Relationships between Challenge Tour golfers’ clubhead velocity and force producing capabilities during a countermovement jump and isometric mid-thigh pull

ABSTRACT A number of field-based investigations have evidenced practically significant relationships between clubhead velocity (CHV), vertical jump performance and maximum strength. Unfortunately, whilst these investigations provide a great deal of external validity, they are unable to ascertain vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) variables that may relate to golfers’ CHVs. This investigation aimed to assess if the variance in European Challenge Tour golfers’ CHVs could be predicted by countermovement jump (CMJ) positive impulse (PI), isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) peak force (PF) and rate of force development (RFD) from 0–50 ms, 0–100 ms, 0–150 ms and 0–200 ms. Thirty-one elite level European Challenge Tour golfers performed a CMJ and IMTP on dual force plates at a tournament venue, with CHV measured on a driving range. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that the variance in CHV was significantly predicted by all four models (model one R2 = 0.379; model two R2 = 0.392, model three R2 = 0.422, model four R2 = 0.480), with Akaike’s information criterion indicating that model one was the best fit. Individual standardised beta coefficients revealed that CMJ PI was the only significant variable, accounting for 37.9% of the variance in European Challenge Tour Golfers’ CHVs.