MGS Test Results - How Fast Should You Swing Your Driver??

[GolfSpy TCB]

https://mygolfspy.com/how-fast-should-you-swing-your-driver/

What do you think about the testing and the results... ???  Let's talk about it here!!

[null]

Without having read the blog post, the answer is as fast as comfortable/repeatable.

Dr Sasho Mackenzie did this test with all types of golfers, and the results overwhelmingly showed that golfers had better dispersion with full speed swings vs when they tried to hit a "fairway finder"

[GolfSpy TCB]

42 minutes ago, Golfspy_Lukes said:

Without having read the blog post, the answer is as fast as comfortable.

Dr Sasho Mackenzie did this test with all types of golfers, and the results overwhelmingly showed that golfers had better dispersion with full speed swings vs when they tried to hit a "fairway finder"

I agree with this.  I can't say that I ever "throttle back" my swing.   Granted, my fastest is slower than most golfers "throttled" swing, but I feel like I am swinging at full controllable speed on every tee.  My question is... and isn't answered in the blog post when they say "simply swing harder".... is How.  Speed Training?  yes.  Physical Fitness?  yes.  Walking to the first tee without understanding HOW to swing harder and expecting tighter dispersion and longer drives down the middle of the fairway..... no.  

"Simply Swing Harder" is kind of like telling someone "Try not to worry so much".  Great advice... for the person trying to exit the uncomfortable conversation with someone having an anxiety attack... not so much for the one suffering.

[cnosil]

5 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

 My question is... and isn't answered in the blog post when they say "simply swing harder".... is How.  Speed Training?  yes.  Physical Fitness?  yes.  Walking to the first tee without understanding HOW to swing harder and expecting tighter dispersion and longer drives down the middle of the fairway..... no.  

"Simply Swing Harder" is kind of like telling someone "Try not to worry so much".  Great advice... for the person trying to exit the uncomfortable conversation with someone having an anxiety attack... not so much for the one suffering.

I participated in the test.   Our directions were swing normal, swing like a fairway finder (75%ish), and swing as fast as you can.   For me that worked out to be 94ish, 104ish, and 111ish.  The blog isn’t about how to get faster  it mor about the golfe mindset. 

 My normal on the course swing is in the 104 range and based on the test  I am losing about 25 yards by not swinging as fast as I can.   Yes, during a round that fast swing can get me in trouble,  but I would need to do a season long evaluation to see an actual impact to scoring.   I kind of liken it to the angry swing we occasionally make after a bad hole; it’s surprising how often that tee shot is long and straight .  What I saw with the fairway finder swing was low spin which also created some undesirable results.  
 

None of the approaches is a guaranteed way to hit the driver better.  Players make decisions and have to do their own evaluations.   This is like the should I play my driver posts….If you have most of your results ending up in penalty or unplayable situations then no; If you get mostly playable lies, then yes.   But in general hitting another club off the tee or trying to dial back your swing doesn’t provide significantly better results.  

[GolfSpy TCB]

6 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I participated in the test.   Our directions were swing normal, swing like a fairway finder (75%ish), and swing as fast as you can.   For me that worked out to be 94ish, 104ish, and 111ish.  The blog isn’t about how to get faster  it mor about the golfe mindset. 

 My normal on the course swing is in the 104 range and based on the test  I am losing about 25 yards by not swinging as fast as I can.   Yes, during a round that fast swing can get me in trouble,  but I would need to do a season long evaluation to see an actual impact to scoring.   I kind of liken it to the angry swing we occasionally make after a bad hole; it’s surprising how often that tee shot is long and straight .  What I saw with the fairway finder swing was low spin which also created some undesirable results.  
 

None of the approaches is a guaranteed way to hit the driver better.  Players make decisions and have to do their own evaluations.   This is like the should I play my driver posts….If you have most of your results ending up in penalty or unplayable situations then no; If you get mostly playable lies, then yes.   But in general hitting another club off the tee or trying to dial back your swing doesn’t provide significantly better results.  

