SuperSpeed Golf training system

[clevited]

I have posted this several times in this thread, but the superspeed system isn't revolutionary. It is just a nice package to do basically what many have done. Go practice swinging fast as you can at the range with a driver. You will get the same kind of gains. The only thing ssg thing does that I think is an improvement to just wailing on a club is they have you build up your opposite side too.

[ddetts]

So this post is only partially SwingSpeed related but wanted to see if I could get some feedback. I posted in my ["swing journey" thread](https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/comment/19221464/#Comment_19221464 ""swing journey" thread") but haven't gotten any responses and figured a wider audience here might have some thoughts.

 

Essentially, I'm struggling with driver and can't seem to get any speed on it. To the point where I have recorded the same or higher swing speeds with my 5w. Below is the text from my original post, so I don't have to retype it all:

 

> @ddetts said:

> I was on a Full Swing simulator yesterday morning, and routinely was hitting only 101-102mph clubhead speed with driver. I was able to hit 105-106mph maxing out a few times. From what I've read, those simulators are pretty accurate.

>

> During the same session I hit a few 5 woods (epic flash set at 17° and standard length) and was hitting 105-106mph clubhead speed that were going 245-255. Which was about 10-15 yards short of my driver.

>

> My iron distances were pretty spot on for the most part too, so just not sure what I could be doing with driver, especially since the 5w isn't much shorter than my driver.

>

> In doing SuperSpeed training, I've been able to get the heavy stick up to around 118mph and the light stick to 130mph on my dominant side. I've also measured my driver swing and gotten it up to 116mph. Others have said the swing speed radar can read 5-7mph fast, so I'd still expect to get 109-111mph with driver.

>

> One thing is I switched driver shafts, but I wouldn't expect that to impact speed so much. Flight/dispersion/spin yes, but can it impact speed that much?

[tungstenplug]

> @clevited said:

> I have posted this several times in this thread, but the superspeed system isn't revolutionary. It is just a nice package to do basically what many have done. Go practice swinging fast as you can at the range with a driver. You will get the same kind of gains. The only thing ssg thing does that I think is an improvement to just wailing on a club is they have you build up your opposite side too.

 

This is how I see it too. It's a couple of clubs I swing at home in my driveway without having to worry about scuffing up my expensive driver or wearing out the grip. Not a lot of innovation here, just a well made simple product

[clevited]

> @ddetts said:

> So this post is only partially SwingSpeed related but wanted to see if I could get some feedback. I posted in my ["swing journey" thread](https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/comment/19221464/#Comment_19221464 ""swing journey" thread") but haven't gotten any responses and figured a wider audience here might have some thoughts.

>

> Essentially, I'm struggling with driver and can't seem to get any speed on it. To the point where I have recorded the same or higher swing speeds with my 5w. Below is the text from my original post, so I don't have to retype it all:

>

> > @ddetts said:

> > I was on a Full Swing simulator yesterday morning, and routinely was hitting only 101-102mph clubhead speed with driver. I was able to hit 105-106mph maxing out a few times. From what I've read, those simulators are pretty accurate.

> >

> > During the same session I hit a few 5 woods (epic flash set at 17° and standard length) and was hitting 105-106mph clubhead speed that were going 245-255. Which was about 10-15 yards short of my driver.

> >

> > My iron distances were pretty spot on for the most part too, so just not sure what I could be doing with driver, especially since the 5w isn't much shorter than my driver.

> >

> > In doing SuperSpeed training, I've been able to get the heavy stick up to around 118mph and the light stick to 130mph on my dominant side. I've also measured my driver swing and gotten it up to 116mph. Others have said the swing speed radar can read 5-7mph fast, so I'd still expect to get 109-111mph with driver.

> >

> > One thing is I switched driver shafts, but I wouldn't expect that to impact speed so much. Flight/dispersion/spin yes, but can it impact speed that much?

 

Perhaps its a mental issue? You are unable to swing free when there is a ball in front of you? Maybe you lack confidence in your swing or perhaps you have a swing flaw that your body knows won't allow you to hit the ball at speed. I have seen a lot of people be able to swing there driver near the same speed as the red ssg stick, (as recorded on Trackman or Flightscope) but there are also people like yourself.

 

I can only suggest what I have before, so if you find any value in it, perhaps give it a try. Try swinging your ssg clubs at a tee and try to hit the tee. Observe your swings with each club. If it is a swing flaw or mental flaw I would suspect you will be also much slower doing this.

[ddetts]

@clevited I'm assuming some sort of swing flaw or sequencing issue, perhaps hit impulse and not just swinging.

