Become a More Athletic Golfer to Improve Your Golf Game

Golf and Fitness are two terms that can finally go hand in hand, thanks to one Tiger Woods and his famous mystery workout routine, and the other professional and amateur players who have followed his lead. Once an activity perhaps identified more with pot bellies, motorized carts and cups of beer on the course than physical strength and a good physique, there is now no question that golf has entered the world of a full fledged sport that requires physical training to perform at its best. Golfers on the professional tours look like athletes now, with more and more toned athletic bodies being seen on TV crushing the ball down the longest, most difficult courses in the world. Spending some time in the gym has been shown that it can make as big a difference in a golfer's score as time on the range or putting green. The game itself has changed, and the way players approach it has changed, as well.

As a personal trainer and avid golfer, the relationship between fitness and golf is a natural one to maintain, but it wasn't that way when I started playing the game as a junior. I first picked up clubs when I was about 5, then started playing seriously by about the seventh grade. By seriously I mean it had become the obsession that many golfers feel when they realize they would rather be golfing than just about anything else. A group of friends and I played regularly, and by high school, we were not only on our golf team together, we were some of the best players in our entire small town.

I was never able to hit the ball as far as my friends on the team, and one thing they told me over and over was that I should lift weights and get stronger, which at the time they did because they also played on the basketball team in the winter. As a skinny cross country runner at the time, I saw no need nor had any interest in lifting, as the weight room intimidated me in high school. I look back almost 30 years later as a much stronger, longer and better player than I was then (because I lift weights!) and wonder what might have been had I listened to them.

What my friends on the golf team did in the high school weight room in the early 80's was primitive to the workout science and programs that are available to golfers now, but they were definitely on to something. One way to look at it was that before it became popular, they were athletes who happened to play golf, and it showed in the length they had off the tee. This athletic approach can be applied to any golfer's game in the present day and immediately improve their ability to play better. With some examination, it is easy to see why.

The golf swing itself is actually an incredibly complex movement that combines virtually every muscle in the body into one coordinated action. The requirements of balance, coordination, flexibility, stability, strength and power all come into play in just one swing. Over the course of a practice session or round, endurance becomes a factor as well. Having some physical fitness in all of these areas can make for a much more effective swing. It is a bit ironic that golf itself does not require you to be in shape to play (unlike running a 10 k race, for example, which needs a level of fitness to even be attempted), nor will it really get you in shape by playing regularly (unless you walk rather than ride a cart). Yet working out overall dramatically increases the ability to perform the golf swing itself. So many players look to the next big expensive driver to add yardage off the tee. Well, what it they could hit it harder by being in better shape, and straighter, too?

Getting into the specifics of golf fitness, flexibility is paramount in the modern golf swing. The ability to turn the body through the trunk away from the ball, storing potential energy on the backswing, while maintaining an anchored, solid stance through the legs and hips, is what has been shown to generate the most power. Tiger Woods has a tremendous shoulder turn on his backswing which sets him up to uncoil with great speed through the ball on the downswing.

A person taking golf lessons and attempting to emulate Tiger's shoulder turn typically doesn't even have a body physically capable of doing that motion effectively! They may be taking lessons, yet are prevented from practicing the motion that they are learning by a lack of flexibility and fitness in the muscles of the trunk and back. Only by improving their fitness in these areas through proper training can they then expect to perform the proper motion.

In addition to flexibility, core strength and stability throughout the body are essential as well. These fitness terms refer to the body's strength in the trunk and the ability of the muscles of the entire body to operate in a coordinated, athletic way, which provide a stable "platform" in the body for hitting the golf ball. The more coordinated and stable the body is, the less motion is wasted during the swing and the more effort goes straight into hitting the ball where it is meant to go.

After flexibility is attained and a good amount of core strength and stability as well, more basic strength can then be added into a fitness routine. This could be along the lines of the classic term "lifting weights" that my high school buddies wanted me to do. A flexible and stable body that gets stronger, as long as the flexibility is not lost, can add significantly more effort to the golf swing, especially in situations where the ball may be in the rough or have a lie that requires more effort than the typical swing. If you watched Tiger Woods during the US Open in June, 2007, his physique from his fitness routine looked more muscular than ever, yet was very flexible. There were comments from the TV announcers many times on the level of his fitness and how it played out in making his game more effective. He is quite capable of hitting shots no one else on earth can because of his fitness level. As a result, he has more shots available to him to help him score.

