Swing for the Fences

Strategy
#1

I read this article today by long drive champ Kyle Berkshire: https://golf.com/instruction/driving/4-easy-tips-smash-like-long-drive-champion/

What stuck with me from it was the idea of having a “driving day” where I just swing the driver as fast as I can without caring about where it’s going or mechanics.

I played 9 holes this afternoon before getting stuck behind a few foursomes, so I decided to head to the “range” (a hundred or so yard long fully enclosed hitting cage at my club) and do a “driving day” session. I got through about 30 balls, full rips before I felt tapped out. I noticed that out of those 30, at least 20+ were struck really hard with essentially the same ball flight (at least for the distance of the cage). That’s honestly a better percentage than I probably manage with my “controlled” driver swing, so that’s got me wondering. If I’m going to hit a driver, should I just be going at it full bore? I might just have to test it out, just keeping in mind the maxim to “swing fast, not swing hard.”
So how about you all? Is it absolute full rips with the driver or holding a bit back?

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#2

I probably go 90-95% on most on-the-course driver swings. I can’t think of the last time I really took a rip full bore on the course. Now I want to play a round where I really just go full send with the driver every chance I get. I don’t suspect it will make me wildly inaccurate, so I’ll answer your question with a question; why the hell not put the hammer down?

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#3

I agree with him 100% on this. I didn’t take golf seriously growing up, but I did play a lot of baseball and this is how I built up throwing velocity and bat speed. I was small as a kid (especially from 11-15), so I was always trying to squeeze out any extra power I could. After school, I’d go to the park and just try to hit the ball as far as possible. I’d throw a tennis ball as hard as I could against my baseball wall. When I finally finished my growth spurt near the start of my senior year at high school, I all of a sudden had power and I believe my constant intent to throw or hit the ball as hard as possible had a lot to do with it.

The other great thing about this is that when you do these speed-pushing sessions, it doesn’t just increase your max effort speed - you’re 90% effort speed will increase too.

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#4

As I’ve worked on speed I’ve found that the harder I go at it on the course the straighter I hit it. It’s been strange.

For example in a tournament I played recently most of the course was pretty forgiving off the tee so I was going 100% with the driver, and hitting it great. The one hole that was tighter gave me a bit of mental pause and I definitely made a “guided” swing. Hit the heel of the club and ball went almost OB (had to take unplayable).

I wouldn’t tell people to go out there and start whaling on it, but I think there’s a lot of benefits to training for speed (workouts, SS, and the practice you mention). A lot of golfers think they have to swing smooth and controlled and for many it holds back their swing.

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#5

I love the idea of hitting all out, especially for us seniors who tend to self restrain. It is not the easiest thing to do with a ball in play because we’ve so conditioned ourselves to playing at 80%.

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#6

I was reading a Q & A recently with a PGA tour pro (can’t remember who) but he said:

If there is one thing I could tell someone that is taking up golf it would be this…

Don’t worry about where the ball is going, put it in a tee and swing as hard (fast) add you can at it. Once you learn to make contact consistently as fast as you can, it makes the game a lot easier.

This is funny, because I was just trying this exact thing yesterday at the range before my fitting. I was hitting the ball harder than I ever had, but I got worn out pretty fast.

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#7

I was absolutely gassed after 30 balls, it was a real workout. That said, if I could handle 30 in a row, then going all out on the course with my driver shouldn’t really impact my condition when I’m only hitting like 12 of them over the course of a round.

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#8

I like Tiger’s quote about this. Swing as hard as you can with driver, as long as you can do two things: 1) keep your balance, and 2) know with certainty that you can hit the middle of the club face. I think Number 2 often gets overlooked. People go out and just start swinging as hard as they can before learning to make consistent center contact. Learn that first, as nothing increases displace like hitting it solid. If swinging harder helps you hit the center of the face more often, even better!

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#9

I think the goal of this training should be to shift your perception of “normal”

Let’s say a controlled swing for you on the course under pressure is 97 mph with driver. With some targeted work, you can probably get that up to 102 - 103 mph without feeling like you are swinging out of your shoes. That might include trying to go as hard as you possible can in practice sessions though. You’re essentially trying to remove the regulator off the golf cart.

