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TRUCKER
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On 1/19/2020 at 9:13 PM, ncates00 said:

I don't care about swing speed--I go with BALL speed.  That is more important than clubhead speed because that is reflective of both 1) my club head speed and 2) my strike.  The more ball speed I produce, the happier I am--duck hooks notwithstanding 😀

A guy who says they swing 120+ or whatever speed, I'm already suspicious.  If the guy says he gets 170 or something BALL speed; I think this guy gets on a launch monitor and knows his game.

Last time I was on a monitor my ball speeds were in the 190's with driver. Still shot 86 on a hard course and then an 87 on on easy one my last two rounds. The driver is quite a weapon when it's on but even when a little off it can be catastrophic to my scores.  I thought about taking it out the bag and go 3 wood but it's so tempting to grab driver lol.

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1 hour ago, Casualgolfer said:

Last time I was on a monitor my ball speeds were in the 190's with driver. Still shot 86 on a hard course and then an 87 on on easy one my last two rounds. The driver is quite a weapon when it's on but even when a little off it can be catastrophic to my scores.  I thought about taking it out the bag and go 3 wood but it's so tempting to grab driver lol.

Assuming your ball speed as true, it sounds like you strike it pretty well.  After all, only 1 player on the PGA Tour averages 190s ball speed.  Former college baseball player, notwithstanding, there's a lot of athletes like yourself that don't get that kind of ball speed--see Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux (the killer Braves pitching crew from their heyday), not to mention tons of other explosive athletes--or the very Tour players that play golf for a living lol.  🤔

Taking it at face value then, it sounds like your problem lies in face to path control and perhaps not so much striking.  I mean at 190s ball speed, you'd have to be doing a LOT right to generate that kind of speed.  Hence, I can see how a little bit off would result in big misses.  

You should work on controlling face to path.  Get with an instructor, if not already, and dial it in.  You've got speed to lose--if that should even come up--and you'll play better golf for it.  Don't run and hide from driver--use it!  But you've got to learn to control it.  On some holes, sure, go to a 3w or driving iron and knock it down the fairway.  Perhaps move up a tee box or so and just hit driving irons while you work on your swing.  At your purported speed, you'd have no problem knocking a driving iron 250 in the air; and, on most courses that's really all you need.

Bottom line, assuming your speed as true, get your face to path under control.  There's no sense in having that much horsepower if your transmission can't handle it.  Learn to control the face.  If I had your speed, I wouldn't be shooting 86s and 87s, like you are.  I don't typically shoot that now as is, and I'm a 150s ball speed with driver guy.  But I control the face pretty well and try to be as neutral in my flights as I can so that when I miss it, it doesn't go too far offline.  I take "bead"/startline and curvature very seriously in my golf. 

That'll go into the other parts of your game too--approach play (hitting GIR's is king of the game), wedge play, and even putting (I've read that like 95% of putting is ALL FACE control + strike--path is almost irrelevant with putting).  I'd also use my doctrine of "reasonably well struck golf shots"--meaning, base your expectations and yardages not off your perfectly struck blue moon golf shots, but your "reasonably well struck" shots.  Let's face it: even someone like you with alleged superior ball speed does not strike it perfectly every time.  Base your expectations of reasonably well struck shots and you'll generally always carry that bunker, carry that water, get pin high, etc. etc.  The level of reasonableness is fact dependent upon the player, i.e., Tiger's reasonably well struck golf shot might be within a couple of yards, whereas another's reasonably well struck shot might be 10 yards.

Best of luck.

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1 hour ago, ncates00 said:

Assuming your ball speed as true, it sounds like you strike it pretty well.  After all, only 1 player on the PGA Tour averages 190s ball speed.  Former college baseball player, notwithstanding, there's a lot of athletes like yourself that don't get that kind of ball speed--see Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux (the killer Braves pitching crew from their heyday), not to mention tons of other explosive athletes--or the very Tour players that play golf for a living lol.  🤔

Taking it at face value then, it sounds like your problem lies in face to path control and perhaps not so much striking.  I mean at 190s ball speed, you'd have to be doing a LOT right to generate that kind of speed.  Hence, I can see how a little bit off would result in big misses.  

