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Posted (edited)

I was watching the golf channel and a commercial came on for the Swing Stick.  Now I know most of these things are gimmicks and do I in no way think the average golfer can add 30 yards to their driver.  I was struck by a fact that they claimed the average PGA player swings at 109 mph and the average amateur is 81 mph.  I am assuming they are talking driver head speed.

Now using my self as an example 8 years ago I figured my driver out and started smashing drives between 250 and 300 yards.  I got fitted for a new driver at Edwin Watts and my swing was between 110 and 120 mph.  Now I am not a very good golfer and due to lack of practice and short game struggles I am around a 20 handicap.  I was in a bad accident a few months ago and started swinging a golf club again as soon as I could walk without a cane.  Swing speed measured at 85-90 mph.  Checked it again after some shoulder rehab at 105 mph.  

Now I know that my situation is unusual but those average numbers in the commercial seem quite low to me.  As my numbers are around what PGA players hit and my scores are nowhere near Pro scores I know there is much more than speed to get scores.  But how can 81 mph be average for amateur?  I am not the longest driver of the guys I play with but definitely in the upper quarter.  But as beat up and barely able to walk as I am I am left to wonder how bad of shape the guys bringing the average speed down must be.  I am not making fun of the 90 year old guys that score better than me.  But how can the swing speeds really average that low?

Edited by IndianaDundee
Typo

Posted (edited)

I would imagine that a lot of factors weigh in here. I have seen seniors much older than me, drive only 150 yards, yet turn in a very decent score in the 70's.  I have no idea what my SS is. I am guessing in the 90 mph range. I do know, that when I play a leisurely round, my game is better all around.  I am still struggling with the idea of getting fitted for a set of Wishon Irons. I really can not afford it and given my age, I have to consider how much longer I will be playing. My health is excellent and I can do things that most my age can not. However, I also know that it can go downhill very quickly and in fact I have already noticed it in the yardage loss just over the past year. As I have mentioned previously, my actual index is 17.8, but I put it down as 20 because I only have 6 rounds recorded since I started keeping track again and the calculation for HC only uses one of the indices until next round and then it will use the avg of the lowest 2 and then goes up incrementally every two rounds.  Now, if I am fortunate enough to post lower scores, then I will post the actual index. Probably a vanity thing, as I did not want to suddenly go from 17.8 to who knows what.  Silly, I know as I do not compete any more. Or as Bobby Jones said..."You are always up against old man par".

 

after thought.  I am a little tired of Hank Haney's videos. He always has a catch phrase with hopeful promises, but when you get into it, nothing more than an advertisement for the Swing Stick. I simply invert my driver for a couple of practice swings and it helps a lot.

Edited by Hacker James

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Posted
  On 10/11/2016 at 3:38 PM, IndianaDundee said:

.... But how can 81 mph be average for amateur? ...  But how can the swing speeds really average that low?

Expand  

You sort of answer your own questions.  If one swings out of their socks, a drive of 250-300 yards may be achieved, but often the ball heads off into places unknown and scores balloon.  Some players choose to swing in a bit more controlled fashion, keep the ball in play and score better.  Some fairly decent golfers have swing speeds considerably slower than PGA  Tour pros.  

One also needs to consider that the average golfer includes females, seniors, beginners and kids.

Brian Kuehn

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Posted
  On 10/11/2016 at 4:14 PM, CarlSpackler said:

Already being discussed here. 

 

Expand  

I'm not asking about the Speed Stick or if it works.  I am only curious about the fact they claim 81mph average speed when I was in the worst shape of my life (literally 3 months after almost dying) my swing speed was greater than the average they claim.

  On 10/11/2016 at 4:20 PM, bkuehn1952 said:

One also needs to consider that the average golfer includes females, seniors, beginners and kids.

Expand  

I'm sure this brings averages down but I know seniors with 90 mph swing speeds, my wife also swings 85-95 mph, and my son is the only 8 year old I have ever seen on the course.  He has only played 4 rounds and hits his 25 degree hybrid 90 yards.  While I know he is well under that speed I have no doubt in a couple of years he too will be well over that 80 mph mark.

  • Upvote 1

Posted

Another site had this comment:

...For these average male golfers, Trackman statistics report the average club head speed at this 14-15-handicap level is about 93.4 mph…yielding an average total distance of 214 yards per drive. ...Oct 28, 2015

 

  • Upvote 2

Brian Kuehn

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Posted (edited)

First off, the difference in sample size is massive. By rule, only the top 125 pro players in the entire world have the magic "PGA Tour Card" that grants them entry to any USGA/R&A professional tournament. PGA.com only bothers to keep track of the top 250 professional players in terms of FedEx Cup points. By contrast, there are an estimated 24.7 million recreational golfers in the United States alone. So, the Fedex Cup standings represent the top one-thousandth of 1% of the U.S. recreational player pool.

Second, the Tour players, pretty much by definition, are the best the sport has to offer in every aspect of the game. You might compare relative performance on different elements of the game including driver distance, putting stats etc to find relative strengths and weaknesses between Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, but compare either of these players' performance numbers to your own and you'll come up lacking even if you can match their swing speed.

As such, the Tour averages are nowhere near a representative sample of even scratch players, to say nothing of the recreational golf world at large. These major differences in exactly who is being averaged here will lead to major differences in resulting performance statistics. It really all boils down to four things:

  • The average rec golfer is on the downslope of athletic ability (average Tour age - 35; average rec golfer age: 46)
  • The average rec golfer represents a much wider cross-section of human physique than the Tour.
  • The average golfer practices about an hour a day long-term average; Tour pros practice about four hours a day.
  • The average rec golfer isn't (shouldn't be) playing from the tips. Golf has built-in difficulty levels, and only someone totally out of touch with their abilities would play from the tips without having a scratch handicap from the blues. I swing ~97mph, on the low side of stiff-flex with an average 230 drive carry, and I play from the whites with zero shame.
Edited by Liko81
  • Upvote 1

Posted
  On 10/11/2016 at 5:56 PM, bkuehn1952 said:

Another site had this comment:

...For these average male golfers, Trackman statistics report the average club head speed at this 14-15-handicap level is about 93.4 mph…yielding an average total distance of 214 yards per drive. ...Oct 28, 2015

 

Expand  

That sounds a bit more realistic than the 81 mph in the commercial but I bet it is mostly the better players that are taking the time to get a Trackman number.  


Posted
  On 10/11/2016 at 9:02 PM, IndianaDundee said:

That sounds a bit more realistic than the 81 mph in the commercial but I bet it is mostly the better players that are taking the time to get a Trackman number.  

Expand  

I agree.  Only a relatively serious player is going to use a trackman.

Brian Kuehn

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Note: This thread is 3190 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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