How to Increase Club Head Speed With Your Driver
If there's one question every amateur golfer wants answered, it's how to increase club head speed — since we all want to bomb tee shots like pro players do.
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Problem is, we're not pro players like Cameron Young or Justin Thomas, so we don't have the fundamentals to just swing as hard as we can to make the ball go farther. In fact, in most cases, swinging a club harder actually leads to worse shot results!
So what's the secret to unlocking more power by increasing club head speed without being out of control? The Rainmakers Golf Club spent some time on the tee box with top-ranked golf teacher Jake Thurm, who gave us a quick golf lesson to give us some answers.
How to Increase Club Head Speed Like a Pro
In the video above, I don't beat around the bush when telling Thurm exactly what I want off the tee, jokingly saying, 'I want that distance, man!'
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While Thurm admits that he's all for trying to get more distance, he says the key to increase club head speed is staying under control — which is a major golf swing flaw for most Joe Schmoes.
'I don't like the misconceptions that I hear from amateur players,' he says. 'Their beliefs are what's creating a lack of speed in their golf swing.'
So, in essence: You actually have no clue how to increase club head speed efficiently without swinging as hard as you can.
This is where Thurm goes into mega golf lesson mode, telling me what I (and most recreational golfers) do wrong.
'[These average golfers] don't understand how much work is being done early in an elite-level player's golf swing,' Thurm shares. 'If you put a lot of these elite players on force plates, there's a lot of work done in the takeaway.
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'I hear a lot of guys say, 'go low and slow' when it comes to getting more speed, but that's not a way to get more speed.'
So Thurm has me go through a drill that he likes to use with some of his students.
He first has me address the ball, then instructs me to try to start my golf swing and my takeaway — while he's holding the club head to give me some resistance. By doing this, it makes me want to sway back and pull the club with my arms, shifting into my trail foot too early.
'You pushed down on your lead side to try and load the trail side,' Thurm says. 'The club hadn't moved an inch and you already started shifting.'
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Instead of making this common mistake, Thurm instructs me to try again with a proper rotation of the hips, bringing the club with me — rather than just trying to use my arms for more power.
'You're going to shift from your lead side to your trail side,' he tells me. 'By starting your golf swing there, you have more potential for club head speed.'
So remember that it's not just swinging your arms as hard or fast as possible that's going to increase club head speed. Instead, it'll happen by using ground force, a proper weight shift, and efficiently getting your whole body to load up from the backswing through the follow through.
Related: Ask a Golf Caddie: What's the Most Common Mistake Rec Players Make?
Related: Want to Hit a Stinger Golf Shot? Just 3 Adjustments Make it Easy
Related: Cameron Young Shares 3 Types of Tee Shots to Better Maximize Your Driver
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
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