Speed

[progolf4life]

My quesion is this; Is speed natural or can it be obtained..? By 'can it be obtained' I mean by working out.

 

My second questions is, can you PERMANENTLY lose speed by focusing on techique for too long?

[GOLF FTW]

progolf, i think depending on what age you are (15 or 16, as opposed to 40-45) i think you would have a greater chance of gaining speed as you grew.

 

having the right technique and fundamentals can also help :rolleyes:

[birly-shirly]

My quesion is this; Is speed natural or can it be obtained..? By 'can it be obtained' I mean by working out.

 

My second questions is, can you PERMANENTLY lose speed by focusing on techique for too long?

 

Re your first question - I think great speed is probably a natural talent, and there's a level somewhere that each individual will struggle to attain, no matter how hard or smart they train. Whether that level is 95mph or 125mph, it's difficult to tell - but I'm not a natural sprinter or fast-twitch guy and I can get my driver up around the 110mph mark on the driving range - so I think that's a reasonable benchmark for someone in decent shape in terms of strength and flexibility - but not especially gifted. However, I also think lots of us have realistic scope for improvement with hard and smart targeted effort.

 

Re. your second question - you'd have to ask Nick Faldo! (and before the flaming starts, I say that as a huge fan!)

 

Re. the question you didn't ask - which is what sort of working out you should do to increase your speed - I'll offer the following personal opinions for the sake of discussion

 

Golf-specific resistance exercises are largely a waste of time. If you think your (lack of) strength is an issue, then hit the weights but go for an all-body general conditioning programme. Deadlifts are probably better for hand, wrist and forearm strength than any squeezy-gizmo. I think Lou Schuler's "New Rules of Lifting" is pretty good as a guide. Don't go crazy heavy with the weights unless you have a secondary agenda - and you can do lots with bodyweight exercises. If you can do 5 single-leg squats, your legs are strong enough. If you can do 10 pull-ups and 40 push-ups, your upper body is strong enough.

 

Don't neglect stretching and flexibility.

 

If you do increase your strength, you've only built the foundation for better speed, you've not added speed itself. To get faster, you've got to practice faster. Any kind of practice drill or gadget that adds weight or other resistance to your swing isn't making you faster, it's slowing you down. Resistance training is good for strength, but we've dealt with strength and are now into the realms of speed. Get on a swingspeed monitor, get direct feedback on your clubhead speed, and simply practice swinging it faster. Forget about the bad shots whilst you get your speed dialed-in (and your body and timing accustomed to the new, increased, speed) and then think rhythm, temp and balance, and maybe even throttling back a bit, to get the ball flying in the right direction again.

 

Finally, I think increased strength pays off in lots of ways other than increased speed. I reckon that physical strength, especially in the hands and arms, might have greater benefits in increased precision, ease and control in the short game than in picking up the pace of your full swing. Gouging it out of deep grass, better stamina through a round or a tournament, injury prevention and even having increased control of your body and club during the swing are all spin-offs that might be of more use to you than finding your ball buried 15 yards further into the rough.

[progolf4life]

My quesion is this; Is speed natural or can it be obtained..? By 'can it be obtained' I mean by working out.

 

My second questions is, can you PERMANENTLY lose speed by focusing on techique for too long?

 

Re your first question - I think great speed is probably a natural talent, and there's a level somewhere that each individual will struggle to attain, no matter how hard or smart they train. Whether that level is 95mph or 125mph, it's difficult to tell - but I'm not a natural sprinter or fast-twitch guy and I can get my driver up around the 110mph mark on the driving range - so I think that's a reasonable benchmark for someone in decent shape in terms of strength and flexibility - but not especially gifted. However, I also think lots of us have realistic scope for improvement with hard and smart targeted effort.

 

Re. your second question - you'd have to ask Nick Faldo! (and before the flaming starts, I say that as a huge fan!)