This year I started at about 104-105 mph with my driver, which was a drop in speed for me. I didn’t really put too much work in, but now 108-110 mph feels “normal” where I’m still striking it well and keeping it in play. It’s interesting what can occur if you do the right work.

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#10

Well, I was surprised to see my numbers yesterday with driver. I was averaging about 111. Again, I was swinging as fast as I could probably why I got worn out, but I was super excited to see my numbers north of 110. I figure if I can practice that a few times a week, it’s basically the same as overspeed training, coupled with the overspeed training, I should be producing Cam Champ and Bryson numbers in no time. And by no time, I mean never. :joy::rofl:

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#11

I think there’s definitely something to that. Based on practice data, I know I can swing 107mph or so comfortably and hit 110 if I really want to, but out on the course my distance would suggest I’m likely 10mph under that. Some type of mental barrier there.

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#12

that’s definitely what is happening, and one of the shifts I made this year. At some point, you’re going to need to bring it out on the course and start swinging a little more “free.” You can’t do it overnight, but it’s a skill that needs to be worked on just like wedge play if you do want to improve scoring.

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#13

As a guy who’s always swung hard… I’d say there are a number of things to think about…

For me, there are different types of swinging hard / fast… just the mental thought of I’m going to take a rip at this is always good! It’s almost a zen mindset of focusing on speed and nothing else…

You can also add speed by adding distance on your backswing… this can throw your tempo for a loop though!

A good way ive round to increase my speed is to have a faster backswing… your body likes to stay in tempo so a quick backswing with help your downswing… or at least I think it will!

I do think there is a ton of value on getting on a launch monitor and trying different things. Figure out if you have another gear already and how it feels.

Length is one of those things that doesn’t really have diminishing returns… going driver wedge is a much easier task when you got your driver 300 and your wedge 150.

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#14

Paraphrased from my swing coach;

Stop babying your driver swing. I don’t care where it goes or if you mis-hit. Crank up and swing out of your shoes!

And then I belted one. :grin:

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#15

I like to do a drill I call 40-60-80-100-80. With any club, I’ll start with a 40% swing, then go through each percentage up to 100% and then back down to 80%, which is what my ideal “feel” is. I do one at 100 just to see what I’ve got in the tank. I often find the 80 drives go almost nearly as far as the 100 drives. My 100 drives might just be more tension and less efficient, or I might not hit them as solidly. Either way, for me it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to swing 100% on the course (or on the range as I don’t want to hurt myself and the 100 swing seems pretty violent on my spine). I think @jon is right: the idea is to get your 80% faster, not to always swing 100%.

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#16

I also think sometimes we’re getting caught up in what percentages feel like.

Maybe this makes a little more sense…

If you’re training for speed, doing some swings on the range like you’re in a long drive competition can help (along with smarter physical training).

But when you’re on the course, it has to be dialed back because distance isn’t the only goal. I think swinging as hard as you can while preserving your version of “optimal swing mechanics” is what you want to work towards.

What’s interesting to me is that some golfers will see better sequencing in their swing when they do speed training.

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#17

I think to this point, it’s also good to practice a positive angle of attack… tee the ball high, put it forward in your stance and then swing away…

Getting a positive aoa can help add distance and I think it’s easier to swing harder at the ball when it’s setup like that.

Might be a fun experiment on a launch monitor just to see if it actually increases club head speed.

#18

I’m not sure there are any differences in swing speed based on what direction the club is moving vertically, but efficiency (aoa/strike location/clubfitting) is incredibly important too.

It’s a bit of a debate which one to work on first - speed or efficiency. Sometimes they come together. I’ve gone the efficiency route first, and I’m pretty much tapped out at this point, I need more speed to hit it farther.

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#19

I meant more the focus on positive aoa puts me in a more aggressive mindset on the tee box.

#20

It’s definitely possible - most golfers need help in that department so going from negative to positive AOA could be as much as a 20-30 yard increase in distance (even without adding swing speed)

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