Okay, let’s not delay that promise any longer – 2026 is definitely, almost certainly, absolutely going to be the year you finally get better. There are many ways to do this – reading GOLF magazinelooking at ours videobooking a LEARNING and receiving suitable for clubs — but you can also learn a lot just by reading this website. So, in an effort to get you started on your 2026 goal, we’re rolling out five top tips to focus on next year. Now read and get to work.
no. 1 – Instantly make more shots
No. 2 – Adjust your fragmentation
Top 5 Tips for 2026: Increase your swing speed
Hitting the ball longer than the fauna is always fun – and it also makes the game easier. The longer you can hit the ball with a driver, the shorter the club will be in your hand when you approach the green. And with a shorter stick in hand, you’ll give yourself more bird views. Pretty simple formula, huh?
However, increasing swing speed is easier said than done. There are many ways you can go about this (seven of which you can read here!), but the method that sticks with me comes from politeness GOLF Top 100 Teachers Bernie Najar.
To help increase your swing speed, Najar suggests treating your speed sessions differently than you would a normal session.
“You can’t go fast for an hour straight unless you’re a professional long-drive competitor,” he says.
Instead, focus on short, intense speed sessions where you get your heart rate up and move aggressively in bursts. Try to swing as hard as you can at six balls in a row, all condensed into a two-minute window. Don’t worry about where the ball goes, just try to swing as far as possible.
“It’s not about hitting straight,” says Najar. “It’s about retraining your brain to accept faster swings, to let it rip and have fun.”
It’s hard to really let go and allow yourself to move with maximum effort, but when you do, you’ll unlock speed you never knew you had.
One trick to ditch the hit result is to go to a simulator and turn off the hit tracker. With most launch monitors, you can customize the screen to show you just the numbers you want, in this case, ball speed and club speed. Do some max effort hacks without the tracker and you’ll likely find it’s easier to really let it go and rip when you’re not afraid to hit it off the line.
“Imagine standing on the beach, where all you have to do is hit the ball into the ocean,” says Najar. “Would you be nervous about missing out? Probably not. But hitting a narrow one-lane highway requires a whole different mindset. If you’re too worried about control, you’ll never go fast enough.”
Add this type of training to your practice routines in 2026 and you’ll make it farther than ever.
