Welcome to Play Smarta regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you become a smarter and better golfer.
As a golf junkie, I love the off-season. Sure, that means less time on the course, but it also means a lot of time messing with my swing.
During these dark and cold months, I like to go to the simulator a few times a week and take inventory of what’s working and what’s not. It is a time when I can experiment with swing changes and make significant changes. This time allows me to hit the ground running in the spring, with a few months of practice in the bank.
Last winter, I was obsessed with basics. Aim, reach and grab were my guiding principles. It wasn’t the most exciting practice, but it created a solid foundation that I relied on throughout the season.
My practice is a little more fun this year. Going into the 2026 season, my goal is to increase movement speed.
I’ve gone through this exercise before and added little bits of speed here and there in the past. This time, though, I have a solid plan and I’m sticking to it—and the benefits are already showing. So far, my maximum swing speed has increased about 7 mph since the end of last season.
Here’s how I’m doing it.
How am I increasing my swing speed?
1. Refinement technique
Hitting the ball longer isn’t just a matter of swinging faster. It is also important to improve your technique in order to swing the club efficiently.
For help with this, I turned to him GOLF Top 100 Teachers Jonathan Yarwood at the end of last season. During our session, he noted that I was “raising” my arms on the backstroke too much and not going deep enough. So we shortened my arm swing and set my wrists earlier.
The result was a larger swing in the plane – and one that generated much easier speed.
2. Speed ​​training
now THIS is the fun part. Entering the simulator and swinging from your shoes, no matter where the ball goes.
Overspeed training is a method that long drive pros swear by—and that I’ve found to be effective, too. The idea is that you swing as hard as you can during a speed training session, getting your body used to the feeling of going fast. Eventually, you break through the mental barriers that hold you back as well.
One thing I’ve found helpful in these over-speed training sessions is to turn off the track tracker. The only numbers I care about are club speed and ball speed. As soon as I do this, I release the score of the shot, or taking care of where the ball goes. This is when I really start pumping it up.
3. Hitting the gym
I was never much of a gym until last year. But since I started going to the gym a few days a week, I’ve been hooked.
Best of all, it has been great for my golf game. Under the direction of PGA Tour strength coach David Sundberg, I’ve been strength training for golf for the past few months – and the gains have been noticeable. Not only has my club and ball speed increased, but so has my consistency.
If you really want to hit the ball longer, you need to build your motor in the gym.
4. Standing in the process
My swing speed gains haven’t been linear – and that’s been a bit frustrating. Some days, I set a new personal best. The next day, apparently trending in the wrong direction. As I look back through my stats for the past few months, however, the trend line is moving in the right direction.
It can be easy to get discouraged when you have a poor speed session. Happens to me quite often! The key is not to let a bad day discourage you. Good processes yield good results, and as long as you stick to your plan, the speed gains will come.
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