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I have been on a quest for some time now. Its a pride driven obsession that I hope to accomplish before my body decides NOPE, I'M DONE. I am trying to find the perfect swing for ME by trial and error, lots of practice, and pure perserverance. I don't plan to become an amazing golfer, but I do have certain achievements in mind. I have learned an aweful lot so far, but I have a long ways to go. There seem to be so many ways to swing a golf club, and so many swing thoughts out there, and so many variables that it is a daunting task for me. I thought I would ask myself some questions, and if you happen to be on a similar quest (I figure a simulator site would be the best place to find similar minded people, golf lovers, and maybe obsessors), please feel free to share your answers to them as well. I hope that I can help someone, inspire someone and or learn something new.
1) What drives you to go after such a lofty goal of learning the perfect swing?
I never learned to swing the club very well, and at the age of 30 (I am 35 now), I decided to pursue a total revamp of my swing so I could enjoy golf more, raise my ability ceiling, and maybe even lower my handicap to the single digits. I am also driven by the philosophy that pro's are not GODs, anyone can hit as far as them, and play as well as them, you just have to put the time in. I am driven by the idea that finding your fastest swing goes hand in hand with finding your most consistent and accurate swing. Lastly, I was told you had to be in great shape and workout in the gym a ton to be able to hit like pro's can, I simply didn't believe that to be true.
2) How far have you come?
I used to play pretty decent golf, but nothing amazing. At a very simple, open and easy 9 hole course, I would usually shoot 1-8 over par. Today, I hover more near the 5-10 over par, so you would think my obsession has been for the worse, but I would say that is untrue. I have gone from swinging my driver ~105 mph, to a consistent 120+. That is just from hitting thousands of golf balls, trying different techiques and feels, and trying to find what works. Problem is, I have not repeated the same swing ever, so each time I play golf, i am testing out a new swing change, and I refuse to let myself make a swing that still has major flaws "work". I also swing much faster without trying, so any flaw in my swing is now amplified way more than it was 5 years ago, so I hit a lot of balls way off target.
3) What have you learned? I have learned that you really don't need to workout at all to hit as far as the pro's (though it doesn't hurt), you just need to get golf strong like Hogan put it, by hitting tons of golf balls. I have learned to be efficient, and I have learned that my body's phyisical ceiling speed wise is around 130 mph with the driver, I just had to unlock it. I have learned that flexibilty, stability, loose wrists, and soft hands are big keys to a good, fast golf swing with minimal effort. I have found it is very hard to swing as hard as you can and actually increase speed, you actually slow down. I have learned that large changes in grip position (strong, nuetral, weak) are EXTREMELY hard to do as it changes the feel of your entire swing. I have learned that the faster you swing, the harder it is on your body especially if you have a tendancy to mishit the ball one after another when you are "off". I have learned that just about everyone has pga tour speed in them, they just don't practice swinging as fast as they can so they can learn how to unlock it, and learn to control it. I have learned that a lot of pga pro advice one can read or watch, contradict eachother and just makes the sport harder.
4) What are you still struggling with? I struggle with early extension, and making a very very strong grip work. If I can get the timing down for my EA, I can swing confidently and hit the ball a mile and on target with any club. I can get amazing launch numbers on all clubs when I get in this groove. I can carry a pw 165-170 yards with 10k spin, 125+ mph ball speed, and 23 degree LA. I can carry a 7 iron over 200 yards with 7k+ spin, 140+ mph ball speed, and 17 degree LA. and I can carry a driver over 330 with ~2k spin, 185+ mph ball speed and 16 degree LA. All with nice baby draws, and adequate accuracy (according to Skytrak). I can also snap hook every single shot, or hit them so severely off the heal or toe, that my left hand aches for days from the shock. On the days when I am hitting well, I want to go hit up a golf course and I feel like I can make any shot. On the days when I am insanely off, I don't want to go and embarass myself and I usually take a short break from golf. Its a high/low releationship just like it is for anyone, but man do those highs really keep me at it.
5) Where do you want to be when you are done with your quest? I want to be able to swing any club my full capable swing speed when I have to and be quite confident I will at the very least keep it in play (thick rough lies come to mind, greens hidden behind tall trees that only a nuked wedge will find, or that par 4 that is greenable if I catch it with everything I have), I want to be able to swing for par 4 greens and at least scare it a bit when I do golf scrambles, I want to be able to play very nice and more difficult courses without worrying about embarrasing myself, and I want to beat some snobby coworkers that teased my abilities in the past.
