I was told , that 80% give me a more realistic chance to hit the club with 1.5. smash factor. 100 % is the max, I learnt at school, 120% is certainly not a scientific approach
Each person needs to take one thing into consideration, Do you want to play golf for many years. If you swing as hard as you can for months or years, I guarantee you that you will do damage to your body that will have lasting impacts to your daily life and shorten your years of being able to play golf. The data that you show tells us to swing just as hard as we can, but you're doing the public a disservice by suggesting they do so. People will get hurt.
What about the impact on spin? I find when I swing at 120%, I tend to add significant loft and spin, which negates the benefits of the increased speed.
I wonder if the equipment makes a difference, B4 I was fitted, I would buy a driver and adapt my swing to it instead of the other way around. I had a couple drivers that I felt I HAD to slow down, probably BC the shaft to weak/light.
Tried this at the range tonight and added 30 yards to my previous longest drive this year! Incredibly my accuracy was not noticeably any worse. My back is another story though!
First, a true story. Back in the late 70's as a junior golfer I had a great chat with one of our top pros. He'd just played with the GOAT - Jack Nicklaus - so I asked what he'd learned by playing beside him. He said that he had hit good drives early on, and was keeping up with Jack, though Jack always seemed to have position A1. But he was rapt that he was "as long as Nicklaus". Then they reached a LONG par 4 into the teeth of a strong wind. Our pro nailed it - best drive of his day, and said to his caddy "Let's see what Jack can do now". Jack glanced back at him then proceeded to blast his ball 80yds further on the fly! Our pro realised he was not as long as Jack, still needing a wood to reach a green that Jack could now hit with a short iron. This pattern repeated during the day, and our pro learnt that Jack played for best position most of the time, but let rip when extra distance made a difference - such as a tough par-4 or a reachable par-5. This anecdote changed my thinking. I don't go 120% all the time - I'll play for position mostly with 80% & 100% drives and reserve the 120% blast for the holes that make it worthwhile. If I can reach the green anyway, I'd rather be on the fairway with a good angle - one or two extra clubs distance doesn't fuss me, and smooth swings help me keep my rhythm. But if a 120% blast might get me within range and makes a difference - then I am going for it! This test is interesting for its results, but golf is a thinking game as well - use power when it makes a meaningful difference.
This is ridiculous. Swing harder, ball goes further. How did it take 15 testers to work that out? Accuracy is much more important....but no numbers on that? What a waste of time.
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
I'm not a hater just being real. Here would be my stats. 80% swing = 80% fairways 100% swing= 50% fairways 120% swing= 5-10% fairways Speaking for me, swinging out of my shoes destroys my mechanics. And I promise I can gain more than 30-50 yards, it's just over the trees and 2 streets over ricocheting off a gas grill
Data on missed fairways would have been awesome guys!! I did crank one on 18 last week (senior tees) at 120% and had 160 yards to a Par 5. So, I’ll test this next weekend. Here’s an issue.. if a ton of seniors start swinging 120%, they are gonna get injured. Most don’t have the muscle to crank that up consistently on every drive and they’ll hurt something..a ligament. rotator cuff, medial common flexor tendon, knee. I already know several seniors popping ibuprofen like they’re candy. Also, LOGA gals are pretty damn good not smoking it at 120%. Maybe, they are just a lot more accurate. Get some data on them.
Have I missed the point here? Swing faster… ball goes further? That’s not ground breaking news to anyone. That’s basic golf fundamentals. Also swinging out of your shoes will likely end up with missing fairways and losing balls.
the old guys I play with told me the 80 rule not because of it will go farther but because I was so new. Focus on hitting the ball then work your way up to killing it. It's been fun 1st year of golf for me. Im glad I found you guys, the date driven golf is amazing.
I think that's a very accurate statement - you can fall in love with the game just hitting solid shots, and going faster as you get better, but you won't hit very many good ones at all swinging out of your shoes if you've never played the game before.
To echo some other comments, I am sure this advice is good for a skilled golfer that can maintain his swing when swinging harder. Does it work for the average to below average golfer? From my own experience it leads to too many truly awful drives. 240 and playable reliably is better than 275 with 3 of them in another zip code per round.
For everyone that’s going to give this a try, just remember that swinging as hard as you can doesn’t mean falling over after the swing. You still have to be balanced or else the mishits will eliminate any advantage of a faster swing. As hard as you can in balance is the key.
“Should you be swinging out of your shoes?” That is the question. And the answer is no. It implies harder with less control. You should be hitting the center of your face as fast as you can.
I don't agree....you work from fear golf....if you paid to be on the course give it all you got. 120 percent means your probably screwed you're self into the ground. Which is MAXIMUM MAXIMUM
One guide line for ALL GOLFERS! Soooo many variables which could taint these findings. I DISCOVERED THE SECRET LAST YEAR! As an "older golfer" I discovered that to have a shorter second shot was to simply move up a set of tees! Now you still have to hit a decent iron shot but I GUARANTEE you will have more chances (and better ones) and increase your no. 1 staff in golf . . . . "G.I.R."!! Put it on the green a dozen times in G.I.R. and now you have 12 birdie putts! It's a game - enjoy it!
I’m sorry, but I think this is deceptive. You should swing as fast as you can while staying in balance and maintaining your fundamentals. Sure Rory swings it fast, but you also never see him off balance. If I swing it as fast as I can my swing breaks down. Swinging fast doesn’t help if you can’t square the face.
@@lkae4 How’s Bryson’s performance been lately and how many majors has he won compared to Rory? Funny how Tiger told Charlie not to copy his swing but to copy Rory’s.
I found this to be the case when I put in a shaft in my driver that “favored a more aggressive transition”, a few years ago. I started swinging as hard as I could, yet still staying balanced. It changed golf for me. All the sudden, I was hitting it as far at 44 as I was at 24.
As a golfer with arthritic joints, I'll stick to 80%. That way I'm more chance of reaching the 18th green. It would be interesting to see what amount of injuries would occur in fit and healthy golfers who always swung at 120% though.
I’m 64 and been swing speed training for 9 months. Started about 99 mph and have increased to a max of 104-107 with a ball speed of 148-158. Smooth driver swing is about 101-102. You can’t just wave a Harry Potter wand and swing at 120% of your normal swing.
And in this "experiment" they didn't swing "120%". The average swing speeds were 96%, 100% and 104% of what I guess you'd call "normal" or "stock" swing speed
@@stevewinn9815 I was initially thinking the same thing, but it seems like the video was saying that 100% is the baseline of how you would normally swing, not maximum effort. So it would mean to swing 20% harder than you normally would.
I'd rather be straight down the middle 250 yards at 100% swing speed, than 270 yards left or right 20-30 yards into the woods, hazards or out of bounds at 120% swing speed!!!
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
@@joey5picks: I said "I'd rather be straight down the middle 250 yards at 100% swing speed"...That's me Personally...Pretty simple!!! Ask Tiger how swinging out of his shoes has affected his back, legs and hips...Hell, ask Jack the same damn question, or Bryson!!! There are injuries in golf for REASONS!!!
