Distance potential is determined by vertical jump

It is the classic how do we break fast twitch and slow twitch muscles firing down to a Barney level that people can test at home. This video is very misleading on if you can jump higher you will hit it farther. Jump up and down all you want, you do not need to have Arnolds arms to crack a whip. It is about getting things to fire in the right order. Muscles will help some, but the golf swing is about SPEEED not power at a very specific spot. The loading and unloading of the wrist and how to snap them will get you more speed faster than box jumps. just saying.................
 
This reminds me a little of my SAT test prep days. Our company used to trash the SAT pretty badly and one of their favorite tools was a graph showing a positive correlation between family income and SAT scores. I think they even said it was a stronger correlation than SAT scores and academic performance (which is pretty weak.) So I would tell my kids that if their parents were hassling them about their test scores, show them the graph and tell them to go out and make more money.

Like the vertical jump, really interesting but incomplete and of limited value.
 
Playing hockey has always translated well to playing golf and playing hockey and having a decent vertical jump are not mutually exclusive. I grew up with a regulation hockey rink in my backyard, and I know many hockey players who play golf. Hockey players are normally among the longest hitters and generally get to single digits much faster than other athletes. Makes sense since hockey is the only sport that swings on the same plane as a golf swing. When I took up golf as an early teen all that previous ice time playing hockey made it seem like a natural motion and my hockey skills helped me progress quickly. A slap shot is the same motion and weight transfer as a golf swing with the added factor that the puck is often a moving target.

Last year, my daughter was the only one out of 6 varsity golfers that weren't also on their HS hockey team(threepeat State Champs last year), and a couple of them can hit their driver 235+ yards. Some of these girls barely play golf except during the 2 month spring season and they hit the ball amazingly solid for the little time they invest. Their nickname for the golf team was BGH(Breck Girls Hockey) + Erika.:)

Cool story! Thank You for Sharing!
 
Interesting.

I’ve never been able to jump very high, but was a decent sprinter. All depends on how you train and what you’re training for.

I’ve seen some of your distances, you’re getting it out there for controlling your swing! So if we’re ever chasing someone (you never know when you’re around me?) you’re job is to run them down, I’ll jump on them? 🤣

I only thought I was fast until I tried to chase down a 15/16 year old the other day, 😂. That’s a battle I lost, but barely. He’s scrawny butt wasn’t faster straight line but he could cut WAY faster than me. I wasted 3 steps every corner.
 
I’ve seen some of your distances, you’re getting it out there for controlling your swing! So if we’re ever chasing someone (you never know when you’re around me?) you’re job is to run them down, I’ll jump on them? 🤣

I only thought I was fast until I tried to chase down a 15/16 year old the other day, 😂. That’s a battle I lost, but barely. He’s scrawny butt wasn’t faster straight line but he could cut WAY faster than me. I wasted 3 steps every corner.
Ha, thanks! I’m definitely trying to control my swing more these days. Find my scores are usually better when I don’t blast the ball 320 yards into the next fairway, or worse, into a lake!

Motivation in getting away from you probably helped him with a shot of adrenaline!
 
Playing hockey has always translated well to playing golf and playing hockey and having a decent vertical jump are not mutually exclusive. I grew up with a regulation hockey rink in my backyard, and I know many hockey players who play golf. Hockey players are normally among the longest hitters and generally get to single digits much faster than other athletes. Makes sense since hockey is the only sport that swings on the same plane as a golf swing. When I took up golf as an early teen all that previous ice time playing hockey made it seem like a natural motion and my hockey skills helped me progress quickly. A slap shot is the same motion and weight transfer as a golf swing with the added factor that the puck is often a moving target.

Last year, my daughter was the only one out of 6 varsity golfers that weren't also on their HS hockey team(threepeat State Champs last year), and a couple of them can hit their driver 235+ yards. Some of these girls barely play golf except during the 2 month spring season and they hit the ball amazingly solid for the little time they invest. Their nickname for the golf team was BGH(Breck Girls Hockey) + Erika.:)
Completely agree about the hockey to golf relationship. I played competitive hockey and the feeling is quite similar! Just have to remind myself that the shaft loads a little different!
 
