All right, let’s not delay this promise any longer — 2026 is definitely, almost certainly, absolutely going to be the year you finally get better. There are a ton of ways to do that — reading GOLF Magazine, watching our videos, booking a lesson and getting fit for clubs — but you can also learn a lot just by reading this website. So in an effort to get you started toward your 2026 goal, we’re rolling out five key tips to focus on next year. Now read up and get to work.
No. 1 — Instantly make more putts
No. 2 — Fix your chipping
5 key tips for 2026: Add swing speed
Hitting the ball longer off the tee is always fun — and it makes the game easier, too. The longer you can pound the ball with a driver, the shorter club you’ll have in your hand when approaching the green. And with a shorter club in your hand, you’ll give yourself more looks at birdie. Pretty simple formula, eh?
Adding that swing speed is easier said than done, though. There are many ways you can go about it (seven of which you can read about here!), but the method that sticks with me comes courtesy of GOLF Top 100 Teacher Bernie Najar.
To help ramp up your swing speed, Najar suggests treating your speed sessions differently than you would would a normal range session.
“You can’t swing fast for an hour straight unless you’re a professional long drive competitor,” he says.
Instead, focus on short, intense speed sessions where you elevate your heart rate and swing aggressively in bursts. Try to swing as hard as you can at six balls in a row, all condensed into a two-minute window. Don’t worry about where the ball goes, just try to swing as hard as you possibly can.
“This isn’t about hitting it straight,” Najar says. “It’s about retraining your brain to accept faster swings, to let it rip and have fun.”
It’s hard to truly let go and allow yourself to swing at max effort, but when you do, you’ll unlock speed you never knew you had.
One trick for letting go of the outcome of the shot is to go to a simulator and turn off the shot tracer. With most launch monitors, you can customize the display to show you only numbers you want, in this case, ball speed and club speed. Make a few hacks at max effort without the tracer and you’ll likely find that it’s easier to really let go and rip it when you aren’t afraid of hitting it off line.
“Imagine standing at the beach, where all you have to do is hit the ball into the ocean,” Najar says. “Would you be nervous about missing? Probably not. But hitting down a narrow one-lane highway requires a completely different mindset. If you’re too concerned about control, you’ll never swing fast enough.”
Add this sort of training into your practice routines in 2026 and you’ll be hitting it farther than ever.
