Junior development is one of the hottest topics in today’s game. I’d like to discuss the topic of power development in juniors, how that correlates to performance and give you a few tips to hit it further off the tee.
The past few years, I’ve been tuning into the Long Drive championships on golf channel, seeing Bryson’s workouts and noticed guys like Cameron Champ and Wilco Nienaber come into the PGA Tour spotlight. If you’ve been doing the same, you probably know that many have been analyzing the swings, training routines and Coaching for the “long-ballers” in the game of golf. This isn’t anything new, as professionals have been studying the long ball intricacies for over 20 years but there is something to uncover here.
The three intangibles that we can measure using a launch monitor or doppler radar tracking device like
Trackman or GC Quad
club speed
ball speed
attack angle
Three tests to evaluate basic power output and body speed (correlated to ClubHeadSpeed)
Seated chest pass (2kg ball)
Laying ball throw
Vertical Jump
What we know
Today’s statistics show that driving distance is the most important factor to success on the PGA Tour. The longest players in the game are keeping their cards longer and finishing higher on the money list.
What this means
Keeping your drives in the fairway isn’t as important as you think. The new statistic, STROKES GAINED DRIVING shows that driving contributed 28% to the scoring advantage of the Top40 golfers on the PGA Tour in 2014, putting contributed 15%, and all other shots contributed 57%.
Stats also show that a 20-yard driving advantage equated to .74 strokes per round. Three-quarters of a shot might not sound like a lot but last year that was the difference between 10th place and 110th on the money list.
We also know that the Top40 golfers in the world drive the ball 10 yards longer than tour average but only 0.1 degree more accurately. Bottom line, to be ranked among the top drivers in the world, distance matters more than accuracy.
What we can do
Swing it FAST
Have vertical pelvic thrust of (> 3”)
Have a positive angle of attack (>3 degrees)
How we do it…
Tee it high – more chance at a positive attack angle
Impact point: hit the ball high on the clubface to minimize spin
Create a HUGE X-Factor at the top of the backswing (separation between the upper & lower body)
Club Fitting – making sure ALL your equipment is fit properly and optimized
Personalized Strength Training Program – know where you can add strength
Personalized Mobility/Flexibility Training Program – know your limitations & work on them
Personalized Speed Training Program – SuperSpeedSticks or Mach 3
**Disclaimer: Junior Golfers are GROWING individuals and these considerations for distance are purely individual and need to be covered on a case-by-case basis.
For Boys, the critical windows to add SPEED are 7-9 & 13-16 years old. For Girls, it’s 6-8 & 11-13 years old.
For most players, a strength training program from a TPI expert and learning how to optimize their swing and equipment does the trick. For others, it might make the most sense to find a qualified Coach to help right away and ask them to be honest about pinpointing specific areas to improve. Bottom line, getting qualified help from a teaching professional or expert consultant is a no-brainer way to go.
Thanks for reading and best of luck!
Michael J. Smith
Founder, ForeCollegeGolf
Mike Smith is the founder of ForeCollegeGolf, a college placement and recruiting business where his goal is to employ his background in competitive golf and recruiting education to help educate players, their families and coaches about the college recruiting process.