Ha, thanks! I’m definitely trying to control my swing more these days. Find my scores are usually better when I don’t blast the ball 320 yards into the next fairway, or worse, into a lake!

Motivation in getting away from you probably helped him with a shot of adrenaline!

Ha. If I was 6’1” and weighed 125, I’d probably want to GTFO too, 😂. I can be a big angry guy, even sub 200#. I’ll have a Share with you when I legally can, but it’s interesting.
 
considering i ruptured my achilles a couples years ago and can’t jump i guess i’m SOL in terms of distance. Yet i’m 64 and getting it out there 240-260. The golf swing is a lot of things.
 
Vertical jump is going to correlate in potential because it measures 2 things that are highly important to power potential. Leg strength and explosiveness (fast twitch muscles).

Not the only factor, but obviously 2 big ones. Leg Strength we can all work on, but not sure how much we can improve our explosiveness. At this point I am just hoping to not lose what little I had by training.

But again, this is all about potential. If you have poor sequencing/path/etc then it will not be reached.
I think the fast twitch is more important. I have seen guys jump out of the gym that did not have a ton of raw strength in their legs. Likewise I personally know a guy that played football for the University of Kentucky. Squatted well over 600 lbs and couldn't jump worth a lick and can't swing a golf club very powerfully either. There is a quickness aspect to the golf swing and vertical jumping that is outside of just leg strength.
 
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I think the fast twitch is more important. I have seen guys jump out of the gym that did not have a ton of raw strength in their legs. Likewise I personally know a guy that played football for the University of Kentucky. Squatted well over 600 lbs and couldn't jump worth a lick and can't swing a golf club very powerfully either. There is a quickness aspect to the golf swing that is outside of just leg strength.
I think this might be something that if we could find our area then we could work on building that quickness. I know for me, there are times I feel that I have that "quickness" at a solid level, then of course the majority of the time it is fleeting.
 
Correlation does not mean causation.

Ex- there's a correlation between ice cream and drowning.. does ice cream cause drowning? Absolutely not.. but people eat more ice cream during the summer (not me, I'm an all year rounder), which is when they also go swimming and hence can have accidents like drowning

Now even some pga tour guys who seen athletic, I don't see them having a significant vertical jump. DJ, while tall, is kind of gangly. Even rory, he's fit but I don't see it

Now flexibility and torque I would say have a higher correlation to distance IMO
 
After reading this I was curious. Could I jump 20 inches?

I stuck two alignment rods in the ground vertically, a couple feet apart, and measured up on each to 20 inches. Then I rigged a way to lay a third alignment rod horizontally across the two vertical ones at the 20 inch mark. I got on one side and jumped. I made it over without disturbing the horizontal rod. Yes!
Unfortunately, I landed with so much momentum, I continued forward and fell flat on my face! :dohanim: But, hey, I did it....at 66 years old!

My shoulders and wrists were a little sore afterward from bracing myself for the fall. And, I made a mess of my clothes. It was kinda muddy in my backyard where I landed. :LOL:
Even so, was quite proud of myself....and frankly, surprised I was able to do it.
 
I think the fast twitch is more important. I have seen guys jump out of the gym that did not have a ton of raw strength in their legs. Likewise I personally know a guy that played football for the University of Kentucky. Squatted well over 600 lbs and couldn't jump worth a lick and can't swing a golf club very powerfully either. There is a quickness aspect to the golf swing that is outside of just leg strength.

Genetics matter a ton in things like vertical jump or your strength potential. Genetics and athleticism also matter for how fast you swing a golf club but we all know some golfers who don’t have a lot of god given physical talent that get to scratch or better. Tom Kite would be an example from the PGA Tour.

I do believe speed training for golf or other sports is real and guys like Phil Mickelson have shown us that its possible to get faster even if you’re 50. I will soon find out if it’s possible for me to get faster as I start the Stack System training as soon as it and the PRGR Black radar unit that I ordered arrives. Obviously we all have a ceiling largely determined by genetics on how fast we swing a club but IMO few golfers have reached their speed potential. I’m currently maxed out at about 105 mph with a driver and I’m hoping for another 4-5% after a few months of speed training.
 
