I sweep, I sweep
 

So I got back into golf this summer. Took a couple of lessons, played a lot. At this point, my biggest swing fault is that I sort of sweep the ball, rather than keeping the club back on my downswing and snapping it through.

I bought new clubs last week and during the fitting the guy told me that I had a big shoulder turn but pretty low club head speed--basically my arms and body don't work together well. My club head speeds were 90ish MPH with the driver, 69-72 with a 6 iron.

I hit my driver 220-230ish, sometimes up to 250 if I really grab one. 4iron 175ish, 7 iron 145ish. I find that I get very little distance out of wedges though, and I figure sweeping the ball prob has a lot to do with it. I think that as I move down in the bag I'm getting less and less distance out of my clubs.

Boys, I seek guidance for drills, tips, etc. At this point in the season (one month left of reg playing) I'm happy with the improvements I've made on other aspects of my swing. But fixing this problem and getting more consistent distance out of my irons is something I'd like to have going next summer.

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

Go somewhere and get on a launch monitor, look at he numbers for loft, shaft angle at impact, spin rate at impact, post if you can get those numbers and the loft of your wedge.

tobdog

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

Is distance really something you need at this point? I guess if you have a major swing issue that is keeping you down, that's something worth changing, but if you are hitting it consistently with smooth, easy swing, and decent ball flight, I don't really think distance should matter too much. One of my biggest score improvements came after I stopped forcing myself to use a club at a certain distance where I thought I SHOULD use it, and started using the club that I ACTUALLY hit that distance. Example (since that was a bit messy), if I were around 145-150 I used to always hit a 7-iron, even if I ended up short or barely there 75% of the time. Part of this was ego. Now, from that range I'll hit a 6-iron with a nice, easy swing, and hit the green considerably more often. I've found that if I club up, I'm over the green WAY less than the amount of times I would have been short if I had stayed with the club I "should" hit.

With me it was an ego thing. I guess what I'm saying is, before you screw up your swing trying to get distance, ask why you need more, if you need more, and if it's worth it.

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

Well, I'm not looking for more distance in a dick-swinging sort of way. But I am looking to shorten the course, and get to the shorter clubs quicker.

Its not an ego thing. I think there's a ton of value in extending the ranges on my scoring irons.

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

[ QUOTE ]
Go somewhere and get on a launch monitor, look at he numbers for loft, shaft angle at impact, spin rate at impact, post if you can get those numbers and the loft of your wedge.

tobdog

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By club? Any club?

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I'm not looking for more distance in a dick-swinging sort of way. But I am looking to shorten the course, and get to the shorter clubs quicker.

Its not an ego thing. I think there's a ton of value in extending the ranges on my scoring irons.

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I guess it depends on what courses you play. There are maybe one or two courses in my area where I am hindered by the fact I don't hit my irons long. I feel so good about my swing right now in terms of accuracy with the scoring irons (including my 6 and 7), that I don't see any need to (probably) screw up my swing to gain more distance, especially since on most par 4s I'm only left with 150 or less (I hit my driver disproportionately farther than my irons).

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Go somewhere and get on a launch monitor, look at he numbers for loft, shaft angle at impact, spin rate at impact, post if you can get those numbers and the loft of your wedge.

tobdog

[/ QUOTE ]

By club? Any club?

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Probably the wedges.

The reason I say this, is I used to teach a couple of Hockey players back in the day and most of them hit the ball really far, but a few were horrible at wedge shots, not because they hit it too far, they actually opened up at impact and make a 56 degree sand wedge into a 65-70 degree and they would not accelerate for fear they were going to hit it too far. Probably not all of this is what you describe, but some of it is. If you are generating the clubhead speed and hitting the ball solid, then yo are getting too much spin and/or have too much loft at impact.

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

Generally, IMHO, great length only really helps when you play from the tips on most courses. Being able to drive it >300yds isn't beneficial on most holes because course designers usually pinch off the fairway at that point from the normal tees. If you can drive it ~280 and be very consistent, I'd take that and not think twice about risking losing the consistency for 15-25 more yards (same applies to irons).

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

I don't drive ~280. I'm not necessarily looking to drive the ball 300 either.

I do know that I tend to bring the club down too early and in addition to what I think are distance woes, I tend to hit a lot of thin shots as well. Wouldn't I be better off hitting down on the ball?

I'm not saying fixing this aspect of my swing won't present new and different problems, but prior to this post I was thinking it was something I should work on.

Re: I sweep, I sweep
 

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If you are generating the clubhead speed and hitting the ball solid, then yo are getting too much spin and/or have too much loft at impact.

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Are the club head speeds I cited above on par with what players strive for? I was under the impression that they are a bit on the low side.

Its quite possible I open up the face at impact. I'll go back to my pro and have him look at it. In the two lessons I've taken, we've been working on bringing the club back less inside.