It pays to not only hit bombs on the PGA tour but also for your local weekend warriors. You’re probably annoyed though, what does Bryson’s weight gain have to do with distance off the tee? Yeah, I would be annoyed; I’m just a little tease right now. Get yourself another cup of coffee, and let's chat about the elephant in the room, Size.
While trying to find more data on size vs. distances, I decided to find some correlations between the two most popular rotational sports in the U.S., golf and baseball. The question, Does body weight correlate with their driving distance or exit velocity? Was Bryson Dechambeau correct in assuming if he would also drive the ball further, he gained 40 pounds of body weight?
Taking both data from the MLB and the PGA tour, creating two-variable average driving distance and weight and MLB exit velocity/weight. Below you can see the results and a link to the google sheet, and below is the plot graph with the correlations.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t-GA1Vb6bzNV6u2VOrPvSgcF0IubCwlU6Ixjn4yXNFQ/edit?usp=sharing
As you can see with the data, there is a moderate correlation suggesting that weight and average distance, and average exit velocity are components to “hitting bombs.” Meaning that the Weight of the Athlete does contribute to distance/exit velocity, but there are many other variables contributing, which is why it’s not a strong correlation. What does this mean for Bryson?
It means he was correct in assuming that if he did gain weight, he would have a higher probability of driving the ball further if he was to pair this with other known factors in the sports science world. Such as gaining the correct tissue and using this to potentiate force/velocity increases.
I find it interesting that the data for both MLB exit Velocities and PGA tour athletes are very similar. Both with r values in the 0.3 range.
At the same time, I have a robust theoretical belief that “rotation is rotation,” based on my experience and many other athletes. We mean that when someone can swing a golf club fast, they can also swing a bat very hard. When both sports show a similar correlation, it would suggest that athletes in rotational sports with fast speed are usually more prominent. Theoretically, this makes sense; most first baseman in baseball has the highest exit velocity and is too big to play any other position. Maybe, this has changed, though, as I haven’t “remembered” a game in 4 years. It’s tough being a mariners fan.
How did I collect this data? This data was taken from the 2020 seasons, all distance and exit velocities are posted on their site, and weight was taken from a simple google search.
To back this up further with research, in Systematic review of golf club head speed (1) found a moderate correlation (r=0.44; p<0.001) between body mass and clubhead speed (which we already know correlates with driving distance). It also concluded that “While body mass may not directly influence golf swing performance, it is associated with greater force output and fat-free mass” (1).
John Hellstrom at Orebro University gave us further evidence that there is a moderate correlation between bodyweight and clubhead speed. By taking thirty-three male elite golfers defined as no higher than a five handicap and between 18-30 years old. Conducted tests of different Body mass strength tests, 1-rm strength exercises, vertical jump tests, and sprint tests. Showing a moderate correlation of r=0.51 between clubhead speed and body mass (9).
Boom, we not only have some data from the PGA/MLB, but we also have studies concluding that bodyweight does correlate with distance off the tee.
Looking at the PGA tour, MLB hitting data (Rotation is rotation), and both of these studies/reviews. We see moderate correlations between body mass, driving distance, clubhead speed, and exit velocity. With this amount of evidence, we can conclude that there is a high probability that a moderate correlation is present.
While there are potentially many factors to clubhead speed, we can be confident in this conclusion, but why might this be?
You might conclude that my drives will increase if I sit on the couch and be a fat ass. While this might be true if you are severely underweight, this is an article about training. Meaning that there is a better way of doing things, and specifically, you guessed it, we are trying to gain muscle mass.
What does muscle mass have to do with clubhead speed?
Hypertrophy Matters
Weight is significant, but we don't just mean gain twenty pounds of lousy weight as fast as possible. While it is impossible to collect data on PGA tour golfers and LBM, we do get some insights from several studies.
Here is a brief description from Alex Ehert (1) “As such, golfers with greater body mass could possess more muscle mass and ability to impart force during the golf swing. Indeed, one study found that fat-free mass had a moderate correlation with CHS (r = 0.43), while total body mass had only a small correlation (r = 0.27; Keogh et al., 2009). Additionally, a cross-sectional study found that professional golfers tended to have greater fat-free mass, larger biceps brachii, calf girths, and more mesomorphic physical appearances than non-golfer controls (Kawashima et al., 2003). However, some have argued that excessive muscle mass could have a detrimental effect on performance (Keogh et al., 2009), though there is currently no data to support or refute that assertion”. Give us a firm conclusion that size has a moderate correlation, but what is more important is the golfer’s lean body mass, without any noticeable downside of gaining LBM.
We see the same trend in (Keogh 2009)., which concluded a moderate correlation between body fat % and clubhead speed (11). While also concluding that there was a small correlation between upper arm girth measured in CM with clubhead speed (11). Meaning that bigger arms have more muscle, and golfers with higher LBM have faster Clubhead Speed. While these were moderate or small correlations, we see growing evidence that muscle mass affects explicitly, besides just total body weight on Clubhead speed.
To improve lean body mass, we need, accrue more Lean body mass obviously, which is a process called Hypertrophy.
Citations
1. Alex Ehlert (2020): The correlations between physical attributes and golf clubhead speed: a systematic review with quantitative analyses, European Journal of Sport Science, DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2020.1829081
2. Institute of Sport and Recreation Research New Zealand, School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand; and 2 Centre of Physical Education Across the Lifespan, School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
3. Lovera and Keogh. “The Anthropometric Profile of Powerlifters: Differences as a Function of Bodyweight Class and Competitive Success.” The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. (2015).
4. Brechue and Abe. “The Role of FFM Accumulation and Muscle Architecture in Powerlifting Performance.” European Journal of Applied Physiology. (2002).
5. Stone, Michael & O’Bryant, et al. “Using the Isometric Mid-thigh Pull in the Monitoring of Weightlifters: 25+ Years of Experience”
6. Stone, Michael & O’Bryant, et al. (2019). “Using the Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull in the Monitoring of Weightlifters: 25+ Years of Experience”. 19-26.
8. School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. 2Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. 3NSW Injury Risk Manag
9. Hellström, J. (2008). The Relation between Physical Tests, Measures, and Clubhead Speed in Elite Golfers. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 3(1_suppl), 85–92. doi:10.1260/174795408785024207