Anti-Momentus Training Aids - Swing Faster, Not Harder

[kurtwainwright]

I'm 37 years old... and picked up the game of golf at age 32.  I never had the luxury of playing golf in my youth.  I'm a firm believer that if I had, I'd be a better golfer today.  As is.. my "in control" club head speed for the driver is somewhere in the lower 90 MPH range.  My goal is to gradually bump up my club head speed over time, and eventually have a CHS in the lower 100 MPH range.

I want to find a pre-round training aid that will help my body promote fast-twitch muscle fiber responses (muscle memory).  I want to swing the driver FASTER, not HARDER.  And psychologically, that is a very tough thing to get over because they have the same feeling. The Medicus weighted club is NOT what I need here.  I don't want to stimulate my slow twitch muscles -- I have plenty of slow twitch muscle memory and don't need any more.  All the Medicus will do is decrease my tempo, and the result will be slightly SLOWER club head speed, as well promote off-center mishits.  I like to think I'm a strong guy... but I think I'm more of a slow twitch kind of dude.  I need to change that.

I vaguely recall seeing an infomercial about a training aid, like the one I just described, some time ago.  The guy was talking about how the lightweight stick would help you to speed up your swing.  Shoot, that had to be at least 2 years ago.. something I saw on The Golf Channel at 1AM or something.  I can't for the life of me recall what the name of it was, or who was endorsing the darn thing.   If you know what I'm talking about, please let me know what the name of the device is.

Otherwise, I think what I might do is build my own training aid.  Maybe put a grip on a cheap graphite shaft, and maybe put a hollow plastic head on the end of it so my eyes have some kind of indicator of what position the club face is in throughout all stages of my swing?

Feel free to chime in here with more ideas.

PS

Before you guys start arguing about whether weighted golf clubs should be used as training aids or not, please re-visit an old thread in this forum from 2008. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/14591/my-experience-with-a-weighted-club

[Uber$winG]

A high swing speed is largely predicated on a fundamentally sound sequencing of the kinematic chain.

To develop the fast-twitch muscle fibers one must engage oneself in the ballistic types of exercises:

Olympic Weightlifting

Dynamic Plyometrics

[Dave Gordon]

Is this what you saw Kurt?

http://www.thespeedstik.com/

[boogielicious]

I would think you would also want to develop more lag in your swing to get the higher speed.  I have been working with the Pure Ball Striker this winter.

http://pbstriker.com/

Bobby Clampett's book, The Impact Zone , discusses the importance of lag in increase

ing swing velocity.

I have also read the book, Fix your Body, Fix your Swing by Joey Diovisalvi, and have been doing the workouts.  He focuses on your core and flexibility to improve swing dynamics.  The exercises are pretty easy and I feel that my core strength has improved.  It's worth the read.

I haven't been able to put these to the test yet because of shoulder surgery, but my body feels better.  I am recovering from the surgery much faster than expected and I think it is due to the work I did before with these exercises.

I am 51 and started golfing at age 49.

[wrx_junki]

Swinging faster and harder is great but don't forget there is nothing better than hitting the middle of the club face.

[Stretch]

There are a number of swing aids/trainers that claim to do what you're looking for. I haven't tried any of them myself, but would be interested to hear your feedback if you do.

The Orange Whip: http://www.orangewhiptrainer.com/

The Powerchute: http://www.intheholegolf.com/store/powchute.html

The Speedball: http://www.tourtempo.com/speedball.html

[kurtwainwright]

Originally Posted by Dave Gordon

Is this what you saw Kurt?

http://www.thespeedstik.com/

No.  That's not the product I saw.  Forgive me if I'm wrong, because I've never held a TR3 SpeedStik in my life, but isn't it weighted??

[kurtwainwright]

Originally Posted by Stretch

There are a number of swing aids/trainers that claim to do what you're looking for. I haven't tried any of them myself, but would be interested to hear your feedback if you do.

The Orange Whip: http://www.orangewhiptrainer.com/

The Powerchute: http://www.intheholegolf.com/store/powchute.html

The Speedball: http://www.tourtempo.com/speedball.html

Sorry, none of those are it either.  Maybe the product never "caught on" and it doesn't exist.

I suppose I'll just make my own.  Thanks for the feedback all.

