60 to 140 MPH swing Speed Driver Distances – FULL Guide (With Charts + Calculator)

Have you ever wondered whether the distance you’re getting off the tee matches your effort?

You are not alone.

Every golfer wants to know if they’re leaving yards on the table and understanding the relationship between swing speed and actual driving distance is one of golf’s most important and subtle challenges.

But thanks to launch monitors and data analysis we can clearly show what total driving distances you can expect based on your driver swing speed:

SLOW Driver Swing Speeds	AVERAGE Driver Swing Speeds	GOOD Driver Swing Speeds	FAST Driver Swing Speeds	ELITE Driver Swing Speeds
60 mph: 132 to 162 yards	85 mph: 187 to 230 yards	95 mph: 209 to 256 yards	105 mph: 231 to 283.5 yards	120 mph: 264 to 324 yards
70 mph: 154 to 189 yards	90 mph: 198 to 243 yards	96 mph: 259.8 yards	110 mph: 242 to 297 yards	130 mph: 286 to 351 yards
75 mph: 165 to 202 yards	93.4 mph: 205 to 252 yards	100 mph: 220 to 270 yards	115 mph: 253 to 310 yards	140+ mph: 322 to 378+ yards
80 mph: 176 to 216 yards

But while we now how swing speed – or club speed as it’s also referred to – impacts distance it is not as simple as ‘faster equals farther’.

It is vital therefore that amateurs don’t focus on their driver swing speed number in isolation.

And instead of asking how far should a driver go with their swing speed of 80, 90, 100 mph etc. understand that the more rewarding question is how far can you hit a golf ball based on it!

Golfing Focused Key takeaways for Time Pressed Golfers

• Driver swing speed directly impacts potential distance – each extra 1 mph can add up to 3 yards (2.7 metres)
• Average golfers get 2.3 yards per mph, while PGA and LPGA Tour pros achieve between 2.6 and 2.7 yards per mph
• Our driver distance swing speed calculator will let you check out what swing speed you need hit your drives to your target distance
• Swing speed alone isn’t enough – a good strike and launch conditions are crucial for maximizing driver distance
• Different launch monitors types can give you different swing speed numbers because they measure speeds of different points of the driver.

The Truth About Swing Speed and Driver Distance

The distance golfers hit their drives has long been a discussion on driving ranges and in clubhouses throughout the world.

But now these conversations include terms like swing speed because modern golf tech has helped us understand that club speed is is the key factor for determining a golfer’s ‘potential’ distance.

And the more of it you have the more chance you have of hitting long drives.

According to Trackman data, adding just 1 mph of swing speed can increase your distance by up to 3 yards with the driver.

So important is swing speed in the modern game that specific training equipment and programs are now available to help you with increase it.

Indeed Matt Fitzpatrick credited the increased distance he gained from using the Stack System to increase his driver club speed as one of the key reasons behind his 2022 US Open win.

“You will be shocked at the amount of distance you will gain if you are currently doing nothing. I have a number of friends who have gone through speed training and fitness training and it’s not uncommon to see 20 to 30 yards longer with the driver and a club longer through the bag.”

Lou Stagner, Golf Stat Pro, Arccos Data Insights Lead, Co-Host of ‘Hack It Out Golf’ podcast

As a result it is inevitable that regular golfers will wonder how fast their own swing speeds are and how far their drives should go with them.

A sole focus on driver swing speed, or any other individual launch monitor driver metric for that matter however, is not the ideal approach if you are looking to hit the ball as far as you can.

Because while it is unquestionable that there is a direct link between increased swing speed, more distance and lower handicaps, if you chase swing speed alone without understanding how it plays into the multiple factors that determine actual driving distances you are going to be leaving some yards on the table.

Why Driver Swing Speed is Only Part of The Story

While swing speed is crucial, focusing on it alone is like trying to win a race with a powerful engine but bad tires.

Swing speed determines your potential distance, but ball speed – the speed of the golf ball immediately after impact – is the single biggest factor in determining how far your drive will actually go.

