Boost Your Swing Speed: 3 Key Exercises to Add Distance to Your Drives

Are you lacking pop off the tee?

Struggling to hit the ball past your playing partners is a source of frustration for golfers of all levels and abilities. To give you some plyometric exercises that will help, I tapped good friend Scott Shepard, a trainer and sports physical therapist that has over 20 years of experience with golfers of all levels, to get his best advice.

To start, Scott shared what exactly "plyometrics" is.

"Plyometrics are generally referred to as jump training; however, in actuality, they are simply any form of explosive exercise training," he says. "They follow a simple order: to create a stretch or lengthening in a muscle or group of muscles that you are about to contract during a movement.

"Creating a stretch can aid in the speed and intensity of muscle firing, producing faster and more powerful movements. The same kind that will help you deliver increased clubhead speed and distance off the tee."

First, we will work on pulling downward with the arms. This exercise is done with a light medicine ball, something maybe weighing 4-6 pounds.

You start by fully extending your arms overhead as you come up onto your toes. This creates a stretch in the front core and lats. You will use this stretch to create a stimulus as you fire your arms downward and release the ball to the floor. This exercise can dramatically improve arm speed and club speed transfer in the swing.

Make sure you don't flex forward and use your back! Focus on firing the arms down and releasing the ball. This can be a bouncing or non-bouncing slam ball, so just be careful not to hit yourself with the bouncing type!

Duration: 6-8 reps; 2-3 sets.

Next, let's work on some diagonal patterns. Golf swings move through diagonal patterns, and we want to train them to move fast through these.

In this drill, you will exaggerate into a large backswing stretch with the medicine ball before firing your arms back down to the ground and releasing through like a golf swing. Again, focus on firing the arms, not the shoulders or trunk. Try bringing your arms down on a good plane versus over-the-top movement!

Duration: 6-8 reps; 2-3 sets.

Lastly, let's work on some rotational power for the swing.

In this drill, you will slightly squat and load the medicine ball from your chest while perpendicular to a block wall that will allow for ball throws. As you load into a stretch to the side away from the wall (right in the picture), you will create a stretch in the lower body. Then, you start rapidly rotating toward the wall as you create vertical and rotational force while firing the ball toward the wall.

Again, a non-bouncing ball is best, but any ball will do as long as you stand back far enough to allow for catching the ball off the wall.

Duration: 6-8 reps; 2-3 sets.

Try these drills to improve your pop of the tee! For best results, you should follow the duration set for these exercises. Remember to pick a weight you can move fast and with a good sequence!

Brendon Elliott is a PGA Coach in the Orlando area. Check out his profile here, or find a coach near you. Scott Shepard is the GolfPFX Program Manager for AdventHealth Sports Med and Rehab of Central Florida, a nationally recognized sports physical therapist and a three-time Golf Digest Top 50 Golf Fitness Trainers award winner.