2020 Forum Member Review - SuperSpeed Training System

[ChasingScratch 1,328]

[quote post="651558"
I find it a little odd that the green and red sticks have been mostly flat and very consistent (right-handed) while there is a lot more variation in the blue stick. Just an observation as I can offer no reason for it to be so. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.


My blue stick is the only one that has shown massive jumps as well. It is usually just a few mph shy of my green stick normal swings.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[edingc 5,377]

4 hours ago, MaxEntropy said:

As a Level 1 blog post is being prepared for the entire group, I thought I’d summarize my experience so far. I am just over 2 weeks into the Level 2 protocol, which adds kneeling swings. Below are some thoughts and data on my journey, so far.

To recap, I started this program with a max driver speed of 102 (min was 93, mean was 96, median was 94). Although I am tracking my progress for every type of swing, both dominant and non-dominant, to keep things shorter, I won’t show them all. If anyone is interest, let me know and I can post and discuss.

Since this is about driver swing speed, we’ll start there.

Although there are some peaks and valleys and Level 1 ended poorly, my “after” driver speed is mostly unchanged. I would argue the before speed is what matters since it is the swing that gets taken to the golf course. It did not take long to get to the point that “before” nearly matched “after” with a couple occasions where it exceeded it. As a former higher-speed player, I am wondering if the process of “remembering” speed happens quicker than “retraining” for speed?

How does all this translate to the course? When I filter my Arccos rounds to everything before starting the SS training, here are my Driver stats.

When I filter to only the driver data since I started SuperSpeed:

A smart distance increase of 13 yards is more than a full club less on second shots, while the high end of my range could mean the difference between a gap wedge and a 8 iron. That difference is huge and could easily translate to dramatic improvements in my game, assuming I can figure out how keep the ball in play. If we assume the speed increases also translate to irons, it could be even more beneficial. Here is an example from a few weeks ago that perfectly illustrates the point:

Prior to this drive, the shortest club I ever recall hitting into that green was an 8 iron. Usually it is a 6 or 7 iron. Ignore the 3-putt. 

If you have been following along, you know that almost all of us reported some initial issues with ball-striking/accuracy that appear to have been a by-product of the protocols. I know for me, I developed more of a habit of high flares to the right. This type of shot is my “big miss” anyway, but it happened more often than normal early on. I also topped more tee balls than is typical for me – yes, I do it more than I'd care to admit, but I did it a lot more often in my first few rounds while doing the training. Lately, my ball striking has returned to its normal levels of inconsistency and I’ve figured out what I need to do to keep the ball in play (executing is a different issue, of course), so hopefully those issues are now behind me. Will they resurface with the next jump in speed that is expected? Who knows, but I hope not. There is also the question of tempo. @SuperSpeed Golf has suggested we not worry about tempo and chase the fastest possible swings by including a fast backswing. I have found that when I adopt a “tempo-be-damned” attitude, I tend to end up with slower swings – there are times I can feel I’m fighting myself as I approach the top of my backswing .As someone who struggles with tempo and tends to get quick, I will have to make a concerted effort to focus on good tempo on the course. Over the last few weeks, I have been able to effectively control it, aside from some bad swings.

One other item that has been an unintended benefit for me – the health of my back. For the past 5 years, or so, there has been near constant discomfort/dull pain in my right-side sacroiliac area. I have gone to chiropractors, done a variety of stretches, and started going to the gym regularly with some relief, but there is tightness or degrees of pain after every round of golf. The degrees range from “hey I’m kind of sore” to “holy crap, I’m struggling to get out of my car.” Fortunately, the latter is rare. As I reported in the thread recently, my back feels better than it has in years. I assume it is a combination of the dynamic warm-up and the protocols, but I finally feel like I am able to make a full turn and follow-through without fear of feeling any pain. I’m no medical expert and don’t want to suggest this will help with your back pain, I’m simply reporting my experience, anecdotal as it might be.

Just for the sake of completeness, here are a few charts of the green, blue, and red sticks, both right- and left-handed.

I find it a little odd that the green and red sticks have been mostly flat and very consistent (right-handed) while there is a lot more variation in the blue stick. Just an observation as I can offer no reason for it to be so. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

TL;DR Summary – SuperSpeed works for me. Proof is in the on-course data.

Fire away with any questions/suggestions you may have.

