Plane & Path 111 - Speed

In this article I will try and give some information on swing speed so hopefully along with my two previous "Plane & Path" articles it will it will assist new golfers to improve their game.

To start looking at the way swing speed can be generated I would like to go back again to the idea of swinging a small weight on the end of a piece of string held between the thumb and forefinger.



We rotate the string by making circular moves with our grip on the string. You will notice that the smaller the arc of rotation with your fingers the faster and easier you will be able to move the weight at the end of the string. If you increase the size of the circle made with your fingers the weight will progressively slow down. It will get to a point eventually where the inner and outer circles are moving at the same speed.

We can relate this to our golf swing. In an effective swing as we start down from the top the hands move in a large arc and travel at a similar speed to the club head. The wrists maintain their cock that lags the clubhead behind the hands. In the shaded area of the next picture it is important that the hands and clubhead are traveling at a similar speed to stop the clubhead being cast outwards and loosing the potential speed stored in the wrist cock.


As the hands get nearer the ball they need to slow and create a smaller arc, this whips the club through the ball in a tight arc that increases speed and releases the wrist cock adding even more acceleration.



In the attached picture below the images have been made with a high speed shutter that takes a picture at set time intervals, the bigger the space with the shaft the faster the club is moving, the smaller the spaces with the hands (B) show the slower the hands move on a smaller arc.




Here is a good video that shows the way a reduced arc with the hands at impact can accelerate the club through the ball:


I hope this article assists you to better understand the mechanics of creating good clubhead speed that will hit the ball further.

__________________
Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

As ever. Please let me know if this article is clear and helpful?

hi Brian
i think part I,II and III, are all good posts and you do explain it very well.
keep up the good work.
cheers
bill