Tip to increase swing speed!!!! Worked for me!

[verse214]

Ok -

Been playing for almost a year now and my average swing speed got up to 98 mph after a year of intense ball-striking practice at the range. Couldn't get it up . I've been lifting weights, stretching, (even praying haha)- none of this has really shown much improvement in my swing speed (i've only been back lifting for about a month using a golf workout .. but still.. no change)

So I knew that the reason why my swing speed wasn't increasing was because of my hips not pulling on my torso as they open up in the downswing. I would watch the pros open their hips, read it in magazines, blah blah blah. I watched that video on youtube of shawn clement demonstrating how your left hip needs to open up laterally, but I just couldn't get myself to open up my hips in a powerful manner . I found out my error was because I was using my hip muscles when trying to rotate my left hip open. It always felt awkward using my hips to open my hips and i was (foolishly) amazed at how the pros did it. I thought they were all rubber men.

I end up picking up Jack Nicklaus' book and skimming it the other day for fun and i read something that may be obvious to you all but to me it kind of revolutionized my swing speed. Instead of trying to open my hips using my hips, I discovered that I should be opening my hips by using my legs, more specifically, by shifting the weight from the inside of my right foot to the inside of my left foot . You may say .. duh..

I've read this in a ton of places a million times BUT this is the first time it struck me.

By pushing "down" into the ground on the inside of my right foot while shifting the weight to my left foot, my hips opened up both comfortably AND violently (in a good way) .

I hit some balls at the range and really felt the difference. I ended up going to a launch monitor because I wanted to see the numbers because i REALLY felt it at the range... even when I toned the weight shift down to as smooth and slow as I could, my club head speed was remarkably improved at 103-105 (at least I think it's a huge improvement). I finally felt like I could totally relax my arms and let my legs dictate the entire down swing. I need to get used to this feeling now because there are sometimes that I relax my arms too much and I end up "standing up" way too early. But when I stay with the shot - it's like magic.... or the closest thing i've ever felt to it.

This is a friggin revelation to me.. hopefully this will help others who have been struggling with their swing speed.

Pushing down on the inside of my right foot while transitioning the weight to my left foot made all the difference in the world. I don't know if it's because my swing "leveled up" and that's why I finally realized or if it really was that simple the entire time. Personally I think i just got the majority of my swing down pretty solid and my body was ready and in the correct positions through the swing to really "push into the ground".

Just when I thought I couldn't love golf any more than I already do....

Thanks for reading!

[verse214]

Ok -

haha - i just read IACAS's posting on the hip thing which was up before my posting..

oops -

[safetrip]

Congratulations on finding the secrete formula. I've been struggling with the same problem. I can totally understand the whole concept of sliding the heap laterally/shifting weight from back to front/swinging from inside/swinging from ground up/passive hands/wrist lag/dropping hands/dropping right shoulder/shifting right knee (which all points to the same thing)..... in my head but I have a hard time executing it.

When I just do practice swings it feels like I got it but when I actually try to hit a ball, some how my arms and hands take over the swing. It's frustrating. For me the worst thing it does is lack of distance. I can hit reasonably straight but cannot even carry more than 200 yd with the driver dead on sweet spot.

So my question out of curiosity is besides the swing speed difference, how did your ball flight improve? How much is it going longer now that you've cracked the secret?

[TMburner09]

Before I practice with the driver I take 3 clubs out and swing them back and forth for a min. It helps gain a tiny bit of distance for me and it also helps me not to grip the club too tight.

[verse214]

So my question out of curiosity is besides the swing speed difference, how did your ball flight improve? How much is it going longer now that you've cracked the secret?

I haven't taken it to the course yet but the range I hit at has a back fence that is at around 230. Before, I would clear it on 50% of my shots, and not by much, with the other 50% hitting it... When I went to the range and worked out the shift and the hips, the ball started clearing it to the point where the ball would disappear while it was in the air (I was there at night). I'm guessing maybe another 15-20yds? I'll know when I get to the course this weekend. I was supposed to goto the range today but deaded that idea after eating too much at dinner haha.

Are you making good contact with your clubs? Late 2008/early 2009 I wasn't really hitting my driver at all - maybe 15 balls at the end of the basket just for fun. I suffered from an over the top move and my pga pro told me to line a box up parallel to the target line with the ball one ball's width from the box (between the box and me). This made me hit the ball from the inside and correcct my swing path - this by itself increased my distance... dunno just a suggestion..

[Gerardv]

I wish I could feel that move with the feet/legs. If I get too aggressive with trying that I miss everything. One thing I did pretty well was the feeling of "sitting" just as I started down.

One problem I have is my hips fire too fast and I hit a nice, nasty hook. The ball starts out straight at the flag and dives left at the end. So, I try to keep my hips from doing that.

The "sit" move works in that it adds a little distance without the hook.

I'm glad it worked for you. When I hit balls into the net in my backyard I try really hard to create the move but haven't yet. My average drive is about 240, and I would like to make it 250-270. But, and I mean this, I am pretty much OK with my distance.

However, if a move like you are describing could help I will try it. It's not a radical change in what I'm doing.