A fifteen person sample size seems a bit small to me. I also agree with some others commenting here regarding maintaining balance throughout the swing sequence. Losing balance trying to gas it would cause a significant number of “outliers” in the results which needed to be dropped from the sample. I think the golden bear said it best that hitting the ball further requires center face contact first and foremost.
The article has no information about accuracy...In fact the linked article is just a link to the video. Accurcay is the critical element here. I know I can hit farther if I swing harded. (DUH!) But if it's in the woods or another fairway so what. This seems to be a swing and a miss by MGS...
I think this is a consequence of more forgiveness in drivers and better understanding of Strokes Gained wrt distance. The most EFFICIENT way to hit a modern driver is as hard as you can. Makes totally sense.
The distance numbers are about spot on for me. However I think the flaw in the test is related to swinging on a simulator vs swinging on a tee box. People get nervous and twitchy on the tee box and subconsciously do things in their swing when they are worried about some hazard on the course. Those swing biases are amplified when swinging at 120% leading to severe hooks and slices and lost balls... with that said when you focus in swinging hard you can override those biases and may result in great shots. So what point I have I proved. Not sure. I would say it just depends on the golfer and golf course
Yep, i've been given that advice AND I've given that advice. Typical scenario is when the golfer has their swing sequence out-of-synch and the effort is to recapture the swing sequence by slowing it down. Once recaptured the golfer can return to full speed. The other thought is to be swinging 'less than 100%' in order to improve swing sequence consistency. I guess speeding up a swing to the point it fails (can't square the club head) means that max speed has been passed ? ? ? ? I golf with some younger friends that have very fast swing speeds (tempo), much faster than mine. I have to be careful in letting the sound of their swings (swoosh) negatively impact my swing tempo. If i do . . . . it can pull my swing sequence out of balance / rhythm. Should i look away and cover my ears when they tee off to protect my swing tempo / rhythm? 😀
What types of handicaps are you talking about though? A 25 handicap swinging out of his shoes is likely adding all kinds of sidespin to the ball and rarely hitting the fairway. If you are hitting the center of the face regularly, then yeah... this might make sense. But if you are hitting it all over the face there is no way hitting it harder is better. 😞
Nonsense. Depending on your swing speed with a stiff shaft you might need more loft than with a softer shaft. The key is launch angle and spin rate. Ping has a chart that shows this. Softer shafts can potentially cause more side spin with will cause more hooks and slices. Rick Shiels did a test using A, R, S & X Ping shafts and they all were about the same distance but the "scatter" got worse as the flex got softer. He did it about 4-5 years ago. Should be archived on his channel. Bottom line is that physics says the best shaft would be one of infinite stiffness(no flex) and zero mass(all the mass in the head of the club). There is a reason long drive guys use XXX shafts that weigh 50 grams and cost $300+.
@@vitobarfalone6060 have you read the mgs forum articles and the buzz around the autoflex shaft. Lot of marketing hype to be sure but the distance tests on that shaft, and similar ultralight shafts were very compelling for the testers. Mgs did do a shaft stiffness comparison back in 2021 that did not support all the claims typically ascribed to firmer shafts. I’d like to see a more thorough mgs scientific study on it.
Swing speed 115 here, always played stiff, got fitted into X-stiff and git very noticeable improvement in fairways found (notice I didn’t say dispersion, I like real world testing, not sim)
@@vitobarfalone6060 Most long drive guys use a ladies light flex during competition. The difference with their shafts is they are extremely stable, so they do not allow for too much rotation of the club head ie. low torque.
I suspect that most golfers, when they try to swing harder, will change the arc of their swing and hit more slices and hooks. Fast to the ball is one thing, timing it to meet that ball with a square clubface is another and most cannot do it consistently even with an 80% swing. A shot from the fairway is more likely to land where you want it on a second shot, than when hit from a real rough or under/behind a tree.
Lots behind the curtain on this non-"science" video. Every time I'm at the course I see guys swinging out of their shoes and going on to card a 95. They're OB, wet, and lost off all day. Most people can't control the club at lower speeds let alone swinging at 80%+. Sure, there are times depending on the hole when I ramp it up a notch but generally, I play for accuracy. Today, I'll try and encourage the guys I play with to watch this "science" video and put the suggestion into play. Swing hard and fast, please. Thank you! $$$$$
I've been working for months now to increase my driver distance (clubhead speed) by increasing rotation and extension. I intend to continue improving by dropping some weight, improving my flexibility and, hopefully, adding some muscle. So far, this is working well for me and, by building incrementally, my accuracy and consistency have actually improved. But this is a long process. Just grabbing the club and grunting louder will mainly destroy your timing and balance. It doesn't matter how forgiving your driver is when your clubface angle changes 15 degrees either side of square with every shot. (Just ask me how I know that. 😂)
Finally after 30 years I realized trying to swing as hard as you can will effect control and flight of ball so yes a slightly slower solid hit. Keeps you in the Fairway. Distance is great but if you are in the woods or out of bounds left or right then what did you really gain?
So you said you were going to give accuracy and playable data...but you didn't. You said we could look up the definitions in the article...but where is your most important data??? Accuracy and playability??? You seemed to have cut it out of the video
This is a great point. Swinging harder means swinging faster is not a revolutionary discovery. Swinging faster and being acceptably accurate, that might be. Where's the face to path data, the average and SD for the shot distribution distance from target?
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
Great test. I have found this to be true &I go to the driving range and do speed swings. I would use the term swing faster then harder. When you swing as fast as you, you eliminate swing thoughts. Swinging faster is especially important for women, who swing speed is already slow & when they swing Nice & Smooth, they can’t hit the ball anywhere.
Actually the comment came from average “30 handicap players” like Nicklaus , Hogan, Watson. It may have bee. Related to equipment , course conditions and balls of the day. I don’t know. But almost 100.% stated this. So please be cautious in dismissing advice from folks 60-70 years ago that played a different game. Arnold once said fairways today have higher stimp ratings then the greens they putted at the masters! Love you test and fully admire mygolfspy. Guess I’m asking for a today vs old days qualifier to video. Thanks for all do.
Yeah this isn’t as mind blowing as you think. In fact your data isn’t a surprise it should be common sense. But it’s also terrible advice if you’re swinging as hard as you possibly can and can’t control your swing.
The only way to confirm this is to try it. I’ve always been scared to swing at 100% in a game but lately my driver has been so inconsistent that I figured why not give it a go. So I committed to playing a round swinging my driver at 100%. Result was that I had more control hitting mostly straight or a slight draw one or two strong draws and one very slight fade. I was playing my second shot further up the fairway than ever before. I’m not sure my back can cope in the long run with this swing but it defiantly helped my game.
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
I perfectly understand that swing faster gets more distance so results of 120% vs 80% should result in longer drives. What was surprising for me is that the 120% provided consistently same contact as 100% and 80%. The study was statistical and therefore the results are valid. The average swing speed ranging from 95.5 - 103.7mph resulted in average ball speeds from 136.6-147.6. Smash factor is the ratio of ball speed to swing speed. Using the averages for swing speed and ball speeds results in smash factors of 1.43 for 80%, 1.43 for 100%, and 1.42 for 120%. This difference is negligible which means 120% provides same contact (smash factor) as 80%. I would be curious if the dispersion for ball speed (driver of smash factor) is also comparable.