[Travtex]

How 'bout this one?

http://www.momentusgolf.com/products/index.asp?id=27740

[GpGolfFitness]

A good dynamic warm-up i by far the best way to get your muscles activated the right way... Btw, anytime you swing the club you are working your fast twitch muscle fibers, not your slow.  SO to help, training the muscles OUTSIDE the golf course is going to be most effective. Tee-box warm-ups can only take you so far.

Developing fast twitch fibers can be done through resistance training! Pick up the weights and your body will begin to adapt.

...and a nod to uber$wing, upperbody plyometrics and olympic style lifts will be your most effective, BUT if you are an inexperienced weightlifter I definitely do not recommend starting there. A standard golf conditioning program would be effective for any beginner.

I spent 4+ years learning about exercise and how it can help golfers, so let me know if you have any other questions!

-Grant

[rusty]

I have an old shaft without a clubhead thats probably one of the best tools I've used.  I have a few drills I do to swing as fast as I can and work the fast twitch muscles, and also a lag drill to try to release as late as possible.  Without a clubhead you can really whip it through.  Sometimes at the range I'll just flip my driver over and make a few swings to remind myself what really good acceleration and lag through impact feel like.

[shortgamewiz]

I started playing when I was 20.  That was a while ago.  I used to  like to get long light wood sticks, longer than a driver length, from the hardware store and rig somthing like a handle on them, so I barely had to hold onto it and swing those things back and forth as fast as I could.. try to get the swosh as high pitched as possible.  I'd do it with each arm individually and then both together. I found that better than turning the driver upside down, but that worked too and I did it if I didn't have my sticks or I broke em I did that one plenty.

I'm not a tremendously  strong person so i had to work on my distance a lot.  But I liked practicing.

I alternated the stick drill with swinging a broom to stretch myself out. I did that kind of stuff for a year or so at the range.  And would revisit the drills from time to time. A few people thought I was nuts with the broom but I didn't care.

Of course, over time you also figure out flaws and improvments in technique and that translates to more speed.  I did a lot of drills.. feet together, baseball step in, walking in and hitting a line of balls in sequence without stopping between, flat footed, stance angled away (uber closed) or uber open. One footed swings.  One arm swings. etc.  All those drills translated into greater swing speed and more accurate striking over time. I did those drills a lot, over many years.  Also, I know this might sound dumb, but it took me a long time to learn when I was hitting it fat, which was quite often, and that the solution to both fats and tops is to take a divot ahead of the ball. Sorry if that seems obvious, but its amazing how this little something is missed by so many learning the game, for so long.I know it's dumb, but I would hit it a little fat on the range, and would think I was making some bad swing error because of all the distance I had lost, when it was really a very very small thing I needed to fix. Small but very significant.  So make sure you know the mishits and how to fix them. Its crazy how long it takes people to really understand the cause and cure of a fat shot.. or to even recognize it at all.

Another thing, sort of on the topic.. before playing I learned it was very helpful for me to do  slow mo swiings with my driver, holding it very very tightly, and tensing other muscle groups tensed and exxagerating differnt aspects of the swing..i.e  uber wide stance, or an exagerated extended  arms or, ultra low and slow start to get a lot of width in my swing. The goal was to stretch stuff that wasn't normally stretched that I needed for golf.  I found out that  I really had to be  stretched out enough and warmed up enough or my swing wasn't very good on the course.

Also, beating balls as hard as I could, not worrying about where they go was another big mainstay for me, for years. I remember davis love (who hit a four hundred some odd drive once with a persimmon driver in a tournament which is still the second longest pga drive ever.) once said that he was taught to hit it as hard as he could while still being in balance.  Nicklaus was tautht something similar, except without the "in balance" caveat. you hear it over an over from Pro's. You want distance, spend lots of time hitting it as hard as you can-- don't worry about technique, or 'doing it right'.. just smash and smash again.  If it goes sideways don't worry about it.

Also, many years later I got a radar which was a great investment and relatively cheap. You can lie to youself about your distance but the numbers wont lie.  Its good to use it for a few shots for a reality check.  very helpful tool I think.

At some point I stopped working on my full swing cuz I finally realized It was reasonably ok, but my short game really sucked.  So I obsessed on that for a long time.

