How hard do you swing?

[senorchipotle]

Do you guys swing with some umph, or is it usually a nice easy swing...

when i want to hit the ball farther, i get a longer club... jk, seriously though, just make a bigger back turn away from the ball. i call it back turn because you want your back to be facing the target. it takes a bit of practice if you're not used to using a complete swing.

[JackLee]

Easy, concentrating on perfect timing and solid contact.

[Dub]

Long response....sorry, just another golf theme that resonates in my brain:


There is a funny little lesson that keeps presenting itself to me....over and freaking over again.

Yesterday's round reinforced this tenet of golf: Driver may not be your best bet......


I caught myself in a self-inposed quandry: Playing with another player that freaking kills the tee ball....he's extremely long: 170yd=8 iron, at least once per round belts one waayyyy past 300yds. He also has control issues and his rare misses are usually pulls and hooks...in the event he misses....seldom.


I kept trying to keep up with him on the tee, which is a foolish endeavor for anyone in most situations....especially me with a trick left knee.


I'm not a short-hitter, about average or a shade more. We had a fella join our twosome. I had honors and hit driver....he made a comment that "woke" me up from my trance: "Great drive, huge tee shot". My partner hit a massive hook that cost him a double bogey. I made my par by hitting 4 hybrid into the long par 4 and two putting from 15ft.

This anchored down the fact that I needed to play my own game...not my buddie's longer game.

I started hitting for control.....75% or so. Scores started tying or besting his on every hole. I lost one hole outright...due to crappy bunker play....decelerated and left it in the litterbox.

We finished on the 18th hole with him scoring 5 strokes better.....not bad, considering.

He suggested we go 9 more, I agreed. I purposely hit more tee shots at 75% and scored much better than before and took him by a couple strokes on those nine holes.


I've got the day off tomorrow and I'm going to take it a step further......leave driver out of the equation on most holes. I'm playing with another buddy who is the most accurate player I know, but fairly short-hitting. I'm gonna keep it social and simply hit my 3 wood where I'd normally hit driver. I only go after 3wood at 75%....and hit it too close to driver to not game it for a total round and see the scoring results.



Long response for a short answer: 75% (for tomorrow's round)

[allenc]

I've recently adopted a new swing thought, especially with my driver, "swing hard" and let me tell you it's got me hitting it fantastically.

The thing is swinging hard means different things to different to different people so it's not a great idea if it makes you just come over the top harder, for example. For me it means really engaging my lower body at the beginning of the downswing, as if I were trying to throw a hard punch or throw a ball a long way, so basically just swinging better.

Whenever I'm having trouble with the hooks I especially think, "swing harder," and it usually turns my hooks into bombs.

[CalBoomer]

I try to think of swinging smooth, however hard that happens to be.

[Grndslmhttr3]

I swing hard, but I don't intentionally do it. I just naturally swing hard.

[Heimer]

Too hard. I need to slow down and smooth out my tempo. I'm very jerky on the transition which is not only bad for my shots but painful to my right side ribs.

I've found if I make a more conscious effort to pause at the top and initiate a turn in my body, I end up further and straighter.

People have said my swing looks much better when I do this, but in my mind it feels like I'm hanging the club up there for 20 minites before I start my downswing..

[Blades4me]

Do you guys swing with some umph, or is it usually a nice easy swing...

Once you have determined what club you are going to use, done your practice swing(s) and addressing the ball the ONLY thing that should be in your mind is to put a good golf swing on the ball. With that said, as long as you stay balanced through the entire swing then the speed is good. My usual swing is around 75-80% of my full swing. The reason for this is b/c if I try and really juice it, it can come at the loss of accuracy. Thats not to say that I don't really try and rip it at times, but when I do I really focus on staying in balance and putting a good golf swing on the ball.

You will find that this is very easy to say and much more difficult to do.

[aleski]

I've got the day off tomorrow and I'm going to take it a step further......leave driver out of the equation on most holes. I'm playing with another buddy who is the most accurate player I know, but fairly short-hitting. I'm gonna keep it social and simply hit my 3 wood where I'd normally hit driver. I only go after 3wood at 75%....and hit it too close to driver to not game it for a total round and see the scoring results.

I've been hitting my tee-shots with my 3-iron for two reasons: First, my homecourse is flush with tricky doglegs and going with the driver to cut the corners (with the way I drive) is not an option. Second, I find it easier to approach from 110yds rather than from 50-60 yds (I need to work on my distance control with pitches and chips).

Just yesterday, I teed with the 3-iron 9 times whereas only 5 times. With the 3-iron I hit 7-8 out of nine fairways; with the driver only 2-3 out of 5. Also, I realized that hitting my driver a bit harder than I've been doing (like someone already posted) helps me achieve a straight ball-flight. I hit my irons quite hard and have been doing good with them of late, so why not with the driver...

[Rolf Harris]

I haven't measured mine but I hit a 5 iron about 200y so what speed would that be do you think?

[wolverine_man]

Very hard to tell on club head speed just from the shot distance. In addition, distance depends on the loft of the 5 iron, as some have 3 to 4 more degrees than others.

[inthecup]

I think 80% with irons.

With the driver I try to get as loose as possible and think, LOW AND SLOW. The eliminates the slice and I drive it further then swinging as hard as I can.

[Drifterland]

Do you guys swing with some umph, or is it usually a nice easy swing...

I swing shorter and a bit hard with my wedges to create more spin so I can fly it all the way there and the rest of the clubs are my normal swing which is fast but not "Hard" or in other words I'm not trying to kill it. Creating speed through good tempo creates this magical "Lag" everyone talks about that is essential for distance. The last thing anyone should do is swing for the ropes creating their speed with there hands, because it leads to pop ups, hooks, slices and a very low smash factor.

Pro's have a very high smash factor because they have great tempo that allows all of there weight to be applied to the ball. A long driver, and almost all hackers may have allot of speed but its there hands hitting the ball instead of there entire body. So, in other words except my wedges where I use an overly firm swing, I intend to fly the mark on every iron and wood shot by creating speed using the Couples, David Lee, Jack Nicklaus smooth speed, using suppleness. Try hitting those 180/210 shots out on the range, but start at about 100 yards and work your way out maintaining that smooth swing you know is there, and eventually you will learn how to apply that power smoothly, trusting gravity to bring the club back to the ball square.

[Drifterland]

I haven't measured mine but I hit a 5 iron about 200y so what speed would that be do you think?

It would be around 95-98 to carry it 200 with a new standard loft 5-iron

[Rolf Harris]

Good info there Drifter, many thanks

[mcfc_nick]

35 secs

[misty_mountainhop]

I try to swing as hard as humanly possible. My 150 yard club is a 58* wedge, which usually results in a divot the size of a young child.

Lol! I particularly like the description of divot size.

Hogan (a good striker I think most will agree) suggests that you hit hard. I assume he means that you're committed on all shots. I try to go maybe 85-90% as if I try any easier I end up steering the shot or getting all sloppy on it. I try and focus mainly on rhythm/tempo picturing a Couples or Els kind of rhythm; most of my bad striking is through poor tempo...which is all too often!

[microcrayfish]

I try to focus not so much on how hard I swing but on how smoothly I start my swing. If I start down too quickly I get in all sorts of trouble, usually hitting fat and duffing the ball about 30 yards. If I keep a smooth tempo at the top and don't rush things then I usually hit it well, I can still swing hard if I need to and really whip around my body on my follow through but I still stay balanced.

In saying all that though, with my driver and 3 wood I do make an effort to not swing hard because I find it leads to bad things if I ever go all out with those clubs.