How to Increase Swing Speed?

[Shanks A Million]

You may be lacking sufficient wrist hinge. If you hinge properly, you will not slice-ever. lack of wrist hinge contributes to more bad shots than anything else assuming your shoulder turn is good.

Don't know where you heard this, but it's totally false. Wrist hinge has nothing to do with the slice, swinging over the top does. Steve Stricker uses almost no wrist hinge, but he gets into cases of the snap hooks, and his regular shot is a draw. Bubba Watson hinges more than anyone I can think of, and he can hit a huge hook, or a huge slice at will.

OP - You've got to be very wary of advice you receive on the internet. Swing speed comes with technique. The slowest swinger on the PGA tour averages 102 mph. His physical ability is probably no more than anyone here, but his technique is likely far superior. The reason people slice when they "go at it" is that they use their arms and upper body to throw the club over the top. On the flip side, when I "go at it" I often hook the ball. It's because to hit harder, I use my legs and core more, and try to hold the club off longer.

[keiko]

Not true but I respect your ability to fool yourself. It is not fair to try to fool others when there are folks on this board who actually know what they are talking about.
I am not talking about pro's, they have abilities and experience to do whatever they want to do, ie. furyk et al. and the pro's have long ago conquered shot shaping.
I am talking to amateurs who slice and those who deathgrip the club and wonder why they slice and hook.
OTT is a problem for many but those who learn how to use the hands and wrists soon overcome OTT
It is the chicken/egg
Don't attempt to teach absolutes.

[jamo]

Not true but I respect your ability to fool yourself. It is not fair to try to fool others when there are folks on this board who actually know what they are talking about.

Too bad you are still wrong. OTT can cause a flip at the ball, where the hands sort of "cut" at the ball, increasing the loft and cutting across the ball, but you can't fix an OTT move by altering the hands or wrists.

You may be lacking sufficient wrist hinge. If you hinge properly, you will not slice-ever. lack of wrist hinge contributes to more bad shots than anything else assuming your shoulder turn is good.

I don't even know what you are saying. Somehow magically finding the correct grip pressure will cure a slice. Sure it can help, but not likely much. When people swing extra hard they throw their arms over the top. And wrist hinge, do you mean lag? Increasing lag does anything but cure a slice.

[HytrewQasdfg]

Don't know where you heard this, but it's totally false. Wrist hinge has nothing to do with the slice, swinging over the top does.

I think it depends on what kind of slice you are talking about. As I understand it:

A pull/slice (where the ball starts to the left then slices to the right) is caused by comming over the top (outside in) with an open clubface. A push/slice (when the ball starts out right, then slices sharply to the right) is caused by an inside out swing with an open clubface. If that slicer simply squares the clubface they would be hitting draws.

[double_j]

I think it depends on what kind of slice you are talking about. As I understand it:

It seems that the focus should be on the proper release of the lag rather than the lag itself? Lag will do nothing for you if you don't know how to deliver the speed to the ball.

[sean_miller]

I think it depends on what kind of slice you are talking about. As I understand it:

What's your real handicap - just curious. I was at a 36 handicap for about a 2 months, when I first started (a lot of bogeys and others that esc brought down to triples). Anyway, I sure wouldn't have been giving anyone advice back then. I suspect you just filled in the blank.

[Pyranha]

A slice is caused by one thing and one thing only......an open clubface relative to the clubhead's path at the point of contact . If the face is perfectly square to the path at impact then no side spin is imparted and the shot flies straight along the line at which the clubhead was traveling. If the face is open then left to right sidespin is imparted and the ball fades/slices. If it's closed then right to left spin is imparted and the ball draws/hooks. These conditions are true REGARDLESS of the path of the swing (flat, over the top, or down the line). So stating that an over the top swing causes a slice is incorrect. It may be true that the mechanics of an over the top swing may make one more likely to have an open face in relation to swingpath, resulting in a slice. But the simple fact of an out to in path (swinging over the top) does not in and of itself cause a slice.

