Best routines for driver speed training?

[golfobsession]

Curiuos what the best activities / routines you have used for driver speed training?

* drills, fitness, isometric holds, club swinging heavy / light / or alternating, etc.

[LuciusWooding]

To clarify, I assume you hit it pretty far as it is, and want to train to get crazy long? If not, get a SS radar or similar device to track clubhead speed, and learn your release and timing based on the feedback. You can even use a shaft with a grip, or hold the club by the shaft, and swing without the drag from the head to add about 20% to your speed. It will make you more explosive, and basically does everything the "speed whoosh" does without the timing ball.

If you have the timing aspect down, which I assume since you claim a 2 handicap, then I recommend stretching, stretching, and more stretching, combined with core workout and medicine ball work.

[golfobsession]

interested in what routines people do that have proven to increase swing speed.  i do have the swing radar and every 3 weeks remeasure to very new averages and maxes.

have used heavy clubs before but learning about alternating between heavy then super light also helps.

curious what training programs people have done to specifically increase speed through development.

thanks.

[Steve Pratt]

Super heavy and super light clubs won't do you a lot of good, unless you are a beginner, then any swinging makes you faster.

What has been found with heavy training clubs is that you may learn to swing it faster, but there will be only a little carry over to your own driver, because you are developing a different motion and skill, rather than improving the existing one.  And even the small gain in clubhead speed does not produce more ball speed, because of the lack of coordination, and thus, loss of solid contact.

Keep the weight of the training club fairly similar to your own driver, within about 1.5 ounces heavier or lighter.  You can build a training club from cheap components from Golfsmith or even use an old steel shafted persimmon driver.  Another great idea I have heard is to put a ankle sized sport sock over your driver and swing....this is plenty of overload.

[golfobsession]

interesting.  heard something like 15% over and 15% under but can't find any research on it.

not sure why is so hard to find documented research on this when you know some of the pros do speed training and you know the long drivers do intensly.

[Flounder]

[x129]

The research I have read  states that swinging a lighter or heavier club as a warm up is ineffective because it messes up your timing. I haven't that suggests swinging a heavier or lighter club in training would have negative effects if you did them as training sessions. But it is also something that is hard to study.

Originally Posted by Steve Pratt

Super heavy and super light clubs won't do you a lot of good, unless you are a beginner, then any swinging makes you faster.

What has been found with heavy training clubs is that you may learn to swing it faster, but there will be only a little carry over to your own driver, because you are developing a different motion and skill, rather than improving the existing one.  And even the small gain in clubhead speed does not produce more ball speed, because of the lack of coordination, and thus, loss of solid contact.

Keep the weight of the training club fairly similar to your own driver, within about 1.5 ounces heavier or lighter.  You can build a training club from cheap components from Golfsmith or even use an old steel shafted persimmon driver.  Another great idea I have heard is to put a ankle sized sport sock over your driver and swing....this is plenty of overload.

[Chief Broom]

I'd say for someone who has proper swing mechanics down the best way they can then go about increasing swing speed is to do exercises specific to core strength.  Whenever they show the pros working out in the training trucks on tour they are doing a lot of rotational work with a medicine ball (throwing to the side, etc.), cable cross overs/wood chopping motions, and more traditional core work like crunches and side sit-ups.  Also they do a lot of stability work on those partial balls and stability boards, which also primarily recruits the core.  The golf swing utilizes muscle groups all over the body, but as I have improved (somewhat) I find that core strength is the primary engine in the swing.

[Steve Pratt]

@X129...

Your research is correct but it is not applied appropriately.  It is true that warming up with overweighted implements in fact slows you down during the event, but training steadily over several weeks of time with various weighted clubs will produce good gains in clubhead speed.  So we are talking apples and oranges.

20% over and under weight seems to be where results drop off a cliff.  This is only, what, around 2.5 ounces added to your driver.  +/-12% seems to be where results start to take a hit, and this is the range that most people should stay in.

[scv76]

@ Steve Pratt:

"Another great idea I have heard is to put a ankle sized sport sock over your driver and swing....this is plenty of overload."

I like this idea a lot...even though I do not have the means to measure swing speed, this looks like a good way to build strength.

Thanks