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Develop Your Speed in Your Golf Swing, But Don't Forget the Brakes! By Scott Hogan -  Apr 28, 2017

There is no question, the game of golf has become one of power and distance. With players on the professional tours hitting the ball ridiculous distances now, one of the biggest topics among golfers is creating speed. I agree that power is an extremely important physical ability that should be developed starting at a young age, but what's often overlooked is the ability of golfers to transfer the speed and energy they create to the golf club for more distance and control.

What does it mean to transfer energy to the club? I see a lot of golfers turning and rotating their body as fast as they can in their downswing to try and create more power. When they do this, though, they don't get the distances or solid contact that they desire. Golfers have been told to rotate 'faster' for a longtime now, but that's only part of creating speed. The missing piece is being able to slow down. Yes, seriously.

You may be asking, 'Why is it important to put the brakes once you start rotating your body?' There are two reasons:

It will allow you to transfer the energy you create throughout your body to the club.
It allows you to line up the club for your desired impact position.
To demonstrate, I want to share an example of one of my students. I put him on K-Vest, a 3D measuring device, to show the speeds different parts of his body were creating during the swing.

The first number in the graphic below (from left to right) is [peak] pelvis-rotation speed. The second number is [peak] torso-rotation speed, the third number is [peak] lead-arm speed and the fourth number is club speed.

p527 t643 a281 c1443 (degrees per second)

As you look at the graphic, you can see that this player starts off by rotating his pelvis (hips) 527 degrees per second. This then translates into 643 degrees per second for the torso. These two numbers are on the high end of PGA Tour ranges for these movements. You can see though that rotating the body this fast isn't always a good thing, because in this example it doesn't allow the lead arm to pick up speed (281 degrees per second). This translates into a peak speed of 1443 degrees per second for the club, which isn't that fast.

What happened for this student? He understands how to slam on the gas pedal with his body, but he was unable to apply the brakes. He got his body to start rotating really fast, but he wasn't able to stop himself from spinning. The result was that he couldn't get his speed to translate to the arm and club and deliver it to the ball. This creates a very noticeable gap in the sequence of events.

In the graphic below, you can see the data generated by the same player after we did some work to get his brake system in order.

p383 t554 a899 c1739 (linear-increasingly gained, all peak speed too)

In these measurements, you can see the pelvis speed slowed down. This helped him speed up his arm, which drastically sped up the club to 1739 degrees per second. This is a much more effective transfer of energy, which will lead to more club speed and hopefully more distance.

So learning how to speed up and slow down the body helps with speed, but how does it help line up the golf club for impact? Well, most golfers slice the ball, and one of the biggest reasons they slice is because the club face is open at impact. Most players that I talk to on the range that have attempted to cure their slice tell me they think they need to turn their body more through the golf ball. When they do this, however, the golf club and club face lag without a chance to catch up at impact. The club face remains open to the path of the club and they see a slice if they are lucky to hit the ball solid.

Before I worked with the player in the example above, he was hitting the shots below with an 8 iron. His contact was very inconsistent and this was one of the longer shots he hit.

We noticed that the club path is swinging a 4.4 degrees to the left with a club face that is wide open to the path (16 degrees). After some work developing his braking system and understanding how to transfer energy, he hit the following shot.

His distance went way up and his ability to get the club into a better alignment to make solid contact was much better. He made a change to have the club face closed to his club path, which put him on the path to being able to hit a consistent draw. With some further work this player can develop almost any ball flight he wants for his game and hit shots with power.

How would you go about building your brakes system as a golfer? The best way is to find a certified TPI professional and work with him or her on any areas necessary. As a TPI-certified professional myself, I’ve seen the value in being able to identify areas to work on away from the course and then enlist the help of a trainer to work with my athletes. But from a golf standpoint, I have a favorite drill that shows people how the body needs to be stable to allow the arms and club to line up and go by.

As you see in the photo above (skipped here), I've taken my setup with a mid-iron and I've closed my stance dramatically to the right with the feeling that my back is to the target. I then make a swing doing my best to keep my body as still as possible while only swinging my arms, hands and clubs.

At first you might struggle to hit the ball, but with practice you should be able to make solid contact and hit the ball straight. This should be done at 40-50 percent speed and increased to 70-80 percent as you become more comfortable. By doing this, your body is starting to get the feeling of what it's like to slow down and let the arms and club accelerate past. This will help your braking system develop in your body so you can apply speed at the right time.

It's important to be able to generate speed, but understanding how to control it and apply the brakes will ultimately allow that speed to turn into more distance and control.  As we all know, if you are hitting it longer and straighter, this game becomes a lot easier!