And so as not to be completely off topic.....a couple of things for the OP to work on to increase clubhead speed :

1) Grip pressure: already been mentioned, but worth repeating. It's very hard to get a full and proper release with an overly tight grip.
2) Width: Work on getting your hands as far away from your chest as you comfortably can. A good drill is to swing to the top with only your left hand on the club (assuming you're a righty). At the top make sure your left arm is fully extended and then place your right hand on the grip. This will show you how wide you're capable of getting and give you something to work towards.

-C

[Shanks A Million]

I think it depends on what kind of slice you are talking about. As I understand it:

Slices are 99 times out of 100 caused by outside in swing paths, with faces sqaure or shut to the target. In these cases, the face is pointed in the right direction, but the club path is not. Stupid people try to fix it by getting them to close the club face more, which is... well, stupid. The club is already pointing the right way, the swing path is faulty.

Draws are almost always hit with an open face at impact. I hit a draw, and my face is about 6° open at impact. The club path is much more important in these issues than the face angle. Most people have the face relatively square to the target at impact anyway, but the clubpath is generally the faulty element. Trying to fix the face angle will help turn a slice into a pull or a huge banana slice, but that's all it will do.

A slice is caused by one thing and one thing only......an open clubface

You are correct in one sense, but the outside in club path is the

most important factor in curing a slice. Get rid of it, and you won't "slice", you'll fade the ball at worst. With an outside in club path, the only shots you can hit are a huge pull hook, a pull, a slice, or a massive banana slice. With a straight club path, you can hit a pull hook, straight shot, or push fade.

[sacm3bill]

I got a kick out of this:

If you hinge properly, you will not slice-ever.

Don't attempt to teach absolutes.

[Pyranha]

Draws are almost always hit with an

Swing path determines the line that a ball will start it's flight on, but has ZERO bearing on whether the ball will fly straight, hook, or slice. The spin which causes a ball to move in a certain direction is caused solely by the angle of the clubface at impact. An open face relative to the swing path (NOT the target line) causes a fade/slice while a closed face causes a draw/hook. This is an absolute based on the laws of physics and your statement that you hit a draw with a 6 deg open face is a physical impossibility. Now, I agree that swing path should be the first thing that any golfer should try to fix when attempting to correct a consistently errant shot. Coming over the top and striking the ball with a face that's square or closed to the SWING PATH is obviously going to cause misses to the left unless the golfer intentionally manipulates their setup to aim right of target. But face angle plays far too important a role in how a shot moves to simply dismiss it....any golfer that wants to learn how to shape shots must pay attention to face angle relative to swing path as that dictates how the ball moves in flight. -C

[jamo]

I got a kick out of this:

Haha, yeah that had me scratching my head too.

[sean_miller]

Swing path determines the line that a ball will start it's flight on, but has ZERO bearing on whether the ball will fly straight, hook, or slice.

This is an absolute based on the laws of physics . . .

Very informative - thank you.

[HytrewQasdfg]

Slices are 99 times out of 100 caused by outside in swing paths,

I'm part of the 1% that slices with an inside-out swing path. If the original poster is part of that 1% also, then I can tell you from hard learned experience that putting swing thoughts into his head about not comming over the top is going to screw up his swing big time.

All it takes to avoid screwing up someone's swing is one simple question: does your ball start out to the left and then curve to the right, or does it start out to the right and then curve to the right? (for a right handed golfer). If it starts out to the left, then he is probably among the 99% comming over the top. If it starts out the right, then he is among the 1% of inside-out slicers. Is it really that hard to ask one question to ensure you're not giving the incorrect advice?

[MasterP]

I'm part of the 1% that slices with an inside-out swing path. If the original poster is part of that 1% also, then I can tell you from hard learned experience that putting swing thoughts into his head about not comming over the top is going to screw up his swing big time.

You can have a ball start out right and slice with an out to in swing. Clubface determines starting direction of the ball. The differential to the path determines the spin.

