In order for most of the energy to be transferred from the clubhead to the ball, you don’t want energy being expended by over-compressing a very soft low-compression ball, as more energy is expended when a club hits a very soft ball. . (More on this later when we describe an average swing speed hitting a high-compression ball.) A slow swing won’t compress the ball very much. Women generally have lower speeds and tend to use a softer compression golf ball as it is easier to compress and as a result the ball will go further than a high compression ball which of course it is more difficult to compress.
How do I know what my speed is?
Most golf proshops or retailers will measure your speed if you don’t know it.
On the high end, here’s the average swing speed of the fastest clubhead speeds on the PGA Tour right now:
• Bubba Watson 124mph
• Gary Woodland 123 mph
• Rory McIlroy 122 mph
The RE/Max long drive world champions have gone up to around 145+ mph. 2014 champion Connor Powers posted a speed of 152.8 mph.
Bubba uses Titleist, Gary uses Callaway, and Rory uses Nike golf balls.
Different golfers have different speeds generally related to their handicap.
Speeds vary depending on handicaps. The average speed for an 18 handicap is about 90 mph, which results in an average driving distance of about 230 yards. It is also well established that your speed will increase if you hold the club looser and if you are more relaxed. Trying to swing harder usually has the opposite effect at distance.
Getting up to speed takes practice and is something that can be done on the driving range. Jack Nicklaus didn’t go to the range much unless he wanted to do something. Going to the shooting range can be tedious if you’re not trying to work on something.
Golf Labs used a robot with a set speed of 90 mph with a loft of 13.75 degrees.
Here are the results:
• TaylorMade Black TP 259.1 yards
• TaylorMade+ Noodles 259 yards
• TaylorMade Red 258 yards
• Titleist NXT Extreme 257.5
• Bridgestone Precept Laddie 256 yards
• Nike PD Soft 255.9 yards
• Bridgestone Tower B330-S 255.2 yards
• Top Flite Freak 254.5 yards
• Wilson Luxury 254.2 yards
• Titleist NXT Tour 254.2 yards
The difference in the robot’s driving distance at 90 mph for the previous 10 balls is only 4.9 yards. Since this is not a significant distance, you may want to seriously consider which ball has the best feel for your short game (ie your scoring). There are no pictures on the scorecards and if you’re like most of us, someone else usually wins the longest round and you’re better off coming in with a lower score.
Also, for heavy hitters, keep in mind that the speed of the robot was 90 mph and not the speed of the 20 year old Tiger Wood when he could easily hit 130 mph in his youth. Remember what I explained at the beginning about high-velocity, low-compression balls? Well, the robot tested Nike’s One Platinum, which is a high-compression ball specially designed for maximum transfer of kinetic energy from above (like Tiger Woods). But when this Nike ball was hit at just 90 mph, the average distance was only 239.1 yards. So before you buy high-compression balls, be sure to find out what your speed is before you buy. You’d be better off trying one of the 10 lower compression balls shown above for 90 mph swings for maximum distance.
Do you want to measure your own golf club head speed?
Measure your own swing speed with the Sports Swing Speed Radar. This device contains a Doppler radar sensor and measures golf swings (as well as baseball swings) up to 200 mph. Simply place it about 8-10 inches from the tee (or hang it from a batting cage or net). Meets all FCC safety requirements and runs on 3 AA batteries. Do you see if your children are old enough to beat the old man? It is so much fun to compete as a family.
