Question:
I’ve heard from several sources about "making a 5 iron swing" or somthing of the sort. I know the different lengths of the clubs create different swing speeds but it seems as though they are trying to tell me to swing my pitching wedge easier than my 5 iron. I fear my tempo would be shot if I tried to change speeds from club to club. It’s hard enough to make one good repeating swing. I would appreciate other prospectives.
You have to differentiate between hand speed and clubhead speed. Hand speed can remain a constant because the distance between the hands and shoulders will always be the same (the length of the left arm is always the same). BUT, the length of the clubshaft changes. Here is an example. The figures are for the sake of arguement. Lets say the hands swing at 10 mph. With a pitching wedge the clubhead may have to travel 10 feet in 1 second to stay up with them. With the same hand speed and a 3 iron the clubhead may have to travel 15 feet in 1 second to stay up with them. The clubhead traveling the greatest distance in the same amount of time is the fastest moving, and a increase in hand speed was not needed. If you work on tempo work on hand speed tempo, not clubhead tempo. David Homepage of Golf Instruction and Tips; http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3580
Response:
I’ve heard from several sources about "making a 5 iron swing" or somthing of the sort. I know the different lengths of the clubs create different swing speeds but it seems as though they are trying to tell me to swing my pitching wedge easier than my 5 iron. I fear my tempo would be shot if I tried to change speeds from club to club. It’s hard enough to make one good repeating swing. I would appreciate other prospectives.