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Increase Your Swing Speed With These 3 Exercises
By Mike Tabbert, PGA & Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Published on
Creating rotation within your golf swing is imperative for consistency, accuracy, and speed.
We're seeing it on full display this week at the U.S. Amateur, where players are using all three to play some tremendous golf. Notably, quarterfinalist Bobby Massa from Dallas is contending with 128 mph clubhead speed and 192 mph ball speed!
To effectively rotate, a golfer must understand that there is more to rotation than just one’s mobility and range of motion. The golfer should know how to engage with the ground and effectively use shear forces called anterior/posterior force (AP force).
Simply put, AP forces are pushing your feet forward or backward like sliding your foot towards your toes or heel within your shoe.
To create rotation, you must push into the ground in the opposite direction under each foot, (i.e., left foot pushes forward towards your toes, right foot pushes backward toward your heel) simultaneously.
To train rotational ground forces correctly, do the following exercise progression:
1. Rotational jump
2. Hockey slap shot
3. Squat swing
It is important to remember when doing these exercises, using more force builds more speed in your golf swing, but you must safely progress at your own pace.
To do a rotational jump:
- Squat directly down
- Stay centered between your feet
- Rotate your hips to your right (right-handed golfer)
This will load your inner right heel and inner left ball of the foot simultaneously. Then, explosively jump up rotating your left as far as you can while landing softly and safely on both feet. Use only your lower body to assist your rotation.
To do a hockey slap shot:
- Use a chop bar with a resistance band attached at a high anchor point toward your backswing side
- Hold the chop bar with your lead hand palm down and trail hand palm up keeping those hands shoulder-width apart
- Begin a golf stance shoulder width apart.
- Then simultaneously, squat and jump moving your lead leg forward and your trail foot backward slightly while chopping the bar across your body like you’re hitting a slap shot.
Do this exercise explosively with the energy coming from your legs and moving through your core and torso to your arms to perform the aggressive chop.
To do a squat swing:
- Use a driver and take your golf swing setup
- During your backswing, feel the same sensation created during your rotational jump, loading your trail heel and lead ball of the foot
- Then, in transition, feel the sensation created during the hockey slap shot to post your lead leg and rotate your lower body through to a balanced finish.
If you follow this exercise progression, you are sure to increase your clubhead speed and improve your swing path and angle of attack to launch your drives high and far down the fairway.
Mike Tabbert is the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Glen Erin Golf Club in Janesville, Wisconsin. He earned the 2023 Wisconsin PGA Section Youth Player Development Award and is a two-time Golf Fitness Association of America (GFAA) On-Course Award winner. Most recently, he is the 2024 Wisconsin PGA Section Player Development Award winner.