Now Im started back on the long game again. Clubhead speed varies from 105 to 110 now which puts me in the category of the very short hitting pros (at least in terms of clubhead speed) but I just found two significant flaws in my swing thanks to my trusty video, that I'm working out and am expecting to pick up 5 mph at least when all that is said and done. hopefully Then I guess I'll be satisfied.  Maybe.. NAAAhhh!!!

One thing I have learned recently is that you can increase your 'overall'  tempo (i.e. backswing/downswing timing) without feeling lke you are swinging any 'harder- your just doing the whole thing more.. "briskly" , and (all things being equal), the ball will go further, in general. Its like putting the washing machine on a higher cycle. So that's another thing I work on. Sorry if that seems obvoious to you..it took me a long time to figure that one out.

I always worked on rhthem .. that definitely helps in getting more distance.  And what's great about good rhythem is it actually takes less effort to swing rhythmically, and the ball goes further as a bonus. And its fun! just pick tunes to swing to at different tempos or rythems.  Or feel like your dancing.. and different kinds of dances at different speeds.  Acutally hit balls doing this stuff.  It's amazing how rhythem affects everything else.. and distance.

I should add that you should always be careful and go easy on your body.  It's easy to get hurt and that's the last thing you need.  I did something to my lower back after really pushing myself one day, about 10 years ago and got siatica as a result and am still paying the price.  But its not too bad..I do bikram yoga several times a week and that keeps it in check, plus it's really is great for my flexibility. the siatica doesn't affect my golf swing oddly. But the point is it would have been nice to not have been hurt in the first place.

Good luck.

jerry

[shortgamewiz]

sorry.. i just realized you must own a radar or you wouldn't know what your swing speed is.. doi.

here's another idea if you haven't done it..and a lot of people wont because of shame.. .. and that is to video your swing..

you can then a-b it  it to pros you like.  maybe similar in body type to you.  you could even post it here and get suggestions. If you haven't seen your swing lately I highly recommend this as you could probably quickly spot a bunch of things to work on. dont worry if your fat and out of shape like me.. just do it. swallow your pride and you'll reap the rewards.  on the other hand if you are already doing this just ignore this post.

More along those lines, it nuts how some seemingly tiny technique can  translate to a bunch of more speed.  You could see something that could add 5mph right off the bat. I once, by accident almost, started turning my head away more on the backswing (a la nickaus, except more mid-swing then pre-swing) when on the range, and I noticed that I immediately started carrying  much further and past  a target that was prob 40 yards past where I had been landing prior.. and the change was consistent. just by turning my head !  Then days would go by, I would forget to do it for a while and over time start wondering why i had lost the distance, then I did it again and voila..the length was there again. Turns out the head move was allowing my upper body to turn away more.. maybe 20 degress oreven more so.

Definitely a full turn away from the target and a full turn through/ past it will add lots of speed if your not already doing that.. and most amateurs arent, btw.. just check out the range the next time your there. . other stuff like moving your upper body ahead of the ball (i.e. not staying behing it at impact) will cost you distance/speed. Again, you might think your doing something alright but a quick view of yourself on the video will often reveal some big power leaks. or glaring faults in technique.  It did for me.  Spend a little time fixing them and bam-- you're sh*t will be flyin out there.  And that's a cool feeling.

Recently something similar happened to me with grip pressure.. but I caught it with the radar instead of the camera.  I was wondering why I had lost 4mph or so on my drives, and then I remmbered I had been experimenting with different grip pressures in the short game, so I tried a super light grip.. bam.. the distance came right back..Thats not to say a light grip is always the answer for everyone.. grip pressure I find to be an odd thing.. sometimes a too light grip will cause excess tension in other body parts (like shoulders and arms) because you are compensating for a feeling of not being able to control the club.. so youde be better off with a firmer grip. So, as stan utley says, the answer to most golf questions is "it depends".  Anyway.. sorry to bend your ear.  Good luck!

[MiniBlueDragon]

I've heard great things about the Speed Whoosh and also Speed Chains. For me though I see little benefit in the Speed Whoosh other than as a workout as I still have a lot of speed in reserve with my swings but choose not to use it to keep my accuracy good. Speed Chains I'd think about but as with most things they're not available in the UK.