The quickest and most immediate way to increase golf swing speed is through overspeed training. Some golfers will get an instance 3-5 miles per hour within the first training session!
I would highly recommend the SuperSpeed System which I detail in section #3 below!
Bottom Line: We are all seeking new speed and distance regardless of our ability level! Speed helps just about every golfer shoot lower scores!
Golf at the professional level has transitioned to a power game where pros are are swinging over 120 miles per hour and carrying the ball 300 yards plus. 300 yards at one point was a true milestone, but it no longer carries the same significance at the pro level.
However, most amateurs are hitting the same length as before and would love to add even 10-15 yards to their driver length, which would also increase their irons length, leaving a smaller club for each approach shot over the 18 holes.
Simple analytics would tell you any golfer will improve with more distance as the proximity to the hole will decrease the shorter your approach shot is to the target. The best way to add more distance is to maximize the swing speed and the efficiency of the strike.
Of course spin rates and launch angles play a major role in overall distance as well, but once you have the speed, those are easier to adjust with the right launch monitors.
The pros spend a significant amount of time caring for their physical fitness, making sure they have the proper clubs and golf balls, working with their instructor, and monitoring their progress on a launch monitor. We will take you through 5 key things you can do to improve your golf swing speed, even as you get older each year.
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What Are the Key Areas to Increase Swing Speed?
I believe there are five essential areas to focus on to increase golf swing speed. These include club fitting, proper swing mechanics, speed training, physical fitness training and mindset.
Having been on my own journey to increase swing speed, in addition to working closely with several senior golfers who were starting to lose distance and then helping youth golfers on my golf team strive to hit the ball further – I have compiled the 5 major areas and provide tips, strategies and some drills you can implement to increase your golf swing speed. There really isn’t a secret as much as a formula of what makes common sense to increase your golf swing speed.
Update: I have now been speed training since 2019 on and off and have increased my average swing speed from 98 miles per hour to 108 miles per hour! The increase in swing speed has played a major role in reaching the scratch level in golf!
Below we will take you through the following areas:
- Club Fitting
- Swing Mechanics
- Speed Training
- Physical Fitness
- Mindset
#1 Club Fitting – Increasing Golf Swing Speed
Playing golf with the wrong driver for you can lead to years of struggle. Too many people head to their nearest golf store and purchase the club that is on sale or something they see the professional hitting on tour. Take a lesson from from the pros and make sure you see your local club fitter and ensure you have the best club for you.
While in today’s market, there are so many great options, you want to ensure the club is perfect for you. The greatest key in this area is the match up with the right shaft for you. Golf shafts come in different lengths, weights and have different kick points. Not only will the right shaft help with your distance, but it will play a significant role in your accuracy.
A good club fitter will take the time to educate you on the importance of what you need in your game from a club fitting perspective. Even if you do not take the time to see an official club fitter, make sure you are testing out different drivers with different shafts on a swing launch monitor.
You will want to track your club speed, ball speed and your spin rate. So many amateurs golfers lose sight of the importance of a low spin rate to maximize your distance.
The pros will oftentimes switch out the shafts in their drivers until they are comfortable and have the right combination of power and accuracy.
#2 Swing Mechanics – Increasing Golf Swing Speed
The proper swing mechanics will go a long way in ensuring that the speed of the swing is in the right place and that you can maximize the ability of your body to hit your peak performance. Several of the biggest speed destroyers are hitting down on the ball, moving off of the ball and poor transition leading to a bad kinetic chain.
Hitting down on the ball causes an increase in spin rate. The higher the spin rate the shorter your drive. There is a sweet spot somewhere in the 2,000 RPM range, but once you get above 3,000 RPM the majority of golfers will start to lose distance. This will also impact your ability to hit the ball straight as well. Finding your maximum launch angle will be a key to maximizing the speed and speed right that matches your swing speed.
Moving off the ball on your downswing takes away your ability use ground forces to maximize your speed. The right foot for a right handed golfer becomes similar to the starting blocks for a sprinter in track.
