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What is the difference of Hitter vs Swinger


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First off I’m no expert by any means. I look at it as a hitter makes good solid contact consistently, with or without an appeasing swing. While a swinger looks good, but may have inconsistencies with ball striking. Just my opinion, may be totally wrong. 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

 

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This is based only on my swing.

Hitting at the ball: often times it's an OTT move started with the shoulders and not much lower body action. And very rarely do I get to a complete finish. Usually stop not long after impact.

Swinging: the move down is initiated and led by the lower body. Path is more in to out and I actually do a better job of finishing the follow through.

I tend to hit more with the longer clubs and swing more with 9 iron down.

Just my interpretation.


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I always think of a hitter as someone who just lashes at the golf ball and whose only intent is to hit it as far as possible hopefully straight.  A swinger is someone who tries to hit the shot required whether that be a fade or draw, high or low in a controlled manner.  In my experience there isn't one that is necessarily better than the other but that is how I always seem to classify them.

 

 

 

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Aren’t swingers folks with “open marriages”???


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A swinger has fluid motion and good tempo.

I would pull the butt of the grip hard toward the ball and hit late from the inside.

Shorter backswing,

flatter,

and less relaxed follow-through with forward lean, sometimes with recoil, is hitting.

It's probably more a necessity of body type than choice, but i was definitely a hitter.

 

 

 

 

 

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I have always heard the difference is how each generates speed. Below is an article thats gives a decent description.

https://golftips.golfweek.com/difference-between-swinging-hitting-20229.html

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Beginners are hitters. Greater concern with making contact and focused solely on the ball.

 

Seasoned golfers and better players are swingers. Better balance, better rhythm to make contact through the ball.

 

In order to impart a proper roll on a putt or to give your ball a chance you’ll swing the club rather than strike as a hitter.

 

 

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17 hours ago, PMookie said:

Aren’t swingers folks with “open marriages”???


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Then obviously those who'd say "I'd Hit That" are hitters!! 

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I think hitter v swinger is a distinction invented by writers of instructional literature, in order to get more readers.  I think every swing has an element of "hit" in it, along with a certain roundish "swing" element.  It may also be a distinction that helps some players, but not all.  Maybe someone is too passive coming into impact, and needs to feel an actual hit to get more distance.  Maybe another guy is coming over the top and flipping into the ball, and needs to become more focused on body movement and sequence, needs to swing.  

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More bogus junk from online experts looking making a fast buck.Its a golf swing and will always be a swing.Any intention of hitting by an amateur turns into Ott-hit fat early-bad bad golf.Walk away from any mention of this junk 

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I'd agree with these assessments, imo...

 

 

Beginners are hitters. Greater concern with making contact and focused solely on the ball.

 

Beginners are definitely more inwardly focused on getting the clubhead onto the ball.

 

I'd also suggest that hitters tend to be more handsy and have more of an arm swing. An accomplished hitter may not have a golf swing you'd want to emulate but they may be able to play golf well and shoot low scores.

 

 

Seasoned golfers and better players are swingers. Better balance, better rhythm to make contact through the ball.

 

Better players have learned through experience to be more outwardly- and target-focused. They use their legs and body to advantage to truly swing the club _through_ the ball (eg. Big Easy, Louis Oosthuisen) and look good doing it.

 

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More bogus junk from online experts looking making a fast buck.Its a golf swing and will always be a swing.Any intention of hitting by an amateur turns into Ott-hit fat early-bad bad golf.Walk away from any mention of this junk 



For fun, try and find some older Golf Digest magazines. Ones from the late 90’s where you’ll find nearly the exact same swing tips and suggestions as today.

It’s not easy to re-invent the wheel.


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20 hours ago, bens197 said:

For fun, try and find some older Golf Digest magazines. Ones from the late 90’s where you’ll find nearly the exact same swing tips and suggestions as today.
It’s not easy to re-invent the wheel.
 

