How golfers can dramatically improve through explosive power training

MDX academic Dr Chris Bishop was the senior researcher on a large study examining the link between physical attributes and club head speed

Golfers could make "enormous" gains in their performance through explosive power training, based on a new study. Dr Chris Bishop, an Associate Professor of Strength and Conditioning at Middlesex University's London Sport Institute (LSI) was the senior researcher in a recently published meta-analysis, showing that lower and upper body explosive power are the biggest factors in determining golf club head speed and in turn how far the ball travels.

The meta-analysis, which reviewed 20 empirical studies examining the link between physical attributes and club head speed, found that amateur golfers in particular could make dramatic improvements in how far they hit the ball by increasing their explosive strength and power capacities.

"Assuming golfers continue to practice playing and swinging the club faster as well, the club head speed gains could be enormous in the first few months," Dr Chris Bishop, an Associate Professor of Strength and Conditioning at Middlesex University.

Specifically, the results indicate that golfers who focus their physical training on power and high-velocity movements in the gym, are likely to improve their club head speed to a much greater extent than other physical attributes such as balance or flexibility training. According to Dr Bishop, priority should be given to exercises such as: various jumps, medicine ball throws, squats, lunges, and upper body presses and pulls, which are the best examples of ways to improve a player’s lower and upper body explosive power.

Dr Bishop said: “Put simply, if we are stronger and more powerful, we should have the ability to swing the club faster. In particular, amateur players have the ability to make huge gains because their window of opportunity should be vastly greater than top professional players, given they may have less experience undertaking such forms of training and are also likely to be significantly less skilled at the sport.

“Essentially, by making golfers stronger and more powerful, we are utilising a player’s fast-twitch muscle fibres more than they are used to, and improving the ability of the nervous system to connect to the muscular system, by improving the rate at which muscle contraction speed occurs. This means you give players the physical capacity to swing the club faster but also the neural ability, the ability of the brain, to connect with the muscle much quicker.

“For those who do not have much physical training experience, with 12 weeks of power and strength training, all of a sudden their body is figuring out how to send messages much quicker to all the muscles in the body. Assuming golfers continue to practice playing and swinging the club faster as well, the club head speed gains could be enormous in the first few months.”

Dr Bishop said golf is now an "athlete’s sport" and praised Tiger Woods and Rory Mcllroy for highlighting the importance of strength and conditioning training for golf.

He added: “The most important benefit from being strong and powerful, and having consistent strength and conditioning training, is that your body has an improved chance at staying healthy – if that happens you can keep competing. You can’t win any money if you’re injured. One of the great ways to stay healthy is prevention rather than cure, and strength and conditioning training is great prevention, for all athletes.”

The study: Associations Between Physical Characteristics and Golf Clubhead Speed: A Systematic Review with Meta‑Analysis has been peer-reviewed and published in the journal, Sports Medicine.

The study was also featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Find out more about Strength and Conditioning courses at Middlesex University.

Photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash