Got a great question on our chatroom a couple of weeks ago wanted to share with all those that didn’t see it:
Question:
“Suppose you swing the driver 110 miles per hour. Based on that swing speed, you should be using a firm shaft, right? Probably hit the ball 260 yards or so. But, would you be better off swing at 90 mph, and using a regular flex shaft? I have walked into golf shops, and the first thing I am asked is what my swing speed is. But, how do I know how fast I should be swing a driver?
Should I putter around at 90 mph and hit a granddaddy shaft, for should I smoke every drive like J.D.? Thoughts, please. AG”
Our Response: Distance of a golf shot is determined by the following:
- Speed of swing
- Centeredness of hit (on club face)
- Angle of approach
The direction is determined by the following:
- Angle of club face (60 to 70% effect)
- Path of Swing (30 to 40%)
- Centeredness of hit (up to 10%)
Driver speed and distance are equated as approximately 2.4 yards per mile an hour (with highly rated CT/COR driver). If you want to calculate swing speed – take average FLY (minimal roll) distance and divide by 2.4 yards.
With that said – slowing down the swing will probably cause an increase (or should) in centeredness of hit. But, the centeredness of hit will not make up for a large decrease in club head speed.
As Moe said – swinging 80% is good to control the direction and will still get good distance, but there is a point of diminishing returns in which you will be sacrificing distance for direction.
The ultimate answer here is to fix the 90% ++ distance factor. As we always say – if your path and face are in good positions – grip it and rip it… If you want to hit it further, swing harder as long as path and face are in good positions. A good path and face will account for over 90% of directional issues (and to be honest, if path and face are good – centeredness of hit will probably be good also).