What you really need to do is experiment and then do what works best for you. There's one number that does tell the whole story, the one on the scorecard.
First you can not swing over 100%, be that as it may, as you increase proper effort unit you reach you capacity of course you will hit it farther. Should have been 80% stock swing, and full effort, instead of over 100%
Distance is always the problem.... accuracy is the key. Certainly, there are holes that have a wide fairway, and then it's time to rip it. But the game is about scoring, not length. You guys are awesome though! And we appreciate ya at The Club at Viniterra.
Length leads to scoring. Read Mark Broadie's book Every Shot Counts. Driving distance is closely correlated with score. Drive for dough. m.th-cam.com/video/jF9ZlUMO0Qw/w-d-xo.html
@joey5picks it's drive for show and putt for doe. Distance brings everything into play. Whether it's clearing a significant bunker and having three clubs shorter to the hole or it's all those trees and you're working on a CPG punch out game. Golf is about repetition. A swing that is easiest to control with your major muscles. Power has to be consistent. Hitting balls at a screen tells me nothing. (All though I love MyGolfSpy) In reality, the idea of 5 extra yards is derived from a lot of swing analyzing and making slight changes to the parts that make up the whole. I used to swing a club very "intensely." People would say, man, you're swinging hard. But I always knew I was not swinging as hard as I could. Impact of the club head and ball, absolutely square is the key to successful golf. If you swing 100% with the driver my guess is you will gain some distance, but will lose accuracy. Golf is a game of accuracy. It's really about how far a player can hit the cursed little ball accurately. That's why we all don't hit it the same distance. The driver is the least scoring club in your bag. It's the putter and your irons that will score for you. I never even warm-up with anything other than a sand wedge and an 8 iron. And I also recommend practicing with a 5 iron. But I'm too old for that now. :)
@@nbt3663 this is incredibly outdated. The further you hit it, the greater chance you have at scoring lower score. Distance off the tee is the most important and gives almost every golfer a better chance at gaining strokes.
I'll put my 2 cents in here. Just for context, I am a good player with a handicap usually in the 0-3 range. However, I am a generally a shorter hitter than most of my peers at that ability level. That being the case, of course I am always interested in how to hit it a little further. I have tried this "just swing harder" thing for a couple of rounds now and, so far, the results are pretty astonishing. Going into it I was concerned about quality of contact and I assumed that swinging harder would cause me to mishit it more frequently. Well, to my astonishment, I seem to actually be hitting it BETTER. Not only am I generating more speed, but I'm hitting the center of the face MORE often as well! At this point the only thing I can think of is that, for me anyway, trying to hit it harder has actually improved my sequencing and rotation. I work with a local instructor and when I combine what I'm working on with him (better right hip load on the backswing) with "just hit it harder", I've started to hit the driver as well as I've hit it in a long time. Very strange and surprising. Maybe it won't work great for a higher handicapper with more swing technique issues...I dunno. For me it seems to be working and I'm going to keep trying it!
I hit it 3 bills of the tee all day. Just to leave with bogeys. Sometimes having a full shot that checks on firm greens really is almost more preferred. Either way if it's of the tee and needing to stripe a fairway, driver, 3 wood, or 3 iron it's full send.
I was always told by my uncle who is a scratch golfer to swing 80% I got coaching and my coach told me no if I can keep my tempo I should swing 110% every time
This is simple high school physics at play here. OF COURSE the ball will go farther if you hit it with the club going faster. Simple law of momentum conservation. In short, In a collision, the momentum change of object 1 (the club) is equal to and opposite of the momentum change of object 2 (the ball). That is, the momentum lost by object 1 is equal to the momentum gained by object 2.
I will try this in the sim as it is sim season in Chicago. I think it is plausible if your miss is consistent. I don’t think the point is is 120% 100% of the time. There will be holes that will require “safer”swings .
Obviously, if you swing harder that you get more distance, but of course the accuracy can be a major factor and is totally dependent on the player. I think 15 testers is very small sample size and really not enough to determine that strokes gained was 1.5 strokes. However, I do think that speed training is legitimate and can increase your total speed and cruising speed. Countless top PGA pros say they swing around 80%. as their cruising speed because they get the best combination of accuracy and distance. I'd go as far as to say, all of the PGA pros' cruising speed is around 80% and they have more left in the tank. Also, there is no such thing as 120%. Lol. It would be more like 60%, 80%, 100%. Interesting test, but think it is more along the lines of bro science than golf science. 😜 Personally, I'm going to listen to the PGA pros on the subject because they are the best players in the world.
Totally agree. There's videos on youtube of Monty and Ernie Els talking about the 80/20 rule and how they always stuck to that, not exactly the '30 handicap Uncles' mentioned in this video 🤦♂
I agree - I remember Faldo saying that he played his best when swinging at 85% full power. Mind you, I will go for it if an extra 10-20yds makes a significant difference.
Calling it 80% is wildly incorrect. It should be taken off the 100% number and an 80% swing speed would be 81mph based on your numbers. The wording is flawed but the point is valid.
It's effective. And great advice for folks in their 20s. But past that, if you're not in pretty good shape it's also a recipe for pulled backs and tendonitis.
I grew up playing very tight golf courses. The courses that “TH-cam” guys play look like farms in the Midwest. Extra distance just means added strokes, if you can’t keep it in play. However, I do encourage people to get used to swinging hard. Practice your dispersion, while swinging hard, on the range. Then, take it to the course, when you’re ready. Keep in mind…. Swinging harder than you “normally do” will likely change path, face, and even impact position. So, I agree. Get good at swinging hard. It just takes practice.
I don’t see good players with a 10 mph difference between their game speed and their hardest swing speed. So if you have that or more then maybe you need to swing harder. For me I’ve only seen about 3 mph between normal and really going after one. I would say also, a pro swinging at 115 is not holding back 10 mph of speed with a driver swing. They wouldn’t leave that in the tank
totally agree. I'm a low handicapper, and at my age i've noticeably lost some speed, but my normal driver swing goes about 98-100 mph and my "hard swing" might reach 103 or 104, if it's hot and i'm loose :)
Every instructor I know says this. Teach them to swing faster early on and then to manage the game. No other sport tells a player to go slower. Golf shouldn’t either.
Ha! I got into a LENGTHY discussion with a guy on the youtube comment page a couple of weeks ago about clubhead speed. If he saw this, he'd be writing you guys essays for weeks disagreeing with you :)
no such thing as 120% Explanation: Percentages are like fractions, parts of the whole. You can't have more than 100 percent of a finite capacity. If you give something everything you've got, that's 100%
Joel Sherman and others have been saying this for years. Bottom line is that that you should swing as fast as you can without swinging wildly. A subtle difference. I have a friend who trains all out, fast as he physically can swing, and hits the ball all over the place. He often hits 140 mph but usually about 130+. When he plays he hits the ball much straighter because he swings as fast as he can while keeping his balance. Usually that means 120-125 mph. If you ask him he'll tell you he's swinging as fast as he can without "losing the club".
