Strength Training Golf

The combination of strength and speed is the key to increasing power needed to gain distance off the tee or from the fairway. Developing a strength training plan that matches your physical capability and range-of-motion status should be considered if you want to shoot lower scores. It's because increased distance comes from stronger muscles that help you deliver more force from the club to the ball faster through impact. 

To be effective, strength training needs to be built on a foundation of flexible muscles and joints. The best place to start a plan is with TPI functional movement screens to identify joint restrictions that prevent you from swinging efficiently. Then you can select the appropriate corrective exercises in the right progression for strengthening muscles, stabilizing joints, and reinforcing correct movement patterns.

In developing a strength training plan, it's also a good idea to evaluate the strength and power of regional muscle groups. For example, do you have a relatively greater strength in muscle chains of the upper body or the lower body?

An important goal is to increase explosive ballistic strength because a golf swing needs explosive rotational power. A resistance load somewhat less than half your maximum capacity will allow you to increase muscle fibers that most benefit increasing your rate of force production. While increasing muscle mass (hypertrophy) is important, you also want to develop fast twitch Type IIb fibers needed for enhanced movement velocity. 

As we age, strength training becomes more important to maintain health and reduce chances of injury. Greater muscle mass around joints is protective and helps to absorb physical shock. Resistance training that provides optimum postural loading increases bone density and thereby minimizes fractures. The bottom line is that stronger bigger muscles around stable joints minimize the risk of injury in golf while helping you achieve greater distances from your swing.

Best Golf Exercise Plan

The major priority in developing an exercise plan for golf is to correct range-of-motion limitations and reinforce optimum movement patterns. The plan works best when it's linked to how well you execute your golf swing. Range-of-motion can be evaluated quickly with a TPI functional movement assessment. Swing kinematic sequence and rotational movement of hips and upper body are revealed by K-Vest 3D motion analysis. 

The best golf exercises progress from easy to more difficult depending on your fitness level and physical ability. Avoiding exercises that exceed your capabilities is a good idea to minimize the risk of injury. Having a plan with benchmarks to gauge improvement gives you the feedback needed to keep on track towards your goals. 

Your plan should start with corrective exercises to remove muscle and joint limitations associated with your swing before adding resistance training to increase strength. It's important to avoid loading a non-functional joint or movement pattern, otherwise poor form and possible injury may result.

Think of the need for fitness this way. If restrictions in the right muscles (e.g., at the thoracic spine) prevent you from swinging the golf club with good technique, you are likely to recruit the wrong muscles (e.g., at the lumbar spine) in an attempt to find the missing power. In this case, it leads to back pain, the number one problem in golf.

When you can do well on your TPI functional movement evaluation, it's easier to select the best golf exercises aimed at training for the right amount of strength, speed, and mobility to swing the club efficiently. A fitness plan allows you to get the most from your lessons without reinforcing a range-of-motion limitation instead of improving your technique. 

We also find that building or retrofitting your clubs early in this process helps to accelerate the benefits of any exercise plan. It's because the length, weight, and balance of any club affect your ability to get into an efficient address position and swing the club efficiently with speed and explosive rotational power. 

Speed Training Golf

To hit the ball a long way, a golfer needs both speed and strength to produce power. Speed comes mainly from the action of Type II muscle fibers that are distributed throughout major muscle groups. There are at least two classes of Type II fibers, known as IIA and IIB. In generating speed, Type IIB muscle fibers are particularly important for generating the contractile force part of speed's stretch-shorten cycle.

The immediate source of energy for Type IIB fibers is glycogen, a glucose polymer stored in muscles that's broken down metabolically in the absence of oxygen (anerobic). Rapid anerobic breakdown of glycogen allows these fibers to contract rapidly. The action of Type IIB fibers can result in the rapid exhaustion of glycogen within a couple of minutes, then Type I aerobic muscle fibers (energy comes from oxygen metabolism) take over.

Training that strengthens and increases the amount of these "fast twitch" Type IIB muscle fibers is a major goal of speed training. It could be argued that increasing Type IIB muscle fiber performance is the holy grail of increasing golf swing speed. By emphasizing a carefully organized conditioning format known as plyometric exercise, the stretch-shorten activity of Type IIB fibers will be enhanced.

Plyometric training incorporates quick and powerful movements into exercises that increase rapid shortening of muscle fibers after an initial active stretching phase. These exercises are often simple but require optimal timing to be most effective. Plyometric training can focus on movement patterns in either the upper body or the lower body and require appropriate flexibility, strength, and posture to avoid injury.

Knowing the best way to do plyometric exercises, and working within a personalized plan is what's recommended for golf speed training. And it's good to keep in mind that the goal of speed training is speed. To hit the ball a long way, you need speed in your swing.

Rotary Power Golf

Golf is a rotary sport. If you want to hit the ball a long distance, you need rotational power. If you want to hit the ball even farther, then you need to rotate your lower body, upper body, and arms in an optimum kinematic sequence. And if you want to squeeze the last bit of yardage out of your clubs, you need to develop optimum movement of your wrists. 

Rotational power is the product of speed and strength applied to the optimal sequence and timing for the movement of lower body, upper body, arms, hands, and club. Knowing how to develop speed and strength matters. Not all speed training is equally effective; not all strength training is equally effective. Like swing kinematics, each individual will benefit from a personalized plan for speed training and strength training.

The TPI functional movement assessments to understand your range of motion are a great starting point for identifying individual limitations and getting started with some basic fitness techniques. We think in terms of movement patterns, muscle groups, and multi-joint motions that lie at the heart of an effective training plan to gain rotational power. 

Long Term Golf Plan

A common theme at TPI classes is developing a plan. It's been raised to a high art by Tom Plummer, who we think is the smartest business thinker in the fitness industry. We love this Lewis Carroll quote (paraphrased) from "Alice in Wonderland" that Tom reminded us about recently.

• Alice came to a fork in the road.
• "Which road do I take?" asked Alice of the Cheshire cat.
• "Where do you want to go?" the cat answered.
• "I don't know." replied Alice.
• "Then it doesn't matter." the cat said.

Having a long term plan is an essential part of improving your golf game. It seems obvious, but if you don't develop a plan then random lessons, unfocused drills, and intermittent exercises won't improve your swing much at all.

Surprisingly most golfers don't develop a plan. It can be a fatal flaw for any golfer with dreams of playing competitive golf. Having a long term plan matters. You can spend a lot of time and money with mental game gurus getting this advice, but here it is, free: develop a plan if you want to get better. 

To develop a plan, it helps to know your swing characteristics, your basic range-of-motion, and whether the clubs in your set fit you properly. Working with your coach, trainer, and clubfitter will help you follow interim goals in the right order -- what to work on first, and what comes next. And where you're going.