Increasing club-head speed - suggestions

[squaddie]

Originally Posted by TourSpoon

Just remember that the hips start the swing.  If you start with the shoulders you are disconnected before you start and while you will feel like you are swinging harder with your arms, your club will be out of position and you will not get the desired outcome.

I agree, that's a good reminder.  My intention is to start the downswing with the hips (not the shoulders).

[squaddie]

I was going through recent swing videos and realized one problem that may be causing me to loose club-head speed is casting the club, or an early release.  I think casting is also what contributed to my recent right-elbow injury.

Can anyone recommend some good drills or video links to avoid casting the club?  I found one reference to a pump-it drill but wanted to see if there were any others.

[madcityscott]

I'm having a similar issue. I'm 46 yrs old, 155 lbs & 5'10", fairly athletic but my swing speed is around 85mph and driver distance is ~205. After playing around a bit on the launch monitor at Golf Galaxy I was able to get it up 92 for a swing or two by: 1) making sure my right arm was higher than my left on the downswing (tip from Jim McLean's 8-step swing), and 2) consciously transferring weight to the target (left) side of my feet on the downswing.

If you have a Golf Galaxy or other store with a launch monitor that they'll let you swing away in for free, you can experiment.

[HAVOC]

i must be a freak SS116 BS 176

im 46 5 11 195

for added distance i would work on the connection between arms and shoulders and good hip rotation

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by HAVOC

i must be a freak SS116 BS 176

im 46 5 11 195

for added distance i would work on the connection between arms and shoulders and good hip rotation

With a PGA Tour average of 113 mph swing speed, I'd say that is pretty freaky.  Especially with a smash factor of 176/116 = 1.517, which is above USGA maximum.

[HAVOC]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Quote:

Originally Posted by HAVOC

i must be a freak SS116 BS 176

im 46 5 11 195

for added distance i would work on the connection between arms and shoulders and good hip rotation

With a PGA Tour average of 113 mph swing speed, I'd say that is pretty freaky.  Especially with a smash factor of 176/116 = 1.517, which is above USGA maximum.

my highest SS  122 ball speed 180

[Phil Ben Graeme]

Hi

As a Hogan Disciple myself There are his techniques that work me and some that didn't.

Grip--?---  do you use the short thumb method ?

I changed to the long thumb the Reasons are comfort,able to control the club at the backswing through practice. Noticed it generated more of a cupped wrist.This help me to produce torque through the impact zone if everthing else was in order.But like I said in so many words everybody's different and not a teacher but its little nuances that I experience through practice.

[squaddie]

Originally Posted by madcityscott

I'm having a similar issue. I'm 46 yrs old, 155 lbs & 5'10", fairly athletic but my swing speed is around 85mph and driver distance is ~205. After playing around a bit on the launch monitor at Golf Galaxy I was able to get it up 92 for a swing or two by: 1) making sure my right arm was higher than my left on the downswing (tip from Jim McLean's 8-step swing), and 2) consciously transferring weight to the target (left) side of my feet on the downswing.

If you have a Golf Galaxy or other store with a launch monitor that they'll let you swing away in for free, you can experiment.

That's a good idea, to measure swing-speed while trying a few technique changes.  I have one of those Medicus swing-speed measurement devices that one places up near the grip of the club. It seems to read my speed in the same ballpark as measurements from launch monitors at my golf instructor's place.   I'll try to monitor my speed during practice after my right-elbow heals.

On the right arm, I'll have to study the position a little more to see if that has an effect.  I also have the Jim McLean video on the 8-step swing I can go back and review, and a few other golfing books that discuss the right-arm position (Snead, Woods).  From past lessons my right arm is a little lower than the left at times, but part of that was a result of my left arm not being extended enough at the top of the backswing.

I'm still leaning towards casting the club as being my main power and speed drain.  I'm going to try to ensure I don't release the club until I've got more weight on my left side in the downswing.  I'll be putting a priority on that aspect once I can get to work on my swing again.

[squaddie]

Originally Posted by Phil Ben Graeme

As a Hogan Disciple myself There are his techniques that work me and some that didn't.

Grip--?---  do you use the short thumb method ?

I currently use short-thumb on my grip.  So far I like my grip since I seem to hit the ball fairly straight.  But that's a good concept that grip can affect the torque you can produce through the impact zone.  Perhaps there is some aspect of grip pressure that could be contributing to my casting of the club.

You have given me an idea for something else to try: I had an injury on my right hand that prevents me from fully gripping the club with my right ring finger. I appear to be able to control the club OK, but wonder if I am overcompensating with my left hand too much since I can't grip firmly with the middle and ring fingers of the right hand.

