Bombers use this key move with their feet to hit long drives

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

Hitting the long ball isn’t just for show these days. If you want to compete among the game’s best, you’ve got to be able to generate some serious speed — and players are only getting faster.

Just 10 years ago, the average ball speed on the PGA Tour was 167.67 mph. This season, the average ball speed is all the way up to 174.5 mph, while the median from a decade ago ranks outside the top 150. It’s never been more important to generate speed.

But players aren’t just getting stronger — they’re also the beneficiaries of modern equipment and modern technology. One such piece of modern equipment is force plates, which monitor how golfers use the ground during their swings.

Recently, the folks at the Titleist Performance Institute published a video with Dr. Greg Rose explaining their findings on how the longest players in the world use the ground to generate speed. Check it out below.

How bombers use the ground

Swinging the club fast requires you to turn with tons of force. And one of the key ways to generate this force is by creating torque with your body.

So, how does one create this torque? It all starts with using your feet in the correct way.

“Imagine if you’re trying to open up a bottle cap,” Rose says. “You don’t just try to [turn] one side and then [turn] the other side. You do both at the same time and it creates more torque.”

The same principle applies when trying to generate swing speed. You want to be using each foot to push into the ground in opposite directions to create maximal torque.

“I’m going to push the ground back with my right foot and forward with my left foot and that creates this counterclockwise torque,” Rose says. “One of the secrets here is using both of your feet in the golf swing.”

Once you engage both your feet in the swing and push with both at the same time in opposite directions, you’ll create much more torque than before. And with that torque comes more clubhead speed and longer bombs off the tee. Give it a shot.

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