Your Guide to Swing Speed
There are two important factors in swing speed:
- The club-head speed at the point of impact with the ball
- The tempo of the club-head
Simple physics tells us that the faster the club-head speed at impact with the ball, the further it will go.
New players tend to think that rotating the body and swinging the arms faster will do the trick. More often than not, trying the hit the ball harder in this way leads to more erratic and often embarrassing shots.
You only have to look at how Ernie Els hits staggering long shots with a seemingly slow and effortless swing action to realise that club-head speed is the result of a wide range of more subtle factors. We will come back to this later.
The tempo of a swing is also important. Good players achieve better ball distance when they accelerate through the shot. Yet Gee-Swing™ has proved that many golfers, even up to pro-standard, start decelerating the club-head prior to impact with the ball. This can have a major effect on the distance achieved.
Developing players will want to retain a consistency of club-head speed that doesn’t compromise other key factors like getting the correct swing plane, bio-mechanics, unhinging the wrists etc. But even at a generally slower speed they must still accelerate the club-head towards impact with the ball.
Gee-Swing™ allows golfers to carefully monitor the tempo of the swing as well as keeping a check on slowly increasing the tempo with greater overall swing control.
Gee-Swing™ comes with a DVD which will provide a range of tips to improve tempo and club-head speed.
Gee-Swing™ will help you see the progress you are making.
The correlation between club-head speed and the length of a shot (using a driver)
| Club Head Speed | Ball distance |
|---|---|
| Amateurs: | |
| 80mph (129kph) | 180 yards (165m) |
| 95mph (153kph) | 225 yards (206m) |
| Tour Pros: | |
| 110mph (177kph) | 260-270 yards (238-247m) |
| 130mph (209kph) | 300+ yards (274+ m) |
| Long Drive Pros: | |
| 135mph (217kph) | 300+ yards (274+ m) |
| 145mph (233kph) | 350+ yards (320+ m) |
| † Remember that the speed the ball comes off the club-face is generally 50% higher than your club-head speed. | |
| † A pro driving off a tee with a club-head speed of around 110mph should be hitting a distance of around 260-270 yards, with a ball moving at around 165mph. | |
Other factors that affect ball distance:
- Terrain
- Club/COR
- Club Loft
- Launch Angle
- Hitting on/off a tee
- Ball & Ball Spin
- Climate
Alan Hansen, Former Liverpool FC footballer, 2-handicap golfer and Club Champion recommends Gee-Swing™
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