Golf Specific Training

There’s a lot of very 'golf-ish' exercises available online which can be great at the right place and time, for the right person, for the right golf swing… there are many variables and contexts to consider. You could just try random ones and see what sticks or what works and sometimes exercise can be a bit trial and error. However, this is not my point!

What is actually probably best for most people to begin with and going forwards for the majority of their program are basic exercises that work for everyone. 80% general exercise and 20% 'golf-ish' if you like. 

So this would look like some form of a squat, lunge, upper body push and pull, a bracing type core exercise, and maybe some sort of rotary type exercise (basic movement patterns). Followed with using different types of postures and positions to give us a foundation of general fitness and movements and then the ability to then layer on top 'golf specific' or 'swing specific' type movements and positions.

And this is where I think golf fitness can sometimes become unnecessarily complicated. There is a tendency to think that if an exercise looks like a golf swing, it must be better for your golf swing. But looking more like golf doesn’t automatically make an exercise more effective.

In fact, if your basic strength, mobility, balance and ability to control your body are limited, adding increasingly complex “golf-specific” exercises may simply be adding complexity on top of a weak foundation.

First, develop some basic strength, power and mobility that give you something to work with. Then, depending on the individual, we can start to make things more specific.

This doesn’t mean golf-specific exercises are bad. They can absolutely have a time and place. They may be particularly useful when we have a specific physical limitation, a particular swing characteristic we are trying to influence, or when someone has already developed a good general physical foundation.

General movement and strength before specific exercise, and basic/simple before complex. Just like in the golf swing, you would probably look at grip and/or set up first, before you try to play a Tiger stinger fade with a 2-iron!

Unfortunately basic exercises are not particularly cool or eye catching on social media. A goblet squat doesn’t look quite as impressive as someone swinging a cable machine around while standing on one leg.

In fact, some of the most effective exercises in your program may also be the least exciting ones. The goal isn’t to find the most complicated exercise. It’s to find the right exercise, for the right person, at the right time and then progressively make it more challenging as you improve.

Here's a few example exercise which could make up the bulk of your training for better golf performance, like this simple DB workout for Golfers, or these strength training exercise for older golfer, or these strength training exercises for better golf posture.