All gas and no brakes? Being able to stop a swing is a pretty important aspect of golf fitness

The photo above is of a golfer named Kyle Berkshire. If you've never heard of him, he's a three-time World Long Drive champion and a holder of two amazing records: He has hit a golf ball 241 miles per hour and another 580 yards! In short, he's a beast. Apart from his physical gifts, a big reason he can hit a ball that far is something you might not think about when it comes to training for power on the golf course.

"With all of the emphasis on speed in the golf swing, most people focus on exercises that have them move as fast as they can," says Levi Root, a Golf Digest Certified Fitness Trainer. "What a lot of those people don’t understand is that unless they are able to slow down their body segments when they swing, they won’t get the most out of their training. It’s more important to stop the car than it is to accelerate it."

Root says a key component to increasing swing speed is eccentric training. Not familiar with the concept? Eccentric exercises are ones that lengthen the muscle under tension. A simple way to think about it is that it's the part of the exercise where you're lowering a weight or resisting force. When you lower the weight slowly or resist the force for long durations, you're eccentric training. Try doing a pull-up where your goal is to hold off gravity's downward pull on your body for as long as you can.

"In your golf swing, this is most relevant when it comes to sequencing and creating power in your downswing," Root says. "As I fire my hips first in the downswing sequence, I then must be able to slow them down (which is effectively like rotating them in the other direction) in order for the next segment, my torso, to catch up. Then the torso must slow down in order for the arms to continue accelerating. Finally, the same must happen to the arms in order for the wrists and club to accelerate through the ball.

"Without teaching the body how to slow down to change direction, you won’t be very efficient with this sequence."

Root has a handful of exercises that are great if better golf performance is your goal. Even better, they address the tri-planar aspect of the golf swing, moving you in all three planes of motion.

"My favorite exercise for this is rotational lunge drops," he says. "So let's start there."

Follow along with Root as he demonstrates your new eccentric workout.

ROTATIONAL LUNGE DROPS

Starting from an athletic stance, knees bent, feet shoulder width apart, rotate left or right and drop slowly into a lunge stance as shown. Return to the starting position and then slowly lunge in the opposite direction. Do several in each direction.

"These require you to slow movement vertically and rotationally," he says.

SINGLE-LEG LATERAL BOUNDS WITH TORSO ROTATIONS

While balancing on one leg, rotate your torso in toward the planted foot. Now leap laterally trying to land on the opposite leg cleanly while rotating the torso in the same direction as shown. Start with small leaps focused on landing in balance, but increase distance and rotation as the move becomes easier.

"These make you laterally transfer your weight, decelerate lateral movement, absorb vertical forces and rotationally stack over your landing leg. It's about as close to a golf swing as I can think of for a body-weight exercise."

BAND OR CABLE POT STIRS

From an athletic stance, knees bent, extend a cable or band from the side of your body out in front of your torso so your arms are fully extended. You should feel the cable or band trying to pull you toward its anchored point. Now pull the band or cable across your torso while maintaing extension in your arms as shown. Allow your torso to rotate as you pull. Do several reps and then reset and do more in the opposite direction.

"It is also important to add resistance to your eccentric exercise program. You have to increase the load that the muscles can handle as they slow down movement. I think resisting heavy rotational forces with bands is a very effective way of doing this. The "Stir the Pot" exercise is one of my favorite ways to do this, because as the band gets farther away from its anchor point, the resistance increases. When you’re farthest away from the anchor point, the eccentric phase is much harder. Most of my clients call this their least favorite exercise, which probably is a big endorsement for how much they need it."

ANCHORED SQUAT HOLDS

While holding a pole or similar with both hands, lower into a semi-squatted position up on your toes and then lower your heels slowly, keeping them just off the ground. Repeat several reps.

BAND OR CABLE ROTATIONAL PRESSES

From an athletic stance, grab a band or cable (that's anchored to your side). Now push out with both hands until your arms are fully extended in front of you and rotate your torso as shown. Keep your arms fully extended and resist the cable/band from pulling you back. Do several reps and then switch to doing them in the opposite direction.

Interested in becoming a golf-fitness trainer? Click the link for more information on Golf Digest's Fitness-Trainer Certification.