How To Increase Swing Speed: Our Top 6 Tips For More Speed

1. Speed Training 

The most popular way to increase swing speed is through speed training with weighted clubs and other training aids. The goal is to retrain your muscles to adapt to the new speed and make it normal. 

Super Speed Sticks 

The company that helped put speed training on the map is SuperSpeed Golf. Their system comes with three weighted clubs and a regular practice schedule to increase speed over time. I’ve personally used them for years and can say first hand, they work! 

According to SuperSpeed Golf, you can “Increase the speed and power of your golf swing by 5% to 8% in as little as 4-6 weeks of regular practice.” 

That 5-8% extra speed can result in 5, 10, or 15+ yards on your drive. Which will leave you with a shorter club into the green! 

These clubs work great and they’re trusted by over 700 tour pros. Plus, they have different sizes for seniors, ladies, and juniors. 

Click here to buy a set today. 

Other similar products include:

• Rypstyck
• The Stack System
• ProActive F4 Power Trainer 

2. Speed Sessions On Driving Range 

While conventional speed training will help increase speed, there’s a lot more you can do. Here’s how Preston Summerhays (whose dad Boyd coaches players like Tony Finau and Taylor Gooch), gained 18mph more speed. 

According to Golf.com, his dad told him to go to the range and swing as hard as he can. “His training regimen was simple: for three 30-minute sessions per week, he went to the range and swung as hard as he could.” Clearly, it worked well as he went on to play in multiple Korn Ferry events and even the US Open. 

You can do the same as long as you go to the range with one intent – don’t worry about accuracy. When you have solo speed sessions on the driving range, focus only on swinging as hard and fast as you can. Who cares where the ball goes, it’s about training your muscles and rewiring your brain to swing faster.

Speed Training Tips & Drills

After reading that Golf.com article, I decided to take my launch monitor and start training like that two times per week. Less than a month later, I saw noticeable gains in my clubhead and ball speed! 

But I also made some mistakes and wanted to provide some tips to make the most of these sessions:

• Go when you’re well rested, preferably early in the day as swinging hard will require some energy output. Don’t go when you’re tired after a long day at work or a grueling workout. Save these sessions for when you have plenty of energy. 
• Stretch and warm up for 10 minutes before speed training to avoid injuries. 
• Once you’re nice and loose, start by swinging hard with your short irons and wedges, then move to longer irons. After 10 minutes or so, move to the driver and focus on swinging hard. 
• Remember to focus on speed, not trajectory or accuracy during these sessions. Also, make sure to take plenty of breaks, hydrate, and stop if you feel any injuries. 

3. Use The Ground for Power

Don’t forget, power comes from the ground up. 

Yet, so many average golfers swing mostly with their upper body on the downswing. This kills distance! When you don’t use your lower body enough, you will never get the most speed and distance from your game. 

In the same Golf.com article from the previous strategy, Preston outlined the importance of ground force. “My body found out that to get that power, I dip a little bit and then use the ground really well… it just naturally happened when trying to swing fast.” 

The good news is that you can start doing this at your next driving range session. Try to push off the ground to increase swing speed. 

While you need to push off your back foot, it’s also crucial to clear your left side and get your hips out of the way. As Cameron Champ (who consistently ranks in the top 10 in driving distance) said in Golf.com, “Once you get to the top of your swing and you’re ready to start back down, feel like you’re rotating your hips as hard as you can. That will create the lag. Lag creates speed, and speed creates power.”

4. Swing the Right Shaft

While the training methods above will help increase speed, don’t forget about equipment too. Your clubhead will play somewhat of a role with speed, but your shaft is even more important. 

If your shafts are too heavy, it’s hard to swing fast enough and increase speed. Conversely, if they’re too light, it’s hard to maintain any sort of accuracy. 

The best way to test if your shaft is helping or hurting your game is to use a launch monitor that tracks spin rates. According to this article, “The spin rate of a driver generally ranges between 2,000 and 4,000 rpm, while the average, cleanly struck wedge shot spins at about 10,000 rpm.”

Switching shafts can help you add more speed without changing your swing.

