Have you ever swung as hard as you can, and made good contact?

For most people, when they swing "harder" they actually increase their muscle tension leading to slower swing speeds.  There have been tests confirming this where they've monitored long drive champions who lost 40mph + when they "tried" to swing hard.

Hard and fast are two different things.

Your trying to figure out something not worth the effort, golf swings are suppossed to be repeatable in order to calculate distance, shot shape, trajectory, spin, the list goes on. You need consistent repeatability not wind up as far as you can and unleash all you got in a uncontrolled,unreliable manner.

On rare occasions I will swing hard with an iron. Usually it will be to get an iron that has enough loft to go over a tree but it needs some extra oomph to get to the green. My hard shot is usually good for ten extra yards, I don't swing out of my shoes, though. Also the shot has to have a safety factor if it doesn't work, meaning even if it fails I will have a chance to hit something on the green, even if it is under a limb or something.

When I first started it was the only way I swung a club. Especially the driver. Now 9 out of 50 times that resulted in disaster but within 6 weeks of playing I hit the longest straightest drive of my life (still haven't beat it). 

Once I started lessons, I developed a smoother more repeatable swing and now I need to find a happy medium. My current swing is smooth and mostly accurate with mid/short irons but not impressive as in 145-150 7i. 

My one and only really hard swing that went where I wanted it with a driver was before I had a GPS/rangefinder. 287 from tee to green, I landed my ball 40+ yards into the fairway of the next green. Now I have more of a pitiful driver average that I won't discuss here due to embarrassment but at least I'm typically in the right fairway. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by onesome 

Your trying to figure out something not worth the effort, golf swings are suppossed to be repeatable in order to calculate distance, shot shape, trajectory, spin, the list goes on. You need consistent repeatability not wind up as far as you can and unleash all you got in a uncontrolled,unreliable manner.

So where do you rate your stock or repeatable swing?  70% of "hard"?  75%?  80%?  When I back off too much I always end up dubbing the club in the ground prior to contact. 

For me it's probably 70-75%. Much less and I hit the ground like you because my lower body gets dead trying to be too gentle. Much more and I tend to let my right arm get away from my body and come out to in pretty bad resulting in at best a toe strike and at other times a brutal slice. 

There's a reason why you're allowed to carry 14 clubs. If you hit your 8i 150y, you don't have to swing it harder to get 160. That's why you have a 7i.

But I get what you're saying. As others have already pointed out, something less than 100% is optimal. Every tour player will tell you they keep a little power in reserve, swinging around 90% (percentages may vary) for the sake of consistency & accuracy, which is far more important than 10 extra yards.

I would say I typically swing around 85% on most irons. I can hit my 8i 165 comfortably, but if I'm 165 out, I'll hit a 7i the majority of the time. That being said, I can move an iron back in my stance and try to trap it and get maybe 10% more distance on it, but I rarely see the value in trying.

To determine the point of diminishing returns, you will have to do that yourself on the range. I don't think you're going to find any real usefull info with answers to your question. I would recommend that you go to the range, get warmed up and grooved into your swing with whatever methods you use, and then start hitting shots going up the scale - 50%, 60, 70, 80, etc up to 120%, and then back down. Repeat this a lot with different clubs and you'll find your own PDR. I've never formally done this, but it sounds like fun.

The only time I swing anywhere near 100% is on the 18th tee (which for both of my home courses are wide open par 5s) when I'm playing well. I will sometimes actually let out a little tennis grunt, and I usually crush it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dak4n6 

To determine the point of diminishing returns, you will have to do that yourself on the range. I don't think you're going to find any real usefull info with answers to your question. I would recommend that you go to the range, get warmed up and grooved into your swing with whatever methods you use, and then start hitting shots going up the scale - 50%, 60, 70, 80, etc up to 120%, and then back down. Repeat this a lot with different clubs and you'll find your own PDR. I've never formally done this, but it sounds like fun.

 

The only time I swing anywhere near 100% is on the 18th tee (which for both of my home courses are wide open par 5s) when I'm playing well. I will sometimes actually let out a little tennis grunt, and I usually crush it.

I don't disagree with your post, but I would argue that 99.9% of golfers on this site (myself included) don't know the difference between 50%, 60%, etc. It would all be guess work.

The question is, have you EVER swung completely out of your shoes, and has it ever worked?

Yes, I've done it on several occasions.  Usually it results in a topped shot or a bad mishit.  I do find it useful for a specific type of shot:  flier lie in the rough, and you have to hit the ball really high and really far.  Say you've got a lie sitting up in the rough, 200-yds out, and a large tree to carry.  Ordinarily that shot would be a 5-i for me, which might not carry the tree.  But with a fluffy lie, if I really rip at it I can get there with a 7 or 8i, and the ball will fly really high.  It's still not a high percentage shot, but it's often a better percentage option than pitching out.

Another situation is when I have to hit a really hard hook.  Say I've got 230 to the green, but I'm blocked out on the left side by trees.  There I might try to swing extremely hard with a 3 or 4i, which for me typically produces a low, hard hook.  Not an ideal shot in most situations, but it has its uses.

On occasion I have swing the driver very hard, but with emphasis on fast and smooth.  Usually it is where I have to carry it a long way but a miss left or right won't be an issue.  The 18th at Scottish Highlands in Salem, NH is an example.  It is a dog leg right, par 5 almost 90 deg turn.  You need to carry about 200 yards min to make it over the tall grass or bunkers straight ahead, or more if you try to cut the dog leg.  I usually aim where I need a 220 - 230 carry.  If I go right of target with a fade, I still can find the ball or make the fairway with a 240 - 250 carry.  A over draw will still be on the fairway, but much further back.

Other times have been when I messed up the first tee shot and hit the provisional with anger!  

Yes I did. It was Presidio Golf Course in San Francisco Hold #9 Par 5. The right side of the fairway is lined with trees separating the course from the driving range. I sliced it pretty bad into the trees and was a little flustered, to say the least since I was hitting well throughout the rest of the front 9. I considered that ball lost after I hit it, went to get another ball, re-tee'd, and just swing as "hard" as I could. Ended up hitting flush and the ball went a total of 315 yards into the left center of the fairway just past the cart path cutting through the center of the hole. Hit the next shot 6 feet to the pin and putter for par. First time that being a little PO'd somewhat paid off. Haha...

i swing almost as hard as i can without falling over.  my goal is to hit the ball hard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke 

 

I don't disagree with your post, but I would argue that 99.9% of golfers on this site (myself included) don't know the difference between 50%, 60%, etc. It would all be guess work.

Yeah, the resolution (gradations) is prob too fine, I was just putting numbers down. Maybe 50%, 75%, 100%...