The Science Behind Insane Golf Swing Speeds: In-Depth Analysis

Luke Benoit breaks down the golf swing speed of Seb Twaddell in this golf swing analysis. Seb has hit world record club head speeds and Luke walks us through exactly how he generates so much speed in this swing breakdown!
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Seb is a ‪@rypgolf‬ ambassador and talks about how that fits into his speed training protocol.
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[@keeganchard-hill8653]

Great video! Really enjoyed it

[@darylkariniemi1627]

Usually adding more peak speed also increases cruising speed which is why so many PGA Tour pros try to work on it. They don't want OB balls either.

[@golfsciencelab]

Yes!! You got it!

[@smallfry3017]

They did not comment on his flexibility, which is incredible, way beyond most. So you have, weight, strength, flexibility, speed muscles and huge leverage because of his height. With some technique it is no wonder this is golf superman.

[@Brewtal2009]

dont quite get all the critique in the comments. Seb seems like a really humble athlete and with ridiculous power and co-ordination few will ever come close too. Props to him

[@TeeToGreenGolf24]

Because people are jealous and they’re mad they don’t have that power, strength or ability. Jealousy at its finest.

[@omonra21]

Can you pls give a link to the force board?

[@kmrk4055]

Essentially to hit it further technique is by far the biggest factor with the sequencing of what happens when and the ability to clear the hips. Strength and flexibility help. If you don't have the ability to do that you have to be very strong. I'd like to hit it further but I'm not sure I've learned much about how to do that here.

[@Bilfford]

"I've never seen anyone beat this machine." *Stands on it

[@vchan52226]

Where can I buy this pressure board?

[@golfprochen]

Nice whip!

[@michaelrooney2216]

He’s awesome such a talented player

[@jothkell9173]

the vertical jump was so comedic. you can't just eyeball it!!

[@darkshadowsx5949]

measuring by pacing isn't accurate either.

[@mattgray5311]

How fundamental is grip strength in long drives? Or do those drills with the medicine ball roughly approximate grip strength into the exercise. Ie you have to have a grip strength of over 80kg to throw a med ball that far?

[@golfsciencelab]

Got an answer from Luke on this one for you - It could be a barrier, but usually someone strong enough to throw a med ball that far has plenty of grip strength.

[@mattgray5311]

Thank you for replying

[@tjallisongolf]

Hand strength is extremely important. A pro Long Driver will have 90-100 kg on a dynamometer. PGA pros are around 60kg. Amateurs are around 40kg. We instinctively grip the club at about 50% of max. This feels light to each of us. If your hand strength isn't strong enough, your CNS will automatically slow down the rest of your body so the club will both be under control to hit the ball AND won't fly out of your hands. You can't trick the CNS. Increase your hand squeeze strength.

[@gregoppman9470]

What weight med ball is used in the strength test.

[@golfsciencelab]

8 lb

[@HolyGrailOfGolf]

I'd like to see an ultra slow mo of his shaft at impact, like 30,000 fps. Is he really getting a double deflection S shape in the shaft or is that rolling shutter distortion?

[@frozendivots1564]

Not enough point loads for that to happen.

[@frozendivots1564]

@@tjallisongolf where’s the 2nd load point?

[@frozendivots1564]

@@tjallisongolf you need another load point somewhere for the S shape.

[@frozendivots1564]

@@tjallisongolf where’s the point load? It’s physics 101

[@kredwol2103]

That's definitely shutter distortion. Almost certainly the shaft reaches full backwards deflection a little before impact, and to get those numbers it's probably just shy of being straight at impact.

[@jaredshearsgolf]

What weight med ball? That would play a role in the results.

[@darkshadowsx5949]

looking at the video you can see an 8 on the ball at 1:23 so 8Lbs. looks like an amazon basics 8lbs med ball. if you want to give it a shot.

[@golfsciencelab]

Yes 8lb!

[@chick19er]

How do I buy one of those foot pressure plates? PS. Just about to start my Rypstick speed training journey

[@golfsciencelab]

Still a prototype from Luke at Ryp! We'll see if they come out with something like it! Hope you pick up some serious speed!

[@chick19er]

Cool remember to respond if you want some UK testers @@golfsciencelab

[@tyb3938]

This dude is a freak of nature. Fairly certain he would dominate any sport he chose to play

[@johannf36]

Kyle berkshire recently drove it 577 yds, 213 mph ball speed. Hes a beast too

[@kelleywilson141]

233 ball speed. Just watched the video. Windy windy when he hit it.

[@ryze9153]

Kyle got a ball to move at 240 mph.

[@gilbertamthor5098]

How heavy is med ball?

[@golfsciencelab]

8lb med ball

[@CaribSurfKing1]

This guy is an athletic freak. The Shaq of golf

[@golfsciencelab]

HAHA! Brilliant!

[@robsaxepga]

Even if you take a little of this, everyone can get longer. You don't have to go at it like this guy does to gain benefits from the technique.

