Did you guys improve your clubhead speed over time?

[yanni]

I have one of those swing speed radar devices. I am trying little tweaks like more wirst hinge, more stable body, the swoosh drill (helps a lot). All this gives me some gain in speed. I have not done any body exercises yet. Max speed for iron 6 is around 77mph. For the driver its around 90mph. I don't expect that I can gain something 20mph. I think some of this speed is just given. But something like 5mph-10mph would be really great as this would get me in the area of average golfers swing speed. I am playing for a year now.

I was wondering if you guys did improve over the years or not at all? If yes by how much ? Or were you fast from the beginning on ? Did practise speed drills ? Or does time just make the body looser and builds up certain muscles ? Thanks...

 

[JonMA1]

4 hours ago, yanni said:

I was wondering if you guys did improve over the years or not at all? If yes by how much ? Or were you fast from the beginning on ?

The only measurement I remember was the ball speed of 140 coming off my driver two years ago. That was taken by an E6 Simulator. I don't know what it was when I first started or what it currently is.

Iron distances have increased. When I first started a 4i would give me only 140, now I'm averaging about 170 (carry and roll). I've been at this for about 6 years.

I'm more interested in potential. As an un-athletic 57 year old, I've stopped worrying about increasing distance and am now trying to focus more on accuracy. While more distance makes this game a bit easier, there's only so much each of us are going to get.

But if you're new to golf, you may very well see substantial gains in club head speed and distances as your swing improves. Even 10 or 20 additional yards would be beneficial.

4 hours ago, yanni said:

Did practise speed drills ? Or does time just make the body looser and builds up certain muscles ? Thanks...

I didn't practice speed drills that I can remember - they probably help. I think weight training might help some. My opinion (which shouldn't be taken too seriously) is that proper mechanics lets you realize your potential in club head speed.

Some of the more experienced folks will likely provide some credible opinions.

[billchao]

5 hours ago, yanni said:

I was wondering if you guys did improve over the years or not at all? If yes by how much ? Or were you fast from the beginning on ? Did practise speed drills ? Or does time just make the body looser and builds up certain muscles ?

I think that my speed has increased a little from when I started, but not much. It's mostly due to better mechanics making me more efficient with a little from developing the muscles I use for swinging and learning to use them better. For the most part, I was always just a faster swinger. 

[phillyk]

I was at 110mph in high school and am now up to 118mph.  But more importantly, I'm hitting the center of the clubface more consistently.  Speed comes from flexibility, lag, and good mechanics.  I've probably reached my limit for speed, without over-swinging.  

[saevel25]

Distance just came naturally to me. I believe overswinging and swinging hard when I first started out trained me to swing fast. I was 15 at the time. Not sure that strategy works for adults. 

Also, poor mechanics can slow down the swing. It might be better to just work on your swing versus focusing on speed. 

Edited October 8, 2017 by saevel25

[Hacker James]

Some of  you are pretty impressive.

http://www.swingmangolf.com/average-golf-swing-speed-chart-2/

[Hacker James]

 The Speed Stick Clone (Hacker Whacker) I made helps somewhat in developing speed in that after a few swings with it, it "seems" as if you are swinging a club faster, but it was designed more for the purpose of tempo indicator. You could probably do just as well or better with an alignment rod and the "swoosh" drill as previously mentioned. (also demonstrated by Aimee Cho in her videos).

[Lihu]

7 hours ago, yanni said:

I have one of those swing speed radar devices. I am trying little tweaks like more wirst hinge, more stable body, the swoosh drill (helps a lot). All this gives me some gain in speed. I have not done any body exercises yet. Max speed for iron 6 is around 77mph. For the driver its around 90mph. I don't expect that I can gain something 20mph. I think some of this speed is just given. But something like 5mph-10mph would be really great as this would get me in the area of average golfers swing speed. I am playing for a year now.

I was wondering if you guys did improve over the years or not at all? If yes by how much ? Or were you fast from the beginning on ? Did practise speed drills ? Or does time just make the body looser and builds up certain muscles ? Thanks...

That's pretty much where I was into a year of playing. It's possible to get to 110mph, but it takes a specific body type, young enough age, work and understanding your body somewhat. I had one instructor who told me that the average male should be able to get at least 105mph or more. What he said to me after watching me was "You should be able to carry 270 or 280 yards, CARRY." Of course, I didn't believe him, but it turns out he knew the golf swing pretty well and had been doing it for 50 years and is one of the best fitters in the country. Still I didn't believe him about the distances, but I still took lessons from him because his teaching style is compatible with what they teach on this site, which I absolutely trust.