Genetics matter a ton in things like vertical jump or your strength potential. Genetics and athleticism also matter for how fast you swing a golf club but we all know some golfers who don’t have a lot of god given physical talent that get to scratch or better. Tom Kite would be an example from the PGA Tour.

I do believe speed training for golf or other sports is real and guys like Phil Mickelson have shown us that its possible to get faster even if you’re 50. I will soon find out if it’s possible for me to get faster as I start the Stack System training as soon as it and the PRGR Black radar unit that I ordered arrives. Obviously we all have a ceiling largely determined by genetics on how fast we swing a club but IMO few golfers have reached their speed potential. I’m currently maxed out at about 105 mph with a driver and I’m hoping for another 4-5% after a few months of speed training.
Kite worked out a ton though. Yeah he is small and wears thick glasses, but I think he was pretty athletic too. Probably could have played high school hoops or baseball in most of the country pretty easily IMO. Also he's 5'9 170 and that's not that small really.
 
Kite worked out a ton though. Yeah he is small and wears thick glasses, but I think he was pretty athletic too. Probably could have played high school hoops or baseball in most of the country pretty easily IMO. Also he's 5'9 170 and that's not that small really.

He was a damn hard worker and had a complete game with no real weakness but he certainly didn’t look intimidating or athletic in person. 20 years ago I watched him shoot a course record 62 at my old club en route to winning the Champions Tour event there. The record still stands.
 
I think the fast twitch is more important. I have seen guys jump out of the gym that did not have a ton of raw strength in their legs. Likewise I personally know a guy that played football for the University of Kentucky. Squatted well over 600 lbs and couldn't jump worth a lick and can't swing a golf club very powerfully either. There is a quickness aspect to the golf swing and vertical jumping that is outside of just leg strength.

At my best I squatted 660#. I don’t squat for power anymore, too old. Too many things can go wrong at that weight. I do however keep basic fitness there, 400# is my benchmark and I always stay above it. You never know when you may need it. I’ve needed it and won because of it. I can speak about it in vague terms but I had a violent home invasion 2/4 PM on a Saturday a few weeks ago. It happens in Suburbs folks.

I can’t discuss much, but do yourself a favor-if you have a security door, freaking look out before disengaging the deadbolt. Sure, dummy picked the wrong place. But had I been prepared?
 
If the OP's premise were true, I'd have to lay up on a four foot putt.
 
So I just checked my vertical and I'm at 20". The video claims I should be able to generate 165mph ball speed or 270 yards of carry with my driver. My typical total distance with the driver is less than 220 yards with the fastest ball speed measured right at 140mph.

Either my swing mechanics are worst than I thought (and I think they're quite bad), I'm an outlier, his estimates are exaggerated, or a combination of those three things. I don't use my thighs much in the golf swing beyond turning my hips and torso, but I do use my calves to try and generate power - especially with the driver. So maybe incorporating more of the squatting motion would help generate more power??? But I simply cannot imagine on my best day and with an improved swing I'd have a prayer at carrying more than 240 yards.

A 20"-22" vertical jump is not that rare. 270 yards of carry is. The guy in the video knows more about sports science than I ever will, but I'm thinking BS on the 20" vertical = (potentially) 165 mph ball speed part. I don't doubt there's importance in leg strength, but knowing how to tap into all the other physical attributes seems more important to my uneducated mind.

All of this is kind of academic anyway. My game needs accuracy so much more than distance, but it's still fun to debate.
 
So I just checked my vertical and I'm at 20". The video claims I should be able to generate 165mph ball speed or 270 yards of carry with my driver. My typical total distance with the driver is less than 220 yards with the fastest ball speed measured right at 140mph.

