10 Exercises to Improve your Golf Game
When it comes to strength and conditioning, golf is often overlooked. Golf is no different from any other sport, in that honing integrity in movement, and then increasing strength and power in those movements will lead to drastic improvements in the athletes performance.
The exercises listed are not in order of importance or proper progression and should be used in conjunction with a professionally formulated strength and conditioning program.
1. STIFF LEG DEADLIFT
Suggested Rep Range: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
Progress from dowel to barbell
Focus on form! move slowly through movement
Hip hinge, hip hinge, hip hinge. There is absolutely nothing more important to general athletic movement than learning to properly hinge at the hips. In golf, every single set up begins with a hip hinge. The posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, low back, upper back) is where most of the body's power comes from, and without mastering a proper hip hinge, you cannot maximize the power generated on your golf swing. A stiff leg deadlift is the best way to build isolated strength and stability throughout that movement pattern. There are many additional benefits of learning a proper hip hinge including learning to protect your low back, improving your cores ability to stabilize your spine, and reinforcing a proper balance between posterior and anterior leg strength.
2. CABLE PUSH-PULL COMBO
Suggested rep range: 3-4 sets of 5-10 reps per side
This is an abdominal exercise, make your abs works!
Don't foget to activate the correct muscles on the press and pull as well
focus on opening and rotating the hips, legs, and torso just like on your swing
This has always been a favorite exercise of ours for any athlete relying on rotational power. Although it seems like it would be mostly an upper body exercise, it really is primarily a core exercise. By activating both the agonist and antagonist, you are creating a massive amount of tension on your abdominal wall, replicating the transition point from back swing to swing. This is also teaching the athlete to use the elastic force stored in the muscles when they are lengthened under tension. All golfers do this whether they know it or not. The golfers backswing is a way of creating this elastic force, and then using the muscles spindle reaction (will go into more detail in a future article) to add that force for a more powerful swing.
3. STANDING T-BAR ROTATIONS
Suggested Rep range: 3-4 sets of 5-8 reps per side
If the bar is too heavy there are two options:
start with a smaller range of motion
have a spotter help you through full Range
This exercise is another rotational strength and abdominal bracing exercise (similar to the previous exercise). The reason this translates so well to golf, is that it integrates the hips and abdominals into the same motion. This teaches your body to efficiently transfer the force produced through these structures. Performing this motion slowly will build strength throughout your core and low back, while adding a little bit of speed to it will translate into swing power and club head speed.
4. SINGLE STIFF LEG DEADLIFTS
suggested rep range: 3 sets of 10 reps (each side)
start simply with bodyweight, and when you have developed the required base strength add some weight
you can also hop on a bosu for additional stability work!
this could also be used as an isometric exercise
Remember our good friend the Stiff Leg Deadlift? This is the best accessory movement to go along with that exercise. More oriented towards stability and balance, this is an amazing exercise to bring integrity and stability to your hips. Maintaining posture remains a key component as well as lengthening the hamstring and contracting the glute. However, the added stability component will allow for more core integration and will require you to keep your torso facing the floor, and not cheating by rotating up or down. I cannot stress how important unilateral exercises are. Whether you know it or not, your strong side will always take some of the work from your weak side, further compounding the difference between the two. How do you avoid this? Include unilateral work in your training.
5. RENEGADE TRANSFER
Suggested rep range: 3 sets of 8 reps per side
focus on placing the dumbbell as far away from yourself as possible on each rep
maintain a pelvic tilt throughout the entire exercise! this is basically a plank
The renegade transfer is a fantastic exercise for building core stability integrity in the shoulders. Although it looks like the lower body is somewhat removed from the movement, there is a surprising amount of bracing that happens in the muscles of the hips as well. The shoulders are the most mobile joint in the body, and oftentimes surrounded by extremely weak musculature. This extreme mobility in conjunction with the weak musculature protecting it leads to the shoulder being one of the vulnerable joints (especially with explosive movements like swinging a golf club). The renegade transfer actually translates perfectly to the shoulder patterns involved in swinging the club.
6. BARBELL ROTATIONS
Suggested Rep Range: 2-4 sets of 10-12 reps per side
start slow. each rep increase the range. Finally, increase the speed
never over rotate, focus in on the change of direction
make sure the area is clear before beginning!
This exercise serves a few different purposes when it comes to golf specific training. First and foremost, it helps to build motor control in the rotational patterns. This helps the golf athlete separate movement in the hips, spine and upper body. In addition to this, it can help to build flexibility in the hips and lower back, and also strength in the abdominal wall and obliques. Think about producing some speed on the rotation, and then stopping your own momentum before you over rotate (I like to use a point straight ahead of me as the stopping point).
7. MULTI-LEVEL CABLE TWIST
Suggested Rep rAnge: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
move slowly and maintain tension on your abs
do not twist too far in either direction, as this will release tension
The Multi-Level Cable Twist is a go to movement for our clients who are involved in sports, and even for clients who are having a tough time contracting their abdominal wall correctly. It is very easy to see how this translates to any sport that involves a rotational component. This exercise is one of the best ways to learn to contract your entire abdominal wall for twisting or for bracing. We commonly use this as a way of warming up for golf specific training. It will loosen up the hips, abs and back, and prepare your body for the rotational component of the swing.
8. DYNAMIC SINGLE ARM FLOOR PRESS
Suggested Rep Range: 3-4 Sets of 5-10 Reps
Focus on keeping your hips high utilizing the glutes for support
Keep abs tight so your hips do not collapse to one side
We use this exercise primarily for mixed martial arts, grappling, and tactical training. However, it translates perfectly into golf as it builds strength and stability through the abs, hips, and shoulder. Think about a golf swing. In order to maximize the power of your swing, you need to flawlessly integrate the force transferring from your legs, to your hips, through your torso, through your shoulders and arms, and into the club. This is why including multi-joint, compound movements like this floor press into your training routine is absolutely vital.
9. PHYSIO BALL BALANCE
Suggested Rep Range: 2-3 Sets of 30-60 seconds
be careful getting on!
start out with an assist from a friend (or a piece of equiptment)
Looks easy doesn't it? Try this exercise for 30 seconds and we promise you'll reconsider. It is the perfect exercise to build strength in the adductors (inside of the hips). For golf specific training I would invite you to look at the posture as if it was the set up position for your swing (from the knee up). Try and hold the same posture and body position (again, from the knee up) as you would when prepping for your swing. Want to make things more interesting? Add in a medicine ball toss, or PVC pipe twist to replicate the motion of swinging the club.
10. SUPERMANS
Suggested Rep Range: 2-3 Sets of 10-15 reps
Hold the contraction at the top for at least a second
Do not hyperextend your neck
What is every golfers worst nightmare. Blowing out your back on the first swing of the day and being off the course for the next few weeks of beautiful weather. This should be a foundational exercise for every single golfer. Supermans are used to increase strength and consistent activation of your posterior chain. This chain of muscles contract (to some extent even when passively standing) to stabilize and protect your spine when you perform athletic movements. This is why it is so important to maintain a high level of strength throughout these vital muscles.