You should work on controlling face to path.  Get with an instructor, if not already, and dial it in.  You've got speed to lose--if that should even come up--and you'll play better golf for it.  Don't run and hide from driver--use it!  But you've got to learn to control it.  On some holes, sure, go to a 3w or driving iron and knock it down the fairway.  Perhaps move up a tee box or so and just hit driving irons while you work on your swing.  At your purported speed, you'd have no problem knocking a driving iron 250 in the air; and, on most courses that's really all you need.

Bottom line, assuming your speed as true, get your face to path under control.  There's no sense in having that much horsepower if your transmission can't handle it.  Learn to control the face.  If I had your speed, I wouldn't be shooting 86s and 87s, like you are.  I don't typically shoot that now as is, and I'm a 150s ball speed with driver guy.  But I control the face pretty well and try to be as neutral in my flights as I can so that when I miss it, it doesn't go too far offline.  I take "bead"/startline and curvature very seriously in my golf. 

That'll go into the other parts of your game too--approach play (hitting GIR's is king of the game), wedge play, and even putting (I've read that like 95% of putting is ALL FACE control + strike--path is almost irrelevant with putting).  I'd also use my doctrine of "reasonably well struck golf shots"--meaning, base your expectations and yardages not off your perfectly struck blue moon golf shots, but your "reasonably well struck" shots.  Let's face it: even someone like you with alleged superior ball speed does not strike it perfectly every time.  Base your expectations of reasonably well struck shots and you'll generally always carry that bunker, carry that water, get pin high, etc. etc.  The level of reasonableness is fact dependent upon the player, i.e., Tiger's reasonably well struck golf shot might be within a couple of yards, whereas another's reasonably well struck shot might be 10 yards.

Best of luck.

Alot of my misses I think are just lack of practice. Face to patch is for sure an issue at times. I say alot that the distance is great but 340 offline compared to 240 offline is a massive difference on the course. So my face to path is often as good or better than many guys I play with but the same miss is much larger. Though when it's working I can go driver wedge much of the day. Definitely right about a driving iron too. I built a component 17* iron for driving and can at times go a good bit over 250 with it but off center hits on it are very punishing. Also never had lessons but I may get some this summer from a former pga card holder. However I may be more interested in him looking at my swing so I can compete in amateur long drive. I don't have the speed like the real long drivers have but I think it would be fun to go compete again since college baseball. Speaking of Maddux and Smoltz, I am a big braves fan and grew up watching all their games. Think my club speed comes alot from the bat speed I used to have. Have had some home runs measured out around 500 feet with the older metal bats before they changed them. 

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38 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

340 yard drives now...:whistle:

Carry... Can come play with me if you like lol. Not all the time but 340 total distance isn't uncommon for me. It's not an average drive by any means but it also isn't my longest by any means. I can touch 200 mph ball speeds so it's just math really. A good day driving I will average over 300 no problem. 

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1 hour ago, TRUCKER said:

340 yard drives now...:whistle:

Yup. That’s what 190mph ball speed results in.

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Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

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10 minutes ago, billchao said:

Yup. That’s what 190mph ball speed results in.

What does that have to do with someone actually being able to do it commonly. As ncates00 noted, the pros don't even do it.

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Just now, TRUCKER said:

What does that have to do with someone actually being able to do it commonly.

You seem to have an inability to understand  that just because something is rare doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. They’re outliers. They’re out there. I’ve never met an 8’ tall person before but I don’t doubt they exist.

Someone who swings the club fast with a decent swing is going to hit the ball far. That doesn’t make it common, though it may be for them.

16 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

As ncates00 noted, the pros don't even do it.

And? PGA Tour are the best in the world at playing golf, not because they hit the ball the farthest. Lots of guys out there in LD that aren’t tour level players. The PGA Tour is not the ceiling for swing speed.

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Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

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8 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

So your argument is "anything is possible, even an 8' tall man"? Oooook….:whistle:

You serious? 8’ tall humans exist.

og_image.jpg

Being announced as the tallest man in the world led 8 ft 2.8 in-tall Sultan Kösen from a farm in Turkey to the bright...

