Distance...Club Head Speed, or Technique..?

[Hammer 4]

So, we always hear club head speed determines distance to some extent, providing you make good contact with the ball.

I was at the range today working on keys 1 and 2 as usual. I also work on 2 things that Mike provided for me when I took a lesson from him. I always try to work on things going at about 50%, but as we all know, sometimes you goof and speed up. Well I had my 9i and made a big effort to combine keys 1,2 and the things Mike told me to work on. I made a decent back swing while counting 1001, 1002 then I began my down swing and absolutely pured my 9i that resulted in a slight draw, that hit the 152 yd marker.. I did a double take to make sure that WAS the 152 yd marker. I tried to duplicate that shot to no avail..

Now for my question, I know my swing speed couldn't have been over 80 mph if that, yet that's the furthest I've ever hit my 9i, also I have the older lofts, i.e. PW is 47*. So what caused the ball to go that far, I figure it must have been the technique, because as I said, I swung really easy, maybe I got luck and everything was in sync..

I would appreciate some knowledgeable comments on this. BTW, hitting that shot was to say the least GREAT!

[MS256]

You probably made a swing with very good mechanics and probably did create more club head speed at impact. Plus you obviously hit the ball solidly with a good path through the ball.

With inefficient mechanics effort doesn't translate to much club head speed at impact.

Just think how fun it will be when all of your swings do that with that little effort.

[Hammer 4]

You probably made a swing with very good mechanics and probably did create more club head speed at impact. Plus you obviously hit the ball solidly with a good path through the ball.

With inefficient mechanics effort doesn't translate to much club head speed at impact.

Just think how fun it will be when all of your swings do that with that little effort.

I can't imagine even 70% of my swings doing that, doesn't mean I won't continue to work to achieve it though. Thanks for your comment.

[Lihu]

Nice job. I was also surprised by distance gains. Not a 152 yard 9i, but longer shots.

The only thing I can say is to continue with the drills that Mike gave you. I have been reminded, numerous times, to continue mine.

[joekelly]

A great practice shot.  Really feels good when it happens.  But very unlikely your 9i went 152 yrds. Oh, possible, like winning the lottery but most probable was that in your unbridled joy you mistook the numbers and thought 6 was 9.  Still a good shot.

[saevel25]

So, we always hear club head speed determines distance to some extent, providing you make good contact with the ball.

I was at the range today working on keys 1 and 2 as usual. I also work on 2 things that Mike provided for me when I took a lesson from him. I always try to work on things going at about 50%, but as we all know, sometimes you goof and speed up. Well I had my 9i and made a big effort to combine keys 1,2 and the things Mike told me to work on. I made a decent back swing while counting 1001, 1002 then I began my down swing and absolutely pured my 9i that resulted in a slight draw, that hit the 152 yd marker.. I did a double take to make sure that WAS the 152 yd marker. I tried to duplicate that shot to no avail..

Now for my question, I know my swing speed couldn't have been over 80 mph if that, yet that's the furthest I've ever hit my 9i, also I have the older lofts, i.e. PW is 47*. So what caused the ball to go that far, I figure it must have been the technique, because as I said, I swung really easy, maybe I got luck and everything was in sync..

I would appreciate some knowledgeable comments on this. BTW, hitting that shot was to say the least GREAT!

Keys 1 & 2 will help lead to a better key 3. Key 3 will give you a delofted iron because the left hand is in front of the ball.

If you look at PGA tour players, the launch angle of their 9 iron is about 20.4 degrees. Their loft for a 9 iron is from 40-44 degrees.

You probably nailed keys 1-3 on that one and hit the ball perfect. Believe me, when I got going with keys 1-3, I gained 0.5 to 1 full club length on my irons. I felt like I was swinging 80%

[Hammer 4]

A great practice shot.  Really feels good when it happens.  But very unlikely your 9i went 152 yrds. Oh, possible, like winning the lottery but most probable was that in your unbridled joy you mistook the numbers and thought 6 was 9.  Still a good shot.

Nope, it was my 9 iron, I know this cuz I did have my glasses on.. A good shot from my 6 would have been much longer

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joekelly

A great practice shot.  Really feels good when it happens.  But very unlikely your 9i went 152 yrds. Oh, possible, like winning the lottery but most probable was that in your unbridled joy you mistook the numbers and thought 6 was 9.  Still a good shot.

Nope, it was my 9 iron, I know this cuz I did have my glasses on..  A good shot from my 6 would have been much longer

152 is just a little longer than my stock 8i (my PW is 46 degrees), so it was not hard for me to believe you did it.

