Driver Speed or Accuracy? A 24-Ball Practice Test for Three Swing Intentions

“Swing harder” sounds simple—but does it help you score? In an article published on October 22, 2026, MyGolfSpy writer Brittany Olizarowicz revisited John Daly’s “grip it and rip it” motto and a small 2022 MyGolfSpy test. Fifteen golfers tried fairway-finding, normal and faster driver intentions. Each tester gained carry with the faster effort, while shot dispersion widened. That is a useful question to investigate, not evidence that everyone should swing at maximum effort.

Speed is only part of the picture

Clubhead speed creates distance potential, but the ball’s launch depends on the quality of impact. Ball speed, strike location, face delivery, launch angle and spin matter. TrackMan notes that toe or heel strikes can reduce ball speed even if the club moves quickly. Likewise, carry—the airborne distance—is different from total distance, which includes rollout and depends on conditions.

A ball that finishes in a playable corridor is not the same as a ball that flies a long way into a penalty area. Extra distance can make the next shot easier, yet only when the associated misses are manageable. The original MyGolfSpy test involved just 15 participants and should not be treated as a universal rule or proof of long-term training gains.

GOLFTWITT practice experiment: 24 drives

1. Warm up with gentle swings and a few normal drives. At a safe driving range, choose one target and an imaginary landing corridor roughly 30–40 metres wide. Keep the driver, ball type and tee height consistent.
2. Hit eight cycles of three shots each. A is your comfortable fairway-finding effort, B your usual on-course driver, and C a faster but still balanced swing. Rotate the order across cycles to avoid reserving all tired swings for one category. Never chase speed through pain or loss of balance.
3. After every ball, log four observations: measured carry if available; lateral deviation from the target; whether the ball finished in your playable zone; and whether you maintained a balanced finish. Without a launch monitor, note approximate landing zones rather than inventing precise distances.
4. Compare median carry and the proportion of playable shots for each intention—not merely the single longest shot. Identify costly misses that could create penalty strokes on an actual hole.
5. Repeat on another day. Eight shots per condition are a quick personal snapshot, not a statistically robust conclusion. Wind, fatigue and strike quality can alter the result.

Turn observations into decisions

If faster swings increase typical carry while preserving a workable landing pattern, your normal swing may leave useful speed untapped. If the fastest swings produce a few spectacular drives alongside large misses, the middle option may be more practical on narrow holes. You may reasonably choose different intentions for a wide fairway and a hole framed by out-of-bounds.

Change one variable at a time. Trying a stronger grip, a different ball position and a speed boost together makes the results hard to interpret. Persistent contact or directional problems deserve assessment by a qualified coach.

Sources and limitations: Brittany Olizarowicz, MyGolfSpy, October 22, 2026 (https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/instruction/grip-it-and-rip-it-is-that-even-true/); Phillip Bishop, MyGolfSpy test, November 1, 2022 (https://mygolfspy.com/labs/how-fast-should-you-swing-your-driver/); TrackMan, “What is Ball Speed?”, September 23, 2024 (https://www.trackman.com/blog/ball-speed). The 24-ball comparison is an original GOLFTWITT self-observation exercise, not a scientifically validated training protocol or a guarantee of lower scores.