If you move off of the ball and outside that right foot, you have nothing to push off of to create speeds and force. The movement off the ball can often feel like turn and rotation when it truly is just a false feel that makes it feel like you are creating speed.
A poor transition from backswing to downswing will cause the speed right away at the downswing instead of right at the before or even slightly after contact. As the transition occurs the shaft of the club will lay down slightly and store up energy to be released by the driver.
The swing fault you will see in those that struggle with distance is a casting move from the top, where the angles are released too early. The proper use of the kinetic chain helps ensure that your speed is in the right place. It is hard to control all of these positions, but here is a quick video on using natural movements to help increase speed and maximize your kinetic chain.
Tip: Monitor your ball speed or club speed through different launch monitors that are on the market. I personally use my SkyTrak Launch Monitor, both indoors and outdoors to track my ball speed and the angle that I am launching the ball at. The spin rates are the biggest eye opener as you can feel what a 2,700 RPM spin rates feels like compared to a 4,000 RPM spin rate.
One of the great things about golf in the online world that we live in is the easy access to many of the top golf instructors in the world. I have spent a great deal of time researching and implementing the different philosophies and considering what is best for my game. I provide an overview of who I believe are the top 5 online golf instructors.
In the past, you only really had your local pga teaching pro, now we have access to the best in the world! When it comes to mechanics there are many great options. My suggestion is to consider your different options and then try to swing with one philosophy or approach.
#3 Speed Training and Increasing Golf Swing Speed
Recently, there has been a lot of buzz in the golf world about different speed trainers. The one that has caught my attention is the SuperSpeed Golf Trainer. They promise to improve your swing speed by 3-5 Miles Per Hour from the first time you use this speed training system.
This has caught my attention and it is on my list for the next golf swing aid I will purchase and provide a full review for. I recently purchased the SuperSpeed Golf System – Read My Review Here.
They provide a speed training protocol to follow to maintain that initial speed burst and to increase over the months. Options exist for many for different ages of golf as they provide trainings systems for youth, seniors and super long drive golfers.
The golfer who you hear most often associated with this training system is Phil Mickelson. Late in his career he has actually increased his swing speed and is competing with the many young studs even as he approaches 50. This system provides you with three swing sticks of different weights.
The idea is to swing two clubs which weight less than your driver to get your body used to swinging faster. The third club is heavier than your driver and helps you train and build strength.
One thing somewhat unique is that they have you take swings both right and left handed and taking swings when you take steps – all of this coming with both sides. You are training your body to swing faster through showing your body what it feels like. Your body can then adjust to this new speed.
Another product on the market is the Orange Whip. This product comes in different weights and lengths and aims to improve your rhythm and balance in your golf swing. They have developed the Orange Whip Lightspeed design to increase and provide the speed that you need.
Another option is Swing Man Golf – Add 30–40 yards in only 30 days
This option is a combination of development through swing mechanics and speed training. One of the questions answered on their website is if someone has to change their swing. They promote that a golfer does not have to change their swing, it is a few very subtle changes in technique and making small changes to your warm up and training. The claim is that it only takes 10 minutes two times per week. This is the second system route I plan on trying and hope to write a full review on as well.
Here is what they promote on their website:
www.swingmangolf.com
#4 Physical Fitness
There are two major categories under physical fitness and golf to increase golf swing speed. The first one is overall strength and the second area is overall range of motion. A combination of both will help you maximize your distance. If you look around tour you see many of the best young golfers looking much more fit than 30 years ago. You can see that they take their overall physical fitness very serious.
The exact impact on the overall swing speed is difficult to measure, but as the golfers become more fit, the distance of the driver keeps increasing. So what can you do as a amateur golfer to increase your golf swing speed through physical fitness? The number one area to work on would be your core. Without a strong core it is difficult to hit your maximum potential. Here is an article by Golf Digest on improving your core strength.
I would recommend finding a system that feels best taking into consideration your age, time and overall commitment to truly strengthening and improve your physical fitness. Joey D has a quality reputation and is worth checking out.