 

It doesn't seem to happen with any other club.

[Left Rough]

> @clevited said:

> I have posted this several times in this thread, but the superspeed system isn't revolutionary. It is just a nice package to do basically what many have done. Go practice swinging fast as you can at the range with a driver. You will get the same kind of gains. The only thing ssg thing does that I think is an improvement to just wailing on a club is they have you build up your opposite side too.

 

Do you think there's any benefit to the overspeed part of the training? With your driver, yes, maxing out on the range will result in a higher SS than on course, but I would think there's some benefit to getting the body used to an even faster speed with the green stick.

 

I myself have found good gains following the protocol, about +8 mph on course and red, +12-15 with blue and +20 mph with the green. guess i wouldn't know what would have happened if i was following the protocol with driver only. but i've been pleased with the gains, my playing partners have definitely noticed and a few even started the program as a direct result.

[clevited]

> @"Left Rough" said:

> > @clevited said:

> > I have posted this several times in this thread, but the superspeed system isn't revolutionary. It is just a nice package to do basically what many have done. Go practice swinging fast as you can at the range with a driver. You will get the same kind of gains. The only thing ssg thing does that I think is an improvement to just wailing on a club is they have you build up your opposite side too.

>

> Do you think there's any benefit to the overspeed part of the training? With your driver, yes, maxing out on the range will result in a higher SS than on course, but I would think there's some benefit to getting the body used to an even faster speed with the green stick.

>

> I myself have found good gains following the protocol, about +8 mph on course and red, +12-15 with blue and +20 mph with the green. guess i wouldn't know what would have happened if i was following the protocol with driver only. but i've been pleased with the gains, my playing partners have definitely noticed and a few even started the program as a direct result.

 

Yeah, I suppose there is that component as well that adds a bit to the potential gains. It is hard to measure but certainly could be a significant improvement over just swinging a driver as fast as possible at the range regularly. Perhaps the better program would be the superspeed system plus wailing on drivers at the range regularly. You might get the best of both worlds and maximise your results?

[GolfChannel]

> @clevited said:

> > @"Left Rough" said:

> > > @clevited said:

> > > I have posted this several times in this thread, but the superspeed system isn't revolutionary. It is just a nice package to do basically what many have done. Go practice swinging fast as you can at the range with a driver. You will get the same kind of gains. The only thing ssg thing does that I think is an improvement to just wailing on a club is they have you build up your opposite side too.

> >

> > Do you think there's any benefit to the overspeed part of the training? With your driver, yes, maxing out on the range will result in a higher SS than on course, but I would think there's some benefit to getting the body used to an even faster speed with the green stick.

> >

> > I myself have found good gains following the protocol, about +8 mph on course and red, +12-15 with blue and +20 mph with the green. guess i wouldn't know what would have happened if i was following the protocol with driver only. but i've been pleased with the gains, my playing partners have definitely noticed and a few even started the program as a direct result.

>

> Yeah, I suppose there is that component as well that adds a bit to the potential gains. It is hard to measure but certainly could be a significant improvement over just swinging a driver as fast as possible at the range regularly. Perhaps the better program would be the superspeed system plus wailing on drivers at the range regularly. You might get the best of both worlds and maximise your results?

 

I had the same issue of swinging Driver slower than every other club. SuperSpeed, PlaneMate, and doing a little long ball training focusing on 5-ball sets of complete focus has really helped my Driver game catch up to everything else in my bag. Most of it was just learning what fast with a Driver felt like and trusting that not holding back left me more in control of my swing. I now feel confident I can swing it between 107-111 mph and not have to be anally retentively focused on perfect contact of the ball. I can focus on a specific dimple with irons, wedges, and putters. However with driver that kind of focus robs me of about 10 mph of speed. Other than that, the main issue for me has been making sure I am consistent with my tee height. When I'm not driving it well it's usually because I am hitting low center on the face versus center or slightly above center.

[clevited]

> @GolfChannel said:

> > @clevited said:

> > > @"Left Rough" said:

> > > > @clevited said:

> > > > I have posted this several times in this thread, but the superspeed system isn't revolutionary. It is just a nice package to do basically what many have done. Go practice swinging fast as you can at the range with a driver. You will get the same kind of gains. The only thing ssg thing does that I think is an improvement to just wailing on a club is they have you build up your opposite side too.

> > >

> > > Do you think there's any benefit to the overspeed part of the training? With your driver, yes, maxing out on the range will result in a higher SS than on course, but I would think there's some benefit to getting the body used to an even faster speed with the green stick.