Either my swing mechanics are worst than I thought (and I think they're quite bad), I'm an outlier, his estimates are exaggerated, or a combination of those three things. I don't use my thighs much in the golf swing beyond turning my hips and torso, but I do use my calves to try and generate power - especially with the driver. So maybe incorporating more of the squatting motion would help generate more power??? But I simply cannot imagine on my best day and with an improved swing I'd have a prayer at carrying more than 240 yards.

A 20"-22" vertical jump is not that rare. 270 yards of carry is. The guy in the video knows more about sports science than I ever will, but I'm thinking BS on the 20" vertical = (potentially) 165 mph ball speed part. I don't doubt there's importance in leg strength, but knowing how to tap into all the other physical attributes seems more important to my uneducated mind.

All of this is kind of academic anyway. My game needs accuracy so much more than distance, but it's still fun to debate.

Right on. I’d tend to think Clean and Jerk would be a better way to measure it as it measures the explosiveness of virtually all core muscles. I don’t know my vertical, but I could pound it 300 pretty easily when I weighed near that, probably couldn’t have hit 10” vertical then, lol. Nor would I have tried, 🤣.

I have a little more spring in my step than before, so I’m probably somewhere in the same vertical range as you. Ish. I don’t know how far I hit a club, I haven’t swung one in 20/25 weight loss pounds now.
 
Right on. I’d tend to think Clean and Jerk would be a better way to measure it as it measures the explosiveness of virtually all core muscles. I don’t know my vertical, but I could pound it 300 pretty easily when I weighed near that, probably couldn’t have hit 10” vertical then, lol. Nor would I have tried, 🤣.

I have a little more spring in my step than before, so I’m probably somewhere in the same vertical range as you. Ish. I don’t know how far I hit a club, I haven’t swung one in 20/25 weight loss pounds now.

Vertical Jump Test (Sargent Jump Test, Vertical Leap) (homeexerciseequipmenthq.com)

All I did was measure my standing reach and then how far I could jump from a standing position. The difference is my vertical jump.

I thought this was interesting...
Vertical.jpg
These numbers - taken from the website above - seemed a little low to me.
 
Easy enough. 23-24”. I also am in shape now, not round.I always have been explosive as an athlete.

I have Covid but I doubt that impacts one rep much other than I haven’t worked out heavy in a couple weeks.
 
Right on. I’d tend to think Clean and Jerk would be a better way to measure it as it measures the explosiveness of virtually all core muscles. I don’t know my vertical, but I could pound it 300 pretty easily when I weighed near that, probably couldn’t have hit 10” vertical then, lol. Nor would I have tried, 🤣.

I have a little more spring in my step than before, so I’m probably somewhere in the same vertical range as you. Ish. I don’t know how far I hit a club, I haven’t swung one in 20/25 weight loss pounds now.
A clean and jerk, while also showing a lot of force production potential, is also strongly influenced by vertical jump ability. A C&J is also a much more technical test than an SVJ.
 
A clean and jerk, while also showing a lot of force production potential, is also strongly influenced by vertical jump ability. A C&J is also a much more technical test than an SVJ.

I’ll go with the experts opinion here, 😂. I just thought the level of explosiveness with that lift, would directly correlate to distance? If there was some rotational movement it would be the perfect golf lift. Of course, with that lift if there was rotational movement then you’d need a new spine in about a week.
 
A clean and jerk, while also showing a lot of force production potential, is also strongly influenced by vertical jump ability. A C&J is also a much more technical test than an SVJ.
I am not knowledgeable about fitness, but I have to agree with this. I've always had a weaker than normal upper body. While some of the athletic kids in HS could bench press maybe 1 1/2 time their body weight, I was doing well to do my body weight. But I could clean and jerk the same amount of weight because that lift involves technique and the lower body - where I had above average strength.

This is why I think the correlation between vertical jump and distance is a bit dependent on those who have lower body strength/explosiveness also having that in the arms and upper body as well - which I believe is typically the case with a lot of folks.

I also believe strength doesn't always show up in physique. A tour player might look average, but be stronger/quicker than average to go along with flexibility and an incredibly efficient swing.

Again, just uneducated opinions.
 
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