It was Spencer who said in 2021 that Jon Rahm‘s body was ready to move up to the next level. Spencer is his physical trainer. A person of utmost trust. This happened shortly before winning the US Open.
What does it mean that his body was ready? Very simple, there was a green light to put more load, more weight in the exercises without risk of injury. That’s when the mission began: to increase the swing and ball speed of the Lion of Barrika. To anticipate the future so as not to lose a bit of competitiveness.
The result, three years later, is that Jon has increased his club and ball speed by an average of about five miles. “When I started I was at about 118 miles of swing speed, three years ago I was at 119-120 and now I got to 122-123 without pushing too hard, after warming up and on the practice court. As for the ball, in 2021 I was at 180-181 average speed and now the average is 183-185, without forcing. This year in Adelaide, for example, on the practice court, I reached 191 miles per hour. Going up five miles is a lot. It’s very good,” Jon tells Ten Golf satisfied.
Rahm’s specific work with Spencer in the gym does not consist of moving or lifting all the weight his body allows him. That would make no sense because in golf it is not necessary either. It is about performing specific exercises to convert strength into power. Of course, strength needs to be developed, but the key is to know how to transform it into power. That’s why there are very muscular and large players who do not have as much club speed and others who are thinner and finer, like David Puig, who hit it very long.
Rahm does all kinds of exercises, many of them are dynamic, precisely aimed at power. For example, squats and deadlifts are protagonists. In deadlift, he confesses to Ten Golf, he does sets of four with 400 pounds of weight, just over 180 kilos. Although he clarifies that it is not the maximum he can move. “We don’t reach the limit because it’s not necessary, I could move more, but it’s what we’ve reached so far,” he explains.
Precisely, this whole plan that he is carrying out with Spencer and that has resulted in greater club and ball speed has had another consequence. He has had to change the shaft of the driver. It’s not a minor change. Jon had kept the same shaft since 2013, but he could no longer cope with his improved physical capacity. He couldn’t means it didn’t perform well with the new speed. “I was missing shots making good swings and that led me to make some compensations that I didn’t like at all,” he explains.
The new shaft came into play in Nashville, his last tournament, where Rahm already felt much more comfortable from the tee. Valderrama will be the next acid test.