 

Re. the question you didn't ask - which is what sort of working out you should do to increase your speed - I'll offer the following personal opinions for the sake of discussion

 

Golf-specific resistance exercises are largely a waste of time. If you think your (lack of) strength is an issue, then hit the weights but go for an all-body general conditioning programme. Deadlifts are probably better for hand, wrist and forearm strength than any squeezy-gizmo. I think Lou Schuler's "New Rules of Lifting" is pretty good as a guide. Don't go crazy heavy with the weights unless you have a secondary agenda - and you can do lots with bodyweight exercises. If you can do 5 single-leg squats, your legs are strong enough. If you can do 10 pull-ups and 40 push-ups, your upper body is strong enough.

 

Don't neglect stretching and flexibility.

 

If you do increase your strength, you've only built the foundation for better speed, you've not added speed itself. To get faster, you've got to practice faster. Any kind of practice drill or gadget that adds weight or other resistance to your swing isn't making you faster, it's slowing you down. Resistance training is good for strength, but we've dealt with strength and are now into the realms of speed. Get on a swingspeed monitor, get direct feedback on your clubhead speed, and simply practice swinging it faster. Forget about the bad shots whilst you get your speed dialed-in (and your body and timing accustomed to the new, increased, speed) and then think rhythm, temp and balance, and maybe even throttling back a bit, to get the ball flying in the right direction again.

 

Finally, I think increased strength pays off in lots of ways other than increased speed. I reckon that physical strength, especially in the hands and arms, might have greater benefits in increased precision, ease and control in the short game than in picking up the pace of your full swing. Gouging it out of deep grass, better stamina through a round or a tournament, injury prevention and even having increased control of your body and club during the swing are all spin-offs that might be of more use to you than finding your ball buried 15 yards further into the rough.

 

Thanks for the reply. I currently drive the ball around 270-300 (with roll) and my 6i SS is 89-95. I'm actually not sure what my driver is. I know that hitting the weights is more benificial than just in golf. Such as mental attitude throughout the day and just the way you feel during the day. I've played hockey, baseball and wrestled. I haven't played hockey since I was seven and I played baseball and wrestled my freshmen year in highschool, I'm now a senior. Around 5 months ago I was hitting the weights hard on a regular scheduled workout routine but stopped due to lack of encouragement. I haven't touched the weights until today and I felt that I was defidently 'out of shape' again. I put quotations around it because my out of shape is most people's in shape. I run a mile in 5min 45sec when I'm out of shape. But I'm not necessarily fast...I just have a decent amount of endurance and I'm pretty solid in the mental aspect of running. I actually don't run hardly at all, and even when I was lifting weights a lot I still hardly ran.

 

Do you really think Nick Faldo lost all that speed just by focusing on technique?...isn't better technique supposed to increase distance..?

[birly-shirly]

well, as we've established that you're both bigger and faster than me, I'll be quite careful how I reply!

 

given the distance you're already hitting the ball, it could well be that you've already maxed out the benefits in terms of speed capability that raw physical strength might bring. alternatively, you could be a future long-drive champion who needs to get his finger out!

 

it would be interesting to know whether you've lost any (golf) speed since you stopped weight training. do you have benchmark distances or speeds from when you were training hard?

 

also, if you're driving it 270 - 300 - doesn't that already put you into tour pro territory - especially if your swing is comfortable at that yardage and you're not swinging yourself off your feet. In which case: (A) do you "need" more speed?; and (B) a professional ball and driver fitting session on a launch monitor could have a huge benefit, as you've already got the necessary speed to make use of a high-COR clubhead and low-spin ball combo.

 

if you want to go back to the weights for golfing reasons, it sounds like the necessary strength is already there - but it might be worth trying olympic-style lifts - as these are often used in other sports where the athletes are trying to develop explosive force and speed once the base strength is there. if you're not already experienced in olympic weight-lifting, please get coaching or join a club though, as this is a great way to get seriously injured. I can't think of any plyometric style exercises that would be much help for golf. Maybe "rocky"-style press ups (get airborne!) or throwing and catching a medicine ball with a partner, but I can't say I've tried either.

