Creating Club Head Speed

A golf ball is moved when force is applied to it.  The formula for force is, force = mass X acceleration.  The mass is the club head.  No need to worry about mass.  So all we have to concern ourselves with is acceleration.  We need to create speed and lots of it.  We can only create speed by swinging the club head.  This requires us to use our muscle structure in a fashion that allows our bodies to move fast as well.  For a muscle to be able to move is has to be relaxed.  If a muscle is flexed it has to resist motion in order to remain flexed.

Our natural urge, when thinking about hitting a ball, is the flex our muscles as we would to lift a sack of cement.  We instinctively equate power or force with brute force.  Power in golf is a misnomer.  Power is a conversion of energy such as a river turning a turbine, turning a generator, converting it to electricity.  We are not dealing with that here.  However, the word "power" evokes greatness in our minds.

Tight muscles are slow muscles.  So by gripping a club tightly in hand and getting all ridged ready to stop and oncoming train we are defeating our purpose.  Golf is no about throwing pianos or stopping oncoming trains.  It is about creating speed.  We need relaxed muscles that are able to move quickly and freely without any inhibition.  We need to create a whipping flowing motion.  It is a flicking motion.  I liken it to flicking a spit-wad off your thumb with your middle finger.  It is that snap or flick that creates the acceleration that moves the spit-wad.  You could make a tight fist and punch the spit-wad but it would go very far.

I can not emphasize enough the requirement that you use what Count Yogi termed a "touch grip".  This would holding the club with just enough pressure to keep it from slipping out of your hands.  The handle has been tapered to help keep the handle from slipping out of your hands.  Also, most players where a glove on the top hand to help keep the club from slipping.  On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being squeezing the handle as hard as you can, I would recommend at grip pressure of no more than 2.5.  You can't create club head speed by squeezing the handle.  Loosey goosey as Nicklaus said.  Grip it tight and the ball goes right.  If your left handed, too much heft and the ball goes left.