When I first started I could only get about 90mph really "going at it", however, every now and then I'd hit a really big drive. I had no idea how? At one point, I could hit them entire rounds sometimes and then not the next one. For years, I couldn't get my swing speed up. One day, after watching some meandmy golf videos on increasing swing speed, I went to the course with the sole goal to  feel the pressure in my lead arm through impact, and I was around a 12-13 handicap at the time. Unlike many other 12s, I just had to mess with my swing because I was curious. That was it, just that one thing. Of course, I expected to spray the ball all over the place, but I didn't. This created something some of my partners said was "lag". I delayed the arm motion into the swing until the last possible moment. Of course, I started spraying balls all over the place, as my distance increased more, because of terrible other mechanics, but I was starting to get distance. Then it was fixing a bunch of mechanics stuff like keeping my lead arm straight and other things available on this website, which I'm still working on. I practice and play golf in spurts. I was playing pretty well before I took my long break from golf, and am working towards playing at that level again by using information in this site, and hoping to possibly play even better?

So, this worked for me, and at this point I don't really care how fast my driver swing speed is and don't want to get into any controversial discussions either. All I know is that I've increased and am still increasing my carry distance. You might have other issues, IDK? I'm not a teacher, and I don't know if speed can be taught, but this is what I did? Lag.

However, I'd recommend that you learn 5SK first before attempting any of this, and also try to stay injury free. Hit one or two balls this way after doing some 5S style swings. Nice and slow movements. Then build up to 3 or 4 balls and so on until you get to about 30 balls per session. Start off with the shortest club you can hit well, and work that until you get pretty good at it and build up from there. It takes a lot of time and patience. Patience is key and not going overboard. I strained some core muscles trying to hit really far on a couple wide open holes Friday, and they're sore now. Don't do that. That is, don't overdo.

 

28 minutes ago, Hacker James said:

 The Speed Stick Clone (Hacker Whacker) I made helps somewhat in developing speed in that after a few swings with it, it "seems" as if you are swinging a club faster, but it was designed more for the purpose of tempo indicator. You could probably do just as well or better with an alignment rod and the "swoosh" drill as previously mentioned. (also demonstrated by Aimee Cho in her videos).

Lag. Yeah, worked for me as well. . .

Edited October 8, 2017 by Lihu

[yanni]

Ok. I just added 5mph to swing iron 6 swing. So I am at around 82mph max for my iron 6 now.

1) I read some info where people said one should accelerate the arms very late in the down swing. While this is correct I did this too late. Close to impact already. This way the club could not gain enough speed that way. Now I already start pulling with my left arm earlier but still some time after my weight shift and body rotation starts. I would say the way I did it before was at around 80% before impact. Now I am at 50% before impact from the start of my dowswing.

2) I bought a Swingdyde training tool three days ago. This forces me to add tons of lag to my swing. I feel the lag this way is very extreme. But I tried it with the max lag I could do and that added another couple of mph.

3) I tried to to put some weight on the left side of my right foot and not move the right leg at all. This added another little bit of mph and felt way more stable than before.

The biggest thing with this improvements is that I can reach this speed not only when swinging with max effort but also when swinging quite loose.

I am quite positive about this whole thing now. Probably I will add another 3-5 mph in the next month with some further swing optimizations. This would give me around 85mph for my iron 6 and around 95mph-100mph for my driver. I will never be a long hitter. But this proves that it is really possible to add some distance just with the right technique and some changes. Proper driver fittng will probably also add some yards later on. And of course I have to learn to hit it dead center now ;)

Edited October 8, 2017 by yanni

[Lihu]

9 minutes ago, yanni said:

Ok. I just added 5mph to swing iron 6 swing. So I am at around 82mph max for my iron 6 now.

1) I read some info where people said one should accelerate the arms very late in the down swing. While this is correct I did this too late. Close to impact already. This way the club could not gain enough speed that way. Now I already start pulling with my left arm earlier but still some time after my weight shift and body rotation starts. I would say the way I did it before was at around 80% before impact. Now I am at 50% before impact from the start of my dowswing.

2) I bought a Swingdyde training tool three days ago. This forces me to add tons of lag to my swing. I feel the lag this way is very extreme. But I tried it with the max lag I could do and that added another couple of mph.

3) I tried to to put some weight on the left side of my right foot and not move the right leg at all. This added another little bit of mph and felt way more stable than before.

The biggest thing with this improvements is that I can reach this speed not only when swinging with max effort but also when swinging quite loose.

I am quite positive about this whole thing now. Probably I will add another 3-5 mph in the next month with some further swing optimizations. This would give me around 85mph for my iron 6 and around 95mph-100mph for my driver. I will never be a long hitter. But this proves that it is really possible to add some distance just with the right technique and some changes. Proper driver fittng will probably also add some yards later on. And of course I have to learn to hit it dead center now ;)

Nice!

You can never get too much lag. The main thing is to swing from the inside, and don't tense up to get that lag. I think it's kind of automatic, but just be wary.

