Driver Ceiling Mistery

[p1n9183]

3 years ago I made a Driver fitting. Started with my on course speed and was almost 150 ball speed. I tested a lot of drivers and went after them with all I had reaching 160 ball speed. 

In the last 3 years I improved my swing and now my on course speed is around 158 but no matter how much I force the issue I still cannot hit the ball faster than 160. Not even when I hit the ball perfectly in the middle and gave it all I have, the numbers are never more than 160.. 161. Club speed also is stuck on the same number.

On the other hand for every other club in the bag I also started hitting it farther with the new swing on course but I'm able to gain 6..7 miles of ball speed if I go after them. As an example, I'm around 121 ball speed with my 6 iron but I can muscle it to 128 without much trouble and also club speed jumps 4..5 miles. 

Any ideas?  

 

[klineka]

3 hours ago, p1n9183 said:

Club speed also is stuck on the same number.

I mean it seems like this is your issue, yeah?

If you're already at or near a 1.5 smash factor depending on which launch monitor then you're going to have to increase your clubhead speed if you want to increase your ball speed. (Assuming your launch conditions/delivery are also near optimal which it sounds like they are)

Are you actively doing any speed training programs like The Stack, Superspeed, etc?

[iacas]

The new irons may be a slightly stronger loft, hence, the higher ball speeds.

Plus, you're three years older.

[p1n9183]

18 hours ago, klineka said:

Are you actively doing any speed training programs like The Stack, Superspeed, etc?

Yeap, tried a couple times but always ended with back pain after a month so I abandoned that route and focused on improving my swing to be more efficient in order to gain speed. 

18 hours ago, klineka said:

you're going to have to increase your clubhead speed if you want to increase your ball speed.

Yes, this is what I can't figure out. When I go after it with irons I can increase club speed (more ball speed), but with driver I cannot drive it faster than my normal on tournament speed. 

 

17 hours ago, iacas said:

The new irons may be a slightly stronger loft, hence, the higher ball speeds.

In fact, changed from 716 AP1 to Callaway APEX pro 2023. The new ones are slightly softer in loft and a little heavier in shaft.  

[HitemHard]

Have you made an assessment of your body dynamics and strength. I watch a lot of the myTPI videos and they are always analyzing upper body strength, core strength and lower body strength as well as mobility. Then they see if the player's swing utilizes their body strengths. They also talk about muscle strength and muscle speed and how they are not the same. So if you move your muscles fast enough you need to work on strength whereas if you're strong enough but your muscles don't move fast enough you need to concentrate on speed. Mobility, strength and speed is where i would start analyzing myself.  If you are experiencing back pain with speed training however I would suggest you may have a technique issue that needs to be addressed first before you really hurt yourself.

[saevel25]

Could be any number of things. With out something that can measure your strengths in certain areas, it’s tough to figure out where you need to improve.

 Maybe start a My Swing thread and post a face on and DTL driver swing?

[iacas]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Maybe start a My Swing thread and post a face on and DTL driver swing?

[saevel25]

27 minutes ago, iacas said:

Dang it, I even searched for that and didn’t find it. 😞

[GolfLug]

23 hours ago, p1n9183 said:

Yeap, tried a couple times but always ended with back pain after a month so I abandoned that route and focused on improving my swing to be more efficient in order to gain speed. 

Yes, this is what I can't figure out. When I go after it with irons I can increase club speed (more ball speed), but with driver I cannot drive it faster than my normal on tournament speed. 

Take this with a grain of salt but, when I see high speed/high leverage freewheeling swings like yours (from your swing video), it makes me think that considering the combo of outward and downward pressure required, you might not be applying sufficient downward pressure through impact. Tendency is more out than down. A good analogy is keeping an inflated ball pushed down underwater in a pool. I think it is the hardest force/pressure component to master. 

It's a guess. I also think back pain is a symptom, theoretically speaking.

[ChetlovesMer]

On 3/13/2025 at 5:02 PM, iacas said:

Plus, you're three years older.

This is the one I'm constantly battling. I'd really like to find a program where I can lose a little ... age. 

 

On 3/13/2025 at 12:18 PM, p1n9183 said:

Started with my on course speed and was almost 150 ball speed....In the last 3 years I improved my swing and now my on course speed is around 158 but no matter how much I force the issue I still cannot hit the ball faster than 160.

Sounds to me like you are making progress. By my math 158 is faster than 150. Hitting plateaus in any kind of training is a pretty natural thing. 

Looks like you've at least raised the floor if not the ceiling.

Perhaps, try adding a different element to your training? Maybe a new stretching routine?