Do Not Use a Heavy Club or Weighted Donuts

[No Mulligans]

Interesting, folks have been doing this wrong for a long time.

All this makes me wonder about all these 1/2 speed swings I do when working on my 'priority piece'.  Could the 1/2 speed practice result in slowing down ones clubhead speed?  (Probably a rhetorical question, I doubt anyones done a study).

[iacas]

All this makes me wonder about all these 1/2 speed swings I do when working on my 'priority piece'.  Could the 1/2 speed practice result in slowing down ones clubhead speed?  (Probably a rhetorical question, I doubt anyones done a study).

No.

[DrvFrShow]

Makes sense to me. My ball strikes come after I've established good balance and good tempo. That comes with the feel of a real club. Swinging with a heavy club doesn't give you the real feel.

This said I do use the Orange Whip to stretch and I swing it more like a baseball bat rather than a golf club. I swing it gently to loosen up my tight old muscles before I take my first chip shots. It doesn't feel like a real club so I don't swing it like a real club. Then I work into my half swings then my full swing.

[boogielicious]

Thanks for posting @iacas .  I do have a couple of club weights (I have reviewed them in the equipment section).  I have been using them less frequently and tend to only use them for rotational stretching only and not swinging as I would at a ball.

I think I'll start a thread in the Fitness Section for people to post their warm up routines (apart from hitting balls).  I wonder if I could recruit you and @mvmac to post your warm up routines.

One more thing.  Would this apply to the Orange Whip too?

[billchao]

One more thing.  Would this apply to the Orange Whip too?

I'd say probably. I've never hand any desire to use it as a swing trainer, just a stretching tool. Like @DrvFrShow says, it doesn't feel like a real club and I find it's hard to swing it exactly like a real club anyway.

[Deryck Griffith]

This is a good find...

I played baseball at a high level and never liked using doughnuts on my bat while in the on deck circle.  Similar to what the article has explained, I would always feel like my swing was "off' or "weird" after taking several big hacks with the doughnut on so I always figured it would be best to take those swings normally with my bat and stretch out prior to entering the batters box.

That being the case, in golf I've never attempted to use any weighted objects.  1, because I am already happy with my swing speed and 2, being how complex the golf swing is, I don't want anything to interfere with it prior to a round; especially, trying to swing a heavy club of some sort that could easily throw my mechanics off.

If people want to find speed in their swing, they are better off doing gym work like plyometrics / core exercises using medicine balls, etc.  Or if the objective is to just warm up prior to the round, instead of using a weighted club, spend the 20 minutes you would air swinging the weighted club in stretching.  Most people have never "really" properly stretched and when you actually to properly stretch, you really feel loose which (of course) helps with freedom in the swing.

[Golfingdad]

Son of a b**ch!!!!

Now I realize why I didn't have a great major league baseball career.  Cuz my stupid high school coach suggested I use a weighted bat all of the time.

[billchao]

Son of a b**ch!!!! Now I realize why I didn't have a great major league baseball career.  Cuz my stupid high school coach suggested I use a weighted bat all of the time.

Didn't hurt Frank Thomas.

[GolfLug]

I use a driver with a 70 gram shaft for normal use. This year I bought an old used TM Jetspeed 49 gram shaft driver for 60 bucks and a SS radar just for 'speed' training. This year Jan SS - avg. 89-91 mph. Current mph (checked few weeks ago) 95-96 mph with my regular driver. This trainer driver often touched 98-100 mph after 10-15 mins of swinging (am not hitting balls, just 'whooshing')).

Use a lighter shaft and learn speed. Extremely useful is a SS radar even if it is not accurate. You are just using is for relative difference/improvement.

[Jeremie Boop]

Thanks for posting @iacas .  I do have a couple of club weights (I have reviewed them in the equipment section).  I have been using them less frequently and tend to only use them for rotational stretching only and not swinging as I would at a ball.

