Stretching Program:
This 15 minute routine will stretch every muscle in your body to loosen it up for golf. Flexibility is just as important as strength if you want a smooth, powerful golf swing.
Designed for you to follow along on your iPad, Desktop, Tablet, or Smart TV.
For this Fitness Drill, Dustin Johnson’s trainer, Joey Diovisalvi, has created a compound exercise that will get you to move like DJ at the top of the swing and help you hit it further.
Start training this weekend grab a set of 3 resistance bands from Athleema you’ll be hitting the ball further in no time.
Athleema Set of 3 Loop Resistance Bands
Strength Training Exercises for Golf
Different types of core exercises exist. Many of you are probably familiar with an exercise such as the sit-up, which is a great exercise that can be utilized to train the core. If you have read any of our other articles, you are well aware of what the word core means, and its relation to the golf swing. Let us do a quick review for your benefit, and introduce the types of core exercises to perform for your golf swing.
The core is an anatomical region of the body. It can generally be defined as the part of your body between the hips and chest. It in encompasses many muscles groups on the front, side, and backside of the body. In general the core consists of the muscles that make up your; abdominals, lower back, obliques, and hips.
The core region is important to the golf swing for many reasons. The core is essentially called the “engine” of the body. It is the area that “drives” the body for most any human movement, including your golf swing. It is primarily responsible for the capacities of: balance, stability, and power development within the body. For these capacities to occur efficiently it is necessary to train the core for improved performances.
Core Training Concepts
Many of us correlate core training to only the abdominal section of the body. In order to develop the core correctly for the golf swing, we must train all areas of the core equally. This means to address the obliques, hips, and lower back with the same number of exercises and repetitions as you do for the commonly trained abdominal region.
A quick note from experience: More times than none, the majority of individuals have what are termed “imbalances” in the core region. This statement means that certain muscles or muscle groups are weaker than others. The key for optimal performance in golf is to have a balanced core when it comes to the strength, endurance, and power levels in the muscles within this area of the body. Keeping this thought in mind, many times the lower back region is “weaker” than the abdominals (imbalanced core or not balance core as we like to say). If this is the case, additional attention / exercises are needed for the lower back, to bring it “up to speed” so to speak, in level with the abdominals.
Moving forward, knowing that we must train the entire core and create balance between all the muscles. It is time to discuss what type of exercises to utilize in training the core region. To develop the core region for golf you will want to perform exercises in the following categories: stability (balance), strength, endurance, and power. All four of these categories are necessary for an optimal swing. Leaving one of the categories listed above out of your training program is like building a boat with a hole in it. It will not work!
Let us define the different training categories of a “golf specific core program” to help you better understand the purpose behind each category. The categories of core training are incorporated in golf training are: 1) Stability (balance) training, 2) strength training, 3) endurance training, and 4) power training.
Stabilization exercises are exercises that develop the balance capabilities of the body. A large portion of your balance capacity is directly related to the core region of the body. We know that if you are unable to maintain your balance through out the golf swing. The efficiency of the swing, contact with the ball, and club head speed, will be compromised. For example, when you swing your driver and are not able to maintain that perfect “finished position”, the problem may be related to you ability to balance.
Balance training develops the integration of your neural and muscular systems. Improvement in the function of these two systems of the body and integration of these two systems will result in a better swing. Follow the logic and it will all make sense. If you improve the ability of your body to balance, then the ability to maintain balance within your golf swing will become easier. Implementation of exercises into your core program that improve your balance (stabilization) capacities then a direct transfer into your golf swing will result.
The golf swing requires that certain body parts remain in a stable position, while other body parts are moving. These actions occur simultaneously. To perform a powerful golf swing, the body must have the capacities to perform this action.
In order to perform the above activity it is required to develop the strength parameters of the core. If you have a weak core then the ability to maintain a posture, keep a posture, and perform this over a period of time will be compromised. To repeat, the core region of the body is involved in the stabilization process of the body. To improve this capacity, we must train the body to be more efficient at stabilizing itself during the golf swing. Strength exercises develop and improve this capacity within your body for the purpose of improving your golf swing.
The golf swing is a repetitive movement performed by the body. You are doing the same activity over and over. An efficient golf swing and good scores require that you perform the same swing on the 18th hole as you do on the 1st hole. If you are unable to repeat your swing mechanics of your swing will suffer, as will your scores. To eliminate this situation it is necessary to develop the endurance capacities of the core region. Endurance exercises allow the body to perform the same activity over and over without getting fatigued. As a result of the golf swing being a repetitive athletic movement, endurance training will enhance the ability to maintain your optimal swing mechanics over an extended period of time.
