Drills for building club head speed

[Cams154]

Good Morning!
Over the last year I have dropped almost 10 mph off of my swing speed. Yesterday at our clubs demo day I was avg around 96-98 mph. This was down from 108-110 from last years demo day. At 28 yrs old I refuse to beleive that father time has gotten to me so soon.
Any drills or advice you would like to share would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Cams

[RandomHero1090]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Good Morning!
Over the last year I have dropped almost 10 mph off of my swing speed. Yesterday at our clubs demo day I was avg around 96-98 mph. This was down from 108-110 from last years demo day. At 28 yrs old I refuse to beleive that father time has gotten to me so soon.
Any drills or advice you would like to share would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Cams

The two that I use….

1)Horizontal Swing Drill – Basically swing your club (or weighted training club, speed stix) like a baseball bat. There are so many ways to go about using a horizontal swing as a drill. Some people use the step ladder approach (5 swings at 50%, 5 at 75%, 5 at 100%, 5 at 110%). Some people just practice cranking out swings on the “speed stix” and try to improve their top speed.
2)Min to Max Driving Drill – Hit 5 balls with your driver a variety of distances, BUT, you have to take a FULL swing. It’s harder than it sounds. 1st ball you want to travel 50 yards. 2nd ball 100, 3rd 150, 4th 200. 5th 250 (or regular driver swing). Then you want to hit a 6th ball as “hard” as you can WHILE staying in balance and keeping the sync you have just built up in the previous 5 swings. This drill is very effective. I have added about 30 yards to my drive over the last 2 years by doing this once a week.

[Martin Levac]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Cams, have you ever trained for strength? If not, it may be worth a look. Getting stronger will only help you anyway.

[Cams154]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Cams, have you ever trained for strength? If not, it may be worth a look. Getting stronger will only help you anyway.

Yes, I used to be a work out nut, but after I got done with college it wasn't as necessary to throw alot of weights around. I still do work out, but I use lighter weight and more reps. This way I keep some flexibility.
At my size of 6'2'' 240lbs I don't think it as much of a strength issue as much as technique and trainig my fast twitch muscles.

Thanks for the responses so far

[gatorguy146]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

The two that I use….

1)Horizontal Swing Drill – Basically swing your club (or weighted training club, speed stix) like a baseball bat. There are so many ways to go about using a horizontal swing as a drill. Some people use the step ladder approach (5 swings at 50%, 5 at 75%, 5 at 100%, 5 at 110%). Some people just practice cranking out swings on the “speed stix” and try to improve their top speed.
2)Min to Max Driving Drill – Hit 5 balls with your driver a variety of distances, BUT, you have to take a FULL swing. It’s harder than it sounds. 1st ball you want to travel 50 yards. 2nd ball 100, 3rd 150, 4th 200. 5th 250 (or regular driver swing). Then you want to hit a 6th ball as “hard” as you can WHILE staying in balance and keeping the sync you have just built up in the previous 5 swings. This drill is very effective. I have added about 30 yards to my drive over the last 2 years by doing this once a week.

Sound like great drills, I'm going to try these this week and stick with them over to summer and see if I can't get some more yardage like you.

Thanks bro.

[takinitdeep]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Sound like great drills, I'm going to try these this week and stick with them over to summer and see if I can't get some more yardage like you.

Thanks bro.

I would work on lag. One drill I use to accentuate lag is to begin with driver swinging slow and easy but when I get to pre-impact, I purposefully hold off the release and sort of bunt the ball. Then, I swing normally and try to feel that right hand staying bent back until the very last microsecond.
By accentuating lag you will get greater distances without losing your swing balance.

[RandomHero1090]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Sound like great drills, I'm going to try these this week and stick with them over to summer and see if I can't get some more yardage like you.

Thanks bro.

No problem! Swinging "harder" doesn't mean "farther." Yes, faster clubhead speed will produce a longer shot. But a sync'd up swing, with great balance and tempo, with clubhead speed over 105mph will produce BOMBS. My average clubhead speed is just over 100mph and I hit it about 280 yards pretty consistently (260ish carry).

Good luck and let us know how you do!

[RandomHero1090]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

I would work on lag. One drill I use to accentuate lag is to begin with driver swinging slow and easy but when I get to pre-impact, I purposefully hold off the release and sort of bunt the ball. Then, I swing normally and try to feel that right hand staying bent back until the very last microsecond.
By accentuating lag you will get greater distances without losing your swing balance.

Working slowly into impact is a great drill, just like Greg's Right Hand Drill....

http://members.cox.net/gregjwillis/LESSON1.htm

[gatorguy146]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

No problem! Swinging "harder" doesn't mean "farther." Yes, faster clubhead speed will produce a longer shot. But a sync'd up swing, with great balance and tempo, with clubhead speed over 105mph will produce BOMBS. My average clubhead speed is just over 100mph and I hit it about 280 yards pretty consistently (260ish carry).

Good luck and let us know how you do!

Thanks a lot bro. I was at my neighbors house today and just played around doing the baseball swing where you do 5 swings at 50% 5 at 75% etc. I can see how the drill will work, and how it will pay off if I do it over time. I'm not too concerned about distance to be honest, I am only 5'8" 125lbs and I can hit it about 230-250. I don't really swing hard at all just a nice easy swing to get the club through the ball. It would be nice to grab a little extra distance though so that's why i wanna try these drills but I'm not willing to change my swing to add more distance because I'm hitting the ball pretty good right now you know.

Thanks a lot though, I'll for sure let you know how i do.

[RandomHero1090]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Thanks a lot bro. I was at my neighbors house today and just played around doing the baseball swing where you do 5 swings at 50% 5 at 75% etc. I can see how the drill will work, and how it will pay off if I do it over time. I'm not too concerned about distance to be honest, I am only 5'8" 125lbs and I can hit it about 230-250. I don't really swing hard at all just a nice easy swing to get the club through the ball. It would be nice to grab a little extra distance though so that's why i wanna try these drills but I'm not willing to change my swing to add more distance because I'm hitting the ball pretty good right now you know.

Thanks a lot though, I'll for sure let you know how i do.

Camilo Villegas is 5'9'' 142lbs. He currently averages 290 off the tee. Now, the guy is in AMAZING shape. My cousin, 5'10'' 155lbs, who plays on some of the Florida tours, he averages about 295 off the tee.

You can build some serious power with a small frame. Its all about coil and using every ounce of energy you got.

[gatorguy146]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Yeah I know what you mean man, but to compare me to someone like villegas is kind of unfair because he has a teaching pro that he can call on every day to refine his swing. I've gotten my fair share of lessons, but im just doing what is working for me right now. Sometimes I can bomb one out to 275 but im mostly around the 230 to 240 range but straight down the middle which is just fine with me for right now. More power will come in time, and if it doesn't I'll live because my short game is what saves me not my drives you know.

[elbowsmash]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Hi,

I believe flexibility & Core Strength are much more important than strength and power for building clubhead speed.

I have been lifting weights pretty religiously (Olympic lifts, etc...) for the past 10 years and have developed a good strength base. But I suddenly have realized tremendous gains in swing speed when I started back up with Karate three months ago. (About 5-6 mph.)

Also, there was a Golf Fitness Academy (couple of weeks back) with Camillo that showed a sampling of his workout. Honestly, there was nothing that impressed me about his weight routine, except for the fact that he busted out a SIDE SPLIT (thats crotch to bottom of the floor).

I read an article before about a US Olympic powerlifter that is really into golf and he was mentioning that he drive it about 280 yards. Thats pretty paltry considering that he is used to squatting in excess of 800 lbs and is able to dunk a basketball quick easily.

[takinitdeep]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Assssssummmming, you have been fitted correctly, the key to distance is being able to lag long into the downswing and hitting the ball square with the clubface in the upper third of the face.
There are many drills to do this correctly but start out by getting your fitter to tape or powder your clubface to see where the ball is now and with a launch monitor, measure spin rate now.
Once you have those done, you can begin to improve on both key components.

Hi,

I believe flexibility & Core Strength are much more important than strength and power for building clubhead speed.

I have been lifting weights pretty religiously (Olympic lifts, etc...) for the past 10 years and have developed a good strength base. But I suddenly have realized tremendous gains in swing speed when I started back up with Karate three months ago. (About 5-6 mph.)

Also, there was a Golf Fitness Academy (couple of weeks back) with Camillo that showed a sampling of his workout. Honestly, there was nothing that impressed me about his weight routine, except for the fact that he busted out a SIDE SPLIT (thats crotch to bottom of the floor).

I read an article before about a US Olympic powerlifter that is really into golf and he was mentioning that he drive it about 280 yards. Thats pretty paltry considering that he is used to squatting in excess of 800 lbs and is able to dunk a basketball quick easily.

[AussieGolfBoy]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

i've read every post in this thread and i'd have to agree with them all.

one thing i'll add in improving club head speed isn't so much in speed at all, but technique.

as far as i'm aware i use to swing at 98mph 2 yrs back when i was 24 and had only been playing golf for a year... my swing speed now is 91mph. but this could be due to a callibration in different speed meters.

anyway..

about a year ago now i had a quick lesson from a pro on a driving range which basically squared me up. i instantly gained 15m - 20m from this over the next few months. 3 months ago i had another lesson and from this i would have gained another 20 - 30m.
in the last year i have easilly gained 60m on my good drives. i'm up to 260m on a good day. averaging at 240 - 250m. 280m with the wind.

[takinitdeep]

Re: Drills for building club head speed

Here's a great drill: pivot around your core while using a driver. It will force you to get behind the ball with your left shoulder and its what you should be doing anyway.
Just doing this correctly will have you delivering massive clubhead speed while staying centered and not visibly moving your lower body or swaying.
I'm 62 and I do this all the time to loosen up for a round. You'd be surprised how far you can hit the ball without swaying or moving off balance.