Jaacob Bowden's Swing Man Golf Blog

Flightscope and Trackman European PGA Tour and PGA Tour Driving and Iron Stats

Have you ever been curious to know how fast your favorite Tour player swings?

It's not listed which tournament the stats came from, but it is believed these Flightscope stats came from an European Tour event in 2008.  Stats included are last name, first name, club speed, ball speed, back spin, side spin, launch angle, height, flight time, carry distance (yards), and smash factor.

You can download the Flightscope documents below:

• European PGA Tour - Driving Stats (pdf)
• European PGA Tour - Driving Stats (excel)
• European PGA Tour - Driving Stats Sample 2 (pdf)

Trackman has also kept the average stats of all the PGA Tour players from 2004-2008.  Stats included are club, club speed, attack angle, ball speed, smash factor, vertical launch, spin rate, max height, land angle, and carry (yards and meters).  Keep in mind that the club lofts are not listed.  For example, one guys PW might be 48 degrees...and another's might be 45 degrees.

Check out the numbers in the below Trackman document:

• PGA Tour Driver And Iron Stats - 2004-2008 (pdf)

Some of the things that I found interesting and noteworthy are:

• I've heard of the average swing speed for a Tour player being around 113-114...but Flightscope and Trackman actually show that to be 110-112.
• Despite getting more driver distance by catching the ball on the upswing, the average player actually hits down on the ball with driver.
• Many professionals are not hitting drivers that would optimize them for distance.  For example, based on my experience, the average launch angle is a little too low and the average spin rate is too high.  This may be due to ignorance and mis-information, but it may also be done on purpose because accuracy becomes more important for many once they have reached a certain level of distance.  The higher the spin with the driver, the more accuracy one would have off the tee.
• The long hitting, Alvaro Quiros of Spain, had the highest swing speed of the European Tour players at 125 mph.  He may be doing it on purpose as I mentioned above, but if he brought his spin rate down and launch angle slightly higher...he could be hitting the ball even further.
• I've heard that 1.48 or 1.50 is "perfect" as far as smash factor goes with the driver.  Since both data sets show an average of 1.48...Tour players would appear to be getting about as much ball speed as they can out of their current swing speeds.  Basically, they are hitting the sweet spot a lot.
• Smash factor goes down when you get to higher lofted clubs.

2009 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships

For those of you that didn't get to see the 2009 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships on ESPN, here is the first video.

Phil Naylor at the 2008 European RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships

Check out this video by Joel Coe featuring Phil Naylor, one of the more entertaining competitors to watch on the long drive circuit:

Increasing Swing Speed with an Overspeed Club

I realize that for many people that it is the off-season.  However, as I mentioned in one of my recent messages, now is a great time to start, or recommit, to your swing speed training.
 
This even applies to me.  :-p  Personally, my speed has dropped a bit over the last 1.5 years because I haven't done any speed training...not to mention in the last few months I've lost a little speed from working on so many partial feel-type shots meant to expand my game, like running a 6-iron up to a green from 100 yards, a 4-iron from 130 yards, etc.  It's helped quite a bit because I've been shooting a lot of scores from 65-69 on our winter greens lately - in part due to my improved shot arsenal.
 
However, I realized from a mid-December trip to Italy with some Pro friends that I needed to get some of that speed back to be more competitive in my upcoming tournaments when I start the tournament season at the end of January.  So while my wife and I were in Spain over the holidays, I took my basic swing speed training equipment with me.  After only 4 workouts I had re-added 13 mph back to my peak speed...and now I know I have enough distance again to be able to carry some fairway bunkers on the courses I know I will be playing soon.
 
Although the Basic Speed Training should be enough to get you 12-16 mph in about a month...if you'd like to take it further like Steve, the 58 year old Swing Man Member I mentioned in a previous message, one of the things you might look in to adding to your training is an over-speed device.  A  lot of long drives guys use over-speed devices (including Sean Fister who is a 3-time RE/MAX World Long Drive Champion)...and it is something that I myself used when I used to train for the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship Qualifying.
 
So what is an over speed device?  Basically, it's just a golf club or something that you can swing that is lighter than a typical club.  The idea is that you will be able to swing it faster because it is lighter and thus your muscles will know what it is like to swing at a faster speed.  Then it's just a matter of transferring that speed over to your normal club.
 
