We've launched the new forums! Read more here

What's your potential speed ceiling?

I can swing very fast, I know that the best thing that ever helped me were squats and tricep pushdowns. Keep stable and get strong explosive speed at impact zone. I used to do long drive comps so I feel like I could go as hard as equipment allows - obviously losing consistency proportionally.

Hip flexor work and triceps!
 
I am not really sure where i am at currently to have a guess at potential max. I know i can do better than what i have been though. Need to look into this more.
 
Last time I tried this it was a major contributor in royally screwing up my wrist.

I was kicking around the idea of restarting this winter when I’m not playing 4x a week in addition to speed training and hoping it goes better.
 
I'm not sure, but I'd say somewhere in the 110-120 range. Currently averaging 90-100 mph. I do have a tentative plan to do speed training this winter to see where I could go in a few months.
 
I am 92-95 with the driver. I think I could get to 100without a ton of issues. My big problem has been physical. I have had a few issues that derailed strength and speed training.
 
I am very curious about this… when I attempting long drive.. I was consistently 125 head with my play driver but without it any working out or actually training… so I think I could get 130-135 club head with training and working out
 
Maybe 2024 is the year of speed. I’ve gotten up to 115 with a 5 wood.
So maybe 130 with driver?
 
I’m around 105-110 with a 42.5” driver right now. I’ve been up to 115-118 with a longer driver but I lose control with the length, (need to get professionally fit for one that long) and I tend to injure myself (hips and back) when swinging that hard.

I hate to say it but consistent contact and optimized launch conditions (AOA, club loft, spin) > speed every time.

I played a scramble last Friday on a real “twisty” course and was hitting the ball well, my 270-290 drives were often under trees or with bad angles into the green. we used the 220-250 yard safe drives 2 or 3 times because the approach angle was better.
 
Probably 100 mph. I hit 99 once about 5 years ago but never triple digits. My average is probably in the low 90s these days.
 
My instructor thinks I can get to 100 mph driver swing without a ton of changes; I live in the 92-95 range. I just worry about my back. When I really hurt it, I was chasing speed.
 
This is something I've always wondered, and have looked up a couple times, but have never found an answer on. And it seems surprising, because it should be a popular question. Is there a non-golf test or exercise that determines your maximum golf speed potential?

The closest thing I've found is X-factor... your distance potential is basically how far your can separate your shoulders from your hips. But it's kind of fuzzy, in that I haven't seen numbers put to it (maybe 60* of disassociation = D-1 speed, 30* of disassociation = consider playing badminton, etc).
 
TxAggie2018 said:
This is something I've always wondered, and have looked up a couple times, but have never found an answer on. And it seems surprising, because it should be a popular question. Is there a non-golf test or exercise that determines your maximum golf speed potential?

The closest thing I've found is X-factor... your distance potential is basically how far your can separate your shoulders from your hips. But it's kind of fuzzy, in that I haven't seen numbers put to it (maybe 60* of disassociation = D-1 speed, 30* of disassociation = consider playing badminton, etc).
Click to expand...
I’m sure there is a method out there. I saw one that correlated standing vertical jump to potential swing speed, but the examples they gave were not in line with my results.

All I know is that through other sports I didn’t perform above average when it came to throwing or bat speed. Granted, those could have been technical issues as well. But that history would suggest my potential club head speed wouldn’t be anything above average even if I were a younger man.
 
Last edited:
with some weight loss (well like 40lbs of weight loss), flexibility, and speed training I honestly think I could pick up 10-15MPH of club head speed. Just not sure I have the dedication for that (at least the weight loss part :) )
 
In my fitting this year, I averaged 112 with my driver. I've never worked on it or dedicated any special time to improving it. I could make slight improvements maybe, but the fractional improvement in distance isnt what I need. I struggle with driver accuracy and dont think more club speed is the solution lol, probably the opposite.
 
I think I can get to 115mph club head / low 170's ball speed. I've clocked myself recently as high as 111 at the range, so I think I can eke another ~5 mph out with some focused work over the winter with SuperSpeed.

That said, my bigger focus in the offseason is going to be (1) working my wedge game HARD and (2) developing and ingraining a reliable driver shot shape. Lack of distance has not been my problem, although I'll definitely take more if I can get it.
 
