Would you say you have a fast looking swing or a slow swing? (If you don’t have a fast swing show this article to a playing partner who does). You would think that a recreational golfer’s fast swing would hit a golf ball a long way wouldn’t you? After all, it looks fast! Yet the ball doesn’t go as far as a slow swinging pro’s ball. I wonder why…

If you think about your body for a minute, you know that it moves much slower than your arms in real life. So if your body can’t turn all that fast, how do you get a fast looking golf swing? You get a fast looking golf swing when you try to hit the ball as hard as you can with just your arms. This means that your arms are moving independently from your body.

This fast looking swing can be understood by imagining a clock. If you look at a clock, you will see that the little post in the middle tells the minute hand how fast to swing. If the little post moves slowly, the minute hand moves slowly. If the little post moves faster, the arms move faster. The center post and the minute hand are relative to one another. If you compare your golf swing to the movement of a clock you will see your body as the center post on the clock and your arms as the minute hand. Having a fast looking swing would be like the little center post of the clock turning slowly yet the minute hand is moving very fast. This, of course, would never happen because they are connected to one another.

What happens to your shots when your arms outpace your body?

First, won’t make solid contact with the sweet spot on the clubface because swinging with your arms alone will cause you to manipulate the clubface as it swings through impact.

Secondly, the harder you swing, the tighter your wrists and arms will be through impact. Tighter wrists release slower than looser wrists and looser arms extend more than tighter arms (which increase the width of your swing arc).

To slow down a fast looking golf swing, we first have to think logically about it. Pros have a slow looking swing and they hit the ball a long way and you have a fast swing that hits the ball shorter. So why do you insist on hitting the ball harder than the pros do?Unfortunately, human nature usually takes control of us when we go to hit a golf ball. It says that the harder you swing the further the ball will go. This does not allow us to see the logic behind swinging slower. Swinging slower feels like you have less power so you cannot see how you can actually hit the ball better and farther by not using your arms. You must convince yourself that you must swing slower to hit the ball better. Once you slow down, you will make better contact in the middle of the clubface, widen your arc and release the club faster. All of these things add up to more distance with less effort.

I like my students to try this drill in order to take the arms out of their swing. All you have to do is hold the club at about waist high and feel your body swing the clubhead. Remember the clock. If the post turns faster the arms swing faster. As you swing, listen to the swishing sound the clubhead is making as it swings through impact. Now, try to make the club swing faster by shifting your body weight from the right leg to the left leg allowing your body to turn at the same time. If you let your arms swing freely you will hear the club swish faster as you increase the speed of your body.

As you go to hit the actual golf ball, you must relate the same new feeling of using your body to hit your shot. This means that you cannot think of hitting the ball. If you think about hitting the ball, it will speed up your arms up again. You have to now think about turning and shifting your body weight. This will turn your body and allow your arms to swing down because they are connected to one another. If you feel your swing getting fast again just step back, hold the club off the ground and do some more practice swings feeling your body making the club swing. It takes some practice and concentration but once you slow your swing down you will not only gain a feeling of effortless power but you will start to look like a pro when you swing.

Until next time,

Paul Wilson

Imagine hitting your driver farther in your 40′s than when you were in your 20′s!

I imagine a few of you are saying, “No way!”

Read this article to be convinced otherwise. I received an e-mail from one of our BioForce Golf subscribers about the amazing change in his clubhead speed.

He wrote in about how excited he was that his clubhead speed had improved to a speed higher than when he was in his early twenties! He stated that currently his clubhead speed is between 105-107 mph, and in his twenties it was 95-100 mph. Go figure!

He related his increased driving distance and clubhead speed to a golf fitness program, a program with exercises specific to improving his golf swing. Not a traditional, pump-the-iron program, but one that promotes a more efficient and powerful golf swing.

He stated that since he implemented a golf fitness program, his flexibility, strength, and power have all increased.

As a result of this newfound “bottle of youth,” he is hitting the golf ball farther, lowering his scores, and enjoying the game of golf more.

The question to ask is, “How do improved flexibility, strength, and power relate to increased clubhead speed?”

First and foremost, we must understand a very important principle. The principle revolves around what actually swings the golf club.

Is it your body swinging the club or the club swinging your body?

Obviously, the answer is that your body swings the club. Keeping that statement in mind, we can safely say it is a combination of two entities that creates clubhead speed.

What two entities do you think I am talking about? They are your golf swing mechanics and your body.

Swing mechanics have an effect on clubhead speed. Optimal swing mechanics develop greater clubhead speed than poor swing mechanics. If you do not believe me, try this little experiment.

Go to the range and pull out your driver. On your first swing, swing smoothly and in control. On your second swing, swing as hard as you can! Which golf ball went farther? I am guessing the first one.

This little experiment just goes to show that the mechanics of your swing have an effect on clubhead speed and distance.

Bottom line on the swing mechanics side of the equation, the more efficient your golf swing mechanics are the greater amount of clubhead speed you will be able to generate.

Now, on to the second part of the equation, your body.

The body supports your golf swing mechanics. If your body does not have the flexibility, strength, or power to swing the golf club efficiently, the ability to generate clubhead speed will be compromised.

And if your body is inflexible, weak, and lacking the potential to generate power, clubhead speed will be a difficult entity to create.

Applying the idea of power to golf can be simply identified through clubhead speed. If the clubhead is moving faster at impact with the golf ball, what does this tell us about the golfer?

The golfer is more powerful, and the ball will probably travel farther.

How can a golf fitness program increase the power production in your swing?

Increasing your flexibility allows you to perform the mechanics of the golf swing more efficiently opening the door for improved clubhead speed.

Increasing your strength and power levels around the golf swing allows your body the potential to generate greater amounts of clubhead speed.

Put these entities together with your efficient golf swing mechanics and you will find increased clubhead speed in your golf game.

Now, aging presents a very interesting situation. As you age, the natural levels of flexibility, strength, and power decrease.

Yes, as you get older the body slows down. The slowing down has an effect on your golf swing.

You do not have the flexibility to perform the mechanics of the golf swing. The lowers levels of strength and power decrease the ability to generate clubhead speed.

In order to reverse the effects of aging and improve your clubhead speed, you need to implement a golf fitness program.

A golf fitness program can slow “the hands of time,” improve your flexibility, increase the strength within the body, and improve your power outputs. You essentially become an ageless golfer.

Bottom line, better flexibility, increased strength and power training will increase your clubhead speed, lower your scores, and you’ll get a lot more enjoyment out of the golf course.

Sean Cochran