New Speed Trainer - Speed Stik

[Buckeyebowman]

8 hours ago, Hacker James said:

I've no doubt the device would help some. I have noticed that as of late, Hank Haney's mantra seems to emphasize swinging harder/faster.

Uh, that's not exactly right. I got an e-mail vid from him of a full half hour lesson he had with some guy. He was an older fellow who was suffering from directional issues as well as distance loss. Once Haney got the guy's "pop-up fade" issue taken care of, he went to work on the distance.

He kept telling the guy to swing "faster". "Hit it like you mean it", and so forth. After one lecture the student says, "OK, I'll try to swing harder." Haney immediately corrected him!. He didn't want him to swing harder, since harder implies tensing of the musculature. Nothing will slow your swing down more than tense muscles. He wanted him to loosen up so that he could swing faster!

[Hacker James]

50 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Uh, that's not exactly right. I got an e-mail vid from him of a full half hour lesson he had with some guy. He was an older fellow who was suffering from directional issues as well as distance loss. Once Haney got the guy's "pop-up fade" issue taken care of, he went to work on the distance.

He kept telling the guy to swing "faster". "Hit it like you mean it", and so forth. After one lecture the student says, "OK, I'll try to swing harder." Haney immediately corrected him!. He didn't want him to swing harder, since harder implies tensing of the musculature. Nothing will slow your swing down more than tense muscles. He wanted him to loosen up so that he could swing faster!

That is good to hear. I guess we can all rush to judgement sometimes. Glad to hear its being of benefit.

[SBeban]

I'd like to weight in on the SpeedStik.  I'm 63 with a 4.9 Index and usually hit the ball about 225 off the tee.  I've used the SpeedStik for 4 weeks now and have improved my distance to a 240 average.  It has really helped my lag and release.  I used to hit a high cut but now I hit a slight draw.  Problem is, if I get a little aggressive I've found I can readily hit a sharp duck hook.  It has popped up several times in the past 2 weeks and really ruined a good couple of rounds.  Has anyone who has used the SpeedStik experienced similar results?

 

[Hacker James]

On 9/12/2016 at 11:26 AM, Hacker James said:

I've no doubt the device would help some. I have noticed that as of late, Hank Haney's mantra seems to emphasize swinging harder/faster. He has been advocating this for some time now, even before he started promoting Speed Stik.  It just sounds too much like "Flavor of the Month". I really can not compare it with Orange Whip as I have not tried either. I do like the idea of audible feedback however. I tried to make one by drilling through some golf balls and placing on fairway wood shaft. Worked great for a couple of swings, then as I got more agressive the two balls on the end went flying off into the next county. Guess I should have used two part epoxy.

well, I am not one to easily give up. Some of my ideas are reasonable and have helped a few people, other of my efforts are just plain stupid, I suppose. You be the judge.

My latest iteration... Take a "birdie ball", insert a length of foam pipe insulation the same size inside. The insulation is slighter larger in diameter and will stay in place once compressed and inserted. Slide this over the end of a tapered graphite shaft.( leave the grip on). Once slid up towards the grip, it will remain in place until you take a swing. The amount of effort required to overcome the friction is dependent on how high up on the shaft you place it. Then drill a hole in an old range ball just large enough to fit on the club end of the shaft. You can epoxy it in, or simply use a little force to slide it up the shaft a distance where it will stay put.  This works!   Easy to use with reps, just slide it up and take your swing. Woosh, Crack!

side note: I have found that placement of the ball about ten inches from the tip, provides pretty good balance and feel as if a club head were still there.

Ok, i am done...I promise.  Try it, or discard the notion. 

[Aviente]

I just bought the speed stik and after just a few swings I could already feel and see a difference. Not only does it make you aware of the contact point from the sound, it forces you to remain balanced over the contact point, resulting in a more powerful and consistent strike. I shot a good round today, but more importantly found I was hitting both straighter and further with seemingly less effort. I normally hit my driver about 250-270 on a good day. Today, everything was over 250 and one was at 305. Great training aide, worth every penny. 

[Hacker James]

@Aviente Glad it is working out for you. I am very pleased with my home made version, but people are tired of hearing of it, so I will not elaborate.

[jkelley9]

The product seems fine, but I increased my distance by just imagining that device, but using my driver and making practice swings. It's obviously a feel for that lag and release. So I just forced myself to do that in my practice swing. It's apparent from the feedback in the swing where the apex of your speed is, and you want that at or shortly after impact.

I swing slower now than I did in the past and I hit the ball farther.

If you guys don't have this product yet, why not just try imaging what it's actually doing. It's only a 2-piece product that's fully mechanically visual. 

[JeffJohn53]

I have had the new swing stick for a few weeks now and have found it to a great device for developing both speed and proper lag. To me the most important thing in your swing is proper lag. I have a golf buddy that just could not figure out why he was not hitting the ball solid consistently. So I had him do a few swings with the speed stik and found that the crack was occurring well after he was past the ball. I told him to hold his wrist cock slightly longer to produce more lag and sure enough after some practice the crack was heard where the ball would be. Going to have him use it this winter and we will see in a few months what it does for his game. Will let you know once we are playing again.

[HitAndGiggle]

I don't get a good feeling about this device when I keep seeing it on tv. Of course...I'm a weekend warrior who shoots mid-80s. But, because of my perspective I'm more concerned about proper swing mechanics in order to get good results. I remember back when I was a complete hack and I would have probably used this gadget to reinforce my poor mechanics...haha!

[Hacker James]

2 hours ago, HitAndGiggle said:

I don't get a good feeling about this device when I keep seeing it on tv. Of course...I'm a weekend warrior who shoots mid-80s. But, because of my perspective I'm more concerned about proper swing mechanics in order to get good results. I remember back when I was a complete hack and I would have probably used this gadget to reinforce my poor mechanics...haha!

These things are pretty good although you can get pretty much of the same thing just by inverting a club. The sound confirmation at the right place during the swing is beneficial however. Lots of variations on the market. Speed Stik, Speed Woosh, Swing Setter, even some without a shaft, just a hand held device that gives you audible feedback and wrist position indicator. As for proper swing mechanics, you need to have them to get the proper results, although it has also been reported, that some can get the same results with not so good mechanics.