GolfWell Podcast · Cordie Walker - Formerly Golf Science Lab

I Asked a Golf Scientist How to Get Faster… Here’s What He Said

·54 min·3 clips

There are only two ways to swing faster: apply more force or create more time and distance.

1. GolfWell Podcast's "I Asked a Golf Scientist How to Get Faster… Here’s What He Said" focuses on golf speed training and the biomechanics behind clubhead speed. 2. Dr. Alex Ellert is the guest, and the host introduces him as a researcher who studies speed, fitness, the body, and data-backed performance. 3. The episode asks what it takes to gain speed, what an ideal speed session looks like, and why some golfers plateau after early gains. 4. Ellert says speed training is a skill that involves learning to coordinate at faster speeds, not just adding effort. 5. He credits feedback-driven sessions, including speed sticks and radar, for helping golfers explore movement patterns that push speed upward. 6. Ellert uses his own path as a case study, saying he was a Division I college golfer who moved into exercise physiology, biomechanics, and golf research. 7. He says he gained about 8 to 10 miles per hour over time through gym work, then later added another 12 to 14 miles per hour over a winter with speed sticks and technical work. 8. The host shares his own speed log, says he worked with Colby Touge, and reports reaching a high of 129 clubhead speed. 9. Ellert says the next task after early gains is identifying the next adaptation, because speed gains become slower and more nonlinear over time. 10. He frames speed as a work-energy problem from Sasha McKenzie's research, where golfers need more force or torque, or more time and distance, to apply that force. 11. He says many players get quick gains when they stop worrying about solid contact and let themselves swing faster with foam balls or speed sticks. 12. Ellert says the physical side matters because added strength gives golfers more options for rotation, ground use, and force transfer. 13. He says vertical jump impulse is the strongest physical correlate he sees for golf speed, and he explains it as total force produced over time during a jump. 14. He adds that jump height alone can miss heavier golfers, which is why impulse gives a better picture of the force that matters in the golf swing. 15. Ellert also points to ballistic upper-body power, seated chest passes, and rotational medicine ball throws as useful measures of speed potential. 16. He says the first fitness step for low-force golfers is usually strength building, because it creates the engine and improves robustness for practice and injury tolerance. 17. The conversation moves in a coach-to-player style, with the host testing concepts against his own force-plate and TPI results. 18. The energy is technical but practical, with long back-and-forth explanations, live examples, and repeated references to the host's own data. 19. Golfers chasing clubhead speed and coaches working on performance testing. 20. Listeners wanting entertainment over biomechanics details.

As heard by us

A practical look at the traits and tests tied to golf speed.

The discussion keeps its focus on golf speed and stays grounded in practical questions. Dr. Alex Ellert and the host move through what speed training should actually look like, which factors seem tied to clubhead speed, and how golfers can think about their own speed progress…

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If you want more speed without guessing, start here.

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