can you increase clubhead speed?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I like to think I have a solid swing, I am a single digit handicap but after many injuries and a little ageing I am finding that I am losing way too much clubhead speed.
I am asking if or how a person would go about increasing the speed or getting some back.
 

dlam

New
You going to get lot of opinions to that question.

I lost a lot of distance after trying to experiment with my swing.
To make a long story short
I turn my pivot controlled swing to a hands controlled swing in an effort be more accurate.

I was more precise but lost distance because of the slower swing speed.
Now I've regained that lost distance by having a more pivot controlled hands swing.
I make sure my elbows lead my hands through the hitting area. i think this creates more lag.
 
I had elbow surgery last November and I have a type 2 slap tear in my left shoulder that I am going to get fixed in December.I live with the pain and do some work with a J-band to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder, but not anything major. I also do light weight work for my elbow and forearm. I just spent 2 days in Brian's golf school, a 2 hour private session with him, played a round with Michael Jacobs and spent an hour with him going over Brian's adjustments. I am hitting it as solid as ever, just short and my clubhead speed is just embarrassing. I just want to get back 5-10 mph. I am wondering if it is even possible......
here is a current swing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzqm9IjMwcQ
 
Last edited:
Nice swing you posted. In your circumstances, that is (a) having come through quite a bit of recent instruction; (b) now hitting it solid; and (c) injuries - I think I'd be real careful about this. I'm sure you will be.

My priority would be to get healthy and to really ingrain Brian and Michael's teaching. Doing those 2, which might be a few months work anyway, might also see your speed pick up.

My understanding is that in other sports, where the action is much, much simpler than the golf swing but there is still a premium on speed (I'm thinking cycling or running as an example) - there seems to be an acceptance that speed of movement is something that comes as much as a result of high repetitions and improved neuromuscular co-ordination as increased strength or power or effort. In other words, speed is a skill issue as much as a physical attribute, and as such requires practice.

One thing that I really rate as a practice aid is a swingspeed radar. It'll give you feedback on what sort of speed you're actually achieving - independent of the ballflight or yardage that you see. I think though that the real benefit of the feedback isn't that you try to max yourself out, it's that you learn to calibrate your effort. You can learn what speed is possible with a faster or slower tempo, and you can also work on increasing your swingspeed just a little whilst hopefully keeping your ball under control.

For what it's worth, my experience of practicing this way has been that very little of the usual advice for building clubhead speed has any real effect. Bigger turn, more coil, restricted hip turn, aggressive weight shift, width of arc, holding the lag angle - none of these seemed to have any tangible impact on my swing speed. What did seem to yield results for me was simply a faster overall tempo, starting with the takeaway and maintained through the transition. I felt like the increase in speed was initiated primarily by my arms. Somewhat bizarrely, I also got a jump in SS by keeping weight left on the backswing and my head centered. I never understood why though, nor did I get very comfortable with the action or the resulting ballflight, and I didn't explore that avenue any further.
 
Last edited:
In other words, speed is a skill issue as much as a physical attribute, and as such requires practice.

Very astute, Birly. So often you hear “work on your core” or “lift weights” as a prescription for increasing speed. While those things can get you stronger, strength does not equal speed. With few exceptions, those sorts of workouts are centered around controlled, slow movements – the opposite of what you want for increasing speed. Explosive movements require explosive training – period. Speed should be trained as a separate skill, not as a by-product of strength training.
 
I have tried many different swing speed aids (speed stik,swing fan, heavy hitter)none seem to have much if any effect. I am wondering if it is even possible to do?
I was looking into the speed chain, but it seems to require a large area to use it and my "estate" doesn't have that much open area.
 
I have tried many different swing speed aids (speed stik,swing fan, heavy hitter)none seem to have much if any effect. I am wondering if it is even possible to do?
I was looking into the speed chain, but it seems to require a large area to use it and my "estate" doesn't have that much open area.

It can be done Rick, but not by conventional weight training and heavy club swinging methods. Like mgranato and Birly said, you have to train speed as a skill. Most ( not all - strength is still important ) weight training will be replaced with explosive medicine ball drills, fast paced cable / band exercises, etc. Swinging a heavy club is good, as it stretches the specific golf muscles, but you also must do "overspeed" training ( swinging something lighter than a golf club at the fastest speed you can control ). Actually, swinging the heavy club only can make you slower. Obviously, maintaining and increasing your flexibilty is also important. The thing is, you hear people say these things, but these drills are not all easy to do correctly. First, you really should be screened to make sure these exercises will not cause physical injuries. ( Trust me, I found this out the hard way :( ) I would recommend,at least at first, finding a quality personal trainer to learn to do the exercises correctly. Second, it is a lot of work, so it's something you really need to commit to.

