In modern golf, swing speed stats seem almost as important to golfers as the actual yardages they drive the ball.
So in this video we look at the topic of driver swingspeed in its entirety and do a deep dive into the numbers of how fast the average golfer should swing their driver broken down by handicap, age and gender.
And based on those numbers, we then answer the question of what is a GOOD, FAST or SLOW swingspeed before finally looking at how this all stacks up against the best pros on the PGA and LPGA Tours!
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:04 Swingspeed by Handicap
3:23 Swingspeed by Age
5:52 PGA / LPGA Tour Swingspeeds
7:23 ‘Good’ swingspeed
Complete details of the information we talk about in this video:
Average Driver Swingspeeds? COMPLETE GUIDE by Age, Handicap etc.
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Jack Nicholas didn’t have his swing speed tested until 1998 by which time he was 58 years old and his record-breaking 18 major win career was well behind him but in modern golf it seems that swing speed stats are almost as important to Golfers as the actual yardages they
Drive the ball a higher swing speed or Club head speed as it is often called will mean more distance the vast majority of the time especially off the tea and as such it is inevitable that golfers want to know how they stack up against their peers
So in this video we take a look at the topic of driver swing speed in its entirety and do a deep dive into the numbers of how fast the average golfer should swing their driver broken down by handicap age and gender on the basis of those numbers we
Will then take a look answering the question of what is a good fast or slow swing speed before finally taking a look at how all this Stacks up against the best pros and the PGA and LPGA tours Welcome back to the golfing Focus Channel everybody and when it comes to judging how your average driver swing speed matches up with others seeing how the average ranges across different handicap categories is a good and logical place to start as a whole lower handicap golfers have faster swing speeds than higher handicappers the
Average male 14.4 handicap golfer has a driver swing speed of 93.4 mph according to trackman while 10 handicapper driver swing speeds measure about 97 M hour five in scratch players record 103 and 106 M hour average speeds respectively a female amateur golfer by comparison has a slower driver swing
Speed and according to master clubmaker and industry leader in the research of golf club design Tom wishon the average driver swing speed for women is around 65 M hour or scratch or better women golfer meanwhile averages 90 mph hour a 10 handicapper averages 83 M hour and a
15 handicapper swings their driver at an average of 79 mph Club head stroke swing speed is the key factor for determining a golfer’s potential distance and trackman arguably the leader in golf launch monitor technology estimates that each 1 mph increase can add between 2.5 and three yards of distance and this trackman app
Of the driver swing speeds for amateurs with handicaps from plus 5 5 through to 15 also neatly illustrates the clear link between higher Club head speeds and lower handicaps swing speed therefore matters because put simply more of it means more distance and the golf stats gurus are crystal clear in the
Correlation between hitting the ball further and lower scorers an extra 20 yards of driving distance is worth nearly three Strokes to the typical 115 scoring golfer for example 2.3 Strokes to the 100 scoring player 1.6 Strokes to 90 scorers 1.3 Strokes to 80 scores and 0.8 Strokes to the
Pros while it is vital therefore the amateurs understand that there is a clear link between higher swing speeds and lower handicaps via increased distance more distance is not solely about increase swing speed you can check out all the key factors that determine driver distance in another one of our
Videos which you can see the link for now but what these numbers show us is that if you want to reduce your handicap significantly you’re highly unlikely going to be able to do that without more swing speed another interesting category to breakdown driver swing speed is by
Age according to par for Success a Golf Digest top 50 golf fitness trainer 17 to 29 year old men of the highest median driver swing speeds of close to 113 M hour based on their testing of over 600 Junior Amateur and Senior golfers over a 4E period 30 to 50y Old median swing
Speeds measure 103 M hour by comparison while 50 to 60 year olds and the over 60s have midpoint swing speeds of 98.9 and 93.3 miles hour respectively however the smallness of the sample size and the almost identical 113 mph Midian swing speed recorded for 17 to 24 year olds compared to PGA Tour
Pros suggest that these numbers are high and are not a perfect Benchmark for those looking to compare their swing speeds with players of a similar age further given that par for Success use flight scope launch monitor technology for their testing which will typically give you a 3 to 4 M hour higher swing
Speed measurement in comparison to track B we would put forward that these estimated median driver swing speeds for different age groups as being more realistic what is undoubtedly helpful though and makes perfect sense when consider alongside golfing focus’s previous Deep dive into the average driving distances across age groups from
20 all the way up to 70 plus is that these numbers back up up the assertion that golfers lose swing speed and therefore distance as the age that the average golfer is statistically most likely to swing at their fastest up to the age of 29 matches up with the data
Collected from the countless millions of golf shots by Aros and shot scope users that show 20 to 29 year olds average the highest driving distances the positive news also is that the decline in swing speeds and distances is gradual and only starts to accelerate as players head over the
60-year-old age Mark further given the expanding availability of fitness and training programs and systems specifically targeted at helping golfers maintain swing speed and therefore distances the age such as the stack system a Mike Carol’s fit for golf training system both of which you can find our affiliate discount codes for in
The description there is a lot of help out there to ensure you keep up with your peers it is usually not the best idea but amateur golfers frequently can’t help but compare themselves with the pros and the same is true when when it comes to the average swing speeds in the
PGA and LPGA tours for the simple reason that the best players in the world are continually hitting the ball so far off the te and regular players want to know what it would take to match them the average driver swing speed in the PG tour is a little over 115 M hour
According to latest shotlink stats this is close to 3 m hour more than the average in 2007 when shot link began to track this metric and the average swing speed has risen in 11 out of the last 15 PG tour seasons the average driver swing speed and the