> > >

> > > I myself have found good gains following the protocol, about +8 mph on course and red, +12-15 with blue and +20 mph with the green. guess i wouldn't know what would have happened if i was following the protocol with driver only. but i've been pleased with the gains, my playing partners have definitely noticed and a few even started the program as a direct result.

> >

> > Yeah, I suppose there is that component as well that adds a bit to the potential gains. It is hard to measure but certainly could be a significant improvement over just swinging a driver as fast as possible at the range regularly. Perhaps the better program would be the superspeed system plus wailing on drivers at the range regularly. You might get the best of both worlds and maximise your results?

>

> I had the same issue of swinging Driver slower than every other club. SuperSpeed, PlaneMate, and doing a little long ball training focusing on 5-ball sets of complete focus has really helped my Driver game catch up to everything else in my bag. Most of it was just learning what fast with a Driver felt like and trusting that not holding back left me more in control of my swing. I now feel confident I can swing it between 107-111 mph and not have to be anally retentively focused on perfect contact of the ball. I can focus on a specific dimple with irons, wedges, and putters. However with driver that kind of focus robs me of about 10 mph of speed. Other than that, the main issue for me has been making sure I am consistent with my tee height. When I'm not driving it well it's usually because I am hitting low center on the face versus center or slightly above center.

 

Yeah, for me it is really about me swinging as if there is no ball and just positioning myself such that the club with hit the ball. I still struggle with a couple of swing flaws as well that don't help me at all.

[GolfChannel]

So far, progress continues. After today’s session, more growth with the 1-stick protocol even though I experienced an issue with my golf glove.

[ParHunter]

Would this over speed training work with bigger differences in the weight as well? I think the superspeed system uses 10% difference between the different clubs. I have a shaft with 3 golf balls at the end for my light club (just drilled a hole through and glued them to the shaft) which is about 28% lighter than my driver and I have an orange whip which is well heavier than the driver (about 3.5 times heavier).

 

Do you think the overspeed training would work just as well with these 3 clubs (a light shaft with some extra weight, a normal driver and the orange whip) or are the difference too big?

[DaveMac]

I am testing out Orange Whip’s new speed trainer LightSpeed and as part of the protocol I initially found (it is tagged warm up protocol) it used the standard Orange Whip in concert with the LightSpeed. I found the standard Orange Whip to be too heavy to move quickly so IMO the Orange Whip is too heavy and your lighter club is too light to be a successful combination.

[SirFuego]

With the weather changing, work travel, and a lack of ceiling height at home, I have been I have taken about 5-6 weeks off from SuperSpeed. Luckily, they did some minor remodeling at our employee gym and there is now a stretching area with more than enough room to swing the SuperSpeed sticks. So I brought them to work and started back up with the level 2 protocols. I came within 1 mph of my max speed from my previous rounds of SuperSpeed. But more surprisingly, I was much more consistent with my speeds.

In an attempt to alleviate some knee pain and other day-to-day aches, I am trying to strengthen my feet by wearing minimalist shoes (Merrell Vapor Glove 4) as much as I can. I did the session today in the minimalist shoes and I really noticed that it was much easier for me to "use the ground". When I didn't use it correctly, I was getting the immediate feedback of losing my balance towards the target in the follow through. When I used the ground correctly, I either had a more balanced finish or I found myself losing my balance in a more rotational way (think a less extreme Hosung Choi type follow thru). I think this was a big contributor to why my speeds were more consistent because I didn't have the stability of a regular shoe, so I was forced to apply the ground forces in the right direction.

[puresurfr]

I just started using the superspeed system with the radar to track progress, I swung the green stick at 113mph but the blue was faster at 115mph while the red decreased to 105-107mph. Is anybody experiencing the same speed or even faster with the blue speed stick vs the lighter green stick ?

MGS says that a person with 100mph swing speed should expect to see 121 with the green stick ??? I can max out on trackman at 107mph but I certainly cannot reach 130 with the green stick. Is anybody seeing a 20mph increase with the green stick vs their normal driver ? Hopefully there is a learning curve and I get faster as I get more familiar with swinging the speed sticks.UPDATE. 12/19 : I Give UP

[SirFuego]

I can't get the thread search utility to work to direct you to the specific post, but I remember posting somewhere in this thread where my green and blue sticks were well below the "expected" speed. I don't recall my blue stick being faster than my green, though. Basically, I was mistaking effort (tension) for speed, which was throwing off my kinematic sequencing with the green stick -- the green stick was light enough that I was trying to "overpower" it (which was typical swing flaw I knew I have). I started focusing more on rhythm and reducing tension, which got me back up closer to where I was supposed to be with the green stick, but my blue and red were still lacking. I kept at it and things started to balance out and overall gains were increasing.