 

 

Yup, hitters v. swingers, and in the next volume, how a 15-handicapper NEEDS to work the ball both ways on command.

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These two terms are funny to me related to golf. Couples I think many would put in the swingers category yet he was pretty long off the tee which is more of a hitters trait. I think many would put Rors in the hitters category but his swing is smooth and powerful and would be more a swinger imo.

it would probably be better to categorize by power vs finesse.  This way you could separate a DJ from ZJ or Kuch as an example.

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I wouldn't associate "hitting" with long off the tee.

Long requires a bigger swing.  Hitters tend to have shorter backswings and follow-throughs.

They use strong forearms and the hands stay cocked later into the swing.

Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino were both hitters. Neither had a fluid, pretty swing.

Jack was a swinger.   Snead and Hogan were definitely swingers too.

Tiger is a swinger, possibly to his detriment, because he has tremendous forearm strength to hit late from the inside ,

and because he obsessed so much about his swing that he was always changing it.

Most of the modern players are flexible swingers.  Hitters tend to be shorter and thicker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The difference, IMHO, is the sound.  Hitters or Swingers don't consistently create that hissing sound that Ball Strikers produced.   I agree with @DaveP043that these descriptive terms are recent fabrications by the fast growing instructional golf market.  I've been watching a lot more of The Golf Channel in the last couple of years and am amazed at the number gizmos and gadgets being used and sold as training aides.  

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4 hours ago, NiftyNiblick said:

I wouldn't associate "hitting" with long off the tee.

Long requires a bigger swing.  Hitters tend to have shorter backswings and follow-throughs.

They use strong forearms and the hands stay cocked later into the swing.

Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino were both hitters. Neither had a fluid, pretty swing.

Jack was a swinger.   Snead and Hogan were definitely swingers too.

Tiger is a swinger, possibly to his detriment, because he has tremendous forearm strength to hit late from the inside ,

and because he obsessed so much about his swing that he was always changing it.

Most of the modern players are flexible swingers.  Hitters tend to be shorter and thicker.

 

 

I guess rahm and Finau are exceptions to your rule about long requiring a bigger swing. 

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54 minutes ago, NiftyNiblick said:

I'm not familiar with them.

I'm not a big pro golf fan.

All rules have exceptions, though.

They both have very short backswings and are two of the longer players on tour.  Distance isn’t dependent on swing length. You say jack was a swinger yet he had a pretty big swing and his distance would put him in the hitter club.

the terms hitter and imo are useless in golf. I saw over on wrx a discussion related to these terms and someone using their terms to describe who could/should play a couple Project X shafts. It gave me a good chuckle because I’ve seeb the opposite type of golfer the person was describing play both of the shafts.

instructors, fitters, companies have to find terms to market themselves or skill sets to the public and imo that’s all these terms do

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My point was that in my mind, hitter versus swinger wasn't primarily a matter of results,  that including distance.

To me, hitter versus swinger is only a matter of what the stroke looks like.

I see swinging as smooth centrifugal force while hitting is muscling the ball with a late wrist break hitting from the inside.

Thicker, less flexible players tend to be hitters in my mind's eye.

 

 

 

 

 

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For me, the difference between swinger and hitter is swinging focuses on the movement of the arms to create speed and is usually associated with the classic players of years past; it was difficult to play any other way when clubs had hickory shafts. Hitting focuses on using the whole body to create angles and appeals to modern players, many of whom are young and strong and perhaps eager to prove they're athletes.

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1 hour ago, DonW468 said:

For me, the difference between swinger and hitter is swinging focuses on the movement of the arms to create speed and is usually associated with the classic players of years past; it was difficult to play any other way when clubs had hickory shafts. Hitting focuses on using the whole body to create angles and appeals to modern players, many of whom are young and strong and perhaps eager to prove they're athletes.

