Clubhead speed (CHS) is a commonly assessed golf performance measure and has been demonstrated to increase in response to physical training. Knowledge of the physical attributes that correlate with CHS will aid in developing effective testing and training protocols for golfers. Thus, the purpose of this review was to identify studies that evaluated the correlation between physical attributes and CHS and synthesise the correlation coefficients using three-level meta-analytic methods. Physical attributes were categorised first by general physical attribute categories. Pooled correlations were also estimated for specific attributes (e.g. jump height, body mass) that were evaluated across three or more studies. The results suggested that CHS had the strongest correlations with measures of upper body power/explosiveness (r = 0.51, 95% confidence interval [95CI]: 0.34, 0.67), lower body strength (r = 0.46; 95CI: 0.27, 0.66), upper body strength (r = 0.41; 95CI: 0.18, 0.63), and lower body power/explosiveness (r = 0.38; 95CI: 0.23, 0.53). Muscle endurance (r = 0.18; 95CI: 0.07, 0.28) and anthropometrics (r = 0.27; 95CI: 0.12, 0.42) had small, but significant correlations, while flexibility (r = 0.03; 95CI: -0.08, 0.14) had a trivial correlation. Several specific assessments such as squat strength, estimated jump power, and medicine ball throw outcomes had large pooled correlations with CHS (r = 0.55-0.63). Overall, the results suggest that measures of muscle strength and power/explosiveness have moderate-large correlations with CHS. Flexibility measures did not have significant associations with CHS, but this may be a result of the specific measures used within the literature. Highlights When pooling the results based on general physical attribute categories, CHS had the largest associations with measures of muscle strength and power/explosiveness. Measures of muscle endurance and anthropometrics also had small, but significant pooled correlations with CHS. Several specific assessments had strong pooled correlations with CHS, including squat strength, estimated jump power, and outcomes from seated and rotational medicine ball throws. Height and body mass had moderate pooled correlations with CHS. These assessments could be worth testing and monitoring in golfers that wish to increase CHS through physical training. CHS was not significantly correlated with measures of flexibility. More data is needed using assessments that are highly relevant to the golf swing moving forward, such as shoulder flexibility or measures of dynamic mobility. Overall, these findings help clarify the relative contributions of different physical attributes to CHS, which can be used to help design training and performance testing protocols for golfers moving forward.
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