🏌️‍♂️ What 11 weeks of speed training taught me about golf priorities

After weeks swinging weighted clubs, I finally cracked my personal distance barrier.

Well, almost.

Having previously gained 40+ yards without any swing changes or more swing speed I set out to crack the 300-yard barrier using the Stack System speed trainer.

The good news? My swing speed jumped 3-4 mph, and I managed a 293-yard bomb with 263 yards of carry.

The not-so-good news? My accuracy suffered ... and sometimes by a lot!

Which raises the question every distance-obsessed golfer eventually faces: Is extra yardage worth sacrificing consistency?

💣 What I Actually Learned From Chasing Distance

After swinging weighted clubs twice a week for nearly three months, here's what really happened:

• My longest drives increased by about 10-15 yards on average in carry distance. That's real improvement you can see on the course.
• But my dispersion widened noticeably. I found myself in more trouble, hitting more poor drives, and occasionally wondering if I'd made a classic amateur mistake—chasing the wrong metric.

The Stack System itself?

It works as advertised. The app is well-designed, the workouts are manageable (30+ minutes twice weekly), and the science is sound. Professional golfers like Matt Fitzpatrick use it for good reason.

But here's the catch...

Speed training demands commitment. Miss sessions and you're back to "return to form" protocols. The equipment isn't cheap—you'll need the Stack device, a radar unit, and eventually pay annual subscription fees.

More importantly, you need time to retrain your accuracy at higher speeds. That's the part they don't put in the marketing materials.

📊 The Distance vs. Accuracy Reality Check

Here's where the data gets interesting. Analysis of amateur golfers shows that distance typically trumps accuracy for scoring.

A golfer driving 260 yards hits greens 62.5% of the time from their resulting approach distance. Compare that to someone driving 204 yards, who hits greens just 7% of the time from their longer approach.

That's a massive difference.

But (and this is crucial) those benefits disappear if your misses become unplayable. Hitting it 20 yards further but regularly finding trees, water, or deep rough can quickly erase any scoring advantage.

🎯 The Real Question for Time-Poor Golfers

This brings me to my current dilemma—and possibly yours too.

As amateur golfers juggling family life and limited practice time, should we prioritise raw distance or focus on course management and consistency?

The data is clear that we would all benefit more from adding 10-15 yards off the tee than perfecting our accuracy. Shorter approaches generally lead to better scores, even with imperfect drives.

That's why...

I suspect I'll continue with the Stack System, but with adjusted expectations.

Rather than chasing maximum speed, I'm thinking of using it for maintenance and gradual improvement while spending more time on the range working on accuracy at my new speeds.

The lesson? Distance matters enormously for amateur scoring, but not always at the expense of keeping the ball in play.

⏩ Watch the video: STACK System Review: It Stacks Up... BUT Is It Worth It?

I'm curious:​
What's your bigger challenge—not hitting it far enough, or not knowing where it's going?

And if you had to choose between adding 15 yards or improving your accuracy, which would you pick?

Hit reply and let me know. I read every response and your insights always help shape future content.

Until then good luck out there on the course and ever as most importantly we hope you're enjoying your golf!

Stay Golfing Focused 👍

Graeme Hay Founder, GolfingFocus.com

P.S. The Stack System now includes wedge and putting programs in their app, giving it additional value beyond pure speed training. Though at this point, I'm not sure I need help swinging my putter faster...

P.P.S. J.J. Spaun's U.S. Open victory analysis - this Arccos article gives a fascinating breakdown of how strokes gained data revealed his winning strategy