Swing speed is our key to distance.
If you want to hit the ball a long way, you are going to need speed.
Speed turns into a longer and higher golf shot and can undoubtedly help golfers to improve their overall scores.
However, getting enough swing speed to produce these great shots can be a bit difficult.
Let’s look at five things you can do today to start increasing your swing speed.
How to Increase Swing Speed
1. Fitness
One of the best ways to help increase your swing speed is to work on your golf fitness.
There have been many arguments about whether or not fitness matters in golf.
For a long time, people suggested that there was not enough of a difference in the game for physical fitness to matter.
However, this has since been proven wrong.
Golfer knows that, the more physically fit you are, the easier it is to get swing speed.
Of course, this is not the only component of being able to hit the ball a long way.
You will need to have great swing mechanics as well.
This is partly where some of the arguments come from when it comes to fitness and golf.
When a person is in excellent physical condition, it is not automatic that they will be able to hit the golf ball well.
When working on golf fitness, you will want to incorporate a bit of cardiovascular strength, and you will have to work on muscle strength as well.
When working on your fitness, it is also essential to focus on core strength.
Core strength is where you will notice the biggest impact when it comes to the speed of your swing.
Core strength will help to increase the speeds at which you can turn your body, and that will increase your swing speed as well.
Golfers also will benefit from being in better overall shape when it comes to finishing their round.
Many players start to get tired by the time they get to the 18th hole.
When you get tired, not only are your shots going to suffer, but there will be a significant drop in swing speed as well.
Increasing your fitness level is going to help you increase your stamina on the golf course as well.
Truly, we have found that golf has a large physical element.
If you want to get better at the game, it is essential to get into better physical shape.
Talk to your trainer about a golf-specific workout that you can do.
They will help you determine which muscles are the most important to work on.
2. Balance
Have you ever noticed a golfer who can hit the ball a long way never looks like they are trying to kill the ball?
This is because they aren’t.
Golfers who are able to hit the ball a long way have worked hard to manage their speed, their tempo, and especially their balance.
Balance is essential for making sure you can increase your swing speed.
Without balance, your speed will not be applied to the golf ball properly, and you will likely end up falling a little as you get through the ball.
One of the things you will come to learn about golf is that, sometimes, simple is better.
When you can apply medium club head speed properly, it is much more effective than a large amount of club head speed applied incorrectly.
The golf swing is very much about efficiency.
The more efficient your golf swing, the better your chance of success.
Balance in your golf swing helps to create efficiency.
You will need balance in your backswing as well as in your forward swing and follow-through.
There are lots of ways you can increase your balance in your golf swing.
One of the best ways to work on balance is to do some drills with a medicine ball.
Hold a medicine ball in your hand and swing it as if it were the golf club.
When you do this, you will notice that the ball helps to guide your weight, and you will feel as though it is much harder work than just swinging with a golf club.
This is a good sign.
You will want the swinging with the medicine ball to be harder so that everything feels light and easy when you switch to the golf club.
A medicine ball is an easy way to help increase your balance, and you don’t need to be at a golf course to work on it.
Another thing golfers should do is to actually decrease their swing speed until they can find balance.
Once they are balanced, they can then start trying to add more and more speed.
Ultimately, you may need to start from scratch to help build up your balance and your overall swing speed.
3. Whoosh
Have you heard of golfers working on “whoosh” or trying to hear that sound in their swing?
This is a very common drill that is done to help players learn where they are potentially losing speed in their golf swings.
To work on this drill, all you will need to do is grip your driver from the head instead of the grip.
While you are holding your driver from the end of the shaft near the club head, start to take some swings.
As you get through the impact area, you may hear a slight whoosh sound.
The concept and goal are to continue to hear this sound and increase the level of volume that you get from that sound as well.
For instance, if you are flipping your wrists prior to getting to the impact position, you will lose a lot of speed.
When you can hold onto your extension and release the club at the right time, the sound will increase in volume, and the speed will increase as well.
The reason this drill is so popular is that it is simple and can be done with clubs you already have in your bag.
