Help Your Golf Game
For many amateur golfers, improving their game often starts with lessons, buying new clubs, or spending hours at the driving range. But there's another piece of the puzzle that's often overlooked: physical fitness. Modern golf is not just about skill, it's about how strong, fast, and powerful your body is. One test that’s been getting attention in golf fitness is called the countermovement jump (CMJ). It’s a simple test that can tell you a lot about how well your body can produce power, which directly affects your club head speed—and in turn, how far you can hit the ball.
What is Strength and Conditioning (S&C) for Golf?
Strength and conditioning simply means training your body to become stronger, more flexible, and more powerful so you can play better and avoid injury. A good golf fitness plan usually includes: - Strength training (lifting weights or bodyweight exercises) - Mobility work (like stretching or yoga) - Speed and power training (such as jump or sprint drills) - Core stability (to help control your swing) This kind of training is no longer just for pros. It helps amateurs too, especially when it comes to gaining club head speed, which is a key factor in hitting the ball farther.
What is the Countermovement Jump (CMJ)?
The countermovement jump is a test where you start standing up, dip down quickly into a mini squat, then jump straight up as high as you can. It looks simple, but it tells us: - How much power your legs can produce - How fast you can generate force - How balanced your movement is between both legs You can measure a CMJ using special mats, apps, or force plates, but even jumping and tracking your height over time can give useful feedback.
How does the CMJ relate to your golf swing?
So why does jumping matter for golf? Because the muscles that help you jump—your legs, hips, and core—also help you swing the club fast. The better you are at producing force quickly, the faster your club will move when you hit the ball. Here’s what research shows: - Golfers with higher jump power tend to have higher club head speed (Leary et al., 2012; Wells et al., 2018). - Even amateur golfers can increase club speed by improving jump height and leg strength (Read et al., 2013). - Golfers who jump higher tend to be better at using the ground to create power in their swing—this is called ground reaction force, and it’s a key source of distance (McNally et al., 2020).
Why should you care as an amateur golfer?
You don’t have to be a pro to benefit from this. Here's what happens when you improve your jump power: - Your club head speed increases - You hit the ball farther - You reduce the risk of injury - You feel stronger and more balanced through the swing Even just 2–3 mph more club head speed can add 5–10 yards to your drive—without changing your swing.
What you can do…
Here’s a simple plan for amateur golfers:
1. Start Tracking Your Jump Height Many performance gyms and physiotherapy clinics, like Perform For Sport, now have access to portable Force Plates which can accurately measure your jump height and loads of other useful performance metrics, but you can keep things simple. If you don’t have the equipment start by just trying to jump with your arms on your hips and measure how high you get. Test every few weeks and see if you are visually making improvements.
2. Add Strength and Power Exercises - Squats - Jumps - Lunges - Deadlifts (light to start) - Medicine ball throws Doing this 2–3 times a week can improve your golf performance over time.
3. Warm Up Before You Play A proper warm-up (including leg swings, squats, rotations and dynamic stretches) can help your body move faster, which means more power off the tee.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to be an athlete to train like one. By adding some strength and power training into your routine—and keeping an eye on how high you can jump—you’ll set yourself up to play better, hit the ball farther, and enjoy the game even more.
Combining strength and power training with practise sessions in your www.golfspace.uk can yield significant results
References
- Leary, D. M., & Staton, G. S. (2012). Effects of a 10-week strength and conditioning program on club head speed in golfers. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. - Read, P. J., et al. (2013). Relationships between field-based measures of strength and power and golf performance. Journal of Sports Sciences. - Wells, A. J., et al. (2018). Countermovement jump performance as a predictor of golf club head speed in competitive male golfers. International Journal of Golf Science. - McNally, M. P., et al. (2020). Ground reaction forces in golf: the link between jump tests and swing performance. Strength and Conditioning Journal.