ABSTRACT
In this study, the club head speed, ball speed and carry distance of the drives of a group of golfers were measured before and after a strengthening program of maximal static contraction exercises and compared with a control group of golfers. Ten golfers in the exercise group showed a mean increase of strength of 54.5% for 12 multi-joint exercises over seven weeks and increases of their mean club head speed of 2.6 mph (3.2%), ball speed of 1.5 mph (1.2%) and carry distance of 1.6 yds (0.8%). By contrast, nine golfers of the control group showed slight decreases of their mean club head speed of 0.2 mph (0.3%), ball speed of 0.1 mph (0.1%) and carry distance of 1.0 yds (0.6%). These findings show that an increase in maximal static contraction strength does not always result in longer drives and underscore the complexity of increasing driving distance by strength training alone.
