In the previous article we learned that the golf club follows from hand speed and that the multiplier can be up to 6 times. So a 15 mph hand speed should produce about a 90 mph swing speed. There are ways to achieve less, by holding onto the club with tight wrists or accelerating the hands after they should have entered their coasting phase, but for a normal full swing high club speed is a good thing.

So the natural follow-up question is how to increase the hand speed. Here are three ideas that will do the trick without changing the effort used to swing the golf club, and one that takes a little more effort.

Take a longer backswing

The speed of an object like the club or the arms is related to the amount of energy we give it. For a certain swing effort the energy given is related to the distance over which the effort is applied. In Physics terms, energy is produced by work, which is the result of effort multiplied by distance. So to increase arm speed you can use more effort or increase the distance that the arms travel through.

The deeper arm, shoulder and hip turn needed to make a longer backswing can take you out of the address posture, making it more difficult to get back to the ball with good contact. A player’s flexibility to turn at the waist and in the shoulders is limited by the type of physical activity they do. You may need to hit the gym to increase your flexibility before trying this.

Switch to a lighter club

For a certain swing effort, the normal acceleration of the arms achieved is related to the weight of the arm and club combination and how far they are held from the body. You can’t do much to lighten your arms but you can move to a lighter shaft in your driver and irons. This is basically the case with clubs sold as women’s  equipment. They are designed to be as light weight as possible and still perform properly. 

Before the invention of graphite shafts all clubs came with relatively heavy steel shafts. One of the innovations of modern material science is the use of graphite and epoxy resin to make composite materials like golf club shafts. These are easily half the weight of the steel model and are one of the reasons for the increased distance that everyone enjoys today.

Getting used to a different club weight takes a little time as it also affects the timing of the club release. A lighter club should release sooner. You may have the feeling that the launch angle is different or the directional control is not as good as you are used to. Or they may be better!

Hold it closer to your body

If you have ever seen Winter Olympic Figure Skaters on TV, you have seen them perform spins in which the speed of rotation is changed by holding their arms out away from the body and then bringing the arms close to it, or vice-versa. What’s going on with that? It turns out that the speed of rotation is related to the energy they have as well as how their body weight is distributed away from the body. When everything is held close to the body the energy has less inertia to fight against and can achieve a high speed. The inertia increases as the arms are extended and the rotation slows down even though the energy is the same.

The way to hold the arms tighter to the body in the golf swing is to tuck the trailing elbow close to the ribs and the leading arm against the chest at the top of the backswing to decrease the inertia of the upper body. This position is a feature of Ben Hogan’s five swing fundamentals. (1)  The opposite position is commonly called a chicken wing because the trailing arm extends up and away from the body.

We often hear about dropping the arms into the ‘slot’ to start the downswing. This simply means to lower the hands until the trailing arm is in the tucked position. This move also keeps the arms closer to the body during the downswing, reducing the body’s inertia. Lower inertia equals higher speed for the same effort. What’s not to love?

Speed up the body turn

In a well-constructed swing the arms turn in a coordinated fashion with the body, staying pretty much in front of the hips from the time that the hands are in the ‘slot’ through to impact. The actual hand position at impact will vary with ball position and forward shaft lean employed for the shot. It stands to reason that once the hands are in the ‘slot’ they will have to swing faster to keep up the coordinated movement if the hips are turned faster.

YouTube golf instructor Paul Wilson is a promoter of increasing body rotation speed. (2) This technique makes full use of the leg muscles, where most of the mass is concentrated. A competent golfer will use up to four horsepower during the swing which requires about thirty pounds of muscle to produce. (3)  While it may seem that this technique provides free speed gains, it should be noted that the upper body and arms muscles have to work harder to keep up with the faster hips. They are moving the same body and arm weight as before, but at a faster speed, so more energy and effort are required. 

References

(1) Hogan, Wind, “Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf”, Simon and Shuster, copyright 1957, p.78

(2) Wilson, “Paul Wilson Golf”, paulwilsongolf.com

(3) Cochran, Stobbs, “The Search for the Perfect Swing”, Triumph Books, copyright 1968, p.3