For fun I just now tried an odd-ball grip, the reverse overlap, where the left index finger goes over the right pinky. I appeared to be able to hit the ball well off my indoor practice mat, while with my regular overlap grip I was still hitting chunky.   I'll have to try the reverse overlap a little more and see if that gives me better grip pressure on my right hand, and then see if it has any affect on my swing speed.

Not intending to replace my grip, but perhaps using the reverse overlap grip would be useful as a drill.  From Googling more info on the grip I found that Steve Jones won the 1996 US Open with a reverse overlap grip, which he took up due to a motorcycle accident that caused him to lose the tip of his left ring finger.

[Steel]

You really should post a video of your swing, if your casting form the top you are loosing a ton of power, don't swing the club with your arms, swing the club with your body/torso.  After I have set the club in my back swing my first move on the down swing is to pull/rotate  the left shoulder, if you have the club set in the proper position at the top of your back swing the arms and hands will follow and unfold naturally.  I also suggest you try to find a shaft that fits your swing, I have been away from the game for a very long time and my brother in law gave me a driver to use last summer, I hit the driver ok, but wild directionally, went to have my swing speed checked, with that driver, regular flex factory shaft, swing speed was 95mph, not too bad I thought considering I am 10 years older than when I quite playing.  Then tried 3 other drivers in the store different shafts, long story short, I now use a Callaway FT Tour with a VooDoo SVS6 stiff, consistent swing speed of 106 MPH, I am 48 years old, 5'8" tall, weight 170LB's, too soft you will loose speed, too stiff you will loose speed, find one that fits, its worth it.

[max power]

You may have already mentioned this, but make sure to try the interlocking grip.  I use this with my right thumb strait down the shaft.  For me it's the maximum grip with minimum effort, and allows me to swing as fast as is feasible for the rest of my body.

Originally Posted by squaddie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Ben Graeme

As a Hogan Disciple myself There are his techniques that work me and some that didn't.

Grip--?---  do you use the short thumb method ?

I currently use short-thumb on my grip.  So far I like my grip since I seem to hit the ball fairly straight.  But that's a good concept that grip can affect the torque you can produce through the impact zone.  Perhaps there is some aspect of grip pressure that could be contributing to my casting of the club.

You have given me an idea for something else to try: I had an injury on my right hand that prevents me from fully gripping the club with my right ring finger. I appear to be able to control the club OK, but wonder if I am overcompensating with my left hand too much since I can't grip firmly with the middle and ring fingers of the right hand.

For fun I just now tried an odd-ball grip, the reverse overlap, where the left index finger goes over the right pinky. I appeared to be able to hit the ball well off my indoor practice mat, while with my regular overlap grip I was still hitting chunky.   I'll have to try the reverse overlap a little more and see if that gives me better grip pressure on my right hand, and then see if it has any affect on my swing speed.

Not intending to replace my grip, but perhaps using the reverse overlap grip would be useful as a drill.  From Googling more info on the grip I found that Steve Jones won the 1996 US Open with a reverse overlap grip, which he took up due to a motorcycle accident that caused him to lose the tip of his left ring finger.

[Elvisliveson]

Originally Posted by TourSpoon

Just remember that the hips start the swing.  If you start with the shoulders you are disconnected before you start and while you will feel like you are swinging harder with your arms, your club will be out of position and you will not get the desired outcome.

Words to live by. In addition, swinging mostly with your arms is a sure fire way of losing your wrist hinge too early, which is a huge power drain.

[EverythingGolf]

Originally Posted by squaddie

I was getting fitting for a driver yesterday and found out I have a very slow swing-speed for my age with a driver (42 years, 72 mph) .   For the control driver I was was using my Nike Sumo SQ 5000 with regular flex. In the past I've hit the Nike driver straight but not very far, so I believe the fitting statistics were accurate.

The fitting system recommended a Taylormade 2010 Superfast driver with a senior-flex shaft, which seems to add 5 MPH to my average club-head speed and 20 yards to total distance (at 200 yds).  I swallowed my pride and went ahead and ordered the senior-flex driver and fairway wood (bought them used to save some money).

The biggest thing that robs you of speed is casting the club and not rotating your hips properly.

[squaddie]

Originally Posted by EverythingGolf

The biggest thing that robs you of speed is casting the club and not rotating your hips properly.

Thanks, that makes sense.  Once my elbow heals I'll be working on using my hip rotation to power my downswing more, so as to avoid the casting problem.