Swinging too hard!

[Elmer]

I am going to put this out there right at the beginning.

I swing too hard.

Especially the longer the irons and woods get.

The guy that gives me lessons has told me time and time again not to give “110%”.

He has told me to swing about 85%.

I came from a background of Baseball and lacrosse, which you went all out. You gave it your all and never left anything out on that field.

I never had a coach or teacher tell me to dial it back!

I also have 25 years of playing drum kit. I understand you don’t have over exert yourself to get the best possible outcome. But when the adrenaline kicks in, you lay into those skins with some decent wrist snaps.

However put me at any distance with any club, and I become a brute.

I swing hard.
Even a ¾ of a wedge shot from 100 yard out, and I find my down swing is aggressive.

But then again I do out hit almost everyone I play with by 10-15 yards.

I am starting to think that this is causing my achey shoulder some additional issues, if I keep giving 110%.

I look at some of the older guys I play with and they have a calm smooth swing. When I look at these guys I think to myself, I will never be able to swing as hard as I currently do at their age.

Is there a good method to learn to slow down, to smooth out the swing. To not give 100%

Should I practice on just hitting some shorter placement shots and give up my driver and wedge only golf game.

I want to try and ensure I am able to play this game when I am in my 60’s!

Thanks for any advice!

[PirateJim]

A good instructor could probably help more, but here's my $00.02 worth.

First, watch some tour golf, specifically how a lot of those guys swing their irons on approach shots.  Not way long on the back swing, not huge looping follow through like the driver.  Then head to the range.  If you hit your 7 iron 175, use it and start trying to see how close you can land it to the 150 marker.  Slow backswing, little pause at the top, just enough that everything catches up with itself, easy swing so as not to knock the ball too far.  A few buckets of balls should get that kind of easy shot feeling somewhat normal.  Rinse and repeat with other clubs as needed.

I'm pushing 60 and nobody ever accused me of being athletic, but I'm trying to learn this lesson too.  Accuracy has gone way up for me.  Accuracy is good.  The guys I play with don't even need to know what club I used on that last shot, but I like to hear "Nice one Jim!"

[GaijinGolfer]

Swinging hard isnt a bad thing if you can maintain your balance and keep it under control.  Maybe instead of learning how to dial it back, you just need to work on your balance.  Perhaps you could do some balance exercises like standing on 1 foot, doing single-leg squats and taking golf swings standing on 1 foot.

[Strandly]

Hmm, I might recommend practicing putting actually.  If getting repeatedly burned on the green with your crusher swing doesn't teach you to slow down I don't know if anything will.

[mvmac]

I am going to put this out there right at the beginning.

I swing too hard.

Especially the longer the irons and woods get.

The guy that gives me lessons has told me time and time again not to give “110%”.

He has told me to swing about 85%.

I came from a background of Baseball and lacrosse, which you went all out. You gave it your all and never left anything out on that field.

I never had a coach or teacher tell me to dial it back!

I also have 25 years of playing drum kit. I understand you don’t have over exert yourself to get the best possible outcome. But when the adrenaline kicks in, you lay into those skins with some decent wrist snaps.

However put me at any distance with any club, and I become a brute.

I swing hard.

Even a ¾ of a wedge shot from 100 yard out, and I find my down swing is aggressive.

But then again I do out hit almost everyone I play with by 10-15 yards.

I am starting to think that this is causing my achey shoulder some additional issues, if I keep giving 110%.

I look at some of the older guys I play with and they have a calm smooth swing. When I look at these guys I think to myself, I will never be able to swing as hard as I currently do at their age.

Is there a good method to learn to slow down, to smooth out the swing. To not give 100%

Should I practice on just hitting some shorter placement shots and give up my driver and wedge only golf game.

I want to try and ensure I am able to play this game when I am in my 60’s!

Thanks for any advice!

The problem is more of your sequencing than "swinging too hard".  Without seeing your swing I would suggest making swings, hitting balls with tees in each arm pit.  Start off making swings at 50% speed and gradually ramp up.  Obviously keep the tees from falling out during the swing.

[buddhabob]

Good thread. I'm 63 and just starting up again after 45 years. I was a good junior competitive golfer back in the 60s. I swing very hard, could throw a football 80 yds, boxed,etc. So I'm in the local GolfSmith today and on the electronic machine which they claim is very accurate. I hit a few over 300, one at 310 and they felt good and flush. Then I looked at the swing speed monitors. I use a light,relaxed grip and swing best from my hips driving into impact. But for the life of me I was only swinging at 100 mph tops. I watched some weekend golfers come in and hit the ball from 200 to 250 but what was curious was many of them had swing speeds much like mine even though their swings were compromised or fundamentally flawed at first glance and in my opinion. Again I asked the tech personnel how accurate the monitor was and he said 'very'. This begs the question how do I increase my swing speed since I must be sequencing inefficiently. That is what I think the original poster is doing. He is not stacking to maximum efficiency and therefore not releasing with efficiency. I am set to get my girlfriend to film my swing next week. Maybe I will detect what's wrong. 300 yards is nothing to scoff at but how do you hit 310 with only a 100 mph swing? Makes no sense whatsoever to me. If anyone has an idea, let me know. My goal is to up the swing speed to 120-135. I am a longtime athlete and weight lifter and a yogi so regardless of age this is conceivable, who knows.

[billchao]

how do you hit 310 with only a 100 mph swing?

Hit the cart path, frozen fairways, long downhill sloping holes, or really elevated tee boxes, to name a few. Under normal conditions? You can't.

BTW I'm serious about the frozen fairways thing, I hit a drive 330 once. Had to use an awl to make a hole in the tee box for a tee. I'll also never play winter golf like that again.

[c peterich]

Hit the cart path, frozen fairways, long downhill sloping holes, or really elevated tee boxes, to name a few. Under normal conditions? You can't. BTW I'm serious about the frozen fairways thing, I hit a drive 330 once. Had to use an awl to make a hole in the tee box for a tee. I'll also never play winter golf like that again.

Love,,it.. We have a group that lives be winter golf. The approach shots are Impossible to judge..IMO. Bit if u get the bug, than do it

[billchao]

Love,,it.. We have a group that lives be winter golf. The approach shots are Impossible to judge..IMO. Bit if u get the bug, than do it

Yea, it was fun in that "I can say I've done it" sort of way. Still like being warm and not possibly injuring myself better, though. Approach shots, if I remember correctly, had to be hit short of the greens so that they had a chance to hold them.