Forget the nice and easy swing!

[King Cobra II]

Everyone always seems to say, swing nice and easy, like a practice swing. Well in my opinion that is garbage. Today after my round I went out to the 2nd hole and hit approach shots starting at 150, and working my way in. At first I was swing about normal, and all of my shots were fading slightly and I was a bit short. At 150 I was using an 8 iron with a slight breeze in my face. By the end of this little game I was swinging (in control) as hard as I could, trying to annihilate the ball, and the results were gorgeous. I was hitting the ball a mile up in the air, and further then previously. Just thought I might state that. I also noticed that my swing mechanics are better when I try to kill it. It's more natural, it's like the body knows what will allow me to swing faster. Thought maybe this could help someone.

[Petden]

What ever works for you. Look at Furyk's swing. It must be the ugliest swing I have ever seen, however look at the results. I only wish that I could strike the ball that well.

Anyway, I must agree with you that with my 5 iron if I try to kill it, most of the time the shot is picture perfect, very long and very straight. Except, this does not hold true for all my clubs, my 3 wood, on the other hand, requires care and percision (forcing it causes a draw to a slice, to everything in between.).

[Fat Slice]

I'm going to try that with my putter next round.

[King Cobra II]

I'm going to try that with my putter next round.

results may vary

[MO_Hacker]

My 2 best drives of the year came on back to back holes swinging as hard as I could. I did it out of frustration on the first tee (17th), I dug a throwaway ball out of the bag and striped it dead center of the fairway. On the 18th swung as hard as I could and actually put a draw on it, luckily because if it had gone straight it would have been in the water.

The bad part is I haven't been able to repeat those results.

[PEZGolf]

Everyone always seems to say, swing nice and easy, like a practice swing. Well in my opinion that is garbage. Today after my round I went out to the 2nd hole and hit approach shots starting at 150, and working my way in. At first I was swing about normal, and all of my shots were fading slightly and I was a bit short. At 150 I was using an 8 iron with a slight breeze in my face. By the end of this little game I was swinging (in control) as hard as I could, trying to annihilate the ball, and the results were gorgeous. I was hitting the ball a mile up in the air, and further then previously. Just thought I might state that. I also noticed that my swing mechanics are better when I try to kill it. It's more natural, it's like the body knows what will allow me to swing faster. Thought maybe this could help someone.

I am glad that "going after" the ball worked for you. For most amateur golfers, the results are NOT so good. Many people mistakenly think that swinging smoothly means that you swing really slowly and "patty cake" the ball. THAT is a common misunderstanding. Julius Boros, Hall of Famer, and winner of the US Open and the PGA Championship wrote a book entitled, "Swing Easy, Hit Hard". If your backswing is nice and smooth, and you have the club in the right position, you will shift your weight to the left ( if you are right-handed), and save the maximum clubhead speed until the club gets into the "hitting zone". THAT produces accuracy, consistency, AND distance. Slammin' Sammy Snead had one of the smoothest swings in golf history, and was also a long driver. The same was true of Bobby Jones and Fred "Boom Boom" Couples.

[Stacey_E]

I have a very slow and smooth backswing but I can see how swinging hard would be better for some people. I once heard Nick Price say that he had to keep his swing tempo up to keep everything in sync (or something to that effect).

Even with my tempo, I have a real problem "taking a little off" any club. If I'm between clubs, say a 7 and 8 iron, I'll always choose the 8 iron. If I try to choke down or feather a 7 iron I will slice, top, thin or...sha*%&...it. I would prefer to go hard at an 8 even if I'm a couple yards short. I just have to aim a touch more right in case I pull it a bit.

[onamission]

yep slow back swing and you can let it rip on the down...
but from my personal experience thus far... speeding up my swing to an extreme degree really makes it difficult for me to get my timing aligned..
but yeah... look at all the pros on the tour...their swings are speedy. i cant say much of the tour players actually swing light and easy.