Can you hit the ball too hard?

[scottmorrison]

I have only been playing this game for a couple of years and currently off a 21 h/cap. When playing with my regular 4 ball I always play 1-2 clubs less than the others but have issues with accuracy. I hit my drives a mile 250+ but again accuracy is a problem and hit my 5 iron 200 yrds with a nice draw. Question is am I hitting the ball too hard and therefore compromising on accuracy, if so how do I solve this? Distance is nothing without control...... Please help.

[bill reed]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

hi
when i play i swing about 90% with all my drives. if i swing at 100% i don't have the same control of the ball. i tool a long time to work out that you play better swinging at 90% and i yet to find i par 5 i can't reach in two that i could reach swinging at 100%.
i like playing on the fairway and let my friends swing at 100% and play there second out the rough. they might hit 10 yards longer than me but i play my second shot from the fairway more often.
cheers
bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

I don't believe in hitting it 'too hard'. You can always dial back your swing (as Bill has wisely mentioned) to gain some accuracy, but if you're dead accurate and short, there's not much you can do to get longer.

Start with what feels like 3/4 swings and see what develops.

[BrianW]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

My opinion is that there is little point in swinging a club at a speed faster than you can control the clubface, you will most probably loose distance and direction by hitting off centre and cutting across the ball. Swing as fast as you can while making good contact, you will probably be able to speed up later as you improve your coordination. You will also be surprised how far and straight you can hit when making great ball contact at lower speed.

[daviesec]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

I have only been playing this game for a couple of years and currently off a 21 h/cap. When playing with my regular 4 ball I always play 1-2 clubs less than the others but have issues with accuracy. I hit my drives a mile 250+ but again accuracy is a problem and hit my 5 iron 200 yrds with a nice draw. Question is am I hitting the ball too hard and therefore compromising on accuracy, if so how do I solve this? Distance is nothing without control...... Please help.

250+ with a driver, 200 yards with a 5 iron = 21 H/cap. How's your short game?

[AussieGolfBoy]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

scott. i have to agree with the posts already mentioned to your initial comment here so i'll add something different..

have you had a lesson with a pro???

this will probably be the best investment you could make and the pro will show you what you are doing wrong, allow you to keep "hitting it too hard", and build your game from here.

to me, it sounds like an alignment issue.. which isn't hard to fix and doesn't require a dramatic change in your current setup.

[rotator]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

Hi Scott,

AussieGolfBoy may be correct in saying it's possibly a minor issue that is causing your inaccuracy. With your driver distance and the ability to carve a 5 iron draw 200 yards, you have to striking the ball very solidly.

You might be interested in browsing some of the previous posts containing keywords like alignment, hitting to the right, spine angle etc. There are a lot of good ideas as to what other people have experienced as problems, and there are sound discussions and ideas as to causes and remedies.

A typical and frequent problem is alignment, as you may know. The majority of casual players, and the pros have to watch over it constantly, is alignment issues, and it's something that is difficult to catch. The swings could be grooved and the ball struck solidly, but the shot can go astray because the alignment is off. Misalignment could lead to other issues like an over-the-top swing, etc.

Ted

[scottmorrison]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

Thanks guys for taking time to answer my question. I'll take the time to review my allignment and see how that goes. Would there be an issue with the length of my shafts? I stand 6ft 4in without heels and play with standard length shafts.

[rotator]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

Hi Scott,

The standard measurement for club length fitting is the measuring of the of the wrist to floor dimension. See this chart which is typical.

http://www.turbopowerusa.net/clubfitting.htm

But, that does not always apply. You can be tall and have short arms, or have extremely long arms. You may set up to the ball upright or bent over. You may swing flat or upright.

Stewart Cink is about 6'-4" and he says he does not use longer than standard clubs.

Try the chart, and then assess where you stand re the other parameters.

Ted

[LowPost42]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

It completely depends on your setup. The club is designed for maximum effectiveness to be used at 90 degrees to your spine angle.

Wrist to floor (WTF) is just a starting point but is truly, truly no indicator of where you should end up.

Find a fitter, it beats the hell out of guessing.

[GreeBoman]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

when you miss is it always the same shot?
e.g. are your "non straight" shots always a slice or hook or can it be anything?

while a lot of pro's advocate swinging hard, by definition "too hard" means that you are swinging harder than is beneficial. If you miss the sweetspot by swinging hard then not only do you loose distance you also loose accuracy so find how hard is "hard but sweet" for you and use that.

[gatorguy146]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

I've been working on hitting punch, or knockdown shots into greens lately where I'll hit the ball maybe half as high as a normal shot and it will only have about 5 yards of draw. I just take one more club than I would if I were to take a full swing, and I feel like it gave me more control, still a work in progress but it has given me much more confidence.

[bill reed]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

hi Gatorguy
the punch shot can be a very valuable shot to have in your locker.
great for the windy days and also for that go-to shot you need to be there 9 times out of 10.
well worth puting the time in to have that when you need it.
cheers
Bill

[BrianW]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

while a lot of pro's advocate swinging hard, by definition "too hard" means that you are swinging harder than is beneficial. If you miss the sweetspot by swinging hard then not only do you loose distance you also loose accuracy so find how hard is "hard but sweet" for you and use that.

Good advice

[TheHoyster13]

Re: Can you hit the ball too hard?

As long as you can stay in balance intil your finish you can swing as hard as you like.