 

This is great! So awesome to see it carry out onto the course, and to hear that your back is feeling good!

[jlukes 12,080]

Ordered a shotscope v3 so it will be fun to start getting some numbers. I have my distances from when I used arccos last year that I’ll be able to use as a comparison

[edingc 5,377]

For a long time I've been frustrated with big numbers during my SuperSpeed workouts and then less than stellar results on the course. I've been working with my coach to get my driver swing sorted out, and I'm starting to get more confidence in my swing now, and SuperSpeed is definitely paying off.

We've been hot and dry lately, so I'm getting a good chunk of roll, but during this morning's round I recorded drives of 281, 280, 274, 285 and 282 yards. Those are outrageous numbers for me. With the same driver last year, I only recorded four drives all season that topped 270 yards.

The 274-yarder actually hit a tree on the fly, and I suspect it would have rolled out much further if not for that. It was flat out bombed.

[Getoffmylawn 1,020]

1 minute ago, edingc said:

For a long time I've been frustrated with big numbers during my SuperSpeed workouts and then less than stellar results on the course. I've been working with my coach to get my driver swing sorted out, and I'm starting to get more confidence in my swing now, and SuperSpeed is definitely paying off.

We've been hot and dry lately, so I'm getting a good chunk of roll, but during this morning's round I recorded drives of 281, 280, 274, 285 and 282 yards. Those are outrageous numbers for me. With the same driver last year, I only recorded four drives all season that topped 270 yards.

The 274-yarder actually hit a tree on the fly, and I suspect it would have rolled out much further if not for that. It was flat out bombed.

Congrats.  I just started Level 2 and am eagerly awaiting signs of a jump to show up on the course myself.  

[ChasingScratch 1,328]

47 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Ordered a shotscope v3 so it will be fun to start getting some numbers. I have my distances from when I used arccos last year that I’ll be able to use as a comparison

I read the MGS article last night and was thinking about pulling the trigger on that setup.  I have some birthday money and PGA Tour Superstore money......

[ChasingScratch 1,328]

47 minutes ago, edingc said:

For a long time I've been frustrated with big numbers during my SuperSpeed workouts and then less than stellar results on the course. I've been working with my coach to get my driver swing sorted out, and I'm starting to get more confidence in my swing now, and SuperSpeed is definitely paying off.

We've been hot and dry lately, so I'm getting a good chunk of roll, but during this morning's round I recorded drives of 281, 280, 274, 285 and 282 yards. Those are outrageous numbers for me. With the same driver last year, I only recorded four drives all season that topped 270 yards.

The 274-yarder actually hit a tree on the fly, and I suspect it would have rolled out much further if not for that. It was flat out bombed.

Heck yeah bud!!  It is fun to see a bunker or hazard that you need to hit a bomb over to carry it and then to actually do it.  It's so much fun!

[Apolloshowl 1,849]

Fitting Update:

I went in today to do a fitting my driver as pricing for drivers over in Switzerland are very very pricey and rather then paying double I figured it would be good to get a head start on it all and do a fit so that I could potentially move into a new driver. A few things to take note of is that I only had in stock options as the move is soon and I don't have time order something in. I did feel bad for the fitter as they were busy too and he was great, but they were trying to slam fittings in with only one bay open. 
I also want to include a bit of background about my swing - although I don't have any driver swings to post I believe there are some on my youtube channel (apolloshowl) and if not there are plenty of iron swings. Its pretty smooth and although I am not the most consistent it works and I have been putting work in to improve it bit by bit. I will try and find a link or make a new video at some point. 
- I have had a tendency to have a negative AOA which has caused some lost yardage and high spin rates in the past. 
- Swing speed has always been around 98-101 I felt I could maybe ramp it up, but the overall speed may be 105 max and results wouldn't necessary help if I did swing for the fences. 
- Grip is pretty neutral, maybe a hair bias towards the strong side as I use to fight a slice.
- Ball flight is normally a stronger draw, can be a hook or a straight push. That being said I trust my driver and when I do see the flight go right to left I am a bit surprised. That being said I am working on neutralizing it and won't be sad to see a nice fade become the new norm. 
Okay with that out of the way a quick run over the driver: Callaway Epic Sub Zero 9 degree lofted to 10 with an Aldila Rogue Max 65 Gram Stiff Shaft. Weight back. Solid performer overall and just a good club, I have hit it well and although it isn't the most forgiving I still love the shape, look at address and the overall performance it provides me. 