Now you "only" need to work on your swing mechanics.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Lihu

[yanni]

My pro is focussing on inside out all the time. Its his favourite topic which he focussed on from the beginning. He is showing me this on video all the time and explains my swing path. So I actually understood pretty early how not to slice. This is the only problem I never really had ;) And this is really something you cannot learn "online" in my opinion.

And if a slice occurs (very seldom) I know how to solve it. Actually I am working on how to hit some nice draws now. You are right about the lag. Even if its extrem the wrist should still be loose.

My main problem is still hitting fat from time to time. But it got much better. Adding lag also helps a lot with the fat shots in my case.

Edited October 8, 2017 by yanni

[Lihu]

56 minutes ago, yanni said:

My pro is focussing on inside out all the time. Its his favourite topic which he focussed on from the beginning. He is showing me this on video all the time and explains my swing path. So I actually understood pretty early how not to slice. This is the only problem I never really had ;) And this is really something you cannot learn "online" in my opinion.

And if a slice occurs (very seldom) I know how to solve it. Actually I am working on how to hit some nice draws now. You are right about the lag. Even if its extrem the wrist should still be loose.

Loose and flat.

56 minutes ago, yanni said:

My main problem is still hitting fat from time to time. But it got much better. Adding lag also helps a lot with the fat shots in my case.

Well, lag doesn't solve everything. You still need to work on your swing mechanics, but at least you're starting out with more speed than some. . . Have fun out there! Cheers.

[yanni]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

Loose and flat.

Well, lag doesn't solve everything. You still need to work on your swing mechanics, but at least you're starting out with more speed than some. . . Have fun out there! Cheers.

I can hit the ball pretty solid now slowley (when I have a good day). And I can swing the club without the ball fast enough for a start. Both together does not work yet ;) This just takes some more time I guess. 

The main thing is I finally enjoy playing on the court after all those frustrating fat shots, thin shots driver misses. I really concentrated on my swing mechanics, took lessons and practised a lot on the range (which most people do not seem to do).  I changed my swing all the time and optimized things. While this was very frustrating at times and I felt that I was starting all over again, its starting to pay off now. 

[MarvChamp]

@yanni  I am an old 72 year-old guy and my swing speed with driver was 90 years ago. I never hit the ball a long way. Then the swing speed lessened as I aged. But my average drive carry is still 210 - 220, acceptable for my age and speed. I think it is due to equipment and a consistent delivery of the club face through the ball. I play my irons for accuracy; I do not care which iron it takes to get to the target. Plus I carry a 3 and 4 hybrid DIR that are as long as I need. Continue to work on the speed and tempo, good friend, and be patient...It will come for you! -Marv

[yanni]

@MarvChamp

I think for y 72 year old this is very good as far as I can tell. And you are right about the irons. It does not really matter how far they go. Its more important that they are consistant.

[Midpack]

When I was younger and got fitted, my clubhead speed was 105 mph with a driver. Now in my early 60’s, my average driver clubhead speed is 94 mph and 86 with a 7-iron. I can still hit my irons as far as when I was younger, but I’ve slowed my swing down for much better consistency and only lost 10 yards with my irons - my 35 degree loft 7-iron (vs 28-31 for many modern 7-irons) is now 140 yds where it was 150 yds in my 30’s.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Midpack

[RussUK]

Mine has. As soon as i understood the concept of speed building in the swing things just clicked. I have developed a noticable pause at the top of the backswing which has help my sequencing a lot and allowed me to feel the hands drop and the then accelerate.

Before i would swing hard from the top which im sure is a common high handicap problem. Now the "swish" happens at the correct point and the ball leaps of the face which is nice.

I've hear the whole "swing easy to hit far" thing but never understood it till now. Im so lookig forward to my winter golf now. 

[yanni]

8 minutes ago, RussUK said:

Mine has. As soon as i understood the concept of speed building in the swing things just clicked. I have developed a noticable pause at the top of the backswing which has help my sequencing a lot and allowed me to feel the hands drop and the then accelerate.

Before i would swing hard from the top which im sure is a common high handicap problem. Now the "swish" happens at the correct point and the ball leaps of the face which is nice.

I've hear the whole "swing easy to hit far" thing but never understood it till now. Im so lookig forward to my winter golf now. 

At what position do actually start accelerating ? I do it like that.

1) Hip / shoulder turn which drops the hands
2) When the shaft is parallel to the ground I start accelerating with my arms. I also tried using my left and right hands/wrists at the very last moment. But it seems I do  not gain anything from this.

The combination of hip, shoulder rotation and my arms seem to give me the most speed. Hip rotation ads something but I in my case the arms seem to be responsible for most of the speed. But I know I have stronger arms than core probably. So this might differ from person to person.

Edited October 9, 2017 by yanni