Start Improving Your Golf Game This Winter For Better Results Next Summer

With temperatures hovering around freezing, the farthest thing from my mind is golf. However, if one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to improve your game, now is this time to start. There are certain things that need to be started several months before golf season to ensure a long and injury free year.

Golf is a unique sport in that it requires certain areas of your body to demonstrate exceptional strength and other areas of sufficient flexibility. Both of these attributes take time to develop and therefore specific training should start several months in advance to your target date.

The most common “problem areas” I see in evaluating golfers is the lack of flexibility in the hips and the lack of core stability and overall endurance. This is seen in golfers of all abilities too. Below I will list certain key points to improving both. Just remember that any new exercise program should be started under the guidance of your health care provider to be sure that you are healthy enough to participate.

Flexibility of the Hips

Be sure to stretch often and ALWAYS following any kind of exercise routine. Research has shown that stretching 30 seconds 4-5 times a day gives better, longer lasting results versus stretching 2-3 minutes once a day. Also stretching is a great way to cool down following an exercise routine and helps decrease soreness.

Focus on Rotation of the hips. The golf swing is a “Multi-planar” exercise, which means it moves in more than just one direction. It forces you to move front to back, side to side and around an axis of rotation, therefore we need to be flexible in all directions.

For great stretches, and A LOT of them that are demonstrated with a video, I would recommend going to www.mytpi.com and sign up for a free account. This website has a great deal of information that is very helpful to the avid golfer.

Core Stability & Endurance

To increase core endurance start with exercises such as a Side-Bridge or a Front Plank from your knees. These exercises train your core for stability and are much safer on your back than the standard sit-up. Also these exercises will work ALL of the abdominal muscles. 

If training at a gym, try to keep your workout moving. One great way to help with endurance is to go from one exercise to another several times before repeating the first exercise. For example: Perform a 30 second Side-Bridge, then immediately perform 25 lunges, then immediately perform 20 push-ups, then break for 30 seconds and start over. This will keep your heart rate up and thus help with cardiovascular endurance.

This is just scratching the surface when it comes to golf specific training, stretching and program design. Understanding what part of your game you want to improve as well as what your unique strengths and weaknesses is what will ultimately take your game to the next level. For questions on Golf Specific Training or anything in the article please don’t hesitate to contact our office at 615-302-4747 or email us at info@imsjc.com and feel free to visit our website www.imsjc.com.