what swing speeds and shafts

Hiya again everyone

Well after reading on another post a little about swing speeds I just got back from american golf where I tried a few drivers out (and ended up walking away with a 3 wood instead for £20...lol)

Anyways I tried the ping G5, a ben ross driver (cant remember the exact one) and cleveland one + many more (truth is I didnt want a new driver I just wanted a go on that machine to see my swing speed).  To be honest I was a little scared about damaging the clubs so I wasnt swinging my normal swing but the guy told me based on about my best 20 odd swings I was swinging the club at an average speed (he didnt say how much that was - but at one stage when he wasnt there I creamed one and I noticed 76mph on the screen....!!)

It started to get too busy and in the end I tried a few 3woods that were on offer and I bought a wilson for £25 down from £60ish.

Can anyone just explain to me why do some people use a stiff shaft ? Yeah its probably a daft question I know but Im not up to speed with all this technical stuff.

Also people do you all know what your swing speeds are ??? Is this really important ?? Ive started to try and concentrate not to thrash the ball anymore and keep it in play even if that means losing yardage, my mate now hits his 3wood as far as i hit my driver but 8 times out of 10 im on on the fairway...

Cool Jason very good point there. off to read up on that link now.......thanks for that

My swing speed is quite fast, not sure how fast though. Went to that urban golf indoor golf place, and my ball speed with a driver was 167mph, I dont know how that relates to club head speed.

Hiya guys - ok no no for swing speeds but can i just ask when you get measured for this speed I presume that the machine will take into account the ball staying on the fairway ??!?  I mean it would be pointless then wouldnt it ? (eg: lets say you have a fast speed but then you keep slicing or hooking etc). Just a thought !!

ahh i see what your saying, I was more just thinking that i suppose its good to try to increase yoiur swingspeed but you have to be good enough to have control of it, etc....but now im starting to understand more about the importance of the shaft, cus usally the guys in american golf usually give you a club with a regular shaft (which i presume most people use) and say this is a good club for mid handicappers....

all this golf jargon gets a lil too much !!

At the risk of being boring (wake up Wayne) the swing speed has more to do with marketing than with any practical value, apart from roughly gauging what type of shaft and kick point you need.  It's something I've been looking into in relation to my ongoing golf ball hardness testing.  Ideally, if you have a constant body rotation speed the clubhead speed is a function of the shaft length, a 10% increase in shaft length will give a 10% increase in clubhead speed.  This theory is shot to pieces because the shaft is flexible, a combination of additional rotational elements increases the head speed relative to your body's rotational speed - torso rolling into the shot and wrist break increase the head speed by utilising the shaft whip.  It's like swinging a weight on a piece of string (like a pendulum) and sticking a finger in the way, the weight will accelerate around your finger.

So in a nutshell if you have a naturally slow body rotational speed a flexible shaft will increase club head speed (especially if you get the wrist break right), if you have a stiffer shaft the ball won't go as far with the same rotational speed.  If you have a faster swing the opposite is true, a flexible shaft won't have time to catch up with the wrist break acceleration before impact and leads to shots with an open face.

Of course you need to take into account the hardness of the ball, the maximum take off velocity is only achieved when the ball fully uncompresses some 100 to 300mS after impact....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm OK David, Wayne's probably having his afternoon nap about now as well.  To be honest I started dropping off after the first paragraph.

I'm OK, it's all the rest that are the problem, been to too many funerals lately.  The golf is, er, variable at the moment.  Looks like some improvement now the grounds getting a bit firmer.  I'll keep plugging away though.

Wayne

Much as I wanted to I can't come to Portugal next year.  Most of my spare cash is being frittered away on my old Laverda motorcycle, currently undergoing a major (and becoming expensive) overhaul.  I'm then going away (no wife!) on a major European tour on it later in the year to celebrate the big 50 with a bunch of similar old fogies.  Hoping to do Misano, Lausitz, Estoril and Vallenlunga and a scrape around the Nurenburgring.

Can't take my golf clubs though. 

Just had a mate come back from American Golf and say he was hitting the ball 220 yard at a swing speed of 95mph. This carnt be right can it? I know for a fact he hits it further than that, do they show the distance is yards or metres as he wasnt sure?

they told me in yards and the screen also shows the shape of the shot, but i suppose he can hit it further cus of other things like wind, ball type etc ? i dunno time for one of the others to step in and explain clearler, not really an expert on this stuff....

just a note for you all tho apparently american golf will acually let you borrow a driver to try out on the course so long as you dont damage it (they give u a demo one) remember to ask guys