So we know now how fitness has changed the game of golf and what is available to the player who chooses to add more fitness to their routine and golf game. Anyone can benefit from some exercise that is golf specific, and can participate at the level that they want. A person doesn't have to workout like Tiger Woods to get better. Sometimes even just working out regularly itself can make all the difference.

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Core exercises for better golf

If you watched the US Open you saw how fit Tiger Woods looked. You may think that doing a bodybuilding program is the key to developing lean muscle like Tiger. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Body building workouts only build bulky muscles that lack flexibility and flexibility is the biggest key in golf. It is important to find a fitness plan that understands the golf swing.

The right type of workout is one that incorporates core exercises. Core exercises are movements that require your abs to contract and stabilize during the movement while you may move your chest, legs, back, or arms. Good core exercises combine multiple planes of motion into one just as your golf swing does. The last time I checked I didn't see a golf swing performed in a stationary machine like a chest press.

Though you can develop strength using machines, utilizing full range of motion with dumbbells translates more to better golf.

Exercise to swing the golf club in balance

Do you find that you don't keep your balance through the golf swing? You would know this if you find after your swing the club that you have fallen to one side or leaning backwards. Poor balance is one of the leading causes of poor golf shots by amateurs. When you lose your balance even slightly you lose the stored power you had in your backswing.

So what to do about it?

One of the best exercises is a series of exercises on an exercise ball can be added to any fitness plan. First, you have to develop enough balance and core strength to kneel on the ball with out falling. This can takes weeks or months depending on where are starting from. You need to be able to kneel on the ball and keep yourself steady for a min. before moving on.

The advanced step once you can kneel on the ball is to while kneeling on the ball work on rotating like your golf swing though with no club. Start moving slowly as fast movements will just through you off the ball. Fell how you have to hold your core abdominal muscles tight to keep from falling. Once you can do this than add a club.

Each phases of this exercise you will still see improvement in your balance and golf game. It isn't important to rush to getting to swinging a club on the ball. The important factor is that you are improving your core strength and balance at your own level. Jumping straight to swing a club on the ball only creates bad habits if you can stay on the ball at all.

Golf swing with more power

Have you wondered how Tiger Woods and the other PGA golfers hit the ball so far? The key is the x-factor which was coined a few years ago. The x factor is the new modern golf swing that pivots over the hips.

The key difference in the x factor swing than an older style swing is that there is very little hip turn. The hip stays stationary while the shoulders pivot around.

Two physical traits are essential to pull of an x factor swing, torso flexibility and hip stability. Most fitness plans don't focus on these facets with most strength workouts to build bigger muscles. All the muscle and power in the world won't help if you can't keep your hips in balance and make a full rotation on your back swing.

One legged squats and exercises on exercise discs are great for developing hip stability. If you get really good you can do a one legged squat on an exercise disc. There are many different torso rotation exercises the key is to keep the hips stable as most people once the muscle tighten up simply move their hips to get more rotation which keeps them from increasing their flexibility. Once more this lack of flexibility is seen in a lack of power of the tee.

Creatine for more power in your golf swing

Many of you have heard of creatine, now the most popular sport performance supplement. Did you know creatine can help the power in your golf swing? I bet you never thought about taking creatine for golf?

Creatine is stored in your muscle cells to be combined to produce energy for when you need your most explosive form of energy. The energy to swing a golf club comes from stored creatine in your muscle cells. For the same reason performance athletes take creatine so should golfers. Your strength with be improved by up to 20% after taking creatine. I will take those extra yards.

Creatine is not a muscle mass builder. It is a strength supplement or better it is store energy in your muscle cells. Because creatine is stored and needs to combined with a phosphate to produce energy it is not a stimulant that will make you feel jittery.

The two creatine products that I recommend are NO Explode and NOX CG3.

Golf Fitness

How many times have you said you want to hit the ball farther? So we go to the store and we get the latest and greatest big moster driver only to find we still are not getting the distance that we are looking for. Improving your fitness is the best way to increase your distance. I was watching golf lessons from the pros on the golf channel agnd Brad Faxon mentions that you might not be able to swing the club correctly do to your flexibility.

Our strength, flexibility, and balance are essential for a proper golf swing. Most people's poor swings are do to muscle restrictions that don't allow for a natural golf swing. Once the body tightens up during the swing you distort your swing to get a full turn.

Golf fitness depends on your level of fitness and golf though increasing your fitness will make instant dividends in your game.