Terrible advice, unless you don't care about breaking 100 or injuring yourself 🤣 Tour golfers have crowds and spotters to help track their ball, plus they have more natural talent. If amateurs like us swing 100-120% then that ball is going to get lost quick unless the course you play on has wide af fairways and generous rough. If you tried this at Carnoustie for example then you'd lose all your pro v1's on the front 9 alone. The 80/20 rule has been backed by players like Monty and Ernie Els so hardly the '30 handicap Uncles' described in this video 😂
In Ben Hogans fundamentals book, he talks about the ball going straighter by hitting it faster and harder. I intuitively knew this coming from 10+years of baseball to have only played golf for 16 months and have a 8 handicap. My swing coach taught me swing easy on the range to work on what needs to be fixed and work on full out speed for the course.
I go at my drive harder on longer holes. But trying that with fairway woods or irons and the inconsistencies rise way to much. Btw, im 71 and a 9 handicap.
Their overall scores will be lower from 150 from the rough. Read Mark Broadie's book Every Shot Counts. 25 yards is a lot to give up. And there's no guarantee the "fairway finder" will find the fairway, but it IS guaranteed to give up a lot of yardage
Better to think swing faster vs.harder. Lose muscles go fast, tense ones not good. Also work on the quality of the strike (every bit as important). Lastly, get in the best possible shape you can be and know your physical limitations. Pain-free golf is the best.
My rule is to swing the club head not the handle as fast as you can AND hit fairways. Having played golf for 60 years I find D the game is easier from the short grass. 74 years old and 4.6 HI.
The biggest improvement in distance is to widen the arc. Bigger arc = more clubhead speed with the same amount of rotation. Too many players don't get a full extension on their lead arm and want to muscle the ball.
Distance in golf is a math formula. Mass x speed cubed. So the pounds behind the hit is as important as the speed of the club head. It's the difference of hitting a tree with a hatchet or an axe. The hatchet will produce a bigger bite because of the mass of the axe head
I didn't see the accuracy/dispersion data! you talked about the test, but didn't show the data. Did it also show that swinging harder gave more playable second shots or was the ball further in the trees? I'd also like to see the data broken down by handicap ranges, because better players can probably ramp up effort/speed without as much loss in control, whereas high handicap players might not be able ot keep a ball in play at 120%.
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
@@joey5picks I did follow the link to see the data after I'd watched the video. I still wonder how the data breaks down if it's not aggregated and shown by handicap. Clearly the pros and scratch golfers can add a little or take a little off with little consequence, which makes me wonder what the data for higher handicap golfers is. It might still be a gain, but it might be a loss that's buried in the average.
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
@@joey5picks Common sense dictates that for 99% of golfers the approach of hitting it as hard as you can won't result in strokes gained, more like +15 balls lost 🤣
The thing is that if you max out and swing over the top you will just be farther in the weeds if you know how to swing on plane then this may be true. One way is to make 1 or 2 max speed practice swings. Then when you go for the actual swing you are copying the same swing.
The problem with swinging at 120 is the exertion it takes out of the body. You’d have to be quite fit to maintain this and walk around an entire golf course like we do in the UK. Screams the need for golf exercise programmes and swing speed training as 120 off the course will be the new 100 on it. P.s. did you miss the last stats of the video? Or is it my flu ridden corpse missing something?
Who exactly is this video geared towards? I would be WAY more interested in stratifying the data. Show me a significant sample size with 0-5 handicappers, 6-10 etc. I want to see the accuracy/distance breakdown from this perspective. I don't know, but I speculate the results would be significantly different between groups. Therefore this would not be generalized for the typical golfing community. You have essentially made a claim in this video that is inconsistent with why I am an MGS fan. This video does not provide value like your other content does.
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
Well I’ve come to this conclusion over the last couple years as well, BUT only off the tee with my driver. Definitely not with irons, especially mid to short irons. Also has led me to ditch my 3 wood. I’d rather smash my driver in the rough and be 20 -30 yards ahead of my 3 wood in the fairway. My 17.5 degree 5 wood is plenty far if I want to go for the odd par 5 in 2 , or to lay back on a short par 4. Cool video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Have YOU ever been told to just swing at 80%? Did this video change your mind?
DROP A COMMENT! 👇🏽💬
I was told , that 80% give me a more realistic chance to hit the club with 1.5. smash factor. 100 % is the max, I learnt at school, 120% is certainly not a scientific approach
Ground breaking stuff guys, keep up the hard work. Haven’t seen this kinda journalism since watergate.
Each person needs to take one thing into consideration, Do you want to play golf for many years. If you swing as hard as you can for months or years, I guarantee you that you will do damage to your body that will have lasting impacts to your daily life and shorten your years of being able to play golf. The data that you show tells us to swing just as hard as we can, but you're doing the public a disservice by suggesting they do so. People will get hurt.
What about the impact on spin? I find when I swing at 120%, I tend to add significant loft and spin, which negates the benefits of the increased speed.
I wonder if the equipment makes a difference, B4 I was fitted, I would buy a driver and adapt my swing to it instead of the other way around. I had a couple drivers that I felt I HAD to slow down, probably BC the shaft to weak/light.
Tried this at the range tonight and added 30 yards to my previous longest drive this year! Incredibly my accuracy was not noticeably any worse. My back is another story though!
First, a true story.
Back in the late 70's as a junior golfer I had a great chat with one of our top pros. He'd just played with the GOAT - Jack Nicklaus - so I asked what he'd learned by playing beside him. He said that he had hit good drives early on, and was keeping up with Jack, though Jack always seemed to have position A1. But he was rapt that he was "as long as Nicklaus". Then they reached a LONG par 4 into the teeth of a strong wind. Our pro nailed it - best drive of his day, and said to his caddy "Let's see what Jack can do now". Jack glanced back at him then proceeded to blast his ball 80yds further on the fly! Our pro realised he was not as long as Jack, still needing a wood to reach a green that Jack could now hit with a short iron. This pattern repeated during the day, and our pro learnt that Jack played for best position most of the time, but let rip when extra distance made a difference - such as a tough par-4 or a reachable par-5.
This anecdote changed my thinking. I don't go 120% all the time - I'll play for position mostly with 80% & 100% drives and reserve the 120% blast for the holes that make it worthwhile. If I can reach the green anyway, I'd rather be on the fairway with a good angle - one or two extra clubs distance doesn't fuss me, and smooth swings help me keep my rhythm. But if a 120% blast might get me within range and makes a difference - then I am going for it!
This test is interesting for its results, but golf is a thinking game as well - use power when it makes a meaningful difference.
Expertly worded
Completely left out dispersion.
Great I hit the shot 300. 200 out and 100 to the right.
It's discussed in the linked article, as he said in the video. The "fast" swing averaged +1.5 strokes gained over the "80%" swing.
This is ridiculous. Swing harder, ball goes further. How did it take 15 testers to work that out?