Long story short is that you are likely battling against a swing flaw that is limiting your speeds. My suggestion is to keep at it and to not be afraid to experiment and stick with any feels that allow you to generate more speed.

[puresurfr]

That sounds like good advice, im such a newbie, I better just stick to the plan.....I lifted weights for a year to gain swing speed and although I have gained 4mph, it was a ton of work. What I realize now is that I have a ton of strength but not much power, nmeaning I can move heavy things slowly but not quickly. I need to work on explosion and freeing up what muscles I have gained. My powerlifting totals have went from 750-1125 which seems like a ton of strength for 4mph increase. In addition, I feel 3/4 of the speed gains is due to better sequencing 35% strength increase for 1 mph gain. Im hoping this does the trick, haha im tired of being the biggest guy hitting the shortest length. : P

 

judging by my strength totals I need to bench 800 and squat 1000 and deadlift 1200 to gain 5mph in swing speed

[clevited]

I could be completely wrong in how I view this but here is my take on how lifting and swinging these sticks increase speed. We all have X amount of muscle available to us but we don't all have the ability to use it all efficiently. It is almost as if the muscle goes dormant. It is there but dormant. Now, not only can your muscle be dormant, but the active stuff can be slow firing muscle. What I think overspeed training in general does is help you sequence your swing such that you are using the right muscle groups at the right time to maximize speed, but you also training the muscle you have to fire faster. On top of that you can add muscle through this process and on top of that you can gain muscle (or even just activate more muscle) through purposeful weight training (generally explosive exercises). You can then further train that to add speed on top of what you have.

 

I personally think I am at my limit that I can gain from overspeed training. If I were to go after a purposeful golf weight training program, I think I could utilize more of that speed on the course by being better able to control it with a more stable and strong body, but I could also up my speed limit further.

 

Sorry for the unsolicited opinion, but I just wanted to bounce that idea around. Seems to make sense to me even if it isn't entirely correct bio-mechanically speaking. It is just an observation of what I feel like has happened with me since I went on my own speed increase endeavor years ago.

[SirFuego]

There is a definite difference between strength and speed training. I liken it to towing/hauling a big load with a vehicle. A regular half-ton pickup is limited not by its ability to move the load forward, but by its ability to stop it. You can pull a commercial airliner with a half-ton pickup, but good luck stopping that load quickly and even better luck trying to do it many times without breaking something or causing significant wear. On the other hand, a crawler transporter is designed to reliably move millions of pounds at a time, but its max speed is 1mph. But if you need to move 5000lbs somewhere, it's going to happen a lot faster with a pickup even though a crawler transporter is significantly "stronger".

For speed, you need to move weights "fast" and be stable enough to stop them. In the gym, this means that you don't necessarily want to focus on maxing out your weights, you want to be able to do 3-10 reps with a "fast" concentric phase, a "slow" eccentric phase, and a weight that leaves just a couple reps "in the tank" so you don't overwork your muscles. This not only lets you move weights fast, but also works on your ability to stop/decelerate them. There are also anti-rotation exercises (pallof press, plank variations, standing cable presses/pulls, etc.) you can use to specifically target deceleration.

Going back to the truck/transporter analogy, you could in theory put bigger brakes on the pickup and beef up the engine to be able to pull a heavier load faster and still stop quickly, but those brakes might not work as well because you need to upgrade your master cylinder, too. The engine supplies the power, but that power is transmitted through the transmission, transfer case, driveshafts, differentials, axles, tires, and the various hardware use to connect those components. Some of those will likely need to be upgraded as well to get the full benefit of the new "speed".

Basically, your speed is limited by the slowest/weakest part of your "chain". Many strength training exercises isolate certain muscles, which is great for hypertrophy. Even squats and deadlifts don't train much in the way of rotation. However, you use your entire body in some way to swing a golf club, so when you isolate muscles in the gym, you might be making that part stronger/faster, but that newfound strength/speed also needs to be handled by the core/lower body. That's why you could argue that a standing cable press might be better for speed than a bench press. With a cable press, you need to stabilize your lower body and core the entire time to move the weight. With a regular bench press, your back is supported so your lower body and core don't need to work as hard.