 

on the faldo point - I don't think focussing on technique itself is going to slow you down. after all, the top 100m sprinters tend to be pretty technique focussed (although bolt might be a glorious exception). however, I think faldo developed and pretty-well mastered a technique that was not aimed at maximizing the distance he hit the ball, but on maximizing his consistency and control. it was a great swing and his results speak for themselves - and he wasn't short by tour standards, but he didn't hit the ball a long way despite being one of the most athletic and muscular guys playing at that time. even leadbetter says that faldo lost distance when they changed his swing. having said all that, he has a great record at st andrews and augusta - both reckoned to be bomber-friendly - and in doing so had to beat arguably the best driver of the ball in history.

 

finally, plenty of the immortals drove the ball shorter in their competitive prime than they did when they were younger. tiger, nicklaus, hogan, faldo, strange...

[progolf4life]

well, as we've established that you're both bigger and faster than me, I'll be quite careful how I reply!

 

given the distance you're already hitting the ball, it could well be that you've already maxed out the benefits in terms of speed capability that raw physical strength might bring. alternatively, you could be a future long-drive champion who needs to get his finger out!

 

it would be interesting to know whether you've lost any (golf) speed since you stopped weight training. do you have benchmark distances or speeds from when you were training hard?

 

also, if you're driving it 270 - 300 - doesn't that already put you into tour pro territory - especially if your swing is comfortable at that yardage and you're not swinging yourself off your feet. In which case: (A) do you "need" more speed?; and (B) a professional ball and driver fitting session on a launch monitor could have a huge benefit, as you've already got the necessary speed to make use of a high-COR clubhead and low-spin ball combo.

 

if you want to go back to the weights for golfing reasons, it sounds like the necessary strength is already there - but it might be worth trying olympic-style lifts - as these are often used in other sports where the athletes are trying to develop explosive force and speed once the base strength is there. if you're not already experienced in olympic weight-lifting, please get coaching or join a club though, as this is a great way to get seriously injured. I can't think of any plyometric style exercises that would be much help for golf. Maybe "rocky"-style press ups (get airborne!) or throwing and catching a medicine ball with a partner, but I can't say I've tried either.

 

on the faldo point - I don't think focussing on technique itself is going to slow you down. after all, the top 100m sprinters tend to be pretty technique focussed (although bolt might be a glorious exception). however, I think faldo developed and pretty-well mastered a technique that was not aimed at maximizing the distance he hit the ball, but on maximizing his consistency and control. it was a great swing and his results speak for themselves - and he wasn't short by tour standards, but he didn't hit the ball a long way despite being one of the most athletic and muscular guys playing at that time. even leadbetter says that faldo lost distance when they changed his swing. having said all that, he has a great record at st andrews and augusta - both reckoned to be bomber-friendly - and in doing so had to beat arguably the best driver of the ball in history.

 

finally, plenty of the immortals drove the ball shorter in their competitive prime than they did when they were younger. tiger, nicklaus, hogan, faldo, strange...

 

I don't have any distances or records from when I was training but I can say that I 'felt' better when trying to 'go after one'. I actually don't think I've lost any distance since I stopped working out but I'm curious as to if adding muscle mass can potentially aid in someone hitting the ball farther...aka Jason Zuback.

[Logie]

I'm fat, lazy and not particuly fit. Only from carrying my golf clubs 2-5 times a week i get any work out.

 

When im swinging on form, its effort less, im using no muscles, not trying to hit the ball just swinging through it. I get 270-290 with my Driver (For some reason i cant hit my driver very good) i get 270 with my 3 Wood (Can hit 300+) and my 2i is 260-270.

 

I can hit the ball solid on my day, and thats where the distance comes from, hitting the ball correctly it just fizzes off through the air. Now, i just got to learn to do it every time i play....

[Logie]

I dont get the driver, when i played well last week, i was on the 15th for longest drive and had my 3w only, as i have been struggeling big time with my driver hooking. I wound up and cracked the drive 311 yards (using my golf trolley reader which claims to be accurate IF you keep it in a straight line). If i do this with the driver, it will go about 290 no more, no matter what i try!

 

It is pretty accurate though, main reason why i keep it!