Jaacob Bowden's Swing Man Golf Blog

Custom fit equipment for distance

by Jaacob Bowden

I want to reiterate the importance of getting custom fit for your driver(or for all of your equipment for that matter). 

Recently, I received an email from a guy who had an 8 degree launch angle (very low) and yet he was still getting his drives out to 305 yards.  I ended up convincing him to get custom fit and although I don't know his total distance, he said they are now CARRYING out to 310...which is 5 yards past where his previous drives had been carrying AND rolling out to.

Personally, I've had good success with the PCS (Professional Clubmakers Society) certified guys, however, anyone that has similar qualifications (a GCA guy) or equivalent knowledge and skills will benefit you.

Will swing speed training fix my slice?

Question:

I have been playing for about a year now and as I have continued to learn on my own, I have developed a slice. Will your training help me kill my slice once and for all?

Jaacob's Answer:

The swing speed training in and of itself likely won't help correct your slice...it'll just make you hit the ball farther.

A slice ball-flight is caused by the club face being open at impact.  So to change it, you'd need to do something to make sure the club face is more closed...whether that be buying draw-biased clubs, strengthening your grip slightly (turning your hands clock-wise if you swing right-handed), starting the club face out more closed at address so that it arrives square at impact, using your same back swing motion but training yourself to get the club face more closed on the downswing, etc.

I do have a section about this inside the website - it's the Shortcuts to Lower Scores bonus.  Here's what the menu looks like for that information:

Golf Instruction
- Top 5 Swing Tips
- Full Swing
- Pitching
- Chipping
- Bunkers
- Putting
- Practicing
- Tweaking Your Swing (Without an Instructor)
- On the Course
- Equipment
- Golf Fitness

How can I stop hitting fat?

Question:

I  am having trouble hitting solid. I end up hitting fat. Usually about an inch inch and half behind. I loose distance but the ball goes straight. What can I work on to find my swing? I have only been playing for 8 months. driver carry is at 250-270 carry.

Jaacob's Answer:

The good news is that you hit the ball much farther than most people, especially considering that you've only been playing for 8 months.  The average amateur drive is around 225 yards.  Plus, even though you are hitting some shots fat, at least the ball is going straight...which would tell me you are getting the club face back to square and your swing path in to the ball is also fine.

As far as why you are hitting fat, here are a few things that you might check. 

1) Take a look at your ball position.  If it is pretty far back this could cause a steeper line of attack down in to the ball.  For irons, most people put the ball in the middle of their stance with clubs like 8-P.  As you get towards the 3-5 and then on in to the woods and driver, most people incrementally move the ball more forward in their stance until the ball is just off the inside of the front foot.

2) You might be delofting the club a little bit too much at impact.  A delofted club face makes it a little easier for the leading edge of the club to dig in to the ground.  I think this is one of the dangers of teachers today teaching that the hands need to be ahead of the club at impact.

3) Somewhere between your initial take-a-way to the time of impact, you could be dipping down or falling towards your back foot slightly.  Try to minimize any excessive up and down movement in your swing.  I personally try to keep my head as still as I can while I swing (to the point that I can still make a smooth swing)

4) Check the tension levels in your swing.  Introducing tension into muscles changes distances and measurements and makes it more difficult to make consistently good contact.  Smooth out your swing as best as you can.

Give those things a try and see how it goes!

How much swing speed can I gain without changing my technique?

Question:

How much speed can I gain without changing my technique?

Jaacob's Answer:

Yes, the great thing about this is you don't have to change your technique if you don't want to.  Although there are certainly things I would advocate, use whatever swing style works and makes sense to you.  When I put together the swing speed training programs and information, I specifically designed them such that they would work with any number of swing styles. 

Gain-wise, of the people I've heard back from, it seems fairly common to get 10-16 mph (25-40 yards) in 30 days with the Basic Program.  For those that want to do more, I share my training programs from the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships so people can pick out things they want to add to their training to get even better results.

Shut club face on the way back

Comment:

I can see there are certain fundamentals taught to maximize power in the golf swing such as club face shut on the way back.

Jaacob's Comment:

Actually the shut club face is more for accuracy than power.  As I'm sure you know, conventional teaching has us open the blade up on the way back such that from the down-the-line view the toe of the club is pointing up to the sky when it reaches parallel to both the ground and the target line.  This is considered square by most teaching, however, I consider it open relative to the plane back to the ball.  In the photo, my club at this point is 45 degrees more closed than common teaching. This, in fact, is actually still "square" back to the ball.  At the top, I'm 45 degrees more "shut" too...I find that working the blade in this manner removes a lot of the timing that it takes to get a consistently straight ball flight.  My club face ends up being squarer longer (especially and more importantly through the hitting area), and I don't have to hit a billion balls to stay fairly grooved.

Is swing speed training just a matter of becoming bigger and stronger?

Question:

Is swing speed training just a matter of becoming bigger and stronger?

Jaacob's Answer:

Although I think size does help (this year's RE/MAX World Long Drive Champion is 6'8" 300 lbs), it's not a prerequisite.  It's more about being fast than it is big or strong.  There's a number of guys out there on the long drive circuit now that are under 6'0" and 190 lbs.

Possible to maintain good swing mechanics at higher speeds?

Question:

Is it possible to maintain good mechanics when swinging at a higher speeds?

Jaacob's Answer:

It's definitely possible to retain good mechanics when swinging at higher speeds.  For example, take a look at world class sprinters...they are going all out as fast as they can and many of their sprinting fundamentals are impeccable.  Also, it used to be that most swings out on the long drive circuit were pretty crazy...but now-a-days there's a lot of good sounds swings popping up.  In fact, Andy North was commenting on the fundamentals of many of the guys at this year's Finals on ESPN.  When training for speed, you have to keep fundamentals in mind...but yes, it's absolutely possible.