How much effort do you feel like you put into a driver swing?

[27x10.5]

Really struggling with just over swinging, everyone I play with saying I'm too quick, or trying too hard on the downswing. Sometimes I try to calm it down and swing like I'm holding a 9 iron but I can really hook it when I do that but also have decent results here and there.

 

Weird thing is I can hit my 3 wood nicely off a tee with a little draw, put that same swing on my driver and just can't seem to get a hold of one. Can't find a rhythm or tempo with that club.

[juststeve]

Not much effort at all but what I'm looking for is speed, not power.

 

Steve

[alittleoverpar]

I try to swing all of my clubs at about 80% of max....at least that is what I am trying to feel. I was a chronic over swinger and focusing on tempo has lowered my scores considerably. Surprisingly I haven't lost any distance to speak of.

[Santiago Golf]

I wil go all out with my driver, swinging at 95%. For I will only use the club on short par 5s or long par 4s where driver is a must. Otherwise I hit 3 wood or hybrid. I rather have 8 or 7 iron in the fairway than 80 yard wedge from thec rough

[cardoustie]

95% +

 

Pretty much all I got. I picked this up when I went to the Masters 20 years ago, the pros were all swinging their irons like babies and their drivers like lumberjacks

 

The bad move is the snatch-a-way backswing

[PureStrikes54]

Almost as hard as you can go when synced up. Hit wayyyyy more snaps and ugly misses babying it.

[stryper]

Pretty much all I've got. Just need to make sure my transition isn't too quick, otherwise I look more like a Japanese knife fighter than a golfer. :aikido:

[27x10.5]

Thanks for the input, just looking for a couple thoughts to get me through the next couple weeks until my lesson

[scottaz]

During a driver fitting recently I was swinging my swing. Then the fitter said swing it like you need to carry it over water 325 out there. My SS was about the same. My balance and ball flight were not.

 

I like to think push back, pull down. Stops my hands from doing too much early.

[nitram]

90+%. As hard as I can bring it without losing my balance. If I try to swing as hard as I can, I have a tendency to tighten my left hand grip and have an open face at impact.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

I don't know how else to put this, but my driver swing reminds me of vandalism. It's vigorous, but recreational rather than effortful.

[kingotheworldma]

My best wood shots are produced with a nice tempo and full turn and about 85% swing. The rest of my game is feel and I adjust backswing and power to produce the shot I want to hit. I rarely step on any club but I like a 75-80% iron swing. Wedges are really a feel shot. Bobby jones book that I always go back to says to have a lazy deliberate backswing to keep your tempo in check. I find this works and keeps me from over swinging.

I find if I step,on a wood then I get blocks, duck hooks, tops and all that demoralizing s***. It usually results in the next shot being stupid though.

Also it depends on the day and how I am connecting to my swing, tempo and strike. If I am doing well I can sometimes push the power a little, but it rarely helps very much.

Best advice stay within the swing you have that day.

[PepsiDuck]

Mongo hit ball.

[vonasemj]

Probably 80-90%. Any harder and I'll likely slice, hook, or sky it. I have to try a really hard one from time to time though because occasionally I'll connect and end up with a great drive...only to follow up with a duffed second shot.

[oldschoolrocker]

At the edge of my envelope for the particular day in question. Go for it as much as I can and still remain in form and balance.

[ChrisAU]

As hard as possible. I, like others in this thread, find that misses are way worse when I baby it. I think swinging hard takes a lot of the mental part out of it and helps to keep your hands ahead of the club. I'll hit my driver 270-290 and hit a 7 iron 140. Very deliberate and graceful with the irons, but with the driver in hand I had better swing like the ball stole something from me or I'm going to lose the ball.

 

It's seriously an issue that can really start rounds off bad for me. I have to remember to abandon all thoughts and swing the crap out of the driver on the opening tee, and it doesn't work very well often. Usually on the 3rd tee box before I am warmed up and in the groove.

[MonteScheinblum]

Driver should be nearly 100%.

 

The issue is wasted effort by being out of position.

If you can't swing at bear 100% and hit the middle of the club face most times, there are issue(s) and just swing easy is a bandaid.

 

When poeple say 80% they are talking lack of effort, not lack of swinging as fast as they can.

 

The difference between a regular "smooth" swing and 100% in good players is 5% or less.

 

Ironically, when poeple with swing issues swing harder, they are usually slower, as increased effort get the club farther out of position.

 

That's the long answer, the short answer is fix what's wrong with your swing.

[bph7]

Pretty much 100. It's also been proven pretty conclusively that the "80%" thing is just not true.

[Hackinator]

How do you swing at 100% and still maintain tempo?

 

When swinging at 100% do you also feel like you are speeding up both the backswing and downswing?

Or is the feeling you just speed up the downswing w/o changing speed of backswing.

 

 

 

 

[MonteScheinblum]

How do you swing at 100% and still maintain tempo?

 

When swinging at 100% do you also feel like you are speeding up both the backswing and downswing?