The stretching and overall physical fitness may have just as big of an impact on strength. A balanced approach and improving in both strength and range of motion will not only help add potential speed, but could play a role in maintain speed as you age. Also, the health benefits not only in the game of golf, but in actual life will make it worth it. Doing something daily and being active as we age will be vital.
One product that I saw that could help with range of motion and keep a fluid swing is the Sklz Swing Trainer.
A senior golfer that I play a lot of golf with uses this daily and before each round to warm up. It can help with range of motion, staying healthy and getting loose for each round.
#5 Mindset
One of the common swing faults is that people try to swing harder. The thought is more to swing faster if you are trying to add speed, not harder. Swinging harder can cause tension and put the speed in the wrong place. Keeping your body loose and free swinging is a key. The key here is to think of golfers like Fred Couples or Ernie Els. While both appear to be swinging easy, they are still producing some high level swing speeds.
The mindset when you take the course is to play what you have that day. Increasing speed in your golf swing will need to happen away from the course through club fitting, speed training, mechanics development, and physical fitness. If you do nothing away from the course, you can’t expect to just naturally gain speed by trying to swing harder.
The options above, if fully utilized, will be the confidence that you are getting better and following a system that can ultimately add distance to your swing speed resulting in longer drivers and shorter irons for your approach shots.
Consider these numbers:
The average amatuer golfer swings the driver at 90 mph for an average distance of 225 yards. The PGA Tour average is 113 mph for 288 yards.
Tiger Woods swings an average of 119 mph for 298 yards.
Dustin Johnson swings 121 mph for 309 yards.
Bubba Watson swigs 123 for 310 yards.
The top long driver average is 146 mph for 418 yards.
Summary
We can all use extra speed in our golf swing. I think taking a holistic approach to the 5 areas above will bring you your best potential results. I look forward to writing a review on both the SuperSpeed Golf System and the Swingman golf.
I already do a lot with physical fitness and overall mechanics and want to try to develop in these training areas and minor tweaks that I may be missing. Now I may need to do more yoga and stretching, which just doesn’t seem fun at all, but could be worth it.
We are all on our journey to play better golf and enjoy the game of golf that we love. One major change that has brought game improvement and great entertainment is building a golf simulator in my garage. From this opportunity, I am able to play and train 365 days a year regardless of the weather. No longer does the rain, snow or colder weather stop me from enjoying the game that I love!
Related Questions
How Can I Improve my overall game?
Here are three comprehensive guides on breaking 80, 90 and 100 in golf.
How many yards per MPH added?
The everyday golfer averages about 2.29 added yards per every mph. It is essential to hit the sweet spot on the club to maximize the additional speed. This is why swing mechanics becomes vital to the overall distance. You don’t want to waste the extra speed.
What are the average numbers related to a driver and a 7 iron for LPGA golfers?
The average swing speed for an LPGA golfer is 94 mph with a ball speed of 140 mph for a total carry distance of 218 yards. As far as 7 iron – 76 mph club speed, 104 ball speed for a total carry distance of 141 yards.
Will buying a new driver add greater distance?
If you are using an older version driver than yes a new driver can definitely help you out. However, keep in mind that you may want to get fitted or at least test it out at your local golf store to see what the ball speed and spin rates are for each driver that you are considering. Any model that is not older than 3 years can help you maximize the technology found in today’s equipment.
Does cold weather impact my distance?
Yes, it can have an impact. This can have a psychological impact earlier on in a season. After a long winter, your body might not quite be in tip top shape and the ball doesn’t travel as far because of the air temperature and the efficiency of the transfer for of energy is impacted.. The optimum temperature is between 70 and 90 degrees.
I seem to hit my driver find at the driving range, but struggle on the course?
This can happen if you are thinking about positions instead of hitting the ball towards your target. Trying to manipulate different positions within your swing can lead to slower swing speeds and have a negative impact not only on the accuracy, but the overall distance. Swinging free and easy and focus on the target.