Like I said earlier, keep doing your drills and maybe you can do this every time!

[Hammer 4]

152 is just a little longer than my stock 8i (my PW is 46 degrees), so it was not hard for me to believe you did it.

Like I said earlier, keep doing your drills and maybe you can do this every time!

Thanks, I would NOT have said it flew 152 if  it hadn't, at 65 yrs old, I gave up making stuff up 55 yrs ago. Normally my 9i is about 135-140. Not a day goes by that I don't work on something that's on my list of priority's, so I hope I can hit some nice shots down the road.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

152 is just a little longer than my stock 8i (my PW is 46 degrees), so it was not hard for me to believe you did it.

Like I said earlier, keep doing your drills and maybe you can do this every time!

Thanks, I would NOT have said it flew 152 if  it hadn't, at 65 yrs old, I gave up making stuff up 55 yrs ago. Normally my 9i is about 135-140. Not a day goes by that I don't work on something that's on my list of priority's, so I hope I can hit some nice shots down the road.

They sound pretty good already.

[MS256]

I know a guy that is a very good golfer. Ex-Division 1 college player and floated around mini-tours. His two biggest drawbacks were lack of distance (number 1 if you ask him) and lack of putting ability (number 1 if you ask me). He hits his driver very consistently (way more consistently than anyone I know) but it's always around 260 to 270 yards and a straight ball.

He has some sort of little club head speed measuring device that you put on the ground behind the ball and since he is still looking for any piece of a puzzle that will give him more distance he almost always has it with him when he plays a practice round.

Last year he was playing the slightly uphill 285 yard par four and something happened and he hit the green. He said he looked back and the club speed was 10mph faster than he had ever seen on it before. He said he stood there and hit several more balls and every one was right back to his normal club head speed and normal distance.

He still wonders to this day what happened on that drive. Talks about it often and even asked me last week what I thought it could have been.

I've had my share of those long shots from out of the blue but it stands to reason for me because I am not consistent at all. It is fairly surprising that a player as consistent as he is would have it happen and it's driving him crazy that he can't figure it out so he can do it again.

[Hammer 4]

I know a guy that is a very good golfer. Ex-Division 1 college player and floated around mini-tours. His two biggest drawbacks were lack of distance (number 1 if you ask him) and lack of putting ability (number 1 if you ask me). He hits his driver very consistently (way more consistently than anyone I know) but it's always around 260 to 270 yards and a straight ball.

He has some sort of little club head speed measuring device that you put on the ground behind the ball and since he is still looking for any piece of a puzzle that will give him more distance he almost always has it with him when he plays a practice round.

Last year he was playing the slightly uphill 285 yard par four and something happened and he hit the green. He said he looked back and the club speed was 10mph faster than he had ever seen on it before. He said he stood there and hit several more balls and every one was right back to his normal club head speed and normal distance.

He still wonders to this day what happened on that drive. Talks about it often and even asked me last week what I thought it could have been.

I've had my share of those long shots from out of the blue but it stands to reason for me because I am not consistent at all. It is fairly surprising that a player as consistent as he is would have it happen and it's driving him crazy that he can't figure it out so he can do it again.

Yeah, what I was hoping for was some concrete info on whether it's a higher percentage of technique, or club head speed. Like I said, I for sure swung pretty slow...Dang I hate this game...lol

[14ledo81]

I have had something similar happen to me. A couple of years ago (I still remember because it was substantialy longer than normal), I hit a drive that took off at a completely different trajectory than ever before. It went fairly high and the fairway was wet so I did not get much if any roll. The total distance was around 275-280. I still feel it was mostly all carry. I was amazed and to this day have not even come close to that. 235 carry and 250 total is an excellent drive for me.

[Lihu]

Yeah, what I was hoping for was some concrete info on whether it's a higher percentage of technique, or club head speed. Like I said, I for sure swung pretty slow...Dang I hate this game...lol

These are not mutually exclusive. I have found that I can swing much faster with the proper technique.

[Hammer 4]

These are not mutually exclusive. I have found that I can swing much faster with the proper technique.

Agreed. I have Searched in the interwebs for info. on technique vs speed, and what I found ( shoulda known this from the get go) is your technique creates the speed, i,e. why Fred Couples looks like he's making a "lazy" swing, yet hitting it far. Then I have to wonder, why don't all pros take that approach to their swings, instead of blasting it ala Bubba, Rory, ect..? Unless it's to get even longer off the tee, which I'm sure is the case. So, for this old dude, I'm going to Strive to get that "lazy" feeling in my swing again, although it will likely take me a zillion more swings to find it..LOL

Thanks for all the replies.