Accuracy is much more important....but no numbers on that?
What a waste of time.
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
I'm not a hater just being real. Here would be my stats.
80% swing = 80% fairways
100% swing= 50% fairways
120% swing= 5-10% fairways
Speaking for me, swinging out of my shoes destroys my mechanics. And I promise I can gain more than 30-50 yards, it's just over the trees and 2 streets over ricocheting off a gas grill
Data on missed fairways would have been awesome guys!! I did crank one on 18 last week (senior tees) at 120% and had 160 yards to a Par 5. So, I’ll test this next weekend. Here’s an issue.. if a ton of seniors start swinging 120%, they are gonna get injured. Most don’t have the muscle to crank that up consistently on every drive and they’ll hurt something..a ligament. rotator cuff, medial common flexor tendon, knee. I already know several seniors popping ibuprofen like they’re candy. Also, LOGA gals are pretty damn good not smoking it at 120%. Maybe, they are just a lot more accurate. Get some data on them.
Yeah, and they don't warm up properly either.
Have I missed the point here? Swing faster… ball goes further? That’s not ground breaking news to anyone. That’s basic golf fundamentals.
Also swinging out of your shoes will likely end up with missing fairways and losing balls.
the old guys I play with told me the 80 rule not because of it will go farther but because I was so new. Focus on hitting the ball then work your way up to killing it. It's been fun 1st year of golf for me. Im glad I found you guys, the date driven golf is amazing.
I think that's a very accurate statement - you can fall in love with the game just hitting solid shots, and going faster as you get better, but you won't hit very many good ones at all swinging out of your shoes if you've never played the game before.
To echo some other comments, I am sure this advice is good for a skilled golfer that can maintain his swing when swinging harder. Does it work for the average to below average golfer? From my own experience it leads to too many truly awful drives. 240 and playable reliably is better than 275 with 3 of them in another zip code per round.
For everyone that’s going to give this a try, just remember that swinging as hard as you can doesn’t mean falling over after the swing. You still have to be balanced or else the mishits will eliminate any advantage of a faster swing. As hard as you can in balance is the key.
“Should you be swinging out of your shoes?” That is the question. And the answer is no. It implies harder with less control. You should be hitting the center of your face as fast as you can.
Agree 120% (pun intended)😂, I think the message here should be swing as hard as you can while still being able to maintain balance.
That was Tiger's advice to Charlie. Swing as hard as you want, but keep your balance.
I don't agree....you work from fear golf....if you paid to be on the course give it all you got. 120 percent means your probably screwed you're self into the ground. Which is MAXIMUM MAXIMUM
One guide line for ALL GOLFERS! Soooo many variables which could taint these findings. I DISCOVERED THE SECRET LAST YEAR! As an "older golfer" I discovered that to have a shorter second shot was to simply move up a set of tees! Now you still have to hit a decent iron shot but I GUARANTEE you will have more chances (and better ones) and increase your no. 1 staff in golf . . . . "G.I.R."!! Put it on the green a dozen times in G.I.R. and now you have 12 birdie putts! It's a game - enjoy it!
I’m sorry, but I think this is deceptive. You should swing as fast as you can while staying in balance and maintaining your fundamentals. Sure Rory swings it fast, but you also never see him off balance. If I swing it as fast as I can my swing breaks down. Swinging fast doesn’t help if you can’t square the face.
IMO Bryson's performance supports this data. And maybe this means Rory needs to swing harder to get another major. 😜
@@lkae4 How’s Bryson’s performance been lately and how many majors has he won compared to Rory? Funny how Tiger told Charlie not to copy his swing but to copy Rory’s.
@ikea4 In interviews Rory has said that based on Bryson’s performance he did start chasing more speed and it became detrimental to his game.
Hope your back holds up. At some point, you won't be able to.
I think the deceptive part is in for the question “how accurate were the shots?” The response was “we made our own metric” 🙄😒 just show the dispersion
I don't understand how 10-yards off the fairway is considered a "playable" result; that'd be in the woods on most Midwestern courses.
I found this to be the case when I put in a shaft in my driver that “favored a more aggressive transition”, a few years ago. I started swinging as hard as I could, yet still staying balanced. It changed golf for me. All the sudden, I was hitting it as far at 44 as I was at 24.
Same, I’m 46, got addicted to the science behind the swing, once I found a shaft that could “hold” a more aggressive swing, changed golf for me.
As a golfer with arthritic joints, I'll stick to 80%. That way I'm more chance of reaching the 18th green. It would be interesting to see what amount of injuries would occur in fit and healthy golfers who always swung at 120% though.
I’m 64 and been swing speed training for 9 months. Started about 99 mph and have increased to a max of 104-107 with a ball speed of 148-158. Smooth driver swing is about 101-102. You can’t just wave a Harry Potter wand and swing at 120% of your normal swing.
Some would say you can’t swing at 120% . 100% is the max (meaning the fastest possible you can swing is 100%)
And in this "experiment" they didn't swing "120%". The average swing speeds were 96%, 100% and 104% of what I guess you'd call "normal" or "stock" swing speed
@@stevewinn9815 I was initially thinking the same thing, but it seems like the video was saying that 100% is the baseline of how you would normally swing, not maximum effort. So it would mean to swing 20% harder than you normally would.
@@johnfischer7614 That was my take too John, the 100% represented your normal swing speed was what I was getting.
I'd rather be straight down the middle 250 yards at 100% swing speed, than 270 yards left or right 20-30 yards into the woods, hazards or out of bounds at 120% swing speed!!!
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
@@joey5picks: I said "I'd rather be straight down the middle 250 yards at 100% swing speed"...That's me Personally...Pretty simple!!!
Ask Tiger how swinging out of his shoes has affected his back, legs and hips...Hell, ask Jack the same damn question, or Bryson!!!
There are injuries in golf for REASONS!!!
A fifteen person sample size seems a bit small to me. I also agree with some others commenting here regarding maintaining balance throughout the swing sequence. Losing balance trying to gas it would cause a significant number of “outliers” in the results which needed to be dropped from the sample. I think the golden bear said it best that hitting the ball further requires center face contact first and foremost.
Samples are also almost all single digits players
The article has no information about accuracy...In fact the linked article is just a link to the video. Accurcay is the critical element here. I know I can hit farther if I swing harded. (DUH!) But if it's in the woods or another fairway so what. This seems to be a swing and a miss by MGS...
I think this is a consequence of more forgiveness in drivers and better understanding of Strokes Gained wrt distance. The most EFFICIENT way to hit a modern driver is as hard as you can. Makes totally sense.
The distance numbers are about spot on for me. However I think the flaw in the test is related to swinging on a simulator vs swinging on a tee box. People get nervous and twitchy on the tee box and subconsciously do things in their swing when they are worried about some hazard on the course. Those swing biases are amplified when swinging at 120% leading to severe hooks and slices and lost balls... with that said when you focus in swinging hard you can override those biases and may result in great shots. So what point I have I proved. Not sure. I would say it just depends on the golfer and golf course
Yep, i've been given that advice AND I've given that advice. Typical scenario is when the golfer has their swing sequence out-of-synch and the effort is to recapture the swing sequence by slowing it down. Once recaptured the golfer can return to full speed.