 

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

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27 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

So your argument is "anything is possible, even an 8' tall man"? Oooook….:whistle:

Dude.

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29 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

So your argument is "anything is possible, even an 8' tall man"? Oooook….:whistle:

 

20 minutes ago, billchao said:

You serious? 8’ tall humans exist.

og_image.jpg

Being announced as the tallest man in the world led 8 ft 2.8 in-tall Sultan Kösen from a farm in Turkey to the bright...

 

The problem with the 8 ft tall person argument is that is purely genetic.  Hitting the golf ball far is part genetic I'm sure, but it's largely performance-based--not some immutable characteristic like height, sex, etc.

That said, he's right; there are guys out there that can hit it further than a Tour pro.  Just like there are street ballers out there that can jump higher than LeBron.  LeBron is a basketball player, not a mere high jumper.

Also, @TRUCKER, while I have my doubts too, who cares?  What do you get out of arguing with the guy about it?  I prefaced my remarks by demonstrating doubt in his assertions, but I took them as true and continued on in my discussion with the guy.  There are more important things to get frazzled about than some guy you're never going to meet and his claims of ball speed, club head speed, and distance.  The guy has even said he shoots mid-high 80s.  I have 150s mph ball speed and I'll beat him at that clip.  But again, who cares?  haha 

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1 hour ago, ncates00 said:

The problem with the 8 ft tall person argument is that is purely genetic.  Hitting the golf ball far is part genetic I'm sure, but it's largely performance-based--not some immutable characteristic like height, sex, etc.

It was meant as a comparison for outliers. Data points exist on both tails of a bell curve.

But since you brought it up, I absolutely believe there is a genetic factor to swinging the club fast. Even if I dedicate the rest of my life to it, I doubt I will ever be able to hit a golf ball 190mph.

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Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

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4 minutes ago, billchao said:

I absolutely believe there is a genetic factor to swinging the club fast

I do too.  That's why I said as much.  🙂

I won't get there either.  I don't swing very fast; wish I could!  I jump for joy when I break 160 mph once every blue moon haha.

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7 minutes ago, billchao said:

It was meant as a comparison for outliers. Data points exist on both tails of a bell curve.

But since you brought it up, I absolutely believe there is a genetic factor to swinging the club fast. Even if I dedicate the rest of my life to it, I doubt I will ever be able to hit a golf ball 190mph.

People have two general types of skeletal muscle fibers: slow-twitch (type I) and fast-twitch (type II). Slow-twitch muscles help enable long-endurance feats such as distance running, while fast-twitch muscles fatigue faster but are used in powerful bursts of movements like sprinting.

Could the same be happening to some of us guys that do jobs where we have to work fast + harder labour since a young age build muscles that can swing a club faster ... makes sense

Go Foxy Go

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Distance is positively correlated with scoring.

My first time on a launch monitor was in my mid 30's testing a 3 wood, they thought it was busted because the computer said I was flying it 295.

Pro comes over.  He hits gaggle of drives.  260-265.  Asks me what I hit into par 5 holes?  

At 61 years old, my driver ball speed is only 165-168.

I believe the gentleman claiming the balls speeds.  Some of it is genetic.  Some of it is a natural swing.  Some of it is mentality.  I wanted the fastest slapshot, longest homerun, longest snowball throw, longest discus, longest javelin.  All of this effort teaches you how to use the proper muscles. The slappers who tilt the wrong way?  Ha Ha

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4 hours ago, NZ Golfer said:

People have two general types of skeletal muscle fibers: slow-twitch (type I) and fast-twitch (type II). Slow-twitch muscles help enable long-endurance feats such as distance running, while fast-twitch muscles fatigue faster but are used in powerful bursts of movements like sprinting.

Could the same be happening to some of us guys that do jobs where we have to work fast + harder labour since a young age build muscles that can swing a club faster ... makes sense

I have been diagnosed with fast-twitch muscles allowing me to hit a drive 280 yards.  But I probably couldn't carry a couch up the steps through the front door.  I have power and strength in short bursts.

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