Would you consider Hogan, Jack, Arnie, Trevino and Player hitters or swingers

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There can be a difference, but there doesn’t have to be a difference between a swinger and a hitter. There are high hdcps and low hdcps in both camps. The only thing that really matters is intent and the task you decide on applying to the “hit” or “swing”. Your body is great at completing any task you give it.

You can “hit” the ball in any manner you can think of, just as you can “swing” through or at the ball in any manner. Intent is the key.


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8 hours ago, MindBodyGolf said:

There can be a difference, but there doesn’t have to be a difference between a swinger and a hitter. There are high hdcps and low hdcps in both camps. The only thing that really matters is intent and the task you decide on applying to the “hit” or “swing”. Your body is great at completing any task you give it.

You can “hit” the ball in any manner you can think of, just as you can “swing” through or at the ball in any manner. Intent is the key.

So are you saying that the difference isn't a physical one as much as a mental one?  That hit v. swing is really a feel thing, rather than a specific set of movements or sequence?  I wouldn't disagree with that, and I can see a change in feel (I need to "hit" a little more) as a productive thing for some players, and a detriment for others.

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So are you saying that the difference isn't a physical one as much as a mental one?  That hit v. swing is really a feel thing, rather than a specific set of movements or sequence?  I wouldn't disagree with that, and I can see a change in feel (I need to "hit" a little more) as a productive thing for some players, and a detriment for others.


Absolutely. I could have zero intent when signaling my body to hit the ball, or I could have an intent to hit down on it, hit up on it, hit the back of the ball, etc. Same with a “swing” thought. I could swing at the ball, swing at a target down the range or hole, swing through the ball, etc.

I think you can be successful with either, but you must have an intent that serves your goal with regards to what you want the ball to do. I think this is where a lot of amateurs miss out and something instruction in general doesn’t discuss often enough or at all. A lot of issues can be solved in a swing, just by specifying the task and giving your mind and body intent.




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I’ve thought about this post again and still believe the different methods are relative to ability.

A hitters momentum will quit at the ball in an effort to focus solely on contact.

Swingers are balanced golfers who are confident in returning the face to the ball. They let their momentum continue through the ball.

Save any further philosophy it doesn’t seem that complicated of a concept.


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1 hour ago, bens197 said:

I’ve thought about this post again and still believe the different methods are relative to ability.

A hitters momentum will quit at the ball in an effort to focus solely on contact.

Swingers are balanced golfers who are confident in returning the face to the ball. They let their momentum continue through the ball.

Save any further philosophy it doesn’t seem that complicated of a concept.



 

I don't define a hitter as someone whose momentum stops at the ball.

Palmer, Player, and Trevino were all hitters whose momentum didn't stop at the ball.

A hitter's follow through generally flies up the target line rather than releasing smoothly behind the hitter's back

as is what happens with swingers.

Hitters finish leaning forward rather than with a reverse C-shaped back.

 

 

 

 

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Imho, a hit is predominantly a push . In TGM  terms , the swing is being powered predominantly with the straightening thrust action of the right arm (release of 'Power Accumulator PA1' - feels like a push on the handle) similar to the punch shot with hands leading the clubhead into impact.  Swinging is usually defined as a pulling action where CF forces get induced by the 'Law Of The Flail'  whereas hitting overrides that CF effect. The paradox here is all muscles in the human body pull  (ie. muscle 'contractions' shorten and stretch) so in theory the feel of a push is really a muscular pull ( you can find contradictions all over the place in golf theory if you look deeply enough).

I suspect in a real life golf action , there is a mix of both hitting and swinging, so maybe we are all 'swing-hitters' and maybe the categorisation of  a golf action being one or the other can get blurry. But I can imagine if you are a strong muscular bulky individual (especially in the upper body/shoulder area) who has problems creating a full range of upper pivot motion to 'swing'  the golf club, you may decide to use your 'shoulder girdle /triceps/biceps'  to 'hit'  power the golf swing.

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