The Basics Of Golf Conditioning

Today, golf is considered a game of technical skill rather than an athletic event such as baseball and football. This misunderstanding of the game has led golfers to underestimate the importance of proper muscular conditioning.

Whether you consider yourself an amateur, pro or “weekend warrior”, everyone should be properly strengthening his or her body for the rigors of golf. In an alarming statistic, as many as 63% of all golfers play with golf pain!. Most of which can be prevented through strength training and increased range of motion. Many people currently belong to a local health club, but not many know how and what to do to make the most of their time there.

When putting together a personal exercise program here are a few guidelines to follow:

• Always warm-up before exercising and cool-down afterwards.
This only takes between 5-10 minutes. Remember this is a warm-up, so don’t over
exert yourself.

• Make sure your exercise program works the entire body.
This includes your chest, back, shoulders, arms, abs, lower back, and legs. Never skip
a body part because you may think it doesn’t need work. This can lead to muscular
imbalances and injury!

• Perform all exercises with a slow to moderate pace.

• Find a weight that you can perform between 10-15 repetitions before fatigue.

• After you can perform 15 repetitions with relative ease, it’s time to increase the
weight.

• Make sure you include both abdominal and low back exercises and do not train your
abs everyday!

• Always perform abdominal exercises at the end of your routine

Add a balance coordination element to the program. A good examples include balancing on a wobble or rocker board. Dyna-disks are also a good alternative.

Increasing your flexibility can not only improve your golf performance but also decrease your chance of getting injured. Stretching can be done before or after golfing and before, during or after exercising. It is very important that your body is warmed up before stretching. Try walking or jogging in place.

Here are a few tips when stretching:

• Never stretch into pain!

• Try performing all stretches holding on to a solid surface or on the ground to
minimize falling or slipping.

• Hold each stretch for 10-20 seconds

Enjoy!
Paul