[birlyshirly]

Agreed. I have Searched in the interwebs for info. on technique vs speed, and what I found ( shoulda known this from the get go) is your technique creates the speed, i,e. why Fred Couples looks like he's making a "lazy" swing, yet hitting it far. Then I have to wonder, why don't all pros take that approach to their swings, instead of blasting it ala Bubba, Rory, ect..? Unless it's to get even longer off the tee, which I'm sure is the case. So, for this old dude, I'm going to Strive to get that "lazy" feeling in my swing again, although it will likely take me a zillion more swings to find it..LOL

Thanks for all the replies.

Is that (what I put in bold) really the consensus? That's not the impression I have, based on my own reading. I see more teachers online who seem to basically accept that beyond a basic level of competence , clubhead speed is a physical gift rather than a technique to be taught. And believe me, some of these guys, if they thought they could sell clubhead speed, they'd be selling it by the bucket load. Most teachers IMO (and yes, I'm generalising) appear to focus on technique that will deliver solid ballstriking and impact conditions - which is the way to maximise your distance for any given clubhead speed.

There are some people out there talking about stretching and physical conditioning - but that doesn't really answer your question about the occasional shot that appears out of the blue and flies 10 - 20 yards further.

Don't discount the possibility that you really did find some extra clubhead speed that you can't usually access. I've practiced with a swing speed radar and do see occasional spikes in measured speed.

[MS256]

Is that (what I put in bold) really the consensus? That's not the impression I have, based on my own reading. I see more teachers online who seem to basically accept that beyond a basic level of competence, clubhead speed is a physical gift rather than a technique to be taught. And believe me, some of these guys, if they thought they could sell clubhead speed, they'd be selling it by the bucket load. Most teachers IMO (and yes, I'm generalising) appear to focus on technique that will deliver solid ballstriking and impact conditions - which is the way to maximise your distance for any given clubhead speed.

There are some people out there talking about stretching and physical conditioning - but that doesn't really answer your question about the occasional shot that appears out of the blue and flies 10 - 20 yards further.

Don't discount the possibility that you really did find some extra clubhead speed that you can't usually access. I've practiced with a swing speed radar and do see occasional spikes in measured speed.

What technically sound (for speed) technique does is to reduce power leaks. It only enables somebody to get close to their maximum individual physical capability.

All of the technique in the world is not going to have most of us hitting a ball like Jamie Sadlowski, because we don't have the physical capability.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="Hammer 4" url="/t/72283/distance-club-head-speed-or-technique#post_945867"]   Agreed. I have Searched in the interwebs for info. on technique vs speed, and what I found ( shoulda known this from the get go) is your technique creates the speed, i,e. why Fred Couples looks like he's making a "lazy" swing, yet hitting it far. Then I have to wonder, why don't all pros take that approach to their swings, instead of blasting it ala Bubba, Rory, ect..? Unless it's to get even longer off the tee, which I'm sure is the case. So, for this old dude, I'm going to Strive to get that "lazy" feeling in my swing again, although it will likely take me a zillion more swings to find it..LOL Thanks for all the replies.  [/QUOTE] Is that (what I put in bold) really the consensus? That's not the impression I have, based on my own reading. I see more teachers online who seem to basically accept that beyond a basic level of competence , clubhead speed is a physical gift rather than a technique to be taught. And believe me, some of these guys, if they thought they could sell clubhead speed, they'd be selling it by the bucket load. Most teachers IMO (and yes, I'm generalising) appear to focus on technique that will deliver solid ballstriking and impact conditions - which is the way to maximise your distance for any given clubhead speed. There are some people out there talking about stretching and physical conditioning - but that doesn't really answer your question about the occasional shot that appears out of the blue and flies 10 - 20 yards further. Don't discount the possibility that you really did find some extra clubhead speed that you can't usually access. I've practiced with a swing speed radar and do see occasional spikes in measured speed.

Agreed that you're born with speed, but the 152 yard on the fly 9i seems within reason. BTW, I used the swing speed radar and had a few rogue 128mph 18 degree hybrid shots. This was before my swing improvements, so the only thing I can think of is that the radar was measuring the ball speed and not club head speed. Even with my swing improvements, there's no way. No measuring device is perfect. I agree with @MS256.