Forget-About-It Golf

“Effortless force, not forceful effort.”

That’s one of my favorite golf quotes, and I’ve repeated it a thousand times. But for most people,  it’s tough mantra to stick with. Especially  if your golfing buddies are outdriving you on every hole.

It doesn’t matter who’s telling you to “swing easier” or “slow it down.” It’s hard to believe that less effort will actually produce more distance. But this past weekend I saw definitive proof.

Thanks to launch monitor technology, we now know exactly what’s happening with each swing of the club. The feedback goes way beyond the old-school method of just watching the ball flight. Now we can see it fly and know exactly what the ball’s doing… side spin, back spin, launch angle, distance in the air, roll, and my personal favorite, “smash factor.”

When you’re shopping for a new driver, there’s nothing like a good “smash factor” number!

According to the guys who manufacture TrackMan Launch Monitors, “smash factor” is a more important stat than clubhead speed.

“Smash Factor  is simply the ratio between ball speed and clubhead speed.  It says a lot about the centeredness of impact and the solidity of the shot. By trying to achieve fast clubhead speed, most amateurs lose control and don’t obtain solid, center impact, resulting in a relatively low smash factor. The highest realistic smash factor even a tour pro can achieve is 1.49″

So I was at Fiddler’s Green Golf Shop looking for a bargain. Initially I hit six different drivers on the driving range. I ruled out three immediately, but the other three finalists were performing well, as far as I could tell. I couldn’t really see much difference, and I surely couldn’t feel any difference in “smash factor.”

So I moved to the  stall with the launch monitor to get a closer look. After several swings with each driver, I found myself exerting quite an effort, swinging harder and harder with each subsequent shot. Interestingly, the launch monitor numbers were not getting better. In fact, the harder I tried, the more the  smash factor declined.

So I took a short breather, and chatted up the salesman. After a few minutes, I announced  that I was going to “let up a little and see what happens.”

The numbers were quite conclusive:  When I consciously let up on it, and quit swinging for the back fence, the “smash factor” went up dramatically. I got more distance with less effort!

It felt like I wasn’t even trying.  When I looked at the face of the club, the impact tape revealed an impressive pattern of dead center hits. Thus, the high smash factor.

Now I know what effortless force really feels like. For the first time in my life, I had unequivicable biofeedback that told me when I was trying too hard and when I was swinging efficiently.

Once I had that feeling dialed in, I was able to compare apples to apples.  The winning selection was actually a club the salesman suggested after seeing my numbers. It wasn’t even in my first round of choices, but it outperformed them all. And I’m confident it was a good purchase.

We all admire the easy swings of Ernie Else and Fred Couples. But the natural tendency is to swing outta your shoes, like Tiger Woods on RedBull.  Forget-About-It!  It doesn’t work. In fact, all that effort works against you.

Effortless force, not forceful effort.

Swing “within yourself” and you’ll hit the sweet spot more consistently. And when you hit the sweet spot, you get more carry, more overall distance and more consistent ball flight.

So Forget About clubhead speed.! You could be swinging 150 mph, but if you’re hitting it all over the clubface, it won’t do you a bit of good. What you need is an efficient combination of speed and dead-center impact. That’s how you get a good smash factor. That’s how you beat your buddies with effortless force.

So even if you’re not in the market for a new driver, spend some time on the launch monitor and  find that sweet spot between trying too hard, and not hard enough. Memorize that feeling you have when your smash factor is at its peak, and then take that to the golf course.

This entry was posted on 02/02/2011 at 1:38 am and is filed under Blog Posts.