Gary Woodland is one PGA Tour winner again – and that’s largely thanks to his incredible distance off the tee.
Through his victory at last weekend’s Houston Open, Woodland ranks second on Tour in average driving distance at 324.6 yards per putt, just 0.2 yards behind Aldrich Potgieter. His fastball leads the tour at 128.19 mph and his SG: Off the Tee numbers are good for fifth. In the era of the distance boom, Woodland is well equipped to compete at the highest level.
It would be foolish for any recreational player to assume they can replicate the drives Woodland hits every week, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something you can learn from him. In fact, if you’re looking to add some extra distance to your game, you should copy the subtle delay move he uses in transition, explained by biomechanist Sasho Mackenzie in the following video.
Speed ​​Loves Lag – but don’t spin it.
Gary Woodland currently leads the PGA Tour in club speed at 128.2 mph in 2026… at age 41.
This does not come from trying to keep up with the delay.
That comes from the way he moves in transition.
His wrist action is a perfect example of… pic.twitter.com/wAZJq7vHSZ
— Sasho MacKenzie (@SashoMacKenzie) March 31, 2026
How Gary Woodland generates energy
If you want to get the most out of your swing, you need to create a delay on the downswing. But don’t go the wrong way. The lag is not a product of keeping the angle in your wrist, rather it is the result of proper alignment in transition.
“The feeling should be that our joints are being passively pulled into more lag,” says Mackenzie. “We don’t want to feel like we’re actively adding lag with our wrists. But just the act of how we’re holding the club and how we’re moving our hands will create a little bit of what I call ‘bend down.’
If you watch Woodland swing from the head-on view, you can clearly see this movement. He does not turn his shoulders and does not make unnecessary manipulations with his wrists. When he reaches the top of his swing and begins to move back to the target, he simply lets his wrists “cock” as a product of his alignment.
Give it a shot if you’re trying to add some speed to your swing. When done right, it will unlock extra power you didn’t even know you had.
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