Sorry for the long winded intro to this, but I think its all relavent.
I started my warm up and saw some MASSIVE slices. Honestly couldn't say I was overly surprised. I had a bit of a struggle finding a aim point and swing being indoors, that being said after a few swings I did find what I would call my normal swing and hit a few solid drives to give me a baseline. 
I also tried the following drivers- Taylormade SIM/ Sim Max (Best of the bunch, however couldn't find a shaft that would allow for consistent strikes, had longest straightest drives overall)
                                                        - Callaway Mavrick (Second to SIM Max, however again shaft was a issue, only 50 gram shafts)
                                                        - Mizuno ST200  (Lowest spinning of them all, BUT it had to be taped due to no demo so really couldn't accurately see numbers)
                                                        - Cobra Speedzone (good not great performer, solid and had the best shaft option for me, however weighting felt different)

So although I tried a variety of in stock shafts, heads and more we sadly didn't find anything that would be of any real benefit for me. The Epic Sub Zero was still the best shaft head combo and although not the straightest definitely the furthest. Thats the bad news, I really wanted to come out with a new driver, but it just wasn't feasible for me or did it make sense to make the leap to a new one. 

The good news is as follows my swing speed on average for all of those drives 112! a massive increase from previous. Second bit my angle of attack was now 2-3 up! woohoo for me. I do honestly believe that SuperSpeed has a big part in that because the swings are all in the air and not having to focus on hitting a ball. Finally ball speed was up as well on all accounts. Yes the numbers weren't amazing and I didn't have my best day, but I did have several that cracked 300 and found a good reason to stick with my current driver. 

TLDR: Went for fitting, my current driver is the best for me. Swing Speed way up, Ball Speed up and still have a good bit of money in my wallet!

[ChasingScratch 1,328]

27 minutes ago, Apolloshowl said:

Fitting Update:

I went in today to do a fitting my driver as pricing for drivers over in Switzerland are very very pricey and rather then paying double I figured it would be good to get a head start on it all and do a fit so that I could potentially move into a new driver. A few things to take note of is that I only had in stock options as the move is soon and I don't have time order something in. I did feel bad for the fitter as they were busy too and he was great, but they were trying to slam fittings in with only one bay open. 
I also want to include a bit of background about my swing - although I don't have any driver swings to post I believe there are some on my youtube channel (apolloshowl) and if not there are plenty of iron swings. Its pretty smooth and although I am not the most consistent it works and I have been putting work in to improve it bit by bit. I will try and find a link or make a new video at some point. 
- I have had a tendency to have a negative AOA which has caused some lost yardage and high spin rates in the past. 
- Swing speed has always been around 98-101 I felt I could maybe ramp it up, but the overall speed may be 105 max and results wouldn't necessary help if I did swing for the fences. 
- Grip is pretty neutral, maybe a hair bias towards the strong side as I use to fight a slice.
- Ball flight is normally a stronger draw, can be a hook or a straight push. That being said I trust my driver and when I do see the flight go right to left I am a bit surprised. That being said I am working on neutralizing it and won't be sad to see a nice fade become the new norm. 
Okay with that out of the way a quick run over the driver: Callaway Epic Sub Zero 9 degree lofted to 10 with an Aldila Rogue Max 65 Gram Stiff Shaft. Weight back. Solid performer overall and just a good club, I have hit it well and although it isn't the most forgiving I still love the shape, look at address and the overall performance it provides me. 

Sorry for the long winded intro to this, but I think its all relavent.
I started my warm up and saw some MASSIVE slices. Honestly couldn't say I was overly surprised. I had a bit of a struggle finding a aim point and swing being indoors, that being said after a few swings I did find what I would call my normal swing and hit a few solid drives to give me a baseline. 
I also tried the following drivers- Taylormade SIM/ Sim Max (Best of the bunch, however couldn't find a shaft that would allow for consistent strikes, had longest straightest drives overall)
                                                        - Callaway Mavrick (Second to SIM Max, however again shaft was a issue, only 50 gram shafts)
                                                        - Mizuno ST200  (Lowest spinning of them all, BUT it had to be taped due to no demo so really couldn't accurately see numbers)
                                                        - Cobra Speedzone (good not great performer, solid and had the best shaft option for me, however weighting felt different)

So although I tried a variety of in stock shafts, heads and more we sadly didn't find anything that would be of any real benefit for me. The Epic Sub Zero was still the best shaft head combo and although not the straightest definitely the furthest. Thats the bad news, I really wanted to come out with a new driver, but it just wasn't feasible for me or did it make sense to make the leap to a new one. 

