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3 Keys to Hitting Bombs
To hit it further, flexibility, balance and strength play critical roles.
By Jason Witczak
Photographs by E. J. Carr
Generating clubhead speed and carry distance doesn’t require swinging out of your shoes. It requires a mechanically sound swing that’s built around being flexible, balanced and strong. Do 5-10 repetitions of each exercise pictured here, and I’ll see you way down the fairway.
FLEXIBILITY
Being flexible helps prevent injury.
Every golfer wants consistency, but to achieve it, you must have a proper and consistent warmup routine. Here are three great warm-up stretches.
Rotation Stretch: Keeping your feet shoulders apart, simply hold a club behind your back and rotate side to side. 
Tilted Rotation: Putting the golf club over your shoulders in golf tilt setup, rotate from the backswing to forward swing. Your external rotation will loosen the muscles necessary to give you the kinesthetic feel to allow the body to react to the golf club.
Shoulder Stretch: Do these “shoulder passovers” by standing tall with your arms fully extended. Bring the club over your head and back as far as you can.
BALANCE
Balance improves reaction time and helps with overall athletic performance.
Every swing should be a balanced swing. The better your balance, the greater your clubhead speed. Remember it is called “clubhead speed,” not “body speed.” This exercise will improve your stability, allowing you to swing in balance and generate clubhead velocity.
Disc Swing: Balance starts with good footwork and how to use the ground. Using something on which to balance like Dyna-Discs can really give you the feel need that requires you to be grounded as the club keeps moving. For a more advanced workout work both sides including swinging left-handed as well.
STRENGTH
With strength comes greater stability and explosiveness.
In golf there is a huge difference between doing something “hard” and doing something “fast.” You want to swing fast, not hard! Golf-related exercises that can produce explosive movements will help create the strength necessary to hit a bomb. The slide board gets you in an athletic posture, allowing you to push off and explode from side to side while maintaining great posture throughout the exercise. 3 sets of 10 repetitions each way is recommended.
Slide 2 Slide: This exercise activates your glutes, hamstrings, calves and quadriceps —muscles that if worked out properly will give you a great sense of understanding how to use the ground properly.
Jason Witczak (coachjwit.com) is the PGA Director of Instruction at The Pinery Country Club and The Club at Pradera, both in Parker. Reach him at [email protected] or 303-607-5677.
This article can also be found in the May Issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.
Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.
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