Losing speed relative to shaft length as clubs get longer

[tomg1969]

I'm scratching my head on this and can't figure out where the leak is. As the title states, my club head speed is not increasing relative to club length. 

I have a GC3 and have been working on my swing while the weather has been lousy and measured club head speed doesn't make sense.

 

9 iron = 82 mph average 

7 iron = 83 mph average 

4 hybrid = 86 mph average 

Driver = 96 mph average 

I've been at 100-104 with driver for years. 

 

Obviously I'm losing efficiency/speed somewhere. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[blazman11]

My only suggestion is to play a shorter driver shaft. I have the exact same issue as you - but only with the driver - and have had it for years. 7 iron is 86 average. Driver can get as low as 96 with 46” driver length. So I play my driver at 44.5” and just last night got up to 102. Lower than I want but it’s a start. 
 

‘why does this happen?  I believe it’s from a lack of rotation. When I subconsciously start steering the ball what I really do is under rotate and get armsy. Then my iron distances start to come up short and I wonder what’s going on. So I’ll grab my r10, head to range and see sure enough my swings are low across the board. focusing on getting a full turn solves the issue also coupled with not letting my lead side overly dominate the swing. 
 

‘the other thing I discovered is by keep my face looking straight on the ball limits my shoulder turn.  It’s something that creeps in over time. Again at the range I’ll work on the Jack Nicklaus turn your head slightly away from the ball. 
 

wish I had a better answer. I’d love to get back up to 108 with the driver. I also have the unnatural fear of skying a driver which I think holds me back some. Some rounds my 3 iron off the tee is a good 10 yards+ past my best drive. 
 

 

 

[Pepperturbo]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:49 PM, tomg1969 said:

I'm scratching my head on this and can't figure out where the leak is. As the title states, my club head speed is not increasing relative to club length. 

I have a GC3 and have been working on my swing while the weather has been lousy and measured club head speed doesn't make sense.

 

9 iron = 82 mph average 

7 iron = 83 mph average 

4 hybrid = 86 mph average 

Driver = 96 mph average 

I've been at 100-104 with driver for years. 

 

Obviously I'm losing efficiency/speed somewhere. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Losing clubhead speed if often the result of lower body/hips and upper body/arms not syncing and clearing to the left fast enough.  Plus, most people don't have the athletic abilities needed to create high club head speeds, which is needed for longer drivers.

 

Longer driver shafts, don't necessary equate to longer drives, even in the hands of pros.   OEMs market/advertise driver distance thanks to Iron Bryon not having a lower body. LOL

 

I've been playing over 35 years, as low as 2 index, and my driving distance has never been considered long.  During earlier years iron SS was around 88 mph, driver was well over 100, driver length was 45".  I tested lengths to 46" and down to 43".  For the last ten years, driver length has been 44.75.

[Krt22]

Impossible to say without seeing the swing, but very likely too much tilt from the target with longer clubs. 

[riddyl]

I had this issue with irons, 9i very close (relatively) to 4i. For me, it was because I was too quick back to the ball, rather than making the clubhead take a longer arc in the downswing. The longer you apply force, theoretically the faster the club will be travelling at impact. 

 

It may be worth checking this out even if its just to eliminate it. Take videos of 9i, 7i, 5i, Driver and time how long it takes from the top to impact. You can even compare these to pro swings. I saw a Chris Ryan video where his downswing with driver took waaay longer than his students, yet he swung 25mph faster.  

[tomg1969]

7 hours ago, blazman11 said:

My only suggestion is to play a shorter driver shaft. I have the exact same issue as you - but only with the driver - and have had it for years. 7 iron is 86 average. Driver can get as low as 96 with 46” driver length. So I play my driver at 44.5” and just last night got up to 102. Lower than I want but it’s a start. 
 

‘why does this happen?  I believe it’s from a lack of rotation. When I subconsciously start steering the ball what I really do is under rotate and get armsy. Then my iron distances start to come up short and I wonder what’s going on. So I’ll grab my r10, head to range and see sure enough my swings are low across the board. focusing on getting a full turn solves the issue also coupled with not letting my lead side overly dominate the swing. 
 

‘the other thing I discovered is by keep my face looking straight on the ball limits my shoulder turn.  It’s something that creeps in over time. Again at the range I’ll work on the Jack Nicklaus turn your head slightly away from the ball. 
 

wish I had a better answer. I’d love to get back up to 108 with the driver. I also have the unnatural fear of skying a driver which I think holds me back some. Some rounds my 3 iron off the tee is a good 10 yards+ past my best drive. 
 

 

 

Nice to know that I have company...haha. I've been thinking about going shorter with the driver again I used to play at 44.5 and have slowly drifted towards 45.5 or 45.75......Can't hurt to give it another shot. I used to be 107 consistently with driver and would reallylike to get back there. 

[tomg1969]

7 hours ago, Pepperturbo said:

Losing clubhead speed if often the result of lower body/hips and upper body/arms not syncing and clearing to the left fast enough.  Plus, most people don't have the athletic abilities needed to create high club head speeds, which is needed for longer drivers.

 

Longer driver shafts, don't necessary equate to longer drives, even in the hands of pros.   OEMs market/advertise driver distance thanks to Iron Bryon not having a lower body. LOL

 

I've been playing over 35 years, as low as 2 index, and my driving distance has never been considered long.  During earlier years iron SS was around 88 mph, driver was well over 100, driver length was 45".  I tested lengths to 46" and down to 43".  For the last ten years, driver length has been 44.75.

I've never been a high speed guy, but was consistently 107 and somedays a couple mph higher. Strange that whatever mechanical flaw I have developed is most prominent with the longest club.....my assumption is that the length and flatter plane is magnifying the issue.

[tomg1969]

6 hours ago, Krt22 said:

Impossible to say without seeing the swing, but very likely too much tilt from the target with longer clubs. 

This is possible. My AoA with driver hovers around +4/+5

[tomg1969]

6 hours ago, riddyl said:

I had this issue with irons, 9i very close (relatively) to 4i. For me, it was because I was too quick back to the ball, rather than making the clubhead take a longer arc in the downswing. The longer you apply force, theoretically the faster the club will be travelling at impact. 

 

It may be worth checking this out even if its just to eliminate it. Take videos of 9i, 7i, 5i, Driver and time how long it takes from the top to impact. You can even compare these to pro swings. I saw a Chris Ryan video where his downswing with driver took waaay longer than his students, yet he swung 25mph faster.  

Interesting.....I'll take some videos to see what I find. 

[Krt22]

1 hour ago, tomg1969 said:

This is possible. My AoA with driver hovers around +4/+5

That will do it. It’s most apparent with driver, but it likely bled over to your other long clubs. Big time speed killer 

[Norsegolf]

Working with a mobile launch monitor definitely helps, particularly if the ball speed issue is related to fully rotating or not.

[Jeselnik]

shoulder turn and/or right arm structure.

[Arthur_Vandelay]

I used to leak a lot of speed with the driver.  Plane and face were my two biggest culprits.  Open face caused a stall flip move to square it late.  Steep downswing caused a late shallowing move.  Both of those cause the body to stall which obviously kills any momentum and speed you're generating. Irons help mask the issue. Driver exposes it. I hit 170 ball speed on trackman for the first time recently. At the peak of my issues I was barely over 150 ball speed, which was frustrating because I knew I could generate a good amount of clubhead speed so long as I didn't have to also hit a golf ball lol.  It's really incredible how much more fluid and faster my swing is when I get the face closed earlier. Open face is like my body's E brake is on.