How to Increase Your Golf Swing Speed

No matter your level of skill as a golfer, a faster and more accurate golf swing could benefit anyone on the course. While muscle can help you achieve this, strength is no substitute for technique and practice. 

With the proper setup and correct form, you, too, can attain a faster and more powerful swing that gets you on the fairway each time. 

Whether you're a seasoned player or a beginner just starting, incorporating these tips can boost your golf game and unlock your long-hitting potential.  

Improve Physical Fitness 

It's no secret that working on your fitness can improve your strength and speed. Being physically fit and working on building lean muscle can lay a solid foundation for increasing the speed of your golf swing.

Invest in a Good Club

Having an excellent driver to tee off with is a critical part of playing your best game. Shopping for a club can be an overwhelming and expensive task with many models on the market, but investing in the right one can increase your speed, distance, and accuracy. 

Utilize Your Shot Shape

Knowing your natural shot shape can help you hit off the tee and reach more fairways. If you know your ball flight is usually a big cut or has a slight draw, visualize that shot shape and utilize it instead of trying to work against it. 

Tee the Ball Appropriately 

The height at which you tee your ball can determine the type of flight and landing of your ball. While you may be tempted to tee it high and let your ball fly, pegging your tee a bit lower (about an inch and a half above the ground) can help you maintain better accuracy in the shot. It can also give you a few more inches of roll on the course. 

Relax Your Lead Arm

If you typically try to keep your back arm straight in the takeaway, this could create tension in your backswing. It might be what is prohibiting you from completing a full-body turn. Although keeping that arm straight is typically advice many beginners receive, leading with a softer arm and a slight bend in the elbow can help to loosen up your body and swing more freely.

Make a Full Turn in Your Backswing

Too often, golfers will only turn their shoulders to begin their swing while keeping their lower body still. Creating maximum width early on is key to generating the necessary torque to power your swing and put speed behind the ball. By bringing the club as far back as possible, your body will naturally follow and allow you to turn your upper body fully against the rotation of your hips and legs in your downswing. 

Keep Wrists Hinged

As you swing your golf club back, your wrists will hinge at the top of the swing. You'll want to maintain that hinge in your wrists until the point of impact. Using your wrists as a lever and not releasing that hinge too early optimizes your golf swing by keeping your club face square and delivering more power to the ball. 

Create Lag

Essentially, lag is the byproduct of the previous techniques and refers to the angle between your club, wrists, and arms. Incorporating that full rotation of your hips as quickly and aggressively as possible while effectively utilizing that hinge in your wrist creates an intentional trail for your club to "lag" behind you. 

Practicing this move can quickly increase the accuracy, speed, and strength of your drives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Muscles Increase Golf Swing Speed?

A powerful golf swing engages many muscles in your body. Needless to say, strengthening these muscles can help drive your ball further. Key muscle groups you'll want to train to gain speed and power include:

• - Core
• - Back
• - Shoulders
• - Biceps
• - Legs
• - Glutes

What Exercises Increase Swing Speed?

If you want to increase your swing speed, there are several gym exercises and golf drills you can practice to fine-tune your skills. The following are a few examples of some workouts you can try.

Gym Exercises

Adding these strengthening exercises to your gym routine and doing them at least once a week can help you become a stronger golfer. 

• - Battle Ropes
• - Hip Crossover
• - Box Jumps
• - Medicine Ball Slam
• - Goblet Squats
• - RDL's
• - Cable Crossovers
• - Kettlebell Swings
• - Reverse crunch
• - The Superman

Confident-T Drill 

This particular drill helps to practice the proper movement of your upper body through your swing for a faster club head. 

1. Form the letter T with your body by extending your arms from your sides.
2. Rotate your body back as you begin to tilt your arms with it so that one hand is pointing straight toward the ground and the other is pointing straight back towards the sky as if emulating a back swing
3. Drive your legs into the ground as you swing forward, rotating your hips as hard as you can while keeping your chest expanded and your arms still extended out beside you.

Fireball Drill

Next time you're at the range, try this drill between your session to loosen up your body and practice swinging faster. All you need to do is grab five balls and your driver. 

Without focusing on the quality of your drive, freely hit each ball as fast as you can. The goal of this exercise is to go for distance rather than accuracy so that you can channel that energy and subconsciously adapt it to the subsequent swings in your range session.

Final Thoughts

A consistent and strong golf swing takes a lot of practice and skill to master. Incorporating these long-hitting tips and techniques can help you lower your golf handicap and elevate your golf game. 

When you’re ready to hit the course with your faster golf swing, you’ll want to look the part and let others know that you’re nearing pro level. Shop STITCH Golf today to find top-of-the-line golf bags, apparel, accessories, and more.