Club Head Speed

[beefstuf]

I have registered at about a 90-100 club head speed. I know a lot of the players on tour are between 120-150 depending on the club and the player. I also have a friend and his club speed is 125. How do you achieve/generate a quicker club head speed? Is it from the hips? From the hands.....I am curious of this?

[Brianson]

I am by no means a certified pro but first and foremost a steady work-out routine is an absolute must if you want to get that swing speed up and you can simply check out a couple sites on the net that would help with some. But a friend of mine used a training method that was simple and easy to do. You know when you take a towel and snap someone with it...well try doing that but with your left hand (for a right handed player) bringing it through like you would a golf club on your down swing. That final wrist motion that creates the 'SNAP' of the towel is exactly what you need to gain an extra 10-15 yards on your drives. That is one of the things Els does and that's why his swing looks so smooth and slow becuase he uses that final Snap to take that clubhead speed up a notch.

[Andru]

I have registered at about a 90-100 club head speed. I know a lot of the players on tour are between 120-150 depending on the club and the player. I also have a friend and his club speed is 125. How do you achieve/generate a quicker club head speed? Is it from the hips? From the hands.....I am curious of this?

hmm 150. .

Pros are between 110-125 with their Drivers. The big hitters like woods hit 126-127.

Not sure where your buddy measured his 125 but if you say so I'll go with it. I'm a skeptic of some sorts. Since I've been playing this game ( Summer 2000 ). I've heard a lot of claims, avg. driving distance, scores, clubhead speed etc. Most of them are just not true or not properly measured.

To get from say 95 MPH to 105 it's all technique. Getting the club in a powerful position at the top of your swing and allowing that energy to build up then releasing that energy at the right moment. Load, Use centrifugal force to generate speed not brute force.

I know everyone talks about strength but come on. How strong do you think Michelle Wie is. She couldn't lift a 45 LBS plate. it's 95% physics. However once you attain mechanical advantages mentioned above getting stronger and adding more energy will help with more distance.

Start here. www.paulbertholy.com .......................

If you put in the work you'll be rewarded.

[LobWedge]

Yeah, 150 mph is in David Mobley's range. With the right launch conditions that would translate in to about 340 yards of carry. That's huge.

[shankenstein]

I completely agree with what Andru has said.
Before rebuilding my swing, I would try to generate clubhead speed with my arms and just take a massive rip at it. The usual result was a monster slice with not alot of distance.
Since rebuilding my swing and being taught turn, coil and weight transfer, my swing feels like 30% of the effort of my old swing and the ball carrys farther and straighter than ever.
Although most would argue against following strict fundamentals, I have to say that by following them to rebuild my swing has increased my clubhead speed by 15 mph and it's all attributed to technique and form rather than power.

[BC MIST]

I have registered at about a 90-100 club head speed. I know a lot of the players on tour are between 120-150 depending on the club and the player. I also have a friend and his club speed is 125. How do you achieve/generate a quicker club head speed? Is it from the hips? From the hands.....I am curious of this?

Some athletes can run faster, jump higher and throw farther than others because of a higher proportion of the kind of muscle fibers(fast twitch) that simply move faster. Golfers are no different. Some people just have the inate ability to have higher club head speed.

It is true that proper technique and conditioning will help you approach your club head limit, however, some of us are just born to have more modest club head speeds. And speaking from experience (age 59) it also helps to be young.

Regarding technique, it is essential that the golfer swings in sequence and in balance. I won't debate where power comes from in the golf swing, but, the faster you can move your arms, the greater is the probability of higher club head speeds. BUT, at the same time, the body must be placed in a position, a balanced position, to allow the arms to release the leverage angles at the correct moment. A swing path coming into the ball from the inside is more powerful than one that approaches from the outside. The arms and shoulders must be reasonably "relaxed" to achieve maximum club head speeds.

While it has been described as possible, I do not believe for one second that anyone can have arms accelerating at 30 to 40 mph, a club head accelerating to "150" mph, and be able to "SNAP" the wrists at that last split second to achieve maximum power. "These guys are good," but this just does not happen. By the time you conscious mind communicates a snap to your golf muscles, the "11 O'clock News" is over.

Andru mentioned Paul Beretholy in his post above. The exercise programme described in "Golf Swing Construction 101" will really help you reach YOUR potential, but will not necessarily get you to Tour speeds. "Ya gotta dance with who yu brung." mSnead

[BC MIST]

A few more comments about inate ability or muscle fiber types, consider this.

Our muscles have three types of fibers: (1) Type I or slow twitch fibers, (2) Type IIa and (3) Type IIx which are called fast twitch fibers. Type IIx has 10 times the contraction velocity of Type I while Type IIa is somewhere between the other two.

Now, world class sprinters has ratios of the three (slow, medium, or fast twitch) in rough percents of 5:50:45. Typical world class endurance runners have a ratio of 95:5:0. So it is obvious that if we have inherited a higher proportion of the fast twitch, we have the ability to hit the ball farther than most, whereas if we have more slow twitch, our distance potential will be more modest.

So if you don't like being a pea shooter, blame your parents, but if you hit it far, take them out for dinner.

[DavidY]

During one hole in the fourth round of the Buick Open, Tiger Woods was clocked at 139 mph.

Dave

[jvincent]

During one hole in the fourth round of the Buick Open, Tiger Woods was clocked at 139 mph.

Dave

The numbers that CBS puts out from their shot tracker or whatever it uses are known to be way off in either ball speed or clubhead speed.

Not saying that Tiger didn't swing it at 139, but don't take those numbers at face value. What was the reported ball speed?

[DavidY]

What was the reported ball speed?

Something like 178 mph.

I've read that ex-professional baseball player/homerun hitter McGwire has a clubhead speed in excess of 140 mph. 350+ yard drives??

Dave

[jvincent]

Something like 178 mph.

That ball speed sounds about right for his carry distance, but doesn't correllate to a 140MPH clubhead speed.

Assuming he is hitting it on the center, he will be getting a smash factor of ~1.5, which means for 140MPH his ball speed would be 210 MPH.

The professional long drivers get club head speeds in the 150 MPH range.

[SwingGuru]

I have registered at about a 90-100 club head speed. I know a lot of the players on tour are between 120-150 depending on the club and the player. I also have a friend and his club speed is 125. How do you achieve/generate a quicker club head speed? Is it from the hips? From the hands.....I am curious of this?

Well Tiger was recorded at around 147 according to Harmon back in early 2000, but the average speed on Tour back in the day was around 117 mpg with a 43 inch driver. Nowadays, the average player is probably closer to 123-124 do solely to the longer clubs.

There are many ways to increase your speed. Start a weight lifting program and focus on explosive movements. Above all, improving your golf swing can make the biggest difference. Practice, practice...