Strength is an essential component of all human performance, both athletically and non-athletically, and its formal development cannot be neglected in the development of all golfers.

Strength is defined as the ability of a given muscle or group of muscles to generate muscular force under specific conditions (15). Imagine that you want to move a broken car and you have five people ready to help you push it. If everybody doesn’t work together or if they push at different times, then moving the car will be very difficult. However, if everyone pushes together at the same time, then moving the car is very easy.

This is basically the same way that strength is produced. Muscle fibers contract at the same time, and these contractions produce force. More muscle fibers contracting together equates to more force. It is very important to understand this point because it serves as the foundation of all strength training.

Power is Priority #1

Golf is not necessarily a game of strength as much as it is about power, and the prerequisite for power is speed of movement (15). Creating greater power allows you to create more club head velocity, and velocity is paramount in developing energy to hit the ball.

Think about the amount of energy carried by a little bullet when shot out of the barrel of a high powered rifle. That little bullet can tear right through a phone book with no problem. Where does all this energy come from? It comes from the velocity portion of kinetic energy = ½ × mass × velocity². Now, let’s see how an increase of 10% in your swing speed will increase your kinetic energy.

Current Energy Level (90 MPH Swing Speed): .5 x 200g x 40.5m/s2 = 164,025 units
New Energy Level (100 MPH Swing Speed): .5 x 200g x 45.0m/s2 = 202,500 units

Note: 1 MPH equals about .45 meters/second, mass of average driver is 200 grams

Increasing your swing speed by only 10% will allow you to develop over 21% more energy to deliver to the ball. More energy means much greater ball speed and increased ball speed is an absolute must for increased distance off the tee.

Getting More Power Out of What You Already Have

We have determined that strength is a must for any athletic movement. We have also revealed that power is a must in order to improve performance. The neat part of all this is that you do not have to get any stronger to increase your power levels. All you have to do is train to apply the strength you currently have in a shorter period of time. As the time to complete a movement goes down, power levels will go up.

To use one more analogy to illustrate the concept of power, let’s compare a big rig and an Indy car. Both cars have 500 horsepower engines, but each one serves a different function. The big rig is used to move materials from point A to point B with little regard for how fast it gets there. On the other hand, the Indy car is concerned with getting from point A to point B as fast as possible.

Both cars have the same horsepower (strength levels), but the big rig is designed for just moving things (strength) while the Indy car is designed for speed (power). The Indy car is much faster because it applies its available force much faster than the big rig. The Pure Power Program takes you from big rig status and transforms you to a powerful and efficient Indy car.

We have established that power is an absolute prerequisite to increasing your distance, lowering your scores and embarrassing your playing partners. At this point you are probably asking yourself “So how do I develop this power that is going to have me bombing drives?” Short of becoming Tiger Woods for a day, your best bet is to join the Pure Power Program. When you join the Pure Power Program, you will experience very rapid increases in your overall power levels, driving distance, and accuracy (not to mention the money you are collecting from your playing partners).

Chapter 3-Speed/Strength Summary:

• Increased rate of force application is a prerequisite for power. Power is mandatory for clubhead speed. Increased clubhead speed + quality contact = Increased Ball Speed and More Distance.
  
• You do not have to develop bigger muscles in order to increase your rate of force development. All you have to do is make your muscles more efficient at developing force. You can do it with the current strength levels you already have.
  
• The Pure Power Program tells you exactly how, through proper program design, exercise selection and exercise prioritization, you can increase your power levels by improving the rate at which your muscles develop force. Our workouts lay out for you the most direct path to improved golf performance, meaning you get maximum improvement in a minimum amount of time.