Golf Fitness Myths Exposed: What Science Says Actually Increases Club Speed

Have you ever wondered if the exercises you’re doing and the speed training you use genuinely increase club speed? Recent research sheds new light on this topic and it might change your golf training regimen.

Background

Two recent studies provide valuable insights:

Associations Between Physical Characteristics and Golf Clubhead Speed: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis (Sports Medicine, 2024): Analyzed 20 peer-reviewed studies involving golfers from amateur to professional tour players. Associations and Within-Group Differences in Physical Characteristics and Golf Performance Data in High-level Amateur Players (Applied Sciences, 2024), specifically assessed how physical tests relate to golf performance.

Although we have to recognize every golfer is unique, recent findings strongly indicate that focusing on explosive strength, especially in your lower and upper body, will help your quest for more clubhead speed.

Lower-body explosive strength

How high can you jump? It turns out that the higher you can jump, the easier it may be to increase your clubhead speed.

“Jump impulse” (the force you apply quickly into the ground) had the strongest connection with higher clubhead speeds. Exercises to improve your jump impulse include the Squat Jump where you squat first, pause briefly and then explode upward as high as possible.

Lower-body strength

Lower-body strength still matters but not as much as explosive power and maybe not as much as fitness experts once thought. Traditional strength exercises like squats and deadlifts have their place but prioritize exercises like the squat jump and countermovement jump (quick downward motion followed by an explosive upward leap) if your goal is maximum swing speed gains.

Upper-body explosive strength

If you have watched professional golfers share their exercise regimen, chances are you have seen them work with medicine balls. Rotational medicine ball throws, where you rotate your torso and explosively throw a medicine ball horizontally, are among the most beneficial exercises for increasing clubhead speed.

Upper-body strength

As with lower-body strength, general upper-body strength (like bench presses) won’t hurt but it doesn’t directly boost your speed as much as explosive exercises. Keep general strength training in your routine but don’t rely solely on it.

Flexibility

Traditionally, golfers have valued flexibility highly for increasing swing speed but these studies found no significant link between general flexibility (like the sit-and-reach test) and clubhead speed.

General flexibility exercises may assist in injury prevention but don’t directly enhance swing speed as previously believed. Don’t skip stretching completely but if you are working on increasing clubhead speed, you’ll want to add some explosive upper- and lower-body training work.

What should you do now?

Focus more on explosive lower-body exercises such as jumps (squat jump, countermovement jump). Include upper-body explosive movements like rotational medicine ball throws. Keep general strength exercises in your routine but supplement them with explosive exercises for the best clubhead speed results.

Final thoughts

If increasing your clubhead speed is your goal, talk to your trainer about integrating more jumping exercises. It might just take your golf game to new heights—literally.

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