LPGA Tour by comparison is 94 M hour what these numbers clearly show is that the best Pros in the world have been focusing on increasing their driver swing speeds consistently over the years and the straightforward reason behind this is that more swing speed is a gateway to let them Drive the ball
Further and more distance as we know means lower scores including for the pros indeed so dedicated are Pros to now increasing their driver swing speed you need only to look at the change in the number of them averaging a speed of more than 114 m hour over the last decade or
So while over 38% of the players on tour in 2010 averaged more than 114 m hour nearly 60% of them average over that speed today and while distance continues to be such a big factor in the modern game this trend is likely to continue so what is a good fast and slow driver
Swing speed for the average golfer based on all this data we would argue over 95 mph is a good driver swing speed as it is above the average for male amateurs according to trackman Club head speeds under 85 M hour are slow and put golfers within the lowest 177% of male amateurs while
Speeds over 100 m hour are fast enough to be ranked in the top 23% and for those regular golfers who are interested in where they fit into overall distribution of driver swing speeds across the amateur men’s game this trackman chart will let you see where you fit
For a woman average golfer by comparison we would estimate a good driver swing speed would be over 70 M hour for all golfers however the opportunities to increase or at least maintain their swing speed have never been more numerous and by increasing upper body and core strength improving posture or alternatively simply getting
Fitted for the correct clubs players can aim to increase the potential distance they can drive the ball so that’s it for this look average driver swing speeds as ever and most importantly we hope you’re enjoying your golf and if you like this video you know what to do with one of
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25 Comments
Again wonderfully informative-my 1 iron is now in for punishment for distance after this video and im 50!! Saw 270 yards by a 28 yr old with my 1 iron,tremendous speed,really cut the air. Well done again
I float between 5-8 handicap generally. On my best days I can barely scrape 100mph. I'm consistently the shortest hitter in groups of my peers. Id guess the average single digit swing speed is around 105 but could be way off.
In this offseason I've been going to a place that has simulators which provide data on ball speed but not swing speed. I've noticed that ball speed is several notches higher than swing speed, thus if your ball speed is in the 110-115 range for example, the swing speed is most likely in the 90s; that's my quick-and-dirty take on the matter. I think I'm pretty well in the average range for my age group of 60 and over…cheers!
I'm 60 with 106 driver speed but I practice for speed once a week. I highly doubt Jack was at 118 mph at 58 years of age. More like 108. I saw him playing in his early 50s and he was hitting it 275 with driver. Jim Dent was longest of the seniors back then and he hit it 285-290.
I was quite surprised that 20 yards extra distance didn’t yield a bit better scores than say 1.6 for the 90s golfer.
My index is 4.8 and my driver speed is 93mph.
interesting I am 59 years old and have a swing speed of only 92 mph and handicap of 7 i have a pretty good short game cheers from Vulcan Canada
In 1997 John Daly became the first pro to ever average over 300yds per drive for the whole tour.
In 2003 (6 years later) one single golfer matched him to become the only 2 golfers on the entire tour to average 300yds per drive.
In 2023, the tour average for a drive was 299.73 yards across the entire tour.
That, is how important distance is….
Thank you for very interesting data, though some puzzles me. From ShotScope, my actual average driving distance last year was 221 yards, not bad for age 69, but I never knew my swing speed. I used an indoor range for the first time last Sunday, and it showed a driver swing speed of about 86 mph and a smash factor of about 1.36. My distance seems to match up with players with a swing speed of 98, much higher than what I recorded in the studio. Maybe I felt constrained indoors, and subconsciously slowed my swing down?
Either way, I guess that to get my drives up to 240, I'll need more swing speed and/or a higher smash factor, and that simply updating my driver with a modern one is probably not going to boost distance much without faster swing speed.
49 years old. 6.4 handicap. 98-99 mph swing speed
Its great to be healthy with flexibiity and have some strength. Sucks for us people that have heatlh issues where we cannot generate those swing speeds for our age. Funny thing is that we still play fast and score well. You all need a good C or D player in your scramble foursome.
Always cracks me up how different things in golf is measured by handicap. Handicap means nothing in swing speed.
The graphic at 3:01, is that per hole or per round?
Great for putting things into perspective. Can you show iron swings speeds in a future session. Please keep these coming as I find them really insightful and helps in what is average and what one should be aspiring to without be distracted by what the pros are doing particularly someone who is in his late 50s and plays off 8.
Nice. Tidy assessment. LPGA here I come……..
I’m 60 with a 15 handicap and my drives typically carry 240-260…until recently it was my short game and putting that let me down but after some lessons and intense practice I shot 79 for the first time ever on New Year’s Eve! Onwards with strength and speed training to maintain my distance!
0.1hcap, 104mph driver speed. If I only lose 0.8 shots by gaining 20 yards I'll keep playing my pat-pat golf
➡Complete details of the information we talk about in this video can be found here: https://golfingfocus.com/average-driver-swingspeeds-complete-guide-by-age-handicap-etc/
if you want to proceed in making videos you need to invest in a microphone that doesnt sound like a tin can
I can swing 108 wish I was a 5 handicap lol
Handicapp HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CLUBHEAD SPEED SORRY.
6.2 handicap, 116 mph swing speed. Leads to some long drives, but I also hit more alternate fairways than I’d like to admit. Great when it’s straight, but definitely gets me in trouble.
I’m also 6’ 2”, so the height helps with swing speed
Nearly 59. 5 foot 5 inches tall. Very short arms. Swing speed now is 96mph. 20 years ago it was 99mph. My index is 5.2 at the moment. What I see is people with high swing speeds don't hit many fairways. I outplay them by being straight and getting it in the hole.
I have ball speeds in the 160’s and I’d gladly give up yardage if it meant I chipped and putted better. Distance is not everything, you still gotta get the ball in the hole somehow 😂
I’m 53, my swing speed is around 108-112, depends on day, my handicap is 11 or 12………got lots of problems 😂