If you have an in to out swing you can indeed slice the ball, but it would take a clubface that is open to the path of the swing. For most people this happens when trying to draw the ball and leaving the clubface open. It's usually a straight block right, or a push fade. If you do this consistently then all you need to worry about it squaring up the clubface.

[HytrewQasdfg]

You can have a ball start out right and slice with an out to in swing. Clubface determines starting direction of the ball. The differential to the path determines the spin.

Yes, it's my consistent ball path.

A number of times I've taken a large box (approx. 2 ft high, 3 ft long, and 2 ft deep) and set it along my target line. I set the ball at the front corner 1 club head from the box. If I was comming over the top I would bang the heck out of the box. I can go all day hitting push/slices and never touch the box. I convinced a big part of my problem getting square is simple lack of flexiblity. My backswing and turn are tremedously puny. On the shorter clubs I never push at all, but as the clubs get longer the push comes in and then the slice. I'm convinced I just don't have enough time in my downswing with the longer clubs to allow them to come square (I should say I'm making an effort to be a rotational/swinger--no hand or arm manipulation on the downswing, just let the momentum of the swing bring the clubhead to where it should be). I can produce a straight shot or even a draw simply by rotating the club a little counter-clockwise in the hand when I take my grip, but I'd prefer to fix things so I'm doing it right instead of meddling with my grip. I've worked a stretching routine into my mornings (which has just confirmed how unflexible I am), but it will take time. I put a large exercise ball between my knees, a 5 ft piece of PVC pipe across my shoulders, bend 45 degrees at the waist, and rotate. I can barely get that piece of pipe pointing at my left leg. That's what--a 30-40 degree turn at best?

[Shanks A Million]

Swing path determines the line that a ball will start it's flight on, but has ZERO bearing on whether the ball will fly straight, hook, or slice. The spin which causes a ball to move in a certain direction is caused solely by the angle of the clubface at impact. An open face relative to the swing path (NOT the target line) causes a fade/slice while a closed face causes a draw/hook. This is an absolute based on the laws of physics and your statement that you hit a draw with a 6 deg open face is a physical impossibility.

You're arguing semantics here. You can hit a draw with the face open 6° to the

target , but not with the face open to the path. If you swing 7° in to out, but the face is open 6°, then your face is closed 1° to your path, so the ball draws. Iacas has maintained that we should always use the target line as our baseline to avoid confusion, it's his forum, so I use his terminology. I used to use the same semantics that the swingpath is the direction to which the face should be related, but most instructors nowadays are using target. The problem is, most people are relatively square faced at impact (to their target), so the path is usually what needs fixing.

Yes, it's my consistent ball path.

Not necessarily true. I put a headcover right behind the ball, maybe 6", so the club will hit it if it's moving straight, let alone outside in. The club should be actually moving from the inside, so the box should be able to be 4" directly behind the ball and still not be struck.

[HytrewQasdfg]

You're arguing semantics here. You can hit a draw with the face open 6° to the

That makes perfect sense.

Iacas has maintained that we should always use the target line as our baseline to avoid confusion, it's his forum, so I use his terminology. I used to use the same semantics that the swingpath is the direction to which the face should be related, but most instructors nowadays are using target.

What can I say? I get confused easily. To me it makes sense to say both: what it is relative to the path, and what it is relative to the target.

Not necessarily true. I put a headcover right behind the ball, maybe 6", so the club will hit it if it's moving straight, let alone outside in. The club should be actually moving from the inside, so the box should be able to be 4" directly behind the ball and still not be struck.

I think that is essentially what I was saying, just using a different prop as the tool.

[Pyranha]

You're arguing semantics here. You can hit a draw with the face open 6° to the

Unfortunately semantics are important, especially when we're trying to help out folks that are relatively new to the game and may not understand the terminology we use. It's always useful to state whether you mean swing or target when talking about path, especially in a thread like this when posting advice for newer players. And since in my four years here I've missed the threads where Iacas has implored us to use target line as some sort of baseline, I guess I'll just have to defer on that one.......

-C