The other thought is to be swinging 'less than 100%' in order to improve swing sequence consistency. I guess speeding up a swing to the point it fails (can't square the club head) means that max speed has been passed ? ? ? ?
I golf with some younger friends that have very fast swing speeds (tempo), much faster than mine. I have to be careful in letting the sound of their swings (swoosh) negatively impact my swing tempo. If i do . . . . it can pull my swing sequence out of balance / rhythm.
Should i look away and cover my ears when they tee off to protect my swing tempo / rhythm? 😀
What types of handicaps are you talking about though? A 25 handicap swinging out of his shoes is likely adding all kinds of sidespin to the ball and rarely hitting the fairway. If you are hitting the center of the face regularly, then yeah... this might make sense. But if you are hitting it all over the face there is no way hitting it harder is better. 😞
Please do shaft firmness next. Growing anecdotal evidence that extra firm/stiff staffs are shorter than extra light/soft. Need the science on this.
Nonsense. Depending on your swing speed with a stiff shaft you might need more loft than with a softer shaft. The key is launch angle and spin rate. Ping has a chart that shows this. Softer shafts can potentially cause more side spin with will cause more hooks and slices. Rick Shiels did a test using A, R, S & X Ping shafts and they all were about the same distance but the "scatter" got worse as the flex got softer. He did it about 4-5 years ago. Should be archived on his channel. Bottom line is that physics says the best shaft would be one of infinite stiffness(no flex) and zero mass(all the mass in the head of the club). There is a reason long drive guys use XXX shafts that weigh 50 grams and cost $300+.
@@vitobarfalone6060 have you read the mgs forum articles and the buzz around the autoflex shaft. Lot of marketing hype to be sure but the distance tests on that shaft, and similar ultralight shafts were very compelling for the testers. Mgs did do a shaft stiffness comparison back in 2021 that did not support all the claims typically ascribed to firmer shafts. I’d like to see a more thorough mgs scientific study on it.
Swing speed 115 here, always played stiff, got fitted into X-stiff and git very noticeable improvement in fairways found (notice I didn’t say dispersion, I like real world testing, not sim)
@@vitobarfalone6060 Most long drive guys use a ladies light flex during competition. The difference with their shafts is they are extremely stable, so they do not allow for too much rotation of the club head ie. low torque.
Why did you give the Straight and Playable shot results. They are in the article but it would have been helpful to include them.
I suspect that most golfers, when they try to swing harder, will change the arc of their swing and hit more slices and hooks. Fast to the ball is one thing, timing it to meet that ball with a square clubface is another and most cannot do it consistently even with an 80% swing. A shot from the fairway is more likely to land where you want it on a second shot, than when hit from a real rough or under/behind a tree.
I'm just completely mind blown that swinging faster and harder results in more distance. Amazing discovery
Lots behind the curtain on this non-"science" video. Every time I'm at the course I see guys swinging out of their shoes and going on to card a 95. They're OB, wet, and lost off all day. Most people can't control the club at lower speeds let alone swinging at 80%+. Sure, there are times depending on the hole when I ramp it up a notch but generally, I play for accuracy. Today, I'll try and encourage the guys I play with to watch this "science" video and put the suggestion into play. Swing hard and fast, please. Thank you! $$$$$
Exactly.
Pro Tip… Only play where the fairways are wide, the greens are big, and your friends don’t help you find your ball in the woods 😉
Wow. Who knew swinging harder made the ball go farther! Great test thanks for the info!
I've been working for months now to increase my driver distance (clubhead speed) by increasing rotation and extension. I intend to continue improving by dropping some weight, improving my flexibility and, hopefully, adding some muscle. So far, this is working well for me and, by building incrementally, my accuracy and consistency have actually improved. But this is a long process. Just grabbing the club and grunting louder will mainly destroy your timing and balance. It doesn't matter how forgiving your driver is when your clubface angle changes 15 degrees either side of square with every shot. (Just ask me how I know that. 😂)
Did you test high handicappers, i.e. the vast majority of golfers? I tried swinging faster and just ended up mishitting a whole lot more. No thanks.
Yeah these guys claim to be data driven but often leave out tons of variables
Tigers Dad Earl once said “swing as hard as you can maintaining a centre strike” strike is often overlooked in the speed chase.
Finally after 30 years I realized trying to swing as hard as you can will effect control and flight of ball so yes a slightly slower solid hit. Keeps you in the Fairway. Distance is great but if you are in the woods or out of bounds left or right then what did you really gain?
So you said you were going to give accuracy and playable data...but you didn't. You said we could look up the definitions in the article...but where is your most important data??? Accuracy and playability??? You seemed to have cut it out of the video
This is a great point. Swinging harder means swinging faster is not a revolutionary discovery. Swinging faster and being acceptably accurate, that might be. Where's the face to path data, the average and SD for the shot distribution distance from target?
Like supposed global ..... scientists who leave out the bits that hurt their premise
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
@@floydianepic3259 peer review prevents that from happening
Great test. I have found this to be true &I go to the driving range and do speed swings. I would use the term swing faster then harder. When you swing as fast as you, you eliminate swing thoughts. Swinging faster is especially important for women, who swing speed is already slow & when they swing Nice & Smooth, they can’t hit the ball anywhere.
Actually the comment came from average “30 handicap players” like Nicklaus , Hogan, Watson. It may have bee. Related to equipment , course conditions and balls of the day. I don’t know. But almost 100.% stated this. So please be cautious in dismissing advice from folks 60-70 years ago that played a different game. Arnold once said fairways today have higher stimp ratings then the greens they putted at the masters! Love you test and fully admire mygolfspy. Guess I’m asking for a today vs old days qualifier to video. Thanks for all do.
Caveat: Without injuring yourself. 🤣
Yeah this isn’t as mind blowing as you think. In fact your data isn’t a surprise it should be common sense. But it’s also terrible advice if you’re swinging as hard as you possibly can and can’t control your swing.
120% that’s good science there.
The only way to confirm this is to try it. I’ve always been scared to swing at 100% in a game but lately my driver has been so inconsistent that I figured why not give it a go. So I committed to playing a round swinging my driver at 100%. Result was that I had more control hitting mostly straight or a slight draw one or two strong draws and one very slight fade. I was playing my second shot further up the fairway than ever before. I’m not sure my back can cope in the long run with this swing but it defiantly helped my game.
I think you left the accuracy results segment on the cutting room floor, skipped past it?
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
I perfectly understand that swing faster gets more distance so results of 120% vs 80% should result in longer drives. What was surprising for me is that the 120% provided consistently same contact as 100% and 80%. The study was statistical and therefore the results are valid. The average swing speed ranging from 95.5 - 103.7mph resulted in average ball speeds from 136.6-147.6. Smash factor is the ratio of ball speed to swing speed. Using the averages for swing speed and ball speeds results in smash factors of 1.43 for 80%, 1.43 for 100%, and 1.42 for 120%. This difference is negligible which means 120% provides same contact (smash factor) as 80%. I would be curious if the dispersion for ball speed (driver of smash factor) is also comparable.
