What muscles add power to a golf swing?

When we talk about power in golf, it helps to separate two perspectives:

• From a sports science point of view, power is the ability of a muscle to produce force quickly.
• From a golfer’s point of view, power simply means one thing, how far you can hit the ball.

How We Measure Power in Golf

In golf performance, power is most easily measured using clubhead speed, ball speed, or carry distance. My preferred measure is clubhead speed, because ball speed and carry distance can be affected by launch conditions, things like your angle of attack or where the ball strikes the face. For example, with a driver, a strike high and on the toe will usually produce more ball speed than one low and off the heel, even at the same swing speed. Measuring clubhead speed gives us the most consistent way to assess whether a training intervention is actually helping you swing faster.

How the Body Creates Power

Power in the golf swing is generated through a sequence, often called the kinetic chain, that starts from the ground up. Although the modern golf swing looks incredibly fast, the body actually has more time to generate force than many realise. Here’s how it happens:

Legs and hips:

• • As you take the club back, your weight shifts to the trail leg.
  • In skilled players, the weight begins to transfer to the lead leg before the downswing even starts.
  • This timing gives the lead hip more time to generate force and rotation.

The gluteal muscles, particularly the abductors, play a massive role here. Research shows they can generate up to 2.5 times the torque seen in jumping movements. No surprise then that tight or fatigued glutes are a common sight on the physio truck. Because the hips are responsible for producing large amounts of force over a longer time, the best training exercises are slow and heavy, think squats, deadlifts, and lunges. These build strength that transfers directly into a more powerful swing.

Upper Body Power

As the force moves up the chain, the arms and shoulders have less time to apply it. They’re moving at much higher speeds, meaning the upper body needs to produce force quickly rather than heavily. To train this, focus on lighter, faster exercises such as:

• Medicine ball throws
• Explosive push and pull movements
• Speed-based cable or band work

These exercises develop the ability to apply force rapidly, exactly what the upper body does in the downswing and through impact.

The Role of Muscle Mass and Efficiency

There’s also a simple relationship between clubhead speed and body mass. Increasing lean muscle (particularly in the lower body and trunk) adds momentum to your swing, helping generate more speed with the same effort. But you can also gain speed without changing your body composition, by teaching your muscles to work more efficiently. This is where speed-specific training comes in. Tools like speed sticks, overspeed training, or simply swinging as fast as possible with a radar feedback device help your nervous system fire muscles faster. This type of training gives quick results, but it usually hits a ceiling. To go further, you need the strength foundation built by heavy gym work.

The Winning Combination

To maximise golf swing power, the formula is simple but effective:

1. Heavy, slow lower-body exercises (e.g. squats, deadlifts) to build force.
2. Fast, light upper-body exercises (e.g. medicine ball throws) to improve speed.
3. Regular speed practice (e.g. speed sticks, monitored fast swings) to transfer gains to the course.

This blend builds both the engine (your muscles) and the accelerator (your ability to use them quickly).

In Summary

Power in golf comes from combining strength, speed, and efficient sequencing. Build strong hips and legs, train your upper body for speed, and practise swinging fast with feedback. All our gym programmes include these principles, tailored to your available equipment and schedule, to help you hit the ball further, more consistently, and with less strain.