Or is the feeling you just speed up the downswing w/o changing speed of backswing.

 

It's the same answer as running as fast as you can. You need to maintain the sequence and moving of body parts correctly...just faster.

[Gatorchomp894]

Some people just hit their 3 wood better than their driver! Try a couple rounds with just ur 3 wood see if that helps!

[Hackinator]

How do you swing at 100% and still maintain tempo?

 

When swinging at 100% do you also feel like you are speeding up both the backswing and downswing?

Or is the feeling you just speed up the downswing w/o changing speed of backswing.

 

It's the same answer as running as fast as you can. You need to maintain the sequence and moving of body parts correctly...just faster.

 

That makes a lot of sense.

 

My backswing and transition are purposefully slow. I will have to experiment getting a little more pace on the backswing/transition and see if it influences my downswing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cicero]

Wow. Eye opening thread. I need to work on my swing sequencing, I guess. I'd love to go all out, or close to it, the shaft bounces off my back. A lot of breakage that way, so I don't swing hard except occasionally.

[WooPig]

Recently I've gotten into the bad habit of swinging my Word not allowed off... Not the good 100% with control either, I'm talking about everything I've got period.

I hit way better shots when I relax a little bit keep my speed up, the problem I have is remembering that at the top of my backswing.

[cjcollas]

I probably put about 95% . I really need to gain some weight/muscle. Im 5'11 and 150lbs.

[dornstar]

As hard as I can without going out of control. Hard to put a % on it, but it's definitely close to 100%.

[stryper]

Recently I've gotten into the bad habit of swinging my Word not allowed off... Not the good 100% with control either, I'm talking about everything I've got period.

I hit way better shots when I relax a little bit keep my speed up, the problem I have is remembering that at the top of my backswing.

 

Relaxing is the key. Swinging hard is different than swinging fast. The grip it and rip it mantra may sound cute but will likely lead to too much tension and too much effort and a slower swing.

[juststeve]

Driver should be nearly 100%.

 

The issue is wasted effort by being out of position.

If you can't swing at bear 100% and hit the middle of the club face most times, there are issue(s) and just swing easy is a bandaid.

 

When poeple say 80% they are talking lack of effort, not lack of swinging as fast as they can.

 

The difference between a regular "smooth" swing and 100% in good players is 5% or less.

 

Ironically, when poeple with swing issues swing harder, they are usually slower, as increased effort get the club farther out of position.

 

That's the long answer, the short answer is fix what's wrong with your swing.

 

I feel like someone needs to push back on Monte's comment or at least give him the opportunity to clarify what he is saying. In the many years I have been playing and watching others play I have never seen a great golfer who swung the driver 100%, 100% of the time. To the contrary what I have observed is great players making controlled swings at much less then 100% holding a substantially amount in reserve for special situations.

 

Some examples, in 1967, the earliest date I could find, Jack Nicklaus averaged 276 yards per drive over a 11 tournament period in which he was measured by IBM. Drives hit with a club other than a driver were disregarded. This same guy, using the same equipment won the long drive competition at the 1963 PGA with a drive of 341 yards 17". Later, he won the Open at St. Andrews driving to the back of the 356 yard 18th hole in the final round. I would suggest that the 341 and the 356 represent Nicklaus making good contact while swinging at 100% The 276 yards per drive is an indication of how hard he swung on most of his drives while trying to make the best score he could, and that was nothing like 100%..

 

Another example would be Arnold Palmer driving the first green at Cherry Hill the year he won his only open. The reason we remember it is because he hit the ball a lot longer on that shot than anyone thought he could. Another example of swinging at 100% and catching it solid, but not something he did drive after drive.

 

Think of the young Tiger Wood making that occasional all out swing where the club bounced off his back and look like it might snap in two, That is a swing that approached 100%, but not one he made very often.

 

For Monte, if he sees this, are you actually saying that you swing the driver as hard on the golf course while trying to post the best score you can, as you do in a long drive competition when you're trying to fit a bomb into a 60 yard wide grid? Or, is your long drive swing much close to 100% than your golf course swing?

 

As to long drivers in general, I have watched the televised finals several times and come away with two impressions. 1) Those guys are monster athletes that hit the call ball incredibly far. 2) They all ht to may really crooked shots, during the long drive competition, to be able to compete in any championship golf course. They are unable to hit shots that would consistently be in play as they approach 100%.

 

Job one off the tee is to get the ball in play. Job two is hitting it long, but if you swing 100% you won't get job one done very often.

 

Steve

[1armygolfer]

Driver should be nearly 100%.

 

The issue is wasted effort by being out of position.

If you can't swing at bear 100% and hit the middle of the club face most times, there are issue(s) and just swing easy is a bandaid.

 

When poeple say 80% they are talking lack of effort, not lack of swinging as fast as they can.

 

The difference between a regular "smooth" swing and 100% in good players is 5% or less.

 

Ironically, when poeple with swing issues swing harder, they are usually slower, as increased effort get the club farther out of position.

 

That's the long answer, the short answer is fix what's wrong with your swing.