Power Exercises are geared towards improving the power outputs of the body. The core region of the body is directly related to torque development in the golf swing. Power can also be defined as torque (rotational power) when discussing the golf swing. In order to create high amounts of club head, it is required of the body to create large amounts of torque. Creating greater power in the golf swing is the result of inputting power exercises into a comprehensive core training program.
Summary
In this article we have describe the core and how to train the core specifically for the improvement of your golf game. A few points to keep in mind from this article: 1) the core is a region of the body that includes all muscles from your hips to your chest, 2) you must develop the capacities of stability, strength, endurance, and power within the core for a benefit in your game, and 3) the development of the core must be balanced in terms of all muscles involved, and in all the training components (equal amounts of stability, strength, endurance, and power) within the core.
Golf fitness training in the off-season can greatly benefit golfers of any age in the improvement of their skills on the course. All to often the golfer will neglect the physical components relative to the execution of a biomechamically efficient golf swing. Rather than develop the physical requirements of the golf swing, the golfer will spend an insurmountable amount of time practicing and money on golf lessons with minimal improvement.
The common thread in such situations is physical limitations in the areas of mobility, flexibility, stability, strength, and power limiting the ability of the golfer to execute a biomechanically efficient golf swing. The golfer must remember it is the kinetic chain of the body executing each phase of the golf swing, and in order for the athletic movements of the golf swing to be performed efficiently, certain physical parameters must be evident within the kinetic chain.
If the golfer is missing in the physical parameters required of the golf swing, compensations in the execution of the swing results. These compensations lead to swing faults such as a loss of club head speed, poor ball striking, inconsistencies, and poor play. To prevent such a situation from occurring and provide the golfer with a physical foundation to execute the golf swing, the introduction of golf fitness exercises can be of great assistance.
Golf fitness exercises as with any sports-specific training program have the goals of developing the physical components within the kinetic chain required of the athlete’s chosen sport. The end result of the implementation of such training modalities is a transfer of training effect into the execution of the golf swing. A transfer of training effect is the ability of a training program to have a direct benefit on the performance of the athlete during competition (Juan Carlos Santana, Institute of Performance, Boca Raton, FL).
Once the golfer understands the physical components connected to the execution of the golf swing as well as how a sports-specific training program can assist in the development of these physical components. The next step is the introduction of a sports-specific training program for golf. The ideal time for the introduction of such a program is during the off-season.
The off-season consists of the time of year in which competitive golf is not being played, and the amount of practice time associated with the sport is minimal. The traditional off-season for golf is the winter months where weather is not conducive to rounds of golf and the professional tour is on a hiatus. This provides an ideal off-season for any golfer from the recreational to professional level to implement a sports-specific conditioning program for golf. The ideal time frame for an off-season golf specific training program is 8-12 weeks. This is the minimal time frame required to introduce golf-specific training modalities into ones conditioning program to create adaptation in the kinetic chain. In addition, a time frame of 8-12 weeks allows for progressions to occur within the specific dimensions of the clients off-season golf specific conditioning program.
Outside of the ideal time frames associated with an off-season golf specific conditioning programs are the goals of such a program. The general goal of the off-season program as stated previously is the development of the physical parameters within the kinetic chain required in the implementation of the golf swing.
In order to achieve the goal of developing the physical components within the kinetic chain for the golf swing, a basic understanding of the biomechanics of the swing is needed. A brief review on golf swing biomechanics indicates the following: the golf swing is typically separated into phrases which are; address, takeaway, backswing, transition, downswing, impact, and follow through. The goal during each of these sentences is to keep what is termed the kinematic sequence in tact.
The kinematic sequence is a model determining the efficiency in the human body at which speed is generated and transferred to the golf ball during the swing. Researches behind the development of the kinematic sequence include Dr. Greg Rose of the Titleist Performance Institute, biomechanist Phil Cheetham of Advanced Motion Measurement, and Dr. Rob Neal of Golf BioDyanmics. The kinematic sequence allows a viewer to look at how efficiently and effectively a golfer generates speeds, transfers speed through the body, and where in the golf swing a golfer may be lacking the physical or biomechanical requirements to execute the swing with the greatest amount of efficiency possible.
Understanding the kinematic sequence is imperative to the development of a biomechanically sound golf swing. The information provided by the kinematic sequence allows us to begin to dissect where the golfer physically is breaking down within the kinetic chain during the execution of the golf swing. This will be a cornerstone in the development of a golfer’s off-season conditioning program.
Once an understanding of the kinematic sequence is in place, attention can be turned to the physical side of this equation in the form what physical requirements are needed by the golfer to execute a biomechanically efficient golf swing where the kinematic sequence remains in tact.