I am obviously very speed minded. To me, that is the most unique and memorable thing about a golfer. People aren't generally in awe of someone's pitching or chipping or maybe even putting, but many do pay attention to how hard someone can hit it (and keep it in play). I however, don't want just speed, I want speed and control and I feel strongly that I can achieve both. I want to achieve these things for myself but it would also be kinda fun to be more unique and known amongst my friends, colleagues or anyone at the local golf club as "the bomber" lol.
1) What drives you to go after such a lofty goal of learning the perfect swing?
I never learned to swing the club very well, and at the age of 30 (I am 35 now), I decided to pursue a total revamp of my swing so I could enjoy golf more, raise my ability ceiling, and maybe even lower my handicap to the single digits. I am also driven by the philosophy that pro's are not GODs, anyone can hit as far as them, and play as well as them, you just have to put the time in. I am driven by the idea that finding your fastest swing goes hand in hand with finding your most consistent and accurate swing. Lastly, I was told you had to be in great shape and workout in the gym a ton to be able to hit like pro's can, I simply didn't believe that to be true.
2) How far have you come?
I used to play pretty decent golf, but nothing amazing. At a very simple, open and easy 9 hole course, I would usually shoot 1-8 over par. Today, I hover more near the 5-10 over par, so you would think my obsession has been for the worse, but I would say that is untrue. I have gone from swinging my driver ~105 mph, to a consistent 120+. That is just from hitting thousands of golf balls, trying different techiques and feels, and trying to find what works. Problem is, I have not repeated the same swing ever, so each time I play golf, i am testing out a new swing change, and I refuse to let myself make a swing that still has major flaws "work". I also swing much faster without trying, so any flaw in my swing is now amplified way more than it was 5 years ago, so I hit a lot of balls way off target.
3) What have you learned? I have learned that you really don't need to workout at all to hit as far as the pro's (though it doesn't hurt), you just need to get golf strong like Hogan put it, by hitting tons of golf balls. I have learned to be efficient, and I have learned that my body's phyisical ceiling speed wise is around 130 mph with the driver, I just had to unlock it. I have learned that flexibilty, stability, loose wrists, and soft hands are big keys to a good, fast golf swing with minimal effort. I have found it is very hard to swing as hard as you can and actually increase speed, you actually slow down. I have learned that large changes in grip position (strong, nuetral, weak) are EXTREMELY hard to do as it changes the feel of your entire swing. I have learned that the faster you swing, the harder it is on your body especially if you have a tendancy to mishit the ball one after another when you are "off". I have learned that just about everyone has pga tour speed in them, they just don't practice swinging as fast as they can so they can learn how to unlock it, and learn to control it. I have learned that a lot of pga pro advice one can read or watch, contradict eachother and just makes the sport harder.
4) What are you still struggling with? I struggle with early extension, and making a very very strong grip work. If I can get the timing down for my EA, I can swing confidently and hit the ball a mile and on target with any club. I can get amazing launch numbers on all clubs when I get in this groove. I can carry a pw 165-170 yards with 10k spin, 125+ mph ball speed, and 23 degree LA. I can carry a 7 iron over 200 yards with 7k+ spin, 140+ mph ball speed, and 17 degree LA. and I can carry a driver over 330 with ~2k spin, 185+ mph ball speed and 16 degree LA. All with nice baby draws, and adequate accuracy (according to Skytrak). I can also snap hook every single shot, or hit them so severely off the heal or toe, that my left hand aches for days from the shock. On the days when I am hitting well, I want to go hit up a golf course and I feel like I can make any shot. On the days when I am insanely off, I don't want to go and embarass myself and I usually take a short break from golf. Its a high/low releationship just like it is for anyone, but man do those highs really keep me at it.
5) Where do you want to be when you are done with your quest? I want to be able to swing any club my full capable swing speed when I have to and be quite confident I will at the very least keep it in play (thick rough lies come to mind, greens hidden behind tall trees that only a nuked wedge will find, or that par 4 that is greenable if I catch it with everything I have), I want to be able to swing for par 4 greens and at least scare it a bit when I do golf scrambles, I want to be able to play very nice and more difficult courses without worrying about embarrasing myself, and I want to beat some snobby coworkers that teased my abilities in the past.
I am obviously very speed minded. To me, that is the most unique and memorable thing about a golfer. People aren't generally in awe of someone's pitching or chipping or maybe even putting, but many do pay attention to how hard someone can hit it (and keep it in play). I however, don't want just speed, I want speed and control and I feel strongly that I can achieve both. I want to achieve these things for myself but it would also be kinda fun to be more unique and known amongst my friends, colleagues or anyone at the local golf club as "the bomber" lol.
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