You will get instant feedback as you learn to swing the club with more whoosh.
Although some golfers try this with an iron in their hand, we like to practice it with the driver.
The driver provides a louder noise and makes it easier to know where you stand and how your swing is performing.
Keep these things in mind as you practice, and you will be well on your way to gaining some extra swing speed.
4. Grip and Tension
One of the first things people do when they want to hit the ball further is to grip the club with extra tension in their hands and arms.
People seem to associate hitting the ball a long way with gripping the club tight and ripping at the shot.
We certainly understand how people can get this concept in their heads, but it does not work.
If you want to hit the ball a long way and increase your swing speed, it is actually better to have very little tension in your hands and arms.
When tension is lower, the arms and hands can release the golf club and finish the swing properly.
With increased tension, golfers will not only see a decrease in swing speed, but they will also see issues with shots start to go away as well.
With added tension, you will often have a tendency to hit a slice, or hit the golf ball well to the right.
One of the main reasons golfers tend to grip the club too hard is that the grip of the club is slippery.
If you are not changing your golf grips often, they may be slippery, causing your hands to latch on more tightly.
Golf grips can be cleaned to make sure that they are still tacky.
If you clean your grips and notice that they are still giving you a hard time when it comes to grasping the club properly, chances are you need new grips.
Another problem which creates tension in the golf swing is standing over the golf ball too long.
When you stand over the golf ball, you will certainly create some extra tension in your game.
The golfer’s mind is always working and thinking about the game.
When you let all of that tension build up in your arms and hands before swinging, you will significantly impact your swing speed.
Make sure your pre-shot routine does not require you to stand over the golf ball all that long.
Keep things simple, and you will have much better luck keeping the tension out of your swing.
5. Swing Length and Angles
When we talk about swing length, it is not always the distance you take the club back and the extension you create in your swing.
When your arms and hands are extended, this length in the swing creates a wider arc and it will give you more distance.
In addition to creating this wider arc, you will also want to think about your wrist angles in your swing.
These wrist angles are going to act as levers which will provide more power to the golf shot.
If you have no wrist cock in your golf swing, chances are your swing speed will be quite a bit lower.
It is essential to make sure you maintain these levels and your extension through your golf shots.
One of the best ways to practice this concept is to start recording your golf swing.
If you take a video of your swing, you will be able to see where your hands and arms are, and you can compare that to a swing of a professional golfer.
If your swing is lacking extension or wrist cock, you should be able to notice it almost immediately.
Does the Golf Club I’m Playing Affect Swing Speed?
The golf clubs you choose to put in your golf bag can greatly impact the ball speed and swing speed you get.
The swing speed is most significantly impacted when the weight of the golf club is incorrect.
In order to swing a club fast, you have to be physically strong enough to do so.
If a golf club is excessively heavy, your swing speed will be significantly impacted.
You may wonder why some golfers would then want to play with a golf club that is heavy.
For faster swinging players, the heavier club can help them develop a better feel and control.
Heavier golf clubs also tend to keep the ball flight down a bit for the faster swinging golfers.
Golfers who have slower swing speeds should think about switching to a club that is very lightweight.
With a lightweight club, the golfer can get more swing speed and lots of distance.
In addition to the lightweight capabilities of a golf club, players can also look for clubs that have aerodynamic shaping.
Some golf manufacturers have worked with Delta and Boeing in the past to make sure their clubs can travel with the least resistance.
You will want your golf clubs to work for you, not against you.
This can be done with particular aerodynamic shaping and the proper use of materials in the clubhead.
Of course, golf clubs that help to increase your swing speed are also going to be priced a bit higher than those that are less aerodynamic.
Sometimes in golf, you will have to pay for performance.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now feel like you have the tools you need to help increase your swing speed.
With these methods, you can work a little at a time to help get the numbers you desire.
Increasing swing speed is not something you will be able to do overnight.
You will spend time, week in and week out, getting your speed up, but in the end, it will undoubtedly be worth it.
The faster you can swing, the easier it is to get the distance.
Having the most distance in golf typically means lower scores.
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