strength and power leading to longer drives and distance off the tee.
Outlandish claims such as “Add 30 yards to your tee shots by doing just 3 minutes of exercise per day” are all too common. Not only are they misleading and unrealistic (see impossible), they are missing out on the key relationship between increased strength and scoring.
Hint – it’s not how much further you hit it with driver.
It is a given that increased strength and power will lead to more club head speed, but how does that affect your scoring exactly? A recent analysis by the powerful golf statistics software gurus Shots To Hole told us that if you hit the ball 10 yards further of the tee you will save on average between 0.7 and 1.1 shots per round.
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Whilst being very useful, I am proposing that the main benefit from increasing our strength levels is NOT increasing our distance off the tee. I am suggesting that getting stronger will allow us to hit the ball closer to the hole, which will yield a greater benefit to our score than a few extra yards with the driver.
Actually it’s about three times more beneficial!
The stats tell us that with increased strength levels we can dramatically improve our proximity to the hole with approach shots. We essentially become more consistent, controlled and accurate whilst hitting less club into the green – more on that later……..
But just chucking weights around in the gym in a random fashion and expecting it to transfer to the golf swing probably will not get you the increased control you are after. Yes, increased strength will yield increased club head speed, which in turn means higher ball speed and distance.
However this is only the case provided that the efficiency of the bio mechanics and kinematic chain within the swing are not compromised. Your swing action should actually be improved by your gym work, if it’s an effectively designed program that is.
A term I like to use is applied strength, in the case of a golfer by maintaining spine angle/position throughout the swing. The 2 photos below demonstrate this quite well; the idea is for the spine angle and pelvis position at impact (right) to closely resemble the address position (left). In the example below I will admit there is some loss of spine position and an anterior move of the pelvis toward the golf ball, but I think you will agree that it’s still pretty solid!
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So if we get stronger in the correct way then we can apply more club head speed in a more controlled manner. We no longer have to swing ourselves off our feet to generate high ball speed. This means maintaining our posture and shape better into impact, which in turn leads to more consistent ball striking and accuracy.
More Control
More club head speed means golfers can afford to take one less club for their approach shots (4-to-5 mph is roughly equivalent to the difference of one club). If golfers can take one less club and still make a compact and controlled swing, then they are more likely to hit the ball closer to the hole.
Less Side Bend
By hitting say, an 8 iron instead of a 7 iron, golfers add more loft to the club. Adding more loft reduces the amount of side bend (hooks and slices), which means hitting straighter approach shots that can dramatically reduce dispersion.
Steeper Landing Angle
Taking one less club and adding loft should also make the angle of descent of a golfer’s shots steeper. This means golfers can stop the ball on the green quicker from farther away. A steeper landing angle is also helped by the increased club head speed and the creation of more spin, leading to a higher-flying shots that will again help golfers stop their ball closer to the hole. A steep landing angle and “towering iron shots” have been assets of many of the truly great players over the years.
If you couple hitting less club with more speed and add increased distance off the tee, then the likelihood is that golfers can afford to hit two less clubs into the green. Take those benefits we just mentioned and double them!
Here is what the numbers say about how hitting the ball closer affects your score. The source of the numbers is ShotsToHole.com, an Australian golf statistics system that has been popular with club golfers who are serious about improving their golf.
Using ShotsToHole.com’s “What If” Analysis Tool, predictions can be made based on improved performance in the game. In this case, approach shots were analyzed from 85-to-270 yards from the hole.
|
Feet Closer to Hole |
EPI* Improvement |
Shots Per Round Saved |
|
|
Av. Score 71-73 |
10ft |
2.2% |
2.2 |
|
Av. Score 80-84 |
10ft |
2.2% |
1.5 |
|
Av. Score 90-99 |
10ft |
2.2% |
0.9 |
* Error Percentage Index
So you can clearly see that hitting the ball closer to the hole means that golfers are saving shots. But why does it look like the better players benefit so much more from the increased club head speed and hitting the ball 10-feet closer?
It comes down to 2 things.
1. Better players are more skilled and have the ability to capitalize on the fact they are hitting the ball closer.
2. The 10-foot improvement also means that better players are hitting their ball into their scoring ranges, turning narrowly missed greens into greens hit and three-putt territory into birdie chances.
Higher-handicap players, however, with a 10-foot improvement in their approach shots are still missing greens or leaving themselves very long birdie putts. Even with a 10-foot dispersion improvement, golfers who shoot 90-to-99 average almost 70 feet away from the hole from 130-to-150 yards.
So for the higher handicap player, the increased speed is reducing their dispersion as expected, but it’s not making a huge amount of difference to their scores. In that case, how can golfers who shoot 90-to-99 justify working on developing increased strength in order to improve their golf? In my opinion, players in this bracket should see strength training as preparation for when they have the ability to benefit from the increased club head speed. Start working on becoming stronger, seek out good swing mechanics advice and put as much time as you can into you short game.
Effective and well-planned strength training has a host of other benefits which are likely to have an indirect improvement on your golf and definite benefit for your quality of life in general:
· Improved muscle strength and tone
· Weight management
· Greater stamina
· Prevention or control of chronic conditions
· Pain management
· Improved posture
· Decreased risk of injury
· Increased bone density and strength and reduced risk of osteoporosis
· Improved sleep
· Increased self-esteem
So how can you ensure you are doing the right stuff in the gym to get solid strength transference to your golf game and tick off all the benefits in the list above?
I will be delving deeper into this subject in my next article, and revealing some of my own methods for highly effective golf specific strength programs.
If you can’t wait until then, you can seek out a trained professional who understands both the golf swing and strength and conditioning to design you an effective training program.
Such programs are available at www.golffitapp.com
In discussing these concepts, it is assumed that the player is hitting the ball properly with centered strike, their launch conditions (collective term for all of the club head and ball flight data) are good. It is also assumed that by increasing club head speed the players launch conditions are maintained or improved from the lower speed – or more simply put, their technique has not become worse due to the change to their body.