Thanks for the feedback on the testing @cnosil... and thanks for participating in the test itself!  

I think it is an opportunity lost to have a small amount of discussion in the blog on the "how" though, even if it is an easy link to another blog post.   

[GolfSpy_APH]

Add in so many of us have slightly different swings different days and i can see why swinging hard would mean better results overall. 

[Siamese Moose]

I am intrigued by the results, and I'll play around at the range (going into cold weather here, not much chance on the course any more). Some years ago when the Swing Speed Radar first came out I got one, and at the time using it I only saw a 1 mph difference in regular vs. all out, but I was nearly 20 mph faster back then (shoulder surgeries suck!). I'll try again. One difference in my play, is that my "fairway finder" is not an easier swing, but instead I tee the ball lower. That naturally results in a lower, but usually predictably straight flight. (That was suggested by my instructor.)

[cnosil]

1 minute ago, Siamese Moose said:

at the time using it I only saw a 1 mph difference in regular vs. all out, but I was nearly 20 mph faster back then (shoulder surgeries suck!). 

I think  everyone is different.   I have probably slowed down my normal swing as a result of my lessons and a conscious effort to stop an overswing.   If I had done this test prior to my lessons, I probably would have had numbers that were pretty close.

[Kenny B]

3 hours ago, cnosil said:

I participated in the test.   Our directions were swing normal, swing like a fairway finder (75%ish), and swing as fast as you can.   For me that worked out to be 94ish, 104ish, and 111ish.  The blog isn’t about how to get faster  it mor about the golfe mindset. 

 My normal on the course swing is in the 104 range and based on the test  I am losing about 25 yards by not swinging as fast as I can.   Yes, during a round that fast swing can get me in trouble,  but I would need to do a season long evaluation to see an actual impact to scoring.   I kind of liken it to the angry swing we occasionally make after a bad hole; it’s surprising how often that tee shot is long and straight .  What I saw with the fairway finder swing was low spin which also created some undesirable results.  
 

None of the approaches is a guaranteed way to hit the driver better.  Players make decisions and have to do their own evaluations.   This is like the should I play my driver posts….If you have most of your results ending up in penalty or unplayable situations then no; If you get mostly playable lies, then yes.   But in general hitting another club off the tee or trying to dial back your swing doesn’t provide significantly better results.  

Thanks for your insight into the test.  I was going to make a comment on the blog, but I was pretty sure that this test would show up here.

My normal swing is a fairway finder... usually!  I have no need to throttle back and lose yards.  I need all the yards I can get, but "swinging faster/harder" doesn't always get me more yards and it does usually put me somewhere other than the fairway.  

3 hours ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

I agree with this.  I can't say that I ever "throttle back" my swing.   Granted, my fastest is slower than most golfers "throttled" swing, but I feel like I am swinging at full controllable speed on every tee.  My question is... and isn't answered in the blog post when they say "simply swing harder".... is How.  Speed Training?  yes.  Physical Fitness?  yes.  Walking to the first tee without understanding HOW to swing harder and expecting tighter dispersion and longer drives down the middle of the fairway..... no.  

"Simply Swing Harder" is kind of like telling someone "Try not to worry so much".  Great advice... for the person trying to exit the uncomfortable conversation with someone having an anxiety attack... not so much for the one suffering.

I have been looking for the How for years.  I've lost a lot of speed in my "over-the-hill" years, and I've been looking try gaining some of it back.  I love your analogy!!

[vandyland]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

I have probably slowed down my normal swing as a result of my lessons and a conscious effort to stop an overswing.

This is very much me. Once I started realizing key swing mistakes I make over and over the logical next step was swing thoughts and feels to battle those challenges. In a few cases it makes me more efficient and faster but by and large these feels slow me down because I need to make sure they happen in order to sequence correctly. Learning how to keep those feels and swing fast may be a new challenge for me. 

I think I will try AFTER the ball test so I don't lose all my prototype ProVs, haha.