Hit bombs off the tee: how mobility and strength unlock your long drive potential
So, you want to hit the long ball, huh? Well, improving your distance on your drives may not be as hard as you think. With some simple mobility and strength drills you can maximize your potential to hit bombs while still not having to swing out of your shoes.
Interestingly, many of the top ten in driving distance on the PGA Tour are not the biggest, strongest guys on tour. In fact, number 3 on that list is Rory McIlroy who stands 5’9″ and weighs in at 161 pounds. Not necessarily an intimidating frame.
What is it that allows Rory to consistently average more than 300 yards off the tee? Well, part of it is having one of the most perfect swings in all of golf. You may not be able to replicate that, but you can replicate some of the physical factors that allow Rory to hit it long.
Check out our Golf Resource Hub to explore all golf fitness exercises and PT-approved training tips.
Glute strength and core: the engine behind your golf swing
The glutes are the powerhouse of the golf swing, and they are responsible for creating most of the power in the golf swing. But that power needs somewhere to go, and that’s where your core comes in. The core is, simply put, the foundation for your spine and pelvis. Its function is to stabilize the spine during your swing and transfer energy from your lower body to your upper body, allowing you to control and maximize rotational forces during the acceleration and deceleration of your swing.
Lateral hop with medicine ball
How: Grab a medicine ball or some sort of weight. Stand on one foot, holding the medicine ball with both hands to the outside of the leg you’re standing on. Hop to the other foot while moving the ball across in front of you to the other side. As you hop back and forth, focus on a powerful push-off and controlled landing. Perform 15–20 reps and 2–3 sets.
Rotational power for golf: generate it, control it, and express it
Rotational power is only good if you can control it. This is one of the things that separates good ball strikers from great ones. It’s not just how much you can rotate, it’s whether your lower body stays stable while your upper body does the work. If your hips spin out early, you lose the separation that creates clubhead speed.
Resisted band rotation
How: Grab a resistance band or bungee cord and hook it to something stable. Balance on your outside leg and with your arms straight try to rotate your torso against the resistance of the band. Do your best not to lean and you will feel all sorts of muscles working. Perform 20 reps and 2–3 sets each side.
Medicine ball rotational toss
This is the most sport-specific power exercise in this program; you are training the exact rotational sequence of the golf swing, just faster and with resistance.
How: Stand sideways a few feet from a solid wall. Hold a medicine ball at chest height. Load your weight into your back hip, then rotate explosively through your core and release the ball into the wall. Catch the rebound and reset.
Focus on driving into the ground with your trail leg to initiate the movement. Your trunk then follows with a focus on rotating through your upper torso as fast as possible. Think of your arms like ropes. They should not be producing the force, your legs and torso should.
I tell everyone it always helps to grunt really loud during this one. Don’t worry about drawing a little attention to yourself. People will be jealous at all the power you are creating.
Perform 8–10 reps each side, 2–3 sets.
Explosive power for golfers: the squat and jump progression
Strength is great, but the golf swing doesn’t reward strength alone — it rewards the ability to produce force quickly. That’s what separates a strong person from a powerful one. To build that kind of explosive output, you need two things: a solid squat base to develop the strength, and plyometrics on top of it to teach your body how to use that strength at speed.
The squat progression
Body-weight squat: With your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes forward or slightly turned out if needed, squat down like you are sitting in a chair. Be mindful to not let your knees bend forward past your toes and to not let your trunk bend forward too much. You can reach your arms out in front of you for counterbalance. 3 sets of 15–20 reps.
Resisted or weighted squat: Can be performed with a resistance band or tubing, dumbbells, or a barbell. Follow the same movement as the body-weight squat. Start light and work up as your strength improves. 3 sets of 8–10 reps.
Single-leg squat: Best performed while standing on a sturdy bench or high step. Stand with one leg held off the chosen platform and squat slowly on the supporting leg as you lower the other leg toward the ground. Be mindful that your knee stays over your squatting leg and does not fall inward. 2–3 sets of 8 reps each side.
The jump progression
Once you’ve got the squat down, add some jumps. This is where you start training your body to actually produce power rather than just build it. Aim for maximum height on every rep — if you’re not going for height, you’re not training explosiveness. Take plenty of rest between sets so each one is a real effort.
Jump squat: Start in a normal standing position and bend your knees and hips to load and jump vertically. 3 sets of 6–8 reps.