The ideal model to reference for determining the physical requirements of the golf swing is the mobility / stability pattern of human movement. This principle was first noted by physical therapist Gray Cook and strength coach Mike Boyle, and popularized in the sport of golf by Dr. Greg Rose. This principle states efficient movement within the kinetic chain of the human body occurring in an alternating pattern of mobile joints and stable segments. If this pattern of mobile joints and stable segments is altered, dysfunction in movement patterns will occur, and compensations in these movement patterns will be the result. A joint-by-joint view of the mobility / stability pattern of human movements is as follows: foot – stable, ankle – mobile, knee – stable, hip – mobile, pelvis / sacral / lumbar spine – stable, thoracic spinal – mobile, scapular-thoracic – stable, gleno-humeral / shoulder – mobile, elbow – stable, wrist- mobile, cervical spine – stable.
As you can see the human body operates “feet to fingertips” in an alternating pattern of a mobile joint followed by a stable joint through the kinetic chain. Relative to the golf swing the mobility / stability pattern of human movement allows for the creation and transfer of energy through the kinetic chain from “feet to fingertips” into the golf club. If the mobility / stability pattern is dysfunctional relative to the golf swing, the development of speed will be limited, transfers of this speed to the golf ball will be compromised, and compensations in the golf swing will occur.
At this point, we understand the goal of an off-season golf conditioning program as well as the guidelines dictating the development of such a program. The next step is the implementation of a golf-specific conditioning program during an 8-12 week off-season time frame. The first step in this process is a physical assessment. An assessment through a series of physical screens will determine any dysfunctions within the kinetic chain relative to the mobility / stability pattern of human movement. If any dysfunctions are found during these physical screens, a series of corrective exercises will be incorporated within the golfer’s off-season conditioning program for correction of these dysfunctions.
Once an assessment is complete, the next stage in the development of an off-season golf fitness program is a need analysis. A needs analysis is the process of determining what requirements the golf fitness program must fulfill. Such an analysis not only includes goals, but in addition, what pieces of equipment are available, time constraints on training, and the information from the physical screens. Once the needs analysis is complete, the development of the actual off-season program can commence.
An off-season strength and conditioning program is typically separated into the following training segments:
Mobility / flexibility training
2. Neuromuscular efficiency development
3. Strength / stability training
4. Power training
All or only a couple of the training segments listed above may be incorporated into a single training. Corrective and performance enhancement training modalities are incorporated within each of these categories. The actual exercises within each category are dependent upon a number of individual variables such as kinetic chain dysfunctions requiring attention within the golfer, goals of the golfer, and training experience.
The final steps in the development of the off-season golf specific training program is the introduction of the exercises into the program. Guidelines to exist in this section are the introduction of exercises that are geared towards the individual needs of the golfer in a systematic and progressive approach. A useful methodology to utilize in the selection, introduction, and progress of exercises into an off-season golf fitness program is a periodization schedule.
A periodization schedule is the cycling of loads, volumes, intensity, and exercise within a given time frame. The time frame may be divided into days, weeks, months, or even years. The cycling allows for a systematic approach to achieving improvement in the mobility, flexibility, balance, strength, stability, and power as well as advances overtraining.
Each time frame has a specific arrangement of load, volume, intensity, and exercises within the give time frame. The cycles of a peridiozation program are broken down into macrocycles and microcycles.
A macrocycle is the complete training time, which for golfers is usually one year. A mesocycle is a specific time frame within the macrocycle (for example, the off-season). The subdivisions of mesocycles for the golfer are as follows:
Phase 1: corrective, strength, stability, and endurance training
Phase 2: strength and stability training
Phase 3: Power training
Phase 4: Sports-specific training
Phase 5: competition / maintenance training
The off-season of a periodization schedule will typically find Phases 1,2, and 3, Phases 4, and 5 are found in the pre-season and competitive playing year.
Knowing the off-season consists of phases 1,2, and 3. The training for the golfer or golf fitness trainer can be focus upon the modalities incorporated within these segments, in addition to the development of these components within the kinetic chain.
To summarize, the off-season is the ideal time in which the golfer can take advantage of developing a physical foundation for the golf swing. In order for this to occur, the golfer must have a basic understanding of the connection between the physical body and execution of the golf swing. Once this basic component is understood, the development of an off-season golf fitness program can commence. The first step in this process is an understanding of golf swing biomechanics and the kinematic sequence. The second step is a basic understanding of mobility / stability pattern of human movement. After this final component is acknowledged, the commencement of an individual off-season program can begin.
The development of a golf fitness program in the off-season follows a specific order in terms of its development. A physical screen begins the development of the program to determine if any dysfunctions exist within the kinetic chain. Once complete with the physical screen a needs analysis is directed to recruit the individual requirements and goals of the program. Finally, the development of the off-season golf fitness program commences with the utilization of a periodization schedule.
TRX Suspension Trainer Y Golf Fitness Exercises
www.seancochran.com – Sean Cochran – Sports Performance Coach – TRX Suspension Trainer Y Golf Fitness Exercise to improve core strength and scapular …
