Importance of Acceleration Thru Impact

[the chopper]

Thanks for your feedback, I just remembered the pitching video and thought it useful to the guy's question. I agree about the set up differences between full swings and pitching. I was talking about full swing during the part of my entry that referred to weight transfer. I appreciate you have a better knowledge of figures/ data on the scientific side but  i am making a point outwith the boundaries of that kind of data. What i mean to say "iacas" is that at the top of the swing going into transition the club head changes direction of movement. At that point the club head will be traveling rather slowly------at impact the club head will be traveling really quickly. Thus the general dynamic there is acceleration. If data shows through wonderful technology the speed of club head at every frame on a HS capture then that's interesting stuff. However i cannot take a thought of decel around with me, relaxed maybe but deceleration i think is a destructive concept in golf.

Furthermore i agree that to continue to accelerate after releasing the club head is not exactly the movies either as we could strain our bodies playing that way. Regards the chopper.

[saevel25]

The proper action is holding onto all that energy till the right moment. It is impossible not to accelerate. The only action that causes de-acceleration is releasing the clubhead way to early, or holding onto the clubhead way to long (which is very very very hard to do). The basic thought of accelerating has an adverse effect of causing a person to not have a flat left wrist at impact.

Also, i never hear a professional teaching an Amateur, "swing harder". Its always, "Slow it down, think 80%, Swing in balance"

The idea that we as amateurs need to think, accelerate is just off. It might work for a select few of people, but Amateurs can be better off learning a flat left wrist, weight forward at impact, staying in balance, striking the ball first. From there, the swing really takes care of itself if you have the proper sequence in the kinetic chain.

[mmoan2]

This is an interesting topic to me because during the few lessons I've had, I've always been told "accelerate through the ball," which seems to imply that maximum acceleration occurs after impact.

I think it's obvious to people that club head speed slows after striking the ball and the ground. When you hit something, you slow down. Let me ask this - if the ball and ground were not present, would it still be inefficient to have a greater club head speed shortly after where ball contact position would be? Isn't there a premium on continuity of your swing achieved if your maximum impact would occur after impact? You'd lose a few yards, but your swing would be much more fluid and consistent. Maybe it goes back to the "feel is not real" thing. If I feel like I'm accelerating through the ball, I may not actually be, but the intention to keep my swing arc accelerating makes me "feel" like I'm striking the ball with power and purpose. If I even think for a second "decelerate," I have bad memories of the countless fat shots I used to hit when I took up the game a few years ago and then they come true. Not sure I can fully express my thoughts on this without writing a treatise here and I don;t have time for that.

Also, why would it make sense to EVER decelerate on a short game shot before impact? Why wouldn't you just shorten your swing, open the face, hit a more lofted club, etc.? If you are swinging at a ball (or through a ball, if you prefer), isn't it a disruption of your natural motion to slow up before you make contact? Especially putting, which requires so much finesse and touch. It was said that the best putters are actually decelerating an inch before the ball is struck. Can someone explain that to me?

thanks

[iacas]

Originally Posted by mmoan2

This is an interesting topic to me because during the few lessons I've had, I've always been told "accelerate through the ball," which seems to imply that maximum acceleration occurs after impact.

I believe you mean maximum speed after impact. Maximum acceleration is another thing altogether.

Originally Posted by mmoan2

Let me ask this - if the ball and ground were not present, would it still be inefficient to have a greater club head speed shortly after where ball contact position would be?

Yes. If you're capable of delivering 110 MPH but you only deliver 100 to the ball because you haven't sequenced things well enough to get that speed at the golf ball, it's inefficient. You'd be better off delivering a max speed of 103 MPH (or 110 if you were capable) at the golf ball.

[saevel25]

Yes when you hit the ball and then the ground (if an iron or hybrid), the clubhead will slow down, but then it speeds up again before gradually slowing down to the finish. Some people might feel this when they come in to steep on a shot and they get that jarring feeling through there arms, were they feel like they momentarily stopped, then they continue forward.

Quote:

Also, why would it make sense to EVER decelerate on a short game shot before impact? Why wouldn't you just shorten your swing, open the face, hit a more lofted club, etc.?

What if the shot doesn't need more loft? I've played tons of short game shots with varied swing speed. Sometimes i need a short soft shot. I've opened the clubface and basically flipped the clubhead slowly through the ball and it just pops up in the air and lands like 3 feet infront of me. Believe me, you get on fast greens above the hole, short sided. Its a dangerous shot, but it works very well. Then there's times were i have to hit a low runner chip up a very steep green, there i might take a lower lofted club and play a very aggressive strike on the ball. Acceleration has nothing to do with contact.

Quote:

If I even think for a second "decelerate,"

Here's the thing, you shouldn't be thinking either accelerate or Decelerate, it should all just happen if you have everything in the right motion. There might be a select few people who need to think accelerate through the ball, to get the proper motion for them, but it might not be what's happening at all in the golf swing.

Quote:

isn't it a disruption of your natural motion to slow up before you make contact?

This is the same argument in reverse. If you say its disruptive to slow down before contact, then the opposite must be true for other people as well. It is disruptive for some people to try to accelerate through the ball. If this line of thought helps your swing, have at it, but don't make it advice or a tip for other's. But i am not making it a swing thought. If the golf swing is done right, then you will have maximum speed at impact, or slightly before impact. Meaning, you naturally slow down with out thinking about it. Think about it this way, from the top of the backswing to impact is probably 0.4-0.2 seconds long. Now when are you thinking accelerate. Is it at the top of the backswing, or just before impact? If its any were during the downswing it would be impossible to react fast enough to make a change. Average reaction time is about 0.22-0.25 seconds. That means, unless your thinking before you make your downswing, its probably to late to react. Once that downswing starts, your toast, what ever happens is going to happen. This is were feeling comes in. If you want to hit a soft wedge shot, you think about the shot before hand, changing your whole swing before you even start it.

A good example of this would be Tiger Woods at the US Open, when he practices for his big cut shot, he makes exagerated movements in preshot routine. He's rewiring his swing for that shot by making a movement that is exagerated. It would be impossible for him to adjust it once the downswing starts.