[@tompem]

There’s a saying in baseball…it applies to our sport…”You can teach hitting…you can’t teach power.” John Daly said..”I could ALWAYS it hit big”. It is a gift of athletic talent of tendons, ligaments, hip flexibility, and golf specific muscles. Enjoy what you have and go play and try to hit the center of the ball with the center of the club

[@dougm659]

Ok, back to the gym!

[@darkshadowsx5949]

too much muscle can slow you down.

[@ryze9153]

​@@darkshadowsx5949bruh, how many people actually have too much muscle? Not many. 90% of people i bet would benefit from having more muscle.

[@wordpressobsessed9067]

Sure would be nice to drive every green - even the par 5s.

[@systemoptimizer3542]

You talk about the chest toss and the seated toss in the early part of the video being two power keys, but then in the later part of the video don't refer to the motions related to them and how and when to use them to produce power.

[@Cleanercouch]

Those are just the metrics to determine someone’s long drive potential. The force you’re able to generate with those movements predicts distance if you’re able to swing with technique. These are not exercises you should do to increase drive distance.

[@mre_man]

Here’s the secret be a 6’6” monster like Seb lol

[@golfsciencelab]

That helps.

[@johannf36]

Kyle isn't that tall and I believe he has the current longest drive at 577 yds

[@superikim3527]

How heavy is the medicine ball?

[@golfsciencelab]

8 lbs

[@ebzzry]

The title of the video is highly misleading-this was in no way an in-depth analysis.

[@darkshadowsx5949]

what were you expecting? an xray, physical muscle contraction speed and Anoscopy exam? the analyzed his arm and leg strength and swing technique what else is there?

[@golfsciencelab]

Yea I thought we went pretty deep on some different ideas 🤷‍♂️

[@phreak761]

Yes this is gay.

[@JohanSchmidt]

young man's swing

[@user-ju1wd9su6g]

How heavy is that medicine ball?

[@golfsciencelab]

8lbs

[@McGheeWorkshop]

guess I shouldn't have sat on that transfer board idea for 25 years lol

[@FathersRnotEqual]

Dude is a monster lol

[@TheNYgolfer]

I would have thought that throwing the medicine ball sideways like you were swinging a golf club would be a better test. It would involve all the pertinent muscles for a golf swing. Also, throwing a medicine ball that way will teach you intuitively how to use your weight shift and how to properly use the "ground forces." Finally, there was no mention of how he "releases" the club. Is he actively using his hands, or are his hands passive, and he just lets centrifugal/centripetal forces do the releasing?

[@JR-xi2ht]

I don’t get the double pump here cause the first half of the swing doesn’t mean anything really

[@industrialpalletworx3548]

It's building momentum. Motion like that is purely to build momentum.

[@darkshadowsx5949]

@@industrialpalletworx3548 you dont build up momentum by going in reverse then suddenly flooring it. he's using the flex of the shaft to store additional energy.

[@noonster55]

His driver club head speed is my ball speed. Clotting it anyway.

[@golfsciencelab]

It's pretty crazy to think about.

[@lafreeway]

Why are all you geniuses commenting about being a pro or hitting greens, etc, etc? The title refers to nothing but insane golf swing speed.

[@golfsciencelab]

🤷‍♂️

[@jonhall1520]

He is definitely not “jumping” ; even he has no thoughts of jumping. How do you imagine how a vertical jump has anything to do with the arcing horizontal movement of the club shaft? Any jump-like movement is likely only a response of the violent swing.

[@lukebenoit7573]

Go study the kinematic sequence of the fastest PGA Tour and long drivers. You'll see a lot of vertical force.

[@Artemago]

06:24 some mass or some ass?!

[@hosoiarchives4858]

He could hit it so much further

[@shyamvijay8985]

He forgot the first yard both times

[@lenardtan7169]

This one very hard to copy.. 😂

[@golfsciencelab]

He's got his own swing that's for sure.

[@influentia1patterns]

I used a volleyball and could throw it 30, does that count? 😂

[@golfsciencelab]

😂😂😂

[@ryze9153]

What kinda speed is the human body actually capable of swinging at? Is 170+ clubhead speed possible?

[@golfsciencelab]

That is a great question. Seb is getting close to pushing those limits. We'll see what he can do over the next couple years.

[@ryze9153]

@@golfsciencelab boy is he! Id say pretty soon even his freak genetics are gonna hit a brick wall. I just got a momentus power hitter to build some speed. Im slightly above average swing speed. But yea, Seb is a damn freak of nature lol. He just might have 170 club speed in the tank. We'd probably know within the next year. He's like *literally* just one out of a handful of people on the planet with *that* kinda speed.

[@briangraham1725]

Kyle Berkshire has him beat

[@golfsciencelab]

Exciting times in the World Record speed chase lately!!

[@lukebenoit7573]

Kyle is not is fast.

[@tjallisongolf]

​@@lukebenoit7573Kyle currently holds the ball speed record.... Although Martin and Justin might be right there and are choosing to keep it quiet.

[@tinytoons2517]

aussie, aussie, aussie . . oi, oi, oi.