I've never worked on speed, but I imagine I've dropped somewhat here in my late 50's. I'd be happy to get to the 110+ I had when I was younger, but would be curious to see if training could raise my potential even more!
 
Guessing mine might top out around 95 now. I added @25% to my club speed during the first 3-4 years I was on THP but put in a ton of work and also suffered some injuries in the process (see graph). Probably would've done better with a system vs the experimental methods I used but none the less I was successful and increased my potential reachable P4 norms by @75 yards.

Each point is an average of all the swings in a given session so a conservative guesstimate is 25,000 driver swings included in the graph below. A couple injuries and a comeback from surgery show up in the first 150 sessions. I was obviously real slow to begin with so had a ton of room to improve but it's also evident that I was getting less and less return on my efforts as time passed. It's also crystal clear when I ultimately decided to give a few hard earned MPH back to help reel in the penal two way misses I was suffering on the course.

At my peak I was hitting several 100mph+ drives every session and think 108s were my best. I don't really track my speed at the range anymore. I actually haven't for the last 6 years, but when I do check a drive or 2 I'm now usually in the 84-87 range. If I decide to 'go after a few' I might get to maybe 92. I really am not interested in pushing it as hard as I did a few years ago though. I'm 68 now and another injury could cost me more of what little golf time I have left than I'm willing to risk.

chsgraph.PNG
 
Last edited:
Too late for me now. If I were to go after speed I would completely destroy my Back and no operations for me.
But I will say there's always more speed available if Body is capable, whether thru Exercise or Technique. And when you do increase, it's so much fun.
 
Daddio said:
Guessing mine might top out around 95 now. I added @25% to my club speed during the first 3-4 years I was on THP but put in a ton of work and also suffered some injuries in the process (see graph). Probably would've done better with a system vs the experimental methods I used but none the less I was successful and increased my potential reachable P4 norms by @75 yards.

Each point is an average of all the swings in a given session so a conservative guesstimate is 25,000 driver swings included in the graph below. A couple injuries and a comeback from surgery show up in the first 150 sessions. I was obviously real slow to begin with so had a ton of room to improve but it's also evident that I was getting less and less return on my efforts as time passed. It's also crystal clear when I ultimately decided to give a few hard earned MPH back to help reel in the penal two way misses I was suffering on the course.

At my peak I was hitting several 100mph+ drives every session and think 108s were my best. I don't really track my speed at the range anymore. I actually haven't for the last 6 years, but when I do check a drive or 2 I'm now usually in the 84-87 range. If I decide to 'go after a few' I might get to maybe 92. I really am not interested in pushing it as hard as I did a few years ago though. I'm 68 now and another injury could cost me more of what little golf time I have left than I'm willing to risk.

View attachment 9217940
Click to expand...

I'm at about where you started. How did you build speed from there?
 
What was once 100 is now 90.
 
TxAggie2018 said:
I'm at about where you started. How did you build speed from there?
Click to expand...
Many different smaller things contributed and I would continually experiment to optimize those but the biggy was that I wasn't using any wrist set in the past so I worked to develop it. I devised a grip I could mount to my bow flex with a couple large swivels and worked hard on developing golf strength in my hands, wrists, and forearms. I hit thousands of drives ie thousands of hours and thousands of dollars so I'm not sure I'd recommend anyone copy what I did but I enjoyed the ride and all the extra potential I now has as a golfer.
 
Daddio said:
Many different smaller things contributed and I would continually experiment to optimize those but the biggy was that I wasn't using any wrist set in the past so I worked to develop it. I devised a grip I could mount to my bow flex with a couple large swivels and worked hard on developing golf strength in my hands, wrists, and forearms. I hit thousands of drives ie thousands of hours and thousands of dollars so I'm not sure I'd recommend anyone copy what I did but I enjoyed the ride and all the extra potential I now has as a golfer.
Click to expand...

I have no active wrist cock in my swing either. Let's just say your numbers are very motivating.
 
Maybe 85-87mph. Last I checked I was around 75. May be able to jump more, but, I ain't getting younger or less arthritic.

Edit: I suppose I could go on the juice and get a set of Kenny Perry forearms.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top