On Saturday 9th February… when I smashed through my swing speed PB, one of the swing speed tools, I was using was
the Club Kite.

That day, I topped my previous best swing speed of 118mph, with a new PB of 126mph (I started off with an average of 103mph).

In my Fast Adaptation Swing Speed Training (F.A.S.S.T) Program, I utilize a range of training methods and strategies that I swiped from my days of training Professional Football players… I’ve adapted and tweaked them to be used to increase swing speed in golf.

In any training… to improve your current performance, you need to expose your body to a “training stimulus”, allow your body to recover from the training, and then your body adapts to a new level of performance.

This process isn’t a straight line…

Sometimes you’ll hit a plateau and stall for a while…

Other times, if you push too hard, you may even go backwards.  And beginners will typically make training improvements faster than experienced performers. 

But the general idea I want you to grab hold of… is that to improve, your body needs to be exposed to some kind of training stimulus, then some period of time takes place for the body to recover and adapt, so that it reaches a new level of performance.

Of course you need to expose your body to the right training stimulus, at the right time, in the right way, and allow the right amount of recovery.

It’s a pretty tricky business for anyone unfamiliar with high level professional sports training.

Anyway, Let Me Tell You About The Club Kite
And Why I Like It As a Swing Speed Tool

As you can see from the picture, it’s like a big X-shaped fan, that attaches onto a golf club or a pole.

Basically the light-weight fan increases the wind resistance and decreases how quickly you can swing the club.

Unlike weighted golf clubs, or the Speed Stik, the resistance from the club kite is more or less against the direction in which you swing the club.

With weighted golf clubs, due to that force called gravity, there are forces pulling the club down towards the ground.  This may alter the plane that you swing the club on.  For this reason, I believe it’s best to not overdo it with weighted clubs.

If you’ve never tried it for yourself, when you go from swinging either a weighted club or a club with the Club Kite attached to it, and back to
say your driver… you’ll immediately feel an increase in speed.

You see, your body gets used to applying a higher level of force, and then when you go to the lighter club, with less resistance, and apply that same level of force, you can really feel the difference.

For convenience, I’ve atached my Club Kite to one of my wife’s old drivers… and when I swing it, my swing speed is in the range of the low 60’s to high 70’s mph.  I haven’t swung this club without the kite to see my max swing speed without the kite, but I’ve got not doubt it’s at least 30 to 40 mph’s faster (it’s much shorter than my own driver).

When I use it next, I’ll test to see the difference in my average driver swing speed (with my driver) and the swing speed of my driver with the kite on (I’ll let you know).

Basically, by increasing the resistance, you’re exposing your body to a different stimulus.  In order for your body to adapt, it reall does need to be exposed to a variety of training methods.

For a cheaper alternative, you can use a broom like the one I’m holding up… while it does not decrease the swing speed as much as the club kite does, it does do cause a significant reduction.  I’m sure there would be an even more noticeable difference if you used a straw broom.

Another bonus using the broom is that it gives you a good visual as to the position of the “clubface”.

Another alternative is attaching a “pool noodle” (shown above next to the broom) to your shaft.  They’re basically a lightweight foam object… you usually find them in places where they sell pool toys.  Like the Club Kite and broom, they increase the air resistance and decrease your swing speed.

I know Steve Bann, who is the coach of KJ Choi, Stuart Appleby and Nick Flanage, uses the Club Kite with some of his students (seems to be helping them).

It’s not an overly expensive item and it can be folded down flat if you want to pack it up and take it with you. 

I like it and I think it’s well worth having, if you get hold of one, let me know how you get on.

Sean Cassidy - “Real Men Swing Fast”

ps - Keep an eye out for my “7 Swing Speed Myths Report”, which I’ll have up in a few days… and currently I’m putting together a program for SwingSpeedGolf.com readers designed to add an extra 10mph to your swing speed (it will be available as a free download).

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