What you really need to do is experiment and then do what works best for you.
There's one number that does tell the whole story, the one on the scorecard.
That all sounds good, but if try to swing too fast you rarely hit the ball in the center of the club if you are someone like me.
First you can not swing over 100%, be that as it may, as you increase proper effort unit you reach you capacity of course you will hit it farther. Should have been 80% stock swing, and full effort, instead of over 100%
You actually can swing over 100%. All you have to do is put on headphones and listen to "This Is Spinal Tap" with the volume turned up to 11. 😊
The very best product I saw at this years PGA Golf Show was a product called “STOW STICK”…. I bought one…. Have used it and will keep it in my bag.
Distance is always the problem.... accuracy is the key. Certainly, there are holes that have a wide fairway, and then it's time to rip it. But the game is about scoring, not length.
You guys are awesome though! And we appreciate ya at The Club at Viniterra.
Length leads to scoring. Read Mark Broadie's book Every Shot Counts. Driving distance is closely correlated with score. Drive for dough. m.th-cam.com/video/jF9ZlUMO0Qw/w-d-xo.html
@joey5picks it's drive for show and putt for doe. Distance brings everything into play. Whether it's clearing a significant bunker and having three clubs shorter to the hole or it's all those trees and you're working on a CPG punch out game. Golf is about repetition. A swing that is easiest to control with your major muscles. Power has to be consistent. Hitting balls at a screen tells me nothing. (All though I love MyGolfSpy) In reality, the idea of 5 extra yards is derived from a lot of swing analyzing and making slight changes to the parts that make up the whole. I used to swing a club very "intensely." People would say, man, you're swinging hard. But I always knew I was not swinging as hard as I could. Impact of the club head and ball, absolutely square is the key to successful golf. If you swing 100% with the driver my guess is you will gain some distance, but will lose accuracy. Golf is a game of accuracy. It's really about how far a player can hit the cursed little ball accurately. That's why we all don't hit it the same distance. The driver is the least scoring club in your bag. It's the putter and your irons that will score for you. I never even warm-up with anything other than a sand wedge and an 8 iron. And I also recommend practicing with a 5 iron. But I'm too old for that now. :)
@@nbt3663 this is incredibly outdated. The further you hit it, the greater chance you have at scoring lower score. Distance off the tee is the most important and gives almost every golfer a better chance at gaining strokes.
@@timsettles6580 good luck making Par OB
I'll put my 2 cents in here. Just for context, I am a good player with a handicap usually in the 0-3 range. However, I am a generally a shorter hitter than most of my peers at that ability level.
That being the case, of course I am always interested in how to hit it a little further. I have tried this "just swing harder" thing for a couple of rounds now and, so far, the results are pretty astonishing.
Going into it I was concerned about quality of contact and I assumed that swinging harder would cause me to mishit it more frequently. Well, to my astonishment, I seem to actually be hitting it BETTER. Not only am I generating more speed, but I'm hitting the center of the face MORE often as well! At this point the only thing I can think of is that, for me anyway, trying to hit it harder has actually improved my sequencing and rotation. I work with a local instructor and when I combine what I'm working on with him (better right hip load on the backswing) with "just hit it harder", I've started to hit the driver as well as I've hit it in a long time.
Very strange and surprising. Maybe it won't work great for a higher handicapper with more swing technique issues...I dunno. For me it seems to be working and I'm going to keep trying it!
I hit it 3 bills of the tee all day. Just to leave with bogeys. Sometimes having a full shot that checks on firm greens really is almost more preferred. Either way if it's of the tee and needing to stripe a fairway, driver, 3 wood, or 3 iron it's full send.
I was always told by my uncle who is a scratch golfer to swing 80% I got coaching and my coach told me no if I can keep my tempo I should swing 110% every time
This is simple high school physics at play here. OF COURSE the ball will go farther if you hit it with the club going faster. Simple law of momentum conservation. In short, In a collision, the momentum change of object 1 (the club) is equal to and opposite of the momentum change of object 2 (the ball). That is, the momentum lost by object 1 is equal to the momentum gained by object 2.
What about my back and sore neck? 😢😅
They'll stop you getting a hernia as well!
Big difference between swinging as fast as you can vs. Hard as you can.
I will try this in the sim as it is sim season in Chicago. I think it is plausible if your miss is consistent. I don’t think the point is is 120% 100% of the time. There will be holes that will require “safer”swings .
Obviously, if you swing harder that you get more distance, but of course the accuracy can be a major factor and is totally dependent on the player. I think 15 testers is very small sample size and really not enough to determine that strokes gained was 1.5 strokes. However, I do think that speed training is legitimate and can increase your total speed and cruising speed.
Countless top PGA pros say they swing around 80%. as their cruising speed because they get the best combination of accuracy and distance. I'd go as far as to say, all of the PGA pros' cruising speed is around 80% and they have more left in the tank. Also, there is no such thing as 120%. Lol. It would be more like 60%, 80%, 100%. Interesting test, but think it is more along the lines of bro science than golf science. 😜
Personally, I'm going to listen to the PGA pros on the subject because they are the best players in the world.
Totally agree. There's videos on youtube of Monty and Ernie Els talking about the 80/20 rule and how they always stuck to that, not exactly the '30 handicap Uncles' mentioned in this video 🤦♂
I agree - I remember Faldo saying that he played his best when swinging at 85% full power. Mind you, I will go for it if an extra 10-20yds makes a significant difference.
Calling it 80% is wildly incorrect. It should be taken off the 100% number and an 80% swing speed would be 81mph based on your numbers. The wording is flawed but the point is valid.
How was the Smash Factor?
It's effective. And great advice for folks in their 20s. But past that, if you're not in pretty good shape it's also a recipe for pulled backs and tendonitis.
I grew up playing very tight golf courses. The courses that “TH-cam” guys play look like farms in the Midwest. Extra distance just means added strokes, if you can’t keep it in play. However, I do encourage people to get used to swinging hard. Practice your dispersion, while swinging hard, on the range. Then, take it to the course, when you’re ready. Keep in mind…. Swinging harder than you “normally do” will likely change path, face, and even impact position. So, I agree. Get good at swinging hard. It just takes practice.
I don’t see good players with a 10 mph difference between their game speed and their hardest swing speed. So if you have that or more then maybe you need to swing harder. For me I’ve only seen about 3 mph between normal and really going after one. I would say also, a pro swinging at 115 is not holding back 10 mph of speed with a driver swing. They wouldn’t leave that in the tank
totally agree. I'm a low handicapper, and at my age i've noticeably lost some speed, but my normal driver swing goes about 98-100 mph and my "hard swing" might reach 103 or 104, if it's hot and i'm loose :)
I agree
New to the channel! What type of statistical analysis is run on the data? Regression? Do you post the r^2 values or p values anywhere?
None, because they say "statistics" all the time but never do the real math.
I prefer the fairway to longer and into the woods or water.
