By Stephen Portee, MS, CSCS
"How do I swing faster?" is the question we get all the time from golfers.
Most assume the answer is more core work. More rotation drills. More of whatever the latest golf influencer is posting.
A 2023 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research measured 28 elite golfers on strength, power, and clubhead speed to find out what actually separates faster swings from slower ones. Some of it confirms what we already coach. Some of it might surprise you.[1]
Researchers tested explosive power through countermovement jumps and medicine ball throws, and assessed hip and trunk strength through isokinetic testing. Three things stood out.
Explosive power mattered. Golfers who produced force quickly, measured through jumps and med ball throws, tended to swing faster.[1]
Hip strength mattered too, especially peak hip extension strength. That tracks with what we see on the floor every day.[1]
Here's the surprising one: isolated trunk rotation strength showed no meaningful relationship to clubhead speed.[1]
This doesn't mean rotation is useless. It means an isolated strength test doesn't reflect how your trunk actually works during a swing.
A golf swing is fast, coordinated, and built on timing and energy transfer through the whole body. A slow, isolated test just doesn't capture that.
The lesson isn't to stop training rotation. It's to stop training it in a way that doesn't transfer to the swing.
Strength is the foundation, but it has to convert into fast, coordinated movement to show up on the course. Strong and slow doesn't translate to a faster clubhead.
The swing starts from the ground up. Hip and lower-body power aren't secondary — they're foundational. Isolation work has its place. It's a building block, not the finish line. We go deeper on how we sequence strength into speed in How I Approach Training Someone for Speed.
Build capacity first: squats, hinges, controlled rotational work. Then power: jumps, throws, sled work. Then integrate speed and coordination with actual swing mechanics. It's the same capacity-before-power sequencing we cover more broadly in Speed and Power Training for Active Adults.
Skip a step and you either stall out or get hurt. And none of this replaces working with a qualified golf coach on your actual mechanics. Strength and power support the swing; they don't fix a swing flaw.
Faster swings come from better force production, better power expression, and better sequencing — not from a random drill you saw online last night.
If you're chasing speed, build the plan before you chase the shortcut.
Stephen Portee, MS, CSCS is the Managing Partner and lead strength and conditioning coach at Apollo Performance Chiropractic & Training in Pleasantville, NY.
