Everyone is after more speed in golf! More ball speed, more swing speed all in the effort to gain distance! This is all fine and well but the problem comes in the process of gaining speed. Most people will try to gain speed by just taking speed sticks and swinging for the fences. This is a flawed approach because they forgot to take into account the function of their body. Improving the way your body functions is of the utmost importance in gaining speed. As we know speed doesn’t come from increasing tempo and ripping at the ball. It comes from the efficiency of someone’s swing. Typically those who can create more ground forces and be able to transfer those up the chain to create separation both in the backswing and downswing will have high swing speeds. This isn’t the only factor in creating more speed and distance in your golf swing though! Once your body is functioning properly and you are able to create a joint stack up and down the body, you need to then increase strength in that position! The picture above you see the Canister position, this is the optimal position for the body to function from, it will inevitably create a better functioning body. Once this happens you can then start to work on transferring that strength into rotational power and speed. This is where it is time to use a tool like speed sticks to start to train the body to move faster in a golf-like movement. Creating speed in your golf swing will be way more sustainable without injury if you take this approach. What does it mean practically though?
It all starts with an assessment, your coach needs to know how you are moving and your limitations! Then they can create a plan to attack those limitations and get your body moving the way it was intended to! After that you can start to add strength to this new and improved function. Once the strength has been set, it’s time to start moving faster and more powerfully in the gym. There is also a nutritional component to this but we will get to that in another article!
Creating a “new” swing around this is key! This new found function, strength and power will lead to creating more rotation and separation in the swing, more strength in those positions and better use of ground forces all creating more speed and distance out on the course effortlessly!
So you can see just like swing changes there is no “quick fix” to increasing speed and distance on the course! You can’t just use one tool like the speed sticks without all the other steps and expect it to last or be sustainable. If you want to learn more feel free to reach out to the Performance team!