That's also why dominant and non-dominant training is one of the critical aspects of superspeed training. Muscles used in a non-dominant swing are used to stop a dominant swing (and vice versa). Your brain has sort of a governor that prevents you from moving too fast if it knows that it can't safely stop that movement. Improving your ability to decelerate, can help to open up that governor and allow you to accelerate faster.

In your first few weeks of training, you might find your speeds to be all over the place. But as your body/brain gets more familiar with the process, you'll likely start to see some gains and things will start to balance out. From my experience, the gains will sometimes happen overnight. Then they might go back down for a session or few, then all of a sudden something "clicks" and you basically have established a new baseline with faster speed. After you've done this for a few weeks, if you have a few bad sessions in a row, you might just want to take an extra day or two off before the next session because you might just need some additional rest/recovery time.

[GolfChannel]

Finally hit 120 mph yesterday with the driver from my SuperSpeed golf middle stick only experiment based on the Par4 Success study. 

I have gained 7 mph in the 4 weeks just using the middle stick for protocols. I also haven't re-injured my left shoulder from doing SuperSpeed golf protocols which is always nice.

2 weeks left to try and hit 125.

[sprcoop]

@GolfChannel are you using this per Par4Success?

 

Kneeling 5 swings right

Kneeling 5 swings left

3 minutes rest

Standing 5 swings right

Standing 5 swings left

3 minutes rest

Happy Gilmore 5 swings right

Happy Gilmore 5 swings left.

 

 

[Left Rough]

Has anyone experienced after going through the protocol significant distance gains with the Woods and Hybrids, but less so on their irons? I've gained a crazy amount of distance with my driver, 3 wood and hybrid, probably 25-35 yards on average and even longer on my best strikes, but essentially negligible gains with my irons. I'm wondering if with the weighting or the types of swings you make with the speed sticks (driver/wood-like) mean better gains with longer clubs relative to shorter clubs (%-wise, of course distance wise one isn't going to gain the same gross yardage on shorter clubs).

[GolfChannel]

Basically. I switched out baseball swings for the Happy Gilmore swing.

[danielt823]

I've had a quick read through this but couldn't see anything so I may have missed it but can anyone give me real world results of using this system?

How many yards did you pick up?

Did it increase or worsen dispersion?

Did your iron distance increase as well?

How long had you been using it to see results?

Did you find your impact location on the face had changed?

Cheers.

[puresurfr]

 

Sounds very reasonable. i pretty much agree with you on all points. haha but i may have hit my absolute max already. I think all of my easy gains are accomplished. anything from here on out will require hard work and months/years of dedication.

[tdennie]

I am really interested in trying this system but I have read very bad things about the swing speed sensor they recommend with the system. I have heard that is very inconsistent and they two similar swings can produce very different numbers.

Apart from that concern I am very interested in using them. I had a fitting a few weeks ago and my driver swing speed was around 100 mph or so. Would like to see how high I can comfortably get it.

[puresurfr]

I give up

 

[clevited]

Swing that red ssg stick at a target (like a tee or something with intent to hit it) and see what the SSR says. It is much easier for the radar to pick up the speed of these sticks accurately, vs a driver. I have obtained data from about a dozen people so far that show a close correlation between actual driver swing speed (as you might see on trackman) and the speed you swing the red stick.

SSR can be more and more off the faster you get with a driver due to it reading the toe closing. This also depends on your swing path, and closure rate so it can vary a lot between people. The SSG sticks don't vary nearly so much. No toe closure rate issues.

 

Edit: I forgot to say, the red stick seems to measure within +- 3 mph of your real driver swing speed based on the people I have information on. There can of course be outliers but seems pretty consistent so far.

[CardsChamps11]

Are you still sticking to 3 times per week?

[puresurfr]

 

Thanks for that info, the red stick does seem much more reasonable, I just figured they were off because they are so aerodynamic.

[clevited]

Yeah they are more aerodynamic, but that doesn't play as big of a roll in speed with a club as you think. Take what you will from my personal testing, but it seems to be a mph or 2 at the most. Seems to be pretty well covered by the +-3 mph range I estimate. Your driver is also generally lighter than the red club so there is that.

 

Most important thing is to swing at something with the red stick when you measure otherwise you aren't capturing the same type of situation. Free swinging without something to aim at allows your swing flaws to happen without consequence. From my observations, people with really technically sound swings, can swing all out with an ssg club without aiming at something and match the speed closely with an actual driver when hitting balls. Others cannot do that. It might however show you what you are capable of if you can correct your swing flaws and get rid of any mental block you might have when a ball is in front of you.