force is working for a golfer, then swing away Merrill. But when I am struggling, dialing intensity and velocity back and just focusing on a full, fluid, athletic swing almost always results in better results for me.
 
I think everyone’s speed is different

Full out for me could be different for everyone else.

I’m pretty aggressive so I’m usually going all out
 
Architex said:
I would like to point out how many pros literally jump up to hit the ball because they are swinging so hard (at least on drives). But I agree for me at least when I swing easier it is much more consistent. I can crank it but a lot of time it sprays too much for my liking.
Click to expand...

Good observation, but I don't think this is a reaction to how hard they swing. Rather a way they create clubhead speed with seemingly little effort. If you've ever learned to crack a whip, or seen someone do this, you've seen how the whip snaps very quickly with what seems like little effort. In the same way golf instructors talk about cracking the whip in the golf swing. If you've got good lag coming down and use ground forces you can create a tremendous amount of clubhead speed. This is a clubhead speed accelerator most of us haven't developed.
 
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