Box jump: Same as jump squat, but land on a box or exercise step positioned in front of you. Start at a lower height and work your way up. 3 sets of 5–6 reps.
Explosive step-up: Stand beside the box/step; put one foot on it. Perform a power move up to standing on one leg while you drive the opposite leg up to waist level. For more challenge, push off the step to add a jump to the move. 3 sets of 6 reps each side.
Work through those progressions consistently and you’ll notice the difference on the course — more pop off the tee, more stability through the swing. But there’s another side to this equation that’s just as important, and it’s one most golfers never think about until something starts to hurt.
But here’s the thing about all of that power …
None of it works the way it should if the wrong joints are doing the work. When you look at all the moving parts of the body during the golf swing, a pattern emerges. When you watch a pro golfer swing, they move the correct joints and keep the correct joints stable. When we don’t see this pattern, it leads to faulty swing patterns — or worse, injury.
To achieve the optimal golf swing, one needs to have stability in certain joints and mobility in certain joints. An easy way to consider this is that every pair of mobile joints must have a stable joint between them. Think of your stable joints as the foundation or anchor that keeps your mobile joints in check. Without that stability, joints will move too much and will cause dysfunction.
Here’s a table showing what that looks like from foot to wrist:
Joint | Role |
Foot | Stable |
Ankle | Mobile |
Knee | Stable |
Hip | MOBILE ← key for golf |
Lumbar Spine (Low Back) | Stable |
Thoracic Spine (Mid Back) | MOBILE ← key for golf |
Scapula (Shoulder Blade) | Stable |
Shoulder | Mobile |
Elbow | Stable |
Wrist | Mobile |
The two most common issues leading to injury in golfers that physical therapists see are lack of hip mobility and lack of thoracic spine mobility. Inevitably this leads to increased strain on the low back, knees, and shoulders. If your hips are tight, you must get more motion from your low back and your knees. Eventually, with repetition of this pattern, your low back and knees will start complaining. Similarly, if your mid-back can’t rotate enough, your shoulder must make up for it. This leads to strain in the shoulder during backswing and follow-through. Make sense?
4 exercises to fix your golf game
So now that we know what should move and what shouldn’t — here’s a group of four of my favorite exercises to help get you closer to joining the professional tour … or to at least hit the ball without pain. Watch the video for a quick walkthrough, then find the written instructions and cues below.
1. Open book
How: You’re going to be lying on your side, bring your top leg up to about a 90 degree angle, arms out in front of you. Then open up like a book and try to reach towards the other side. This is really good for upper back mobility — that thoracic rotation that’s so important for the golf swing. Do about 10 of these each side, then switch.
2. Windshield wipers
How: We’re going to do a little windshield wiper with both legs. Drop the hips towards the ground and just go back and forth — internal rotation on one side, external rotation on the other side as you go. Same idea, do about 10–20 reps at a time to start to loosen up those hips.
3. World’s greatest stretch
How: You’re going to have one foot in front, your other hand goes down to the ground — this is already starting to stretch out the front hip and get some mobility there. Then rotate up, opening up the chest and rotating at that upper back, reaching back as far as you can. Do 10 each side. If this is too hard to be in this position you can always just do this from a quadruped or all fours position.
4. Seated club rotation with side bend
How: Take your golf club — this works better if you’re sitting down. Keep your legs together, rotate as far as you can to one side, side bend up, rotate more, side bend up, rotate more, side bend up. Five each direction. What we’re doing is opening up the chest, opening up the shoulders, and opening up that rotation in our upper back. That takes stress off your neck, takes stress off your shoulders, takes stress off your lower back — some of the most common injuries we see.
See you on the golf course!
Do this work consistently and your body will show up differently on the first tee — more mobile, more powerful, and a lot less likely to be sidelined by the kind of aches and pains that come from asking the wrong joints to do jobs they weren’t designed for. And if you hit it long and straight, great. If not, at least there are cold beverages in the clubhouse waiting for you. Have fun.
If you have any questions about golf-specific fitness or golf-related injuries, or you have an injury or pain that is keeping you from enjoying your game, our physical therapists can help. We are committed to providing effective, efficient, and compassionate care to help you return to pain-free sport.
Header: Ready to play your best golf?
Whether you’re dealing with pain that’s affecting your game or just want to move better and hit it farther, our physical therapists can help. We’ll assess your movement, address what’s holding you back, and get you back to doing what you love.
