To all you Distance Monkeys...

[The Recreational Golfer]

I play with a guy whose swing is all upper body, and whose idea is to rear back and fire as hard as he can into the ball. When he connects, it's pretty spectacular, but that's only about three times per round off the tee. I know he's thinking about figuring out how to do that every time, without realizing that he just got lucky those three times. He hits fat a lot with his irons, too. Big surprise.
 

 

[Lihu]

2 minutes ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

I play with a guy whose swing is all upper body, and whose idea is to rear back and fire as hard as he can into the ball. When he connects, it's pretty spectacular, but that's only about three times per round off the tee. I know he's thinking about figuring out how to do that every time, without realizing that he just got lucky those three times. He hits fat a lot with his irons, too. Big surprise.

I just played someone who did this exact same move. Made pretty solid contact most of the time.

[The Recreational Golfer]

2 minutes ago, Lihu said:

I just played someone who did this exact same move. Made pretty solid contact most of the time.

Glad that he found a way for that to work. Probably more don't than do, though.

[Lihu]

Just now, The Recreational Golfer said:

Glad that he found a way for that to work. Probably more don't than do, though.

It was amazing. He was of a smaller stature, and guessing that he needed that to get the distances he got.

He was not a short hitter, and on a few shots he really poked them out. Funny that he played the white tees. I think he could have played the back tees without too much trouble.

[JapanDave]

I don't think I have ever worried about what another guy was doing. I am too caught up on trying to get my game on. Just enjoy YOUR game and it will be that much better. Cheers.

[dak4n6]

Take your buddy to an LPGA tournament. It's a perfect demonstration of how a 5'5" girl can drive 250 with a nice slow swing.

[Pretzel]

Swinging hard and swinging out of control are two different things, which is a key distinction I feel. I know how hard I can swing before I am swinging out of control. If I swing out of my shoes my accuracy obviously suffers, but a majority of the time I would say I am swinging hard. I just am not swinging beyond the limits of my control. 

[pganapathy]

None of the best pro's have a slow swing @thug the bunny.  It just looks that way because their swing is so smooth.  Distance is about club head speed, contact, AoA (particularly of the tee) and appropriate equipment

[dak4n6]

4 minutes ago, pganapathy said:

None of the best pro's have a slow swing @thug the bunny.  It just looks that way because their swing is so smooth.  Distance is about club head speed, contact, AoA (particularly of the tee) and appropriate equipment

By slow I meant tempo, not actual velocity at the bottom. That being said, to hit it 250 you still don't need that much speed at the bottom..

[Lihu]

4 hours ago, thug the bunny said:

By slow I meant tempo, not actual velocity at the bottom. That being said, to hit it 250 you still don't need that much speed at the bottom..

You're right, 94mph. That's average for AMA. http://blog.trackmangolf.com/performance-of-the-average-male-amateur/

[Pretzel]

4 hours ago, thug the bunny said:

By slow I meant tempo, not actual velocity at the bottom. That being said, to hit it 250 you still don't need that much speed at the bottom..

I think that if you were to look up Tiger's swing in the early 2000's, slow/smooth would not be the first descriptor of tempo to come to your mind. I tend to think "violent" more when I see that swing. Very rapid shift from a calm backswing to the storm of the downswing, and it doesn't surprise me he has back issues watching these swings again.

(skip to 8 seconds in)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4lEGyg7uE

[loki16]

McKellan 18?

 

do you mean Macallan 18? In which case, excellent choice.

[Dave2512]

People just think they swing hard because they make what feels like more effort. I'd wager hard rarely equals fast for those with horrific technique. The efforts they make to swing hard just leads to poor sequencing and it appears they are doing something strenuous because they are so out of control. My hard swing looks just like my half swing or whatever.

[dak4n6]

3 hours ago, Pretzel said:

I think that if you were to look up Tiger's swing in the early 2000's, slow/smooth would not be the first descriptor of tempo to come to your mind. I tend to think "violent" more when I see that swing. Very rapid shift from a calm backswing to the storm of the downswing, and it doesn't surprise me he has back issues watching these swings again.

(skip to 8 seconds in)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4lEGyg7uE

That is why I have always insisted that most male amateurs should watch the ladies in person. Trying to swing like most male pros, esp the quick ones like Tiger, Stenson, et al, can only lead to ugliness, destruction, and much gnashing of teeth. When I try to swing more like Lydia Ko I hit it straight and 270 most of the time...

 

[Pretzel]

9 hours ago, thug the bunny said:

That is why I have always insisted that most male amateurs should watch the ladies in person. Trying to swing like most male pros, esp the quick ones like Tiger, Stenson, et al, can only lead to ugliness, destruction, and much gnashing of teeth. When I try to swing more like Lydia Ko I hit it straight and 270 most of the time...

 

Different strokes for different folks. I swing somewhat aggressively and hit it far enough to compete, with decent accuracy to boot! I think it's just a matter of finding a tempo that fits you as an individual. 

[Lihu]

14 hours ago, thug the bunny said:

That is why I have always insisted that most male amateurs should watch the ladies in person. Trying to swing like most male pros, esp the quick ones like Tiger, Stenson, et al, can only lead to ugliness, destruction, and much gnashing of teeth. When I try to swing more like Lydia Ko I hit it straight and 270 most of the time...

 

 

5 hours ago, Pretzel said:

Different strokes for different folks. I swing somewhat aggressively and hit it far enough to compete, with decent accuracy to boot! I think it's just a matter of finding a tempo that fits you as an individual. 

 

I think part of that sound the club makes is the steel shaft. His club is shorter and his turn rate is faster to get the same distances as someone like Rory.

People around me at the range think I swing faster with my steel shafts than my graphite shafts. The sound is a lot more impressive as well. Of course, the opposite is true.

[JonMA1]

I can't find the quote, but @saevel25 put it best when said (paraphrasing) "you know your swing is good when you can start swinging harder and still make the same clean contact"...or something along those lines. I've experienced that at the range on occasions. 

Having said that, when I'm playing my best golf my tempo feels slow.

[Dave2512]

Same the days I play well my swing feels effortless. Last year I hit a 342 yard drive on one of those good days. I felt like I looked like Adam Scott.