What are the best rep range for golf training programmes?

When it comes to golf training programmes that target strength training, many people default to rules of thumb like “low reps for strength,” “moderate reps for building muscle,” and “high reps for endurance.” But in reality, there’s a more insightful question to ask is…

“What speed do I want to move at with my reps?”

Think of building your golf training programmes in terms of velocity, you can better match your goals with your workout.

Let’s break down the different outcomes golfers should aim for, and the most effective rep ranges for each.

Strength at Low Speeds

We’ve spoken about how golfers need to be able to create a lot of force and be strong. Therefore, we know that we need to be able to move some heavy weight with close to maximum effort.

This means we’ll be moving sloooooowwwwwly with these sets. So do we think that would be better to do for a low number of reps to ensure we’re lifting as close to our maximum as possible OR for lots of reps where we have to compromise the weight on the exercise?

Of course, the answer is the former, when performing an exercise to develop pure strength in the target muscles we should prioritise lower rep sets where we can lift heavy weights with good form and in a low fatigue state. The great strength coach Dan John came up with a simple framework where you think of the TOTAL number of reps you perform across the sets of an exercise when the goal is maximum strength.

The guidance given is somewhere between 15-25 total reps. Therefore any of these variations would fall somewhere within those guidelines:

3 x 6

4 x 5

5 x 4

6 x 3

8 x 2

(Note – When I use the term ‘heavy’ throughout this book I am using it relatively, all that matters is you are using a weight that is appropriately heavy for you.)

There are a bunch of very specific adaptations that occur within the body when we lift heavy weight slowly that are unique to this type of training. However I’m going to save you all the scientific explanation and just sum it up really quickly!

When we lift heavy weights slowly we primarily get stronger over time by:

• Increasing muscle size (to a greater extent as a beginner)

• Increasing neural drive to prime movers (strength of signal from nervous system to muscles doing the most work)

• Altering muscle and tendon structure (to transfer force to joints more efficiently)

• Improving co-ordination between muscles (this is specific to the exercise you’re performing)

You might wonder why as golfers who swing a light golf club fast it’s still important to get strong as low speeds. Well I’ll take you back to the car engine analogy, while a big engine doesn’t necessarily guarantee speed if it’s not used particularly well, a small engine will NEVER be capable of high speeds no matter how well it’s tuned and the car is designed. This is why golfers who are new to strength training will typically see much bigger impacts on their clubhead speed from heavy lifting versus training purely for speed.

Strength at High Speeds

Moving quickly might not seem like it requires much strength, but it absolutely does—especially when you’re trying to overcome inertia. For example, when you jump, you push against the ground with up to 6 times your body weight! If an 80kg golfer can generate over 480kg of force in a jump, it’s easy to see why they’d also be capable of moving a golf club faster.

Interestingly, training for strength at high speeds uses similar rep ranges as training for strength at low speeds. The goal is still to avoid fatigue and maintain maximal effort. For explosive movements, low rep ranges are key, as they minimize joint impact and allow you to focus on speed.

Training at high speeds leads to specific adaptations in your body, such as:

• Increased rate coding (how frequently your nervous system sends signals to your muscles)
• Improved neural drive early in movements (the force the muscles contract with early in a movement)
• Reduced antagonist activation (meaning the muscles on the other side of a joint relax more effectively
• Faster muscle fiber shortening (allowing your muscles to contract more quickly)

Strength at Moderate Speeds

For golfers who aren’t new to training this is actually the type of training that will have the least carryover to creating more clubhead speed, yet it’s the one that most will have spent their life doing. The muscle building rep ranges given of ‘8-15’ are certainly very effective when somebody is a newbie, this is because of the increasing engine size analogy I’ve already used far too many times.

Increasing muscle size is most closely linked to the volume of ‘stimulating’ reps that an individual does across a period of time. When I say stimulating I’m talking about the reps that are typically within 5 of failure, the ones that move slow despite the fact you’re pushing with all your might!

When you perform an 8 rep set to failure this means you are getting the full 5 reps of muscle building goodness. Extrapolate that out across 4 sets and you’ve got 20 reps that are creating a lot of demand on muscle tissue to adapt and grow bigger. In order to get the same amount of stimulating reps in a heavy set of 3 reps we would need to perform 7 sets for the same muscle building effect!

This is why plenty of muscle certainly can be grown with the ‘Strength at Low Speeds’ style of training, but there is an increased time, and overall stress, that comes along with this.

When would I get golfers to train at moderate speeds?

As an ex-bodybuilder it would be wrong of me to say that I don’t actually love this style of training and still recommend it for golfers within their golf training programmes. These are the circumstances with which I will programme with more moderate rep ranges like this:

1. A golfer is new to strength training and will see most of their performance improvements from increasing muscle size.

2. A golfer is already pretty fast but is being limited by lack of muscle mass.

3. A professional golfer is going into an off-season and our goal is to increase muscle mass in order to start the next year with a higher amount knowing they will lose ‘some’ during the season.

4. A golfer simply wants to develop one area a little more for aesthetic purposes

5. A golfer wants to increase joint range of motion and therefore needs more muscle tissue and stability around a joint before going into heavier lifting.

6. A golfer is lacking confidence to lift at a relatively higher intensity and wants a bit more time building exercise technique.

7. The golfer is performing smaller or isolation exercises towards the end of a session and it is impractical to load the exercise with too much weight (e.g. a bicep curl, lateral raise, or cable twist).

As you can see there are actually a lot of reasons why I will still include training in the typical ‘8-15’ rep ranges for most. It’s just not the main priority of the sessions I create for golfers who aren’t new to the gym. For more tips follow me on Instagram.

Takeaways for Golfers:

• Understanding the type of strength you’re trying to build—whether it’s maximum force, explosiveness, or muscle size—will help you select the right rep ranges and sets for your goals.
• Golfers should think ‘polar’ when it comes to the majority of their strength training when they’re not brand new to exercise
• Spend 60-80% of your training time either lifting heavy weight (for you) in a 3-6 rep range, or moving light weight quickly in a similar rep range.
• Pick exercises that suit the type of speed you are looking to lift with – See the ‘Best Exercises For Golfers‘ blog for more info on this.