And ball speed together with ‘launch angle’ and ‘spin rate’ – referred to together as a drive’s ‘launch conditions’ – are the 3 key factors that determine how far you drive the ball.

Where driver swing speed then comes into the equation is that in combination with ‘attack angle’ at impact it helps to determine the optimal mix of these three key factors that determine driver distance.

This may sound over complicated but essentially what it means is that driving distance is dictated by a golfer’s ability to:

• Convert swing speed into ball speed (i.e. how close can they strike the ball to the sweet spot), and
• Get the ball up in the air as quickly as possible, at the best angle and without much spin on it.

So we can see while swing speed is a critical ‘part’ of the distance picture it is not the only factor.

For example if we simply look at the ‘strike’ of a drive – the key to energy transfer from the club (club speed) to the ball (ball speed) – experiments easily show the effect of mishits.

In a robot testing experiment carried out by golf technology expert Gene Parente of Golf Laboratories with Golf.com he discovered that if you strike the ball on the lower third of the clubface – or anywhere past 1-inch off centre – you will lose up to 8 yards of distance even if you increased your swing speed from 95 to 105mph.

Parente’s tests also found that you will gain 13 yards with that same swing speed increase ‘if’ you strike the ball both times in the centre of the driver clubface.

So it is obvious how increased swing speed is not rewarded if it is not married with a decent strike.

That is principally why average golfers drive the ball only 2.3 yards per mph of driver swing speed compared to between 2.6 and 2.7 yards per mph that the best pros in the world get.

Because the top players strike the ball far far far more consistently nearer the sweet spot of the driver and so don’t waste nearly as much of the club speed they generate as amateur golfers do.

The Impact of Attack Angle

And if we now turn to a golfer’s ‘attack angle’ with their driver we will see why there has to be a range of distances to answer the question of how far ‘should’ a driver go with a 85, 90, 95, 100, 105mph, etc swing speed.

In technical terms ‘attack angle’ – or ‘angle of attack’ – is the vertical up and down angle the driver is moving on during impact, and dictates, combined with your swing speed, your optimal launch conditions.

We look at the topic of what your ideal spin rates and launch conditions are here but in summary the optimal launch angle for players varies depending on their swing speed because of changes in lift (what makes the golf ball rise) and drag (what slows the ball down) at different speeds.

Players with slower swing speeds for example need a higher launch angle as a result of their being less loft and drag on the ball at lower speeds.

Golfers with faster club speeds meanwhile need to be aiming for a launch angle that is much lower to maximise both carry and total distance.

Hit the ball with too low a launch angle based on your swing speed for example and you will not carry the ball very far.

Have too high a launch angle and your carry will be good but you will get very little roll.

So when a golfer has a negative ‘angle of attack’ more loft is required to launch the ball high.

But if you increase the loft without changing the attack angle you generate more spin and that reduces the distance you hit the ball.

To maximise both carry and total distance with your driver therefore you should ideally have a positive angle of attack and as the attack angle increases the optimal launch and spin for the golfer changes.

This then results in variances in ball speed which ultimately is the key determinant of distance.

All of which in short means that if you want to know how far you could, rather than ‘should’ hit your driver with your swing speed, you need to know more information than that to get the correct answer.

You need to know your ‘attack angle’ and ‘launch conditions’ also otherwise you’re not going to get the complete picture.

Talk of ‘ball speeds’, ‘launch angles’, ‘spin rates’, ‘attack angles’ etc in combination with swing speed all may seem overly complicated.

The key point of all this though is simply to bear in mind that while increasing your driver swing speed is a definite pathway to hitting the ball further and lower your scores you will not be benefitting from it unless you are doing it in combination with other factors that matter.

Or worse still you could actually losing distance in spite of it!

The Swing Speeds Needed to Reach Your Distance Goals! (Driver Distance Swing Speed Calculator)

Driving the ball a long way is good fun though.