Good luck!
 
To add to mgranato's and Bigball's comments - don't underestimate how difficult it might be to practice or drill movements that are faster than your current golf swing. Cyclists and runners have it relatively easy - they can run or bike downhill or in a low gear and train high-speed/low-power body movements.

A golf club is already pretty light, so you've lot limited options for finding a lighter/easier to move object.

The other thing I've found is that having a ball in front of me to hit adds easily 10 mph to even my fastest practice swing. I would like to see the evidence that a drill will actually have your body moving any faster than it already does when you hit a ball in anger.

I would also assume that any drill had better be pretty physically similar to a golf swing motion in order to benefit from any skill crossover.

Having said all that - I have no real clue what the speed chain is or does, so please don't think that I'm knocking it out of hand. However, these are the criteria that I'd be looking for any practice drill to meet.
 
To add to mgranato's and Bigball's comments - don't underestimate how difficult it might be to practice or drill movements that are faster than your current golf swing. Cyclists and runners have it relatively easy - they can run or bike downhill or in a low gear and train high-speed/low-power body movements.

A golf club is already pretty light, so you've lot limited options for finding a lighter/easier to move object.

The other thing I've found is that having a ball in front of me to hit adds easily 10 mph to even my fastest practice swing. I would like to see the evidence that a drill will actually have your body moving any faster than it already does when you hit a ball in anger.

I would also assume that any drill had better be pretty physically similar to a golf swing motion in order to benefit from any skill crossover.

Having said all that - I have no real clue what the speed chain is or does, so please don't think that I'm knocking it out of hand. However, these are the criteria that I'd be looking for any practice drill to meet.

I would be inclined to agree with you regarding the light golf club doing a lot to speed up the swing. I think the time it may help is right after swinging the heavy golf club - so the heavy golf club doesn't actually slow down your swing! Basically, if your gonna to try it, just swing a handle & shaft, no clubhead. I'm planning on giving this a shot in the off-season, so I guess I'll see if it has any merit!
 

ZAP

New
I had elbow surgery last November and I have a type 2 slap tear in my left shoulder that I am going to get fixed in December.I live with the pain and do some work with a J-band to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder, but not anything major. I also do light weight work for my elbow and forearm. I just spent 2 days in Brian's golf school, a 2 hour private session with him, played a round with Michael Jacobs and spent an hour with him going over Brian's adjustments. I am hitting it as solid as ever, just short and my clubhead speed is just embarrassing. I just want to get back 5-10 mph. I am wondering if it is even possible......
here is a current swing

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzqm9IjMwcQ[/media]

Swing looks pretty good overall. With the problems you describe especially the SLAP lesion/tear of your shoulder I would be very careful with what I do. Taking some time to get used to the swing changes prescribed by Brian would be my first concern. My second concern would be to get healthy. An aquatic exercise program might be a good fit for you really. I am not talking about swimming laps but doing exercises using the resistance and buoyancy of the water. We are all going to slow down as we get older but judging from your swing video you are not old enough to use that as an excuse. You don't look a day over 70. :p
 

dlam

New
I visit the launch monitor of my local big box golf store, and occasionally see golfer with ss of 120 m/hr with the driver.

Most that I observe don't look like they are swinging fast. I think its a natural talent.

IMO increasing 10 m/hr past your average would be possible with better technique and training but increasing by 20 m/hr would be extremely difficult
 
I visit the launch monitor of my local big box golf store, and occasionally see golfer with ss of 120 m/hr with the driver.

Most that I observe don't look like they are swinging fast. I think its a natural talent.

IMO increasing 10 m/hr past your average would be possible with better technique and training but increasing by 20 m/hr would be extremely difficult

I would agree with this to a certain extent. However, I believe most average age golfers can get into the 100mph range with the right technique.

And think about a 10 mph increase - even 10 mph is about 27 yards I think. That would make a huge difference on a long par 4 where you would be hitting a short iron instead of say a 6, and would make more par 5's reachable in 2.
 
I had elbow surgery last November and I have a type 2 slap tear in my left shoulder that I am going to get fixed in December.I live with the pain and do some work with a J-band to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder, but not anything major. I also do light weight work for my elbow and forearm. I just spent 2 days in Brian's golf school, a 2 hour private session with him, played a round with Michael Jacobs and spent an hour with him going over Brian's adjustments. I am hitting it as solid as ever, just short and my clubhead speed is just embarrassing. I just want to get back 5-10 mph. I am wondering if it is even possible......
here is a current swing

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzqm9IjMwcQ[/media]

hard to see, but isn't your release a bit to early? Might be that if you place your video at swingacademy we could see the release moment more precise.

Also check you flex, swingweight and overall clubweight : those could have influence your swingspeed also.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top