Have you ever wondered what allows the pros hit the ball so far? Of course, you have. I have never met a golfer that wouldn’t like more yardage. Longer drives give you the potential for lower scores and isn’t that what golf is all about?
Vertical Thrust Is A Must
The ability to create large vertical thrust is a must if you want to hit the ball a long way. When we look at PGA players we see that some of the longest hitters are also the biggest jumpers. The average tour player can jump somewhere between 20″ – 22″ vertically. If you can jump over 20″ you can likely generate ball speed over 165mph.
“The higher you can jump, the further you can hit the ball.”_Dr. Greg Rose, TPI
We can test vertical jump by simply marking a wall at arm’s length, then jumping as far as you can over that point. The difference between them is your vertical jump. If you don’t have the ability to check a vertical jump we can also use the broad jump to test for lower body power production. The goal distance for the broad jump is 120% of your height. So if you are 72 inches tall (6 feet) you should be able to jump 86 inches on a broad jump. If you can measure up to these numbers then you have the potential to create incredible vertical thrust forces.
Ground Reaction Force
The ground reaction force is an equal and opposite reaction of you pushing into the ground which goes back into the golfer. As you begin the downswing transition, because the feet don’t go anywhere – we get a force coming from the ground that goes back through the body which is followed by a thrust up, which is what allows you to steal energy from the ground, transfer it into your lower body, then the trunk, arm, club and into the golf ball. (the object of destruction).
The best players in the world harness that vertical thrust power into rotary power.
“Bigger squat = more vertical force. More vertical force = more rotational power potential. More rotational power = longer drives.”_Rory McIlroy
The main reason the squat is so key to developing vertical thrust power is it has the same general motor pattern. A loaded squat is simply a slowed-down jump.
Brett’s Bottom Line:
Creating an explosive ground reaction force will shallow out the driver, create a positive attack angle, and gets the power starting in the lower body so it can be transferred through the core, and then the arms. And that is how you hit the ball a long way! Let’s get jumping!