And given golfers today are well aware of the part that swing speed plays often want simply to know what swing speed is needed to hit the longer distances of 250 or even 300 yards.

So here are the short answers according to the data:

• Approximately 93 mph of driver swing speed is needed to hit a total distance of 250 yards
• Around 101-102 mph of club speed is needed for a 250 yard ‘carry‘ distance
• To join the 300-yard club a minimum of 110-111 mph swing speed is required to hit that ‘total‘ distance
• To carry that same 300 yard distance will then take an additional 7-8 mph of swing speed to reach around 117-118 mph.

And if you want to check out what swing speed you need hit your drives to your target distance have some fun playing around with our driver swing speed calculator.

Driver Distance Swing Speed Calculator

You know what we’re going to say next though don’t you.

When it comes to golfers looking for the answer to what swing speed they need to hit their driver whatever yardage, these speeds must be combined with optimal launch angles, spin rates and ball speeds based on their attack angle and swing speed.

And Trackman’s in-depth look at the numbers for a golfer with a close to average male amateur swing speed of 95 mph is a great example of how the mix of all the key distance ingredients are impacted by each other.

Looking at this optimised data someone answering the question of what swing speed you need to hit the ball 230 or 260 yards could legitimately give the same answer – 95mph.

But as we now know that answer, while technically correct in both instances according to the data, doesn’t tell the story that will most help you hit the ball as far as you ‘potentially’ can with your swing speed.

Because if we can get this 95 mph golfer to hit up on the ball with a positive 7º attack angle instead of with a -7º one, and combine that with a good strike and launch conditions there is a 260+ yard rather than a 230-yard drive in it for them!

And not only that. They’ll be getting close to ‘carrying’ their drive 250 yards never mind hitting that ‘total’ distance.

Targeting a total distance of 300 yards as another example you will not only need a fast 110mph swing swing speed but also a launch angle of between 12º to 14º, a spin rate of around 2300-2500rpms plus a good strike to maximise ball speed.

So yes its true that without good driver swing speed you are not going to hit the ball very far.

And if you are not swinging at these speeds yet, but are determined to reach the 250 or 300-yard mark one day, you can work out a plan to get there through either a fitness program or a golf speed training system.

Just always keep in mind that the goal of extra driver swing speed can never be the sole focus.

And remember too, none of these swing speed targets make any mention of a key distance factor over which none of us have any control whatsoever – the weather!

[Top tip: Improving your fitness and swing speed will make a huge difference to how far you hit the ball and has the potential to add 20 to 30 yards to drives and an extra club throughout the bag. If you want to know how you can achieve this check out two of the best ‘golf training’ programs that can get you there:

• The Stack System
• Fit for Golf (Use discount code GOLFINGFOCUS20 for 20% off annual subscriptions!)

Important Notes About Launch Monitor Numbers

When measuring your driver swing speed, you should also be aware that different launch monitors may show slightly different numbers.

There is for example sometimes a difference, especially at higher speeds, of just over 2-3mph between the numbers a Foresight Sports device such as the GCQuad will give you in comparison to a Trackman launch monitor.

In other words a driver swing speed that measures 110mph on a GCQuad will likely come in at around 107 or 108mph on a Trackman device.

And that’s not because one of these devices is inaccurate.

It’s just that there is a slight difference between the way radar devices like Trackman measure club speed compared to high-speed camera monitors like the GCQuad.

Drivers are rotating and closing so quickly as they approach the ball that different parts of the head are traveling at different speeds.

The toe of a driver for example is estimated to be traveling around 14% faster than the heel at impact.

As a result different devices measure different different specific points of the driver using difference technology systems and therefore will give you ever so slightly different numbers.

Before You Go …

To find out if your current driver swing speed is any good or would be considered fast or slow check out our next article.

Is Your Driver Swing Speed Any Good? The Fast & Slow Guide

[Note – Just so you know, and we are upfront as an affiliate program participant, Golfing Focus, at no cost to you, earns from qualifying purchases made through links on this page.]

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