I think I'll start a thread in the Fitness Section for people to post their warm up routines (apart from hitting balls).  I wonder if I could recruit you and @mvmac to post your warm up routines.

One more thing.  Would this apply to the Orange Whip too?

I'd say probably. I've never hand any desire to use it as a swing trainer, just a stretching tool. Like @DrvFrShow says, it doesn't feel like a real club and I find it's hard to swing it exactly like a real club anyway.

If it does extend to the orange whip that basically screws up my back up plan for winter swing training. I was hoping it would help me "kick the flip".... I guess back to the drawing board.

[Pretzel]

If it does extend to the orange whip that basically screws up my back up plan for winter swing training. I was hoping it would help me "kick the flip".... I guess back to the drawing board. :pound:

My grandpa got of those and I swing it a couple times. It make flipping a physical impossibility, unless you regularly lift some big weights with your wrist alone.

[Tee2Trees]

My dad gave me a weighted driver.  I forget what brand but it looks like a plain 90's era driver head but solid instead of hollow.  It has a molded "instructional" grip and due to the weighted head the shaft is super whippy.

I think it has a place for training.  The key is that it should be used purely for building muscle on "off days".  That means don't swing it right before you go out to play golf.  Football players don't do a bunch of bench presses right before a game because they want to save their strength for out on the field.  Same principle applies here.

It also shouldn't be used so repetitively as to hurt your back/joints/hands.  But a couple dozen cuts with the heavy driver every few days should build focused strength, mainly in the wrists and the "core".  That being said, I don't use the thing at all because I'd rather beat range balls with my gamer sticks.

[GangGreen]

Interesting, I'm wondering how this translates to use of a heavier swing trainer, like the orange whip say for general use and/or pre-round warm up.

[billchao]

If it does extend to the orange whip that basically screws up my back up plan for winter swing training. I was hoping it would help me "kick the flip".... I guess back to the drawing board. :pound:

Not to get too far OT, but if you can swing the Orange Whip you can swing a club. Not sure what drills you are working on, though. [quote name="Pretzel" url="/t/78748/do-not-use-a-heavy-club-or-weighted-donuts#post_1087254"] My grandpa got of those and I swing it a couple times. It make flipping a physical impossibility, unless you regularly lift some big weights with your wrist alone.[/quote]You can totally flip the Orange Whip, for the same reasons you flip a golf club. If your hands aren't forward enough, the clubhead will overtake the hands.

[GangGreen]

Ignore my post, didn't see there was further discussion on this topic.

[Pretzel]

Not to get too far OT, but if you can swing the Orange Whip you can swing a club. Not sure what drills you are working on, though. You can totally flip the Orange Whip, for the same reasons you flip a golf club. If your hands aren't forward enough, the clubhead will overtake the hands.

I found that to be untrue if I was swinging at full speed. The orange ball was lagging quite a bit behind my hands and it would have taken either severe deceleration or a near herculean effort to get it to pass before the point at which a normal club would impact the ball.

[Jeremie Boop]

Not to get too far OT, but if you can swing the Orange Whip you can swing a club. Not sure what drills you are working on, though.

You can totally flip the Orange Whip, for the same reasons you flip a golf club. If your hands aren't forward enough, the clubhead will overtake the hands.

The extra weight in something like the orange whip, specifically at the end of the club, would give better feedback on the position through the swing was my thinking. Many times I can not tell that I've "flipped" a conventional club unless I look at video after the fact. It would seem to me, that being able to feel that in real time would be much more beneficial to making on the fly adjustments and thereby maximizing the improvement possibility in the time I have. I can see how a weighted trainer could be detrimental if you are using it purely to increase swing speed though, but that would not be my goal. In general, I've never been one to fall for gimmicky swing trainers anyway. The overall positive feedback about the orange whip had almost won me over.

[Pretzel]

I wonder if the results apply to slow motion work with a weighted club to reinforce technique. Every time I've seen someone using a weighted club, they were swinging slowly and trying to create muscle memory.