Two examples of this over-speed theory are found with sprinting and swimming.  Sprinters will sometimes run downhill to achieve and feel faster speeds...and swimmers are sometimes pulled through a pool in a harness at world record speeds so they learn what it is like to swim at world record pace.  The same idea applies in golf with an over speed club.
 
Back when I was involved with long drive, guys had to make their own over speed clubs.  I have a picture of mine on the inside of the Swing Man site that I've shown below.  Basically, I took a lightweight golf shaft, drilled holes through two golf balls, and bolted the balls on to the end of the club.  The total weight of the balls and bolt was lighter than what a conventional head weighs.

My little home made device worked pretty well, but the good news is that a guy a know named Berry Harper has developed one that looks like an actual real driver.  I think the closer you can train to what is the real thing...the better.  A typical driver head weighs around 200 grams but Berry's over speed driver head weighs only 145 grams.  He also has an adjustable weight version which allows you to change the weight to 160 or 170 grams.  You can buy the head-only or you can also get a head with a light-weight custom-length shaft.

After receiving mine in the mail and trying it out, I contacted Berry and I've been able to arrange discounts for our Swing Man members who are interested in purchasing one.  If you decide to get one, here are the Coupon Codes to punch in to get your discount:
 

COUPON CODES:   Head and Shaft Code d1i5v4t5a7   Head-Only Code b7h8d6z9p9

To visit Berry's website and learn more about his over speed clubs, click here.

Golf Smarter Podcast Interview with Fred Greene

Recently, Jaacob was interviewed by Fred Greene of Golf Smarter Podcasts.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

My Favorite Personal Swing Speed Radar

by Jaacob Bowden

When you consider that the average amateur swings a driver around 90 mph and hits 220-225 yards per drive, a PGA Tour player swings around 113-115 mph and hits 285-290 yards per drive, and many long drive professionals swing between 130-150 mph and frequently hit over 400 yards...it's easy to see that club head speed is an important factor in achieving long drives.

Whether you are looking to make swing speed increases through mechanical changes to your swing, equipment changes, or actual swing speed training, having a swing speed radar to track and monitor your speeds can be very useful. A Trackman device is normally used to measure speeds on the PGA Tour and in the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships...and many custom club fitters, instructors, retailers, and professionals actually have one.

However, they can costs thousands of dollars and obviously most people won't want to spend that much on one for personal use. Fortunately, there are other more affordable devices available to the general golfing public that are small, portable, easy to use and yet still provide reliable and consistent results.

The best ones I've found are the Swing Speed Radar® and Swing Speed Radar® with Tempo Timer made by Sports Sensors. Not only are they what I've personally used in my own training and what I recommend for use to my members of all ages and skill levels, but they are also used by renowned instructor Jim McLean in his golf schools, 2005 Senior RE/MAX World Long Drive Champion Steve Griffith, and many other prominent long drivers.

To learn more about and purchase a Swing Speed Radar®, Swing Speed Radar with Tempo Timer®, and/or the companion Ball Shield...click here.

Driving Stats for 2009 - Who had the Fastest Swing Speed?

According to Dave Lancer, the Director of Information for the PGA Tour, Bubba Watson had this year's highest average swing speed according to Trackman with a speed of 123.24 mph (311.4 yards per measured drive).  This is 0.01 faster than last year's highest average from J.B. Holmes.

Other interesting driving and distance stats include:

• J.B. Holmes carried the ball the farthest of the tee at an average of 298.6 yards.
• Charley Hoffman had the year's longest drive -- 467 yards on the first hole during the third round of the Valero Texas Open.
• A total of 47 400-yard drives were recorded this year. Dustin Johnson had the most -- five.
• Dustin Johnson was the only player to lead the field in driving distance and win a tournament in 2008 and he was again the only player to do so in 2009 when he won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
• Robert Garrigus lead the Tour in driving distance at 312.0 yards per drive.

On the Nationwide Tour:

• Won Joon Lee lead the Tour with an average of 312.7 yards per drive.
• Blake Adams had the biggest single drive at 393 yards.

On the Champions Tour:

• Steve Thomas lead the way with an average of 301.5 yard per drive.
• Eduardo Romero had the longest drive at 379 yards.