[@rowan7658]

Would have been watchable without the music.

[@brianbarrentine9228]

Not trying to be a hater here, because I'm 6'3 and 250lbs and I know that given that advantage I could still NEVER swing a golf club this fast, but... if you've watched this guy actually try to play golf with this swing, there's a 40% chance the ball lands OB and a 75% chance it doesn't land in fairway. A few of his drives barely leave the tee box they are so badly hit. Given his height and lever advantages, the fact he swings a million miles per hour is greatly diminished when you can't even put the ball in play. TO me, Rory hitting 340 yards consistently with accuracy, especially given his stature, is magnitudes more impressive.

[@petera2133]

Fat lot of good this is for us 60 year olds plus.

[@thomasblock1164]

Why? Are we supposed to be weak?

[@sageagbonkhese4091]

That board is not big enough for Seb

[@TheThreatenedSwan]

Gotta get that surgery where they break your legs to make you taller

[@golfsciencelab]

HAHA. The ultimate speed hack.

[@industrialpalletworx3548]

Someone teach this man some proper technique to control it. He'll make a lot more money on tour than he ever would in long drive.

[@StuMarston]

And speed skaters could make a lot more money if they were in the NHL

[@scooter5940]

Uhh……there’s a bit more to being a pro golfer than hitting your driver………

[@industrialpalletworx3548]

@scooter5940 hence the phrase teach him some proper technique.

[@StuMarston]

@@industrialpalletworx3548 I'm sure he's taken plenty of lessons before and I'm also sure he knows there's a lot more money to be made playing on the tour. He's not on the tour and it ain't from lack of trying. He's just not good enough in the other areas of golf needed to make the tour. scooter is right.

[@uswwt]

Check out videos from Grant Horvat and his friend Micah. Micah can hit much further. And it's not for the lack of trying, the poor dude simply often lose. In many courses par 4 is most common. A good driver off the tee and a good iron shot gets you to the green. You can drive it 400 yards. But simple geometric math suggests that it's highly likely that you will miss the green or even out of bound. You can also just hit a good drive and have a good chance to stay in the fair way. Then a smooth iron to stick it really close. Long drive is certainly an advantage. But the longer the ball travels, the easier it will miss the target.

[@ShainAndrews]

And the point is?????

[@golfsciencelab]

There's a lot to learn here from someone who is one of the best in the world at generating club head speed. The point is it's super interesting :)

[@AaaBbb-rs9jz]

A really important viewpoint from the golfer but extremely annoyingly poor sound from his voice (yours was ok), to the extent it is very hard to completely make out anything he is saying. 10/10 for an amazingly good intention at a great video. 1/10 for the destruction of it with poor sound quality on his voice.

[@kmsnow6292]

Now I want you to hit a 60 yards shot where the flag is tugged behind the hill and on a side slope.

[@moccasinmarine]

This entire video is BS. The coach tells the golfer what he’s doing, which he shrugs off, but since the coach talks with authority, the golfer gives in and agrees. He’s not doing what the coach is saying, he’s actually doing the opposite. Not saying more than this.

[@washredskin887]

But what are we trying to do here? Be long drive guys or play golf? I'm not really interested in chasing anymore distance personally. I want to keep the ball in play and make putts. If you keep chasing distance that means more balls out of bounds. It just goes w/ the territory. I've been that guy a few years ago. I was hitting my drives 300 to 320 and taking 2-3 penalty shots per round off the tee.

[@golfsciencelab]

Idk about you but learning about speed and seeing what the guy with the fastest swing in the world is doing really is interesting. And there are definitely some things we all can take away from this. Agree with you... Hitting balls OB is definitely not the way to lower scores. Adding distance and keeping the ball in play is really a key if you want to shoot lower scores.

[@djkim23]

More distance is never a bad thing. If you were hitting 320y at full power while going out of bounds, you should prob swing less hard, 280y and keep it in play. But if you learn the proper swing mechanics and build strength to hit it 380y full power, you can back off and hit 320y and keep it in play. You're lying if you say you'd prefer a shorter drive or a longer second shot. If you had limited time to practice, practicing short game will drop your score faster. But for those who are dedicated w tons of practice/exercise time, longer distance will certainly help

[@mattgray5311]

Hitting ob and blaming it on distance , ain't the distances fault. You need to get better at hitting it straight. Also you are definitely trolling. Go use a putter off a tee and report back your score.

[@rayblazejko6908]

To get even more speed the wrists need to flick just before contact . 10 millimeters at the wrist means 200 millimeters at club head.

[@washredskin887]

@@mattgray5311 I'm a pretty good player and my mechanics are fine. I'm a 5 handicap and hit my drives right around 300. Ball speed is in the 170's, not bad for a 53 year old. My point was when I tried for more is when I started getting off line. There isn't a weekend warrior on here that hits it 320 plus and doesn't hit penalty shots.

[@cjschmitt4882]

I think we should be talking with the guys that can swing at 200+ instead!

[@derronsanchez391]

If only his swing wasn’t so friggin ugly