Importance of Exercise in Your Golf Game

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Golf, a person’s leisure sport in which most people think that all you need is a hard swing and luck in order to be good. Sadly, most people believe that anyone can just pick up a golf club, and expect to be good in a short amount of time. Just like any sport, it takes dedication, practice, and a lot of strength in your shoulders, back, legs, and most importantly, your core to become great. You may be the biggest guy on our golf course, being able to bench press 300 pounds, or having the forearms of Popeye, but you are still getting beat by your leaner friend. So what gives with this? Let me explain:

Take a look at most golfers out on the PGA tour right now. How many are 6’4” and 250 pounds? You can probably count them on one hand. The typical golfer is a tall, lean and very flexible person. Golfers strive in being this way, because they have some of the strongest shoulders, backs, and cores out of any athletes out there. Having a strong core helps you in being able to turn your body from the beginning of your swing, all the way into your follow through. I have trained some golfers in my time here at Black Clover, and I stress the important of having a strong core. What do you mean by having a strong core? I am talking about the lower back, obliques, and abdominals. Strengthening these muscles will help you move faster in your swing, and give you that extra power needed to drive the ball those extra yards needed to get closer to the cup. Some basic exercises would include: Swiss ball crunches, swiss ball circles, plank hold on swiss ball just to name a few. There are endless possibilities to help strengthen the core.

Not to be outdone by your core, the shoulders are a much needed part to any golf game. Build shoulders will help convert the power from your legs and into the head of the club. I usually will have my clients do isolated movements with the shoulders, helping them strengthen them individually to help to build strength as a whole. A few of these exercises would include: dumbbell front raises, dumbbell lateral raises, dumbbell shoulder press, cable raises, just to name a few.

If you put in the work on the golf course, and in the weight room as well, strengthening the shoulders, core, and the back. If you put all those pieces together, as long as a very balanced and healthy diet, you will be surprised to see how much it will improve your golf game. I have seen it happen, and I strive to make it happen!

Tennis Strength and Conditioning

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As an avid tennis player, I have realized over the years that training in the gym is just as important as training on the court. What I am going to do is outline 3 of the my favorite exercises when it comes to training for tennis in the gym.

For lower body, I focus on barbell squats and lunges. We all know the benefits of squats and how they build lower body strength, but they also work loads of different muscles as well. I typically go heavier when squating, followed by some speed squats using the barbell only.

I also feel lunges are a very important part of my training protocol. When a tennis players sets up to hit a forehand, backhand or charge the net for a volley, you are mimicking a lunge. I use higher reps when doing lunges for my training.

Lastly, core work is essential. I use different pieces of equipment to mimic torso rotations. Whether using the cable system, a barbell, or medicine balls, side to side movements are essential when training my core. Think of hitting a forehand or backhand, you are using your torso while executing the movement. A strong core will lead to more fluid shots.

Add these three movements into your training regiment and prepare to see the results. Also, make sure to switch up your weight and rep schemes to keep your progress moving forward. Our bodies are made to adapt, and they will if we do the same protocols over and over again.

Best of luck!