Types of training to best improve golf game?

[Michael Drew]

I love me some golf. I'd like to improve on it. Power in golf is nothing without control of the power. I know that bodybuilding training with isolation exercises does nothing but hurt my golf game. My swing is very disconnected. Power lifting exercises helped, especially the deadlift probably because of how it strengthened my core.
Is it a correct assumption that olying could best help my golf game? Because ideally I my swing would be fluid, fast, and explosive, at the same time remaining controlled and balanced. What is right???

[Arden Cogar Jr.]

Micheal,
believe it or not, the golf swing is very similar to the swing I have for some of my lumberjack events. Training like "a thrower", IMO, is the best advice I can give you in regards to working on timing/rotational/flexibility based movements such as golfing.

IMO, you're dead on with the olympic lifts. Forget all curls and isolation movements. IMO, Bench pressing has no place in such a program.

To get better at an event, train the event. But make your weight training an adjunct to it. We need a certain level of strength, but not a lot. My implement weighs 6 to 7 pounds. To much muscle mass will cause me to slow down and I don't want that. Same for golf that has a lighter implement.

Timing and technique is the key. To be blunt, I keep an axehandle in my gym bag and I often swing it between sets to keep the neural pathways firing to make sure my body knows what I'm training for. If that makes any sense? I've gotten a lot of crazy looks over the years, and it's one of the reasons why I have such an elaborate home gym. But it's done me well.

Good luck.

All the best,
Arden

[Steven Low]

For me just overall full body work has been really good.. DLs and such. As I get stronger my hits get longer which is pretty awesome.

But Arden's lumberjack rotational focus is probably extremely good as well. If you're going to do that try to keep it for the most part separate or exactly similar to your golf swing. You don't want competing motor patterns with chopping motions and your golf swing because that will just throw you off even more.

[Michael Drew]

Sounds good thanks for all the great advice.

[Allen Yeh]

I'm not a golfer, but I recently picked up the Core Performance book for Golfers just to take a look at the content since I like Mark Vestergen's ideas when it comes to movement prep, prehab, and recovery. I'd say drop by your local library and take a look and see what may be applicable to you? It has it's flaws as it's somewhat gimicky towars golfers and the workout itself doesn't seem very challenging but a lot of the movements are ones I would and do already incorporate into my training.

[Mike ODonnell]

Tape a 2lb weight to the end of a golf club....go swing it around....the take it off and see what happens.....I can not however fix any slices or putting issues.

Most professional golfers can easily show you that you don't need big muscles to crush the ball.....or have to have a solid "core"....although many of theirs are quite large.

[Craig Loizides]

I went to the range a couple days ago and hit golf balls for the first time in 2 years. The first thing I noticed was improved midline stability giving better control throughout the swing. I was most reminded of DL and squats of all types. The next thing I noticed was better control of the transfer of power from the core to the club. This made me think of KB swings and kipping pullups. The third thing I noticed was a more explosive opening of the hips - oly lifts.

All the power and stability in the world won't help you if your swing is "very disconnected". I agree with Arden that basically all throws and swings are the same. I played a lot of baseball and tennis growing up so I think of hitting a flat forehand down the line or hitting a low fastball back up the middle. Even just throwing a golf ball as far as I can can help me get the feel sometimes. Basically just "throw" the club head at the ball.

[Dave Van Skike]

Originally Posted by Arden Cogar Jr.

Micheal,
Timing and technique is the key. To be blunt, I keep an axehandle in my gym bag and I often swing it between sets to keep the neural pathways firing to make sure my body knows what I'm training for. If that makes any sense?

Totally, I have an empty 40 oz. OE bottle full of sand in my bag. between sets of squats I pantomime slamming back some heart draughts of malt liquor...

keeps the neural pathways clear for my chosen sport as well.

[Coach Rutherford]

Golf power is all about generating a high "X" factor. If you watch Tiger in this YouTube link you will see that his shoulders out turn his hips by 30% or more but then on the downswing his shoulders lag as his hips rotate and the shoulders followed by the arms lag behind. (He is obviously very athletic and is a once every 100 years type of player)

Tiger does this athletic move because his legs are very strong and he is able to anchor to the deck and create enormous tension in his right side while rotating is torso around that base.

All things being equal (and they are not), the ground base foundational moves stated here by others are the first level. If you are deadlifting PVC and squatting the bar then start there and keep taking lessons.

Once you have developed competency in these moves I believe that you should practice some unilateral and contralateral DB moves. Along with low to high and high to low diagonal moves.

-Single leg contralateral db deadlift (see last months PMenu)
-Single leg contralateral Dball snatch
-DB Overhead Squat (lateral flexion, torso rotation)
-DB Pressing Snatch Balance
-DB Overhead Lunge Walks
-Single leg squats

Plank variations help and those bands are fine but it's going to take 3 times as long to get there