Love the Rypstick for speed trading
Every instructor I know says this. Teach them to swing faster early on and then to manage the game. No other sport tells a player to go slower. Golf shouldn’t either.
I always swing hard, and always have. Anytime I try to take a little bit off, it throws off my rhythm, so I never saw the point in doing that.
Ha! I got into a LENGTHY discussion with a guy on the youtube comment page a couple of weeks ago about clubhead speed. If he saw this, he'd be writing you guys essays for weeks disagreeing with you :)
no such thing as 120% Explanation: Percentages are like fractions, parts of the whole. You can't have more than 100 percent of a finite capacity. If you give something everything you've got, that's 100%
I said the same thing. No such thing as 120%. lol.
Before you try 120%, make sure your surgeon can repair a hernia! 🤣
Joel Sherman and others have been saying this for years. Bottom line is that that you should swing as fast as you can without swinging wildly. A subtle difference. I have a friend who trains all out, fast as he physically can swing, and hits the ball all over the place. He often hits 140 mph but usually about 130+. When he plays he hits the ball much straighter because he swings as fast as he can while keeping his balance. Usually that means 120-125 mph. If you ask him he'll tell you he's swinging as fast as he can without "losing the club".
3 effort going back 7 coming down …….throw club at target NOT at the ball……we are gravity experts …great video sweeeeet hat
Terrible advice, unless you don't care about breaking 100 or injuring yourself 🤣 Tour golfers have crowds and spotters to help track their ball, plus they have more natural talent. If amateurs like us swing 100-120% then that ball is going to get lost quick unless the course you play on has wide af fairways and generous rough. If you tried this at Carnoustie for example then you'd lose all your pro v1's on the front 9 alone. The 80/20 rule has been backed by players like Monty and Ernie Els so hardly the '30 handicap Uncles' described in this video 😂
In Ben Hogans fundamentals book, he talks about the ball going straighter by hitting it faster and harder. I intuitively knew this coming from 10+years of baseball to have only played golf for 16 months and have a 8 handicap. My swing coach taught me swing easy on the range to work on what needs to be fixed and work on full out speed for the course.
I go at my drive harder on longer holes. But trying that with fairway woods or irons and the inconsistencies rise way to much. Btw, im 71 and a 9 handicap.
Take 10 golfers with legit handicaps over 10 and have them hit 10 balls from 175 from the fairway and 10 balls from 150 from the rough.
Their overall scores will be lower from 150 from the rough. Read Mark Broadie's book Every Shot Counts. 25 yards is a lot to give up. And there's no guarantee the "fairway finder" will find the fairway, but it IS guaranteed to give up a lot of yardage
@@joey5picks Complete bullshit
Super helpful 👊🏼
Better to think swing faster vs.harder. Lose muscles go fast, tense ones not good. Also work on the quality of the strike (every bit as important).
Lastly, get in the best possible shape you can be and know your physical limitations. Pain-free golf is the best.
My rule is to swing the club head not the handle as fast as you can AND hit fairways. Having played golf for 60 years I find
D the game is easier from the short grass. 74 years old and 4.6 HI.
The biggest improvement in distance is to widen the arc. Bigger arc = more clubhead speed with the same amount of rotation. Too many players don't get a full extension on their lead arm and want to muscle the ball.
Distance in golf is a math formula. Mass x speed cubed.
So the pounds behind the hit is as important as the speed of the club head.
It's the difference of hitting a tree with a hatchet or an axe. The hatchet will produce a bigger bite because of the mass of the axe head
You didn't talk about accuracy. You just glanced at it quickly and pushed forward...
Where can I get one of your hats like the one you have on? That’s pretty sweet!!
I didn't see the accuracy/dispersion data! you talked about the test, but didn't show the data. Did it also show that swinging harder gave more playable second shots or was the ball further in the trees? I'd also like to see the data broken down by handicap ranges, because better players can probably ramp up effort/speed without as much loss in control, whereas high handicap players might not be able ot keep a ball in play at 120%.
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
@@joey5picks I did follow the link to see the data after I'd watched the video. I still wonder how the data breaks down if it's not aggregated and shown by handicap. Clearly the pros and scratch golfers can add a little or take a little off with little consequence, which makes me wonder what the data for higher handicap golfers is. It might still be a gain, but it might be a loss that's buried in the average.
Like to see the dispersion on those 3 speeds
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
@@joey5picks Common sense dictates that for 99% of golfers the approach of hitting it as hard as you can won't result in strokes gained, more like +15 balls lost 🤣
The thing is that if you max out and swing over the top you will just be farther in the weeds if you know how to swing on plane then this may be true. One way is to make 1 or 2 max speed practice swings. Then when you go for the actual swing you are copying the same swing.
The problem with swinging at 120 is the exertion it takes out of the body. You’d have to be quite fit to maintain this and walk around an entire golf course like we do in the UK. Screams the need for golf exercise programmes and swing speed training as 120 off the course will be the new 100 on it.
P.s. did you miss the last stats of the video? Or is it my flu ridden corpse missing something?
Who exactly is this video geared towards? I would be WAY more interested in stratifying the data. Show me a significant sample size with 0-5 handicappers, 6-10 etc. I want to see the accuracy/distance breakdown from this perspective. I don't know, but I speculate the results would be significantly different between groups. Therefore this would not be generalized for the typical golfing community. You have essentially made a claim in this video that is inconsistent with why I am an MGS fan. This video does not provide value like your other content does.
where are the results of the straight shot % and playable shot %? You describe them but I don't see the results
It's in the linked article, as he said in the video. Fast swing was +1.5 strokes gained compared to the slow swing. So even with slightly less "straight" tee shots the fast swing saves 1-2 strokes power round on average
being a poor golfer with an improper body move sequence, when swinging harder everything falls apart. either a big slice or a huge hook.
Bad advice for us senior golfers(back surgery aside). Don't wreck your spine trying to swing hard.
I just hope people don't start throwing the club more from the top in response
You didn’t give the accuracy stats!
I would assume this is for driver and a ball on a tee only? Can't imagine this working with an 7-iron from the fairway.
Great test
I swing my best when I'm absolutely gassing it. Trying to slow down and feel through my sequence always destroys the swing
Well I’ve come to this conclusion over the last couple years as well, BUT only off the tee with my driver. Definitely not with irons, especially mid to short irons. Also has led me to ditch my 3 wood. I’d rather smash my driver in the rough and be 20 -30 yards ahead of my 3 wood in the fairway. My 17.5 degree 5 wood is plenty far if I want to go for the odd par 5 in 2 , or to lay back on a short par 4. Cool video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I agree - the only place distance is really important anyway is with driver. The rest of the clubs you just need to know how far you hit them.
@@Golfzilla70 💯 exactly!
If nothing else, you should have added the shot dispersion. Not based on some algorythm, but measured.
The same works for my puts also, when I swing harder, the ball goes further🤨🤨
Could you guy's test the difference in clubhead speed wearing a glove and not wearing a glove???? or is that just too boring???
I would have know idea if I'm at 120% vs 100%, or even 80. How did testers gauge this feeling?