 

I feel like someone needs to push back on Monte's comment or at least give him the opportunity to clarify what he is saying. In the many years I have been playing and watching others play I have never seen a great golfer who swung the driver 100%, 100% of the time. To the contrary what I have observed is great players making controlled swings at much less then 100% holding a substantially amount in reserve for special situations.

 

Some examples, in 1967, the earliest date I could find, Jack Nicklaus averaged 276 yards per drive over a 11 tournament period in which he was measured by IBM. Drives hit with a club other than a driver were disregarded. This same guy, using the same equipment won the long drive competition at the 1963 PGA with a drive of 341 yards 17". Later, he won the Open at St. Andrews driving to the back of the 356 yard 18th hole in the final round. I would suggest that the 341 and the 356 represent Nicklaus making good contact while swinging at 100% The 276 yards per drive is an indication of how hard he swung on most of his drives while trying to make the best score he could, and that was nothing like 100%..

 

Another example would be Arnold Palmer driving the first green at Cherry Hill the year he won his only open. The reason we remember it is because he hit the ball a lot longer on that shot than anyone thought he could. Another example of swinging at 100% and catching it solid, but not something he did drive after drive.

 

Think of the young Tiger Wood making that occasional all out swing where the club bounced off his back and look like it might snap in two, That is a swing that approached 100%, but not one he made very often.

 

For Monte, if he sees this, are you actually saying that you swing the driver as hard on the golf course while trying to post the best score you can, as you do in a long drive competition when you're trying to fit a bomb into a 60 yard wide grid? Or, is your long drive swing much close to 100% than your golf course swing?

 

As to long drivers in general, I have watched the televised finals several times and come away with two impressions. 1) Those guys are monster athletes that hit the call ball incredibly far. 2) They all ht to may really crooked shots, during the long drive competition, to be able to compete in any championship golf course. They are unable to hit shots that would consistently be in play as they approach 100%.

 

Job one off the tee is to get the ball in play. Job two is hitting it long, but if you swing 100% you won't get job one done very often.

 

Steve

Believe Monty is saying swing fast not necessarily hard.

[Cicero]

Driver should be nearly 100%.

 

The issue is wasted effort by being out of position.

If you can't swing at bear 100% and hit the middle of the club face most times, there are issue(s) and just swing easy is a bandaid.

 

When poeple say 80% they are talking lack of effort, not lack of swinging as fast as they can.

 

The difference between a regular "smooth" swing and 100% in good players is 5% or less.

 

Ironically, when poeple with swing issues swing harder, they are usually slower, as increased effort get the club farther out of position.

 

That's the long answer, the short answer is fix what's wrong with your swing.

 

I feel like someone needs to push back on Monte's comment or at least give him the opportunity to clarify what he is saying. In the many years I have been playing and watching others play I have never seen a great golfer who swung the driver 100%, 100% of the time. To the contrary what I have observed is great players making controlled swings at much less then 100% holding a substantially amount in reserve for special situations.

 

Some examples, in 1967, the earliest date I could find, Jack Nicklaus averaged 276 yards per drive over a 11 tournament period in which he was measured by IBM. Drives hit with a club other than a driver were disregarded. This same guy, using the same equipment won the long drive competition at the 1963 PGA with a drive of 341 yards 17". Later, he won the Open at St. Andrews driving to the back of the 356 yard 18th hole in the final round. I would suggest that the 341 and the 356 represent Nicklaus making good contact while swinging at 100% The 276 yards per drive is an indication of how hard he swung on most of his drives while trying to make the best score he could, and that was nothing like 100%..

 

Another example would be Arnold Palmer driving the first green at Cherry Hill the year he won his only open. The reason we remember it is because he hit the ball a lot longer on that shot than anyone thought he could. Another example of swinging at 100% and catching it solid, but not something he did drive after drive.

 

Think of the young Tiger Wood making that occasional all out swing where the club bounced off his back and look like it might snap in two, That is a swing that approached 100%, but not one he made very often.

 

For Monte, if he sees this, are you actually saying that you swing the driver as hard on the golf course while trying to post the best score you can, as you do in a long drive competition when you're trying to fit a bomb into a 60 yard wide grid? Or, is your long drive swing much close to 100% than your golf course swing?

 

As to long drivers in general, I have watched the televised finals several times and come away with two impressions. 1) Those guys are monster athletes that hit the call ball incredibly far. 2) They all ht to may really crooked shots, during the long drive competition, to be able to compete in any championship golf course. They are unable to hit shots that would consistently be in play as they approach 100%.

 

Job one off the tee is to get the ball in play. Job two is hitting it long, but if you swing 100% you won't get job one done very often.

 

Steve

 

One thing I've heard some players who've spanned the persimmon/titanium eras say (Nick Price is one of them that I remember specifically) is that they had to swing easier than they can now, because the clubs required such precision to hit (Greg Norman notwithstanding).

 

That would explain many of the sentiments voiced here, including Monte's, and the examples that you accurately provided.