Bonus: Get a Proper Club Fitting 

While your driver shaft plays a big role in total distance, so does the clubhead itself. There are so many drivers available and most come with 3-4 stock shaft options. Not to mention all the aftermarket choices too so it can feel a little overwhelming picking the right shaft-head combo. 

To beat the stress of deciding yourself, leave it to an expert and get a custom fitting. This will allow you to test out multiple driver heads with different shafts to see the data. Sometimes you can do a demo day at a local golf course so you get the data, plus you can see the ball flight outside.

Schedule a fitting at your local golf store to test your equipment vs. new gear to make sure you aren’t losing out on speed. It only costs $100 or so to do a driver fitting and can have a massive impact on your total distance. 

5. Shorten Your Backswing

This may sound counter intuitive, but when you shorten your backswing it can produce faster clubhead speed. This is due to the fact that most golfers will subconsciously try to compensate for that shortened backswing by using more speed on the downswing and accelerating through impact of the golf ball.

The opposite can happen with a longer backswing. This can cause some golfers to decelerate through the downswing into impact, reducing clubhead speed.  

A simple but effective way to shorten the backswing is to choke down on the grip of the club and think about a ¾ swing.

6. Don’t Neglect Your Body 

Finally, if you want to learn how to increase swing speed you need to improve your physical conditioning. Golf is not easy on the body as it’s a very unnatural movement and adding speed makes it even more taxing. 

To add speed, you want to focus on strengthening your body and increasing flexibility. 

Add Strength 

Tiger Woods changed the landscape of the game when he made working out a normal part of his routine. No one else was doing it at the time, but now almost everyone is on board (except maybe John Daly). 

Needless to say, you can increase swing speed as you strengthen your muscles. Here are five golf exercises that will help add strength and speed. 

Increase Flexibility

Don’t forget to keep up with your flexibility training as well. 

Not only will being more flexible help you avoid injuries, it will allow your body to make a bigger turn in the backswing which can add more speed. The easiest way to do increase flexibility are:

• Practice yoga.
• Stretch before and after the round.
• Self-care with massages or chiropractic work.

The better you treat your body, the more it will help you out on the golf course. 

Take Rest Days 

Lastly, don’t forget to rest when necessary, especially if you’re on a speed training routine. You need at least one day between speed sessions to give your body time to recover. 

Top Questions About Increasing Swing Speed

Is 100mph a good swing speed? 

According to Trackman Golf, the average club speed for a male golfer is 93.4 mph with an average distance of 214 yards. If you’re swinging at 100mph, then you’re well above average. 

Don’t forget, for every extra MPH in swing speed equals three more yards with your driver. Going from 93 to 100 MPH means 21 yards of total distance! 

How can I increase my swing speed by 10mph?

The answer will vary based on your current baseline clubhead speed. 

For example, if you’re swinging at 90MPH now, it’s a lot easier to add 10 MPH than if you were at 115MPH. The faster you swing, the harder it is to add extra MPH but can be done with a consistent overspeed, flexibility, and workout routine. 

What muscles make the golf swing faster?

To increase your swing speed, focus on your legs as much as anything else. Since power comes from the ground up, you need to push off your back foot with power. Other muscles to focus on in the gym include your back, chest, and core. 

How fast is Rory McIlroy’s swing speed?

Despite only weighing around 160 pounds, his swing speed is between 118-120MPH. It’s no wonder he’s consistently one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour. 

Wrapping Up

More speed can make golf a little easier and lead to hitting it further than you thought possible. While I’m confident all of these strategies will help you out on the quest for distance, remember two things: 

• Speed is important but not everything. Don’t spend all your time chasing distance and speed but neglect other parts of your game (like chipping, pitching, and putting). Because if you can hit it long but still not shoot the scores you want, it’s even more frustrating! 
• Have patience to avoid injury. Adding speed takes time, even for the best players in the world. Don’t be so impatient to increase swing speed that you cut corners and overdo it. More isn’t better – a few times per week is all you need. Otherwise, you open yourself up to injury and maybe even being forced to take time off.

Stay patient, trust the strategies above, and make sure to measure your speed regularly to get the best results. 

Is one of your goals adding more speed and distance this year? 

Let us know in the comments below!