The good news is as follows my swing speed on average for all of those drives 112! a massive increase from previous. Second bit my angle of attack was now 2-3 up! woohoo for me. I do honestly believe that SuperSpeed has a big part in that because the swings are all in the air and not having to focus on hitting a ball. Finally ball speed was up as well on all accounts. Yes the numbers weren't amazing and I didn't have my best day, but I did have several that cracked 300 and found a good reason to stick with my current driver. 

TLDR: Went for fitting, my current driver is the best for me. Swing Speed way up, Ball Speed up and still have a good bit of money in my wallet!

I've always found that ball flight is a little bit exaggerated on simulators.  When I was fit for clubs at Club Champion with Trackman, it was showing massive hooks.  I asked the fitter if this was what was happening and he said, "no, when we go outside you'll see baby draws."  We went outside and sure enough, the purest little 2-5yd draws you've ever seen.  So I wouldn't get too caught up on the slicing on a simulator with driver.  Just my thoughts.  

[ChasingScratch 1,328]

My Week 5 video will be posted later today.

Just wanted to shout out @SuperSpeed Golf and Kyle specifically.

I just got off the phone with Kyle and we had a phenomenal conversation.  He is very down-to-earth and one of the most genuine people I've met.

These guys are top-notch when it comes to customer service and relationships with their customers (rare to find in the massive golf industry).

Some notes from our conversation:

1) He agrees that I look and sound faster than when I started.  He has been watching swings for over 7yrs and seen thousands upon thousands.  He said it definitely seems like I'm faster than the readings I'm getting.

2) We're going to try a new PRGR unit to see if it is the unit or if we need to work more on other areas to give me a jump.

3) More to come after a message to our MGS moderator for approval.

Again, thanks Kyle, you are the man!

[ChasingScratch 1,328]

Level 1 Week 5 Training Video is live:

 

[Lacassem 4,647]

4 minutes ago, ChasingScratch said:

Level 1 Week 5 Training Video is live:

 

Love the video Definitly looks and sounds faster either way 120 DSS is impressive man 

[Apolloshowl 1,849]

Hmm Mizunos are only $400 right now....

[Getoffmylawn 1,020]

51 minutes ago, ChasingScratch said:

Level 1 Week 5 Training Video is live:

 

Awesome job, great review.

[tony@CIC 14,290]

As a Level 1 blog post is being prepared for the entire group, I thought I’d summarize my experience so far. I am just over 2 weeks into the Level 2 protocol, which adds kneeling swings. Below are some thoughts and data on my journey, so far.
To recap, I started this program with a max driver speed of 102 (min was 93, mean was 96, median was 94). Although I am tracking my progress for every type of swing, both dominant and non-dominant, to keep things shorter, I won’t show them all. If anyone is interest, let me know and I can post and discuss.
Since this is about driver swing speed, we’ll start there.

Although there are some peaks and valleys and Level 1 ended poorly, my “after” driver speed is mostly unchanged. I would argue the before speed is what matters since it is the swing that gets taken to the golf course. It did not take long to get to the point that “before” nearly matched “after” with a couple occasions where it exceeded it. As a former higher-speed player, I am wondering if the process of “remembering” speed happens quicker than “retraining” for speed?
How does all this translate to the course? When I filter my Arccos rounds to everything before starting the SS training, here are my Driver stats.

When I filter to only the driver data since I started SuperSpeed:

A smart distance increase of 13 yards is more than a full club less on second shots, while the high end of my range could mean the difference between a gap wedge and a 8 iron. That difference is huge and could easily translate to dramatic improvements in my game, assuming I can figure out how keep the ball in play. If we assume the speed increases also translate to irons, it could be even more beneficial. Here is an example from a few weeks ago that perfectly illustrates the point:

Prior to this drive, the shortest club I ever recall hitting into that green was an 8 iron. Usually it is a 6 or 7 iron. Ignore the 3-putt. 
If you have been following along, you know that almost all of us reported some initial issues with ball-striking/accuracy that appear to have been a by-product of the protocols. I know for me, I developed more of a habit of high flares to the right. This type of shot is my “big miss” anyway, but it happened more often than normal early on. I also topped more tee balls than is typical for me – yes, I do it more than I'd care to admit, but I did it a lot more often in my first few rounds while doing the training. Lately, my ball striking has returned to its normal levels of inconsistency and I’ve figured out what I need to do to keep the ball in play (executing is a different issue, of course), so hopefully those issues are now behind me. Will they resurface with the next jump in speed that is expected? Who knows, but I hope not. There is also the question of tempo. [mention=84467]SuperSpeed Golf[/mention] has suggested we not worry about tempo and chase the fastest possible swings by including a fast backswing. I have found that when I adopt a “tempo-be-damned” attitude, I tend to end up with slower swings – there are times I can feel I’m fighting myself as I approach the top of my backswing .As someone who struggles with tempo and tends to get quick, I will have to make a concerted effort to focus on good tempo on the course. Over the last few weeks, I have been able to effectively control it, aside from some bad swings.
One other item that has been an unintended benefit for me – the health of my back. For the past 5 years, or so, there has been near constant discomfort/dull pain in my right-side sacroiliac area. I have gone to chiropractors, done a variety of stretches, and started going to the gym regularly with some relief, but there is tightness or degrees of pain after every round of golf. The degrees range from “hey I’m kind of sore” to “holy crap, I’m struggling to get out of my car.” Fortunately, the latter is rare. As I reported in the thread recently, my back feels better than it has in years. I assume it is a combination of the dynamic warm-up and the protocols, but I finally feel like I am able to make a full turn and follow-through without fear of feeling any pain. I’m no medical expert and don’t want to suggest this will help with your back pain, I’m simply reporting my experience, anecdotal as it might be.
Just for the sake of completeness, here are a few charts of the green, blue, and red sticks, both right- and left-handed.



I find it a little odd that the green and red sticks have been mostly flat and very consistent (right-handed) while there is a lot more variation in the blue stick. Just an observation as I can offer no reason for it to be so. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
TL;DR Summary – SuperSpeed works for me. Proof is in the on-course data.
Fire away with any questions/suggestions you may have.
 

Blake, great review . On your back issues I wonder if it's the warm up exercises that are helping your back vs. the kneeling swings.


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[MaxEntropy 5,967]

43 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

Blake, great review . On your back issues I wonder if it's the warm up exercises that are helping your back vs. the kneeling swings.


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

Thanks. My back started improving before we started the kneeling settings and I'm pretty confident the warm-ups are part of my "cure" too.

[tchat07 899]

Hit some kind of something yesterday with my speeds. Saw new highs of 138 (blue right) 122 (blue left) 134 (red right) 117 (red left) and 132 (driver post). Hopefully this is representing a new jump and now just a good day!

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[ChasingScratch 1,328]

Hit some kind of something yesterday with my speeds. Saw new highs of 138 (blue right) 122 (blue left) 134 (red right) 117 (red left) and 132 (driver post). Hopefully this is representing a new jump and now just a good day!

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

Now that is motoring!! Great work.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[phatcatkev 25]

Hey everyone! I’m new to my golf spy and found this thread super helpful. 
 

I can’t seem to find a search function, so please just point me in the right direction if this is repetitive. 
 

What radar/monitor is the best for the super speed sticks? 
 

The new one has some awesome features but not sure if the normal radar works better. 

[tony@CIC 14,290]

6 hours ago, phatcatkev said:

Hey everyone! I’m new to my golf spy and found this thread super helpful. 
 

I can’t seem to find a search function, so please just point me in the right direction if this is repetitive. 
 

What radar/monitor is the best for the super speed sticks? 
 

The new one has some awesome features but not sure if the normal radar works better. 

Welcome @phatcatkev glad you found this thread useful. We are using the PRGR monitor which is recommended by Superspeed. I guess you could use the new SC300 which doesn't require a ball to capture swing speed. For $200, the PRGR seems to do the job. 

As to the search feature, it's a small box in the upper right  - adjacent to "Streams". I found it works pretty well, although some just use a google search.