Swing Speed for Old Men

This is me in the blue shorts, I am 60 and 300 lbs. I have always been active for someone my size and assumed I would not need a senior flex club. When I was fitted for my irons they said my SS was 70, I had not played much in a very long time so it did not bother me. Yesterday I took my Burner driver back to the fitter at Golf Headquarters and ask to check the fit of my of the rack driver. He said I could used a lower kick and my SS was around 80 so the Reg flex was fine. Well I am disappointed in that. I have been playing a lot and assumed it would be higher now. I don't mean to be silly but how come Trevino is still 100? Is it technique, flexibility, strength, ... what?

Should I expect my SS to increase or are they pretty much static? Do I swing like a girl?

First, Trevino has always had a "strength" type of swing. For him, flexibility isn't quite as important as for a smooth swinger, thus he may not experience as much dropoff as others. His swing his also mostly home grown... nobody would ever accuse Lee of having a classic golf swing.

My swing speed is still right near where it has always been, right in the 90-95 mph range, and I'm 62 (and 6'2" and 290 - so I can identify with you). I can get it as high as 105 if jump out of my shoes, but it's not something I do unless I'm really pissed and the adrenaline is flowing.

Perhaps the main difference between us is that I've never taken any significant time off from the game in the last 25 years... enforced winter layoffs, a couple of injuries, but always got back to the game as soon as I was able to.

Eh Hopper, I'm 53 been playing 40 years pretty much non stop. My driver ss is mid 90's gets me max about 240 carry under normal conditions..I think any player can get into the mid 90 ss with good technique, however, over 100 you need technique & be in good physical condition. A lot of SS depends on good shoulder & core turn married up with an aggressive lower body move...which at our age is very stressful on the knees, hips and lat muscles..I personally choose not to go there and I'm happy with 240...and by the way Trevino may look kinda dumpy but so does Roger Clemens and CC Sabathia..don't be fooled the Mex is an incredibly gifted athelete

Dude, hit the gym and drop some weight. Age has nothing to do with this, but weight and level of physical conditioning does. That being said I'm 43 and skinny (6' 165lbs) and there are plenty of older dudes who are way better golfers than me.

I'm just about your age, but only about 175. My SS has stayed pretty static, but I have not taken any significant time away from golf. One spell of rehab (skiing) and gallbladder, but that's all. If you continue to play regularly, you will get your golf muscles working better and your SS should get better.

I don't think your swing speed is going to increase just by playing more often.

I'm 61, 6'3", 207 lbs. My driver ss is 104-109 mph, average drive us ~260+. Other than having a good golf swing, IMO is knowing how swing with the body and not the arms to load the shaft. This translates into lag and that really loads the shaft.

I had my first lesson ever yesterday. As I expected I had to completely change my stupid strong grip to a conventional grip. He taught me to rotate my left arm on the downswing to square the clubface and to stay over my right leg on the backswing until my hip rotation toward the target brought me off of it. I had started sliding my hips away from the target on my backswing rather than simply rotating with a hip move forward on the downswing. I went to the range this morning and was pleased. ... for a man with a SS in the 70s.

I learned to play golf from my grandfather. He was in his 80's at the time and could only hit the ball around 150yds with his driver (no idea about his SS). The thing was though he always hit it right down the middle. Sure on most holes he was pulling a fairway wood for his second shot, but the funny thing was he'd usually beat me (I was a 15 handicap in those days).

Hitting the ball a long way looks really cool, but the only thing that counts is how many strokes it takes to get the ball in the hole...

Assuming you're technique is good, this is true. If you're technique is bad, though, you could probably gain a lot of speed by fixing it. I recently made some swing changes (from horrible to bad) and noticed that I'm swinging much faster with a lot less effort.

I gotta agree. The distance golfers work towards never turns out (for the most part consistently) to be what they expect. I'm old and broken so I don't count as a healthy golfer at age 61. But lots of other golfers my age and older hit the fairway 100% of the time, only end up @ 220 to 230 in total distance. However their second shots are amazing. They can get another 220, again, right down the center of the fairway with ease, or hit the green and stick it if the distance to the green is within their second shot range of 220 or so.

They pitch and put like seasoned college players, not pros, but really good college players. Last time I went out with a group two of them shot 77 and 79, and the third shot 81. This was at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas.

So, hit the ball the best you can, but keep it straight, that's more important. Not everyone can hit the ball 260 plus and keep it in the fairway, not even the pros (they average 60% with their drives).

Score is all that should matter other than enjoying the game IMHO.

Playing more may lead to the tension-free swing.....leading to a faster swing speed.

It really can help, hitting balls is a great way to get "golf fit", even bubba watson agrees and we all know how long he can smash it! I suspect the more you hit it also, the more you condition/loosen the muscles needed to make a quick swing.. The last bit is just a theory of mine though (:

" There are ways for smaller or older golfers to condition themselves to get more power, even if they don't spend time in the gym. For many, the best training ground is the practice range, the old rock pile. So wear it out. Ben Hogan once said that beating hundreds of balls made him incredibly strong and improved his swing along the way. Get "golf strong" by hitting a lot of balls. Your hands and arms will become more wiry and your body more toned." - Bubba Watson

Here is the link if you want to read - http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2010-07/10-rules-watson?currentPage=2