Training for Golf

For golfers in Virginia we are starting to come into the off-season and I usually begin to get a lot of questions about what can be done in the off-season to improve your game. Here are some of my best tips for improving your golf game. If these tips are followed you can usually expect about 30 additional yards in 6-12 weeks.

Improve coordination and body position - Golf is a game of coordination which involves having your body in the correct position at the right time. For this reason I like to perform a warmup of isometric exercises that focus on body position. These isometric exercises usually involve holding the bottom position of exercises such as lunges, pushups, and wallsquats. As a general rule you want all of your joints stacked one on top of another. For example, in the bottom of the lunge position you want your front knee stacked over the top of the ankle and your hips, shoulders, and head all stacked on top of each other. Once you have mastered holding perfect body position you can then progress onto more dynamic movements emphasizing body position during the movements.

Flexibility - Improving flexibility will also be very helpful because it will allow you to get into a deeper position in your turn which will allow you to create more torque in the swing. At the end of your backswing think of yourself as a rubber band that if stretched further will produce more force on the way back. Important areas to stretch are the hamstrings, hips, lats, pecs, and rotator cuff.

Train the Lats - The lats are the large muscles of the upper back and they are crucial in the golf swing because they decelerate the club after contact. Your body will not let you swing any faster than it is able to slow down. For this reason getting the lats stronger almost always results in improved club head speed. The best way to train the lats is with pullups, lat pulldowns, rowing variations, and deadlifts.

Increase your speed and power - Improving your speed and power should be done after you have mastered being in the correct body position during your exercises. By working on moving quickly you are going to improve your ability to tap into the muscle mass that you have. Most people are not very good at using the potential they have and by training for speed and power you are making your body more efficient at tapping into more of your bodies resources. Some of the best ways to train for speed and power are jumps, medicine ball throws and faster lifts with moderate weight.

Train your body to be able to transfer energy and train your weakest links - One thing that you must be able to do to hit a golf ball well is be able to transfer force throughout your whole body. A golf swing is a total body activity that starts in the legs and moves its way up the body. Your swing speed will be limited by your weakest link as energy moves up the body. Because of this you should figure out where your weaknesses are and try to turn them into your strengths. The other important thing to consider is that the ability to transfer energy throughout the body can be trained with things like jumps, medicine ball throws, and olympic weight lifting exercises.

Putting it all together
Train to be in better body position.
You cannot create club head speed without body position
Make sure you are flexible enough to get ito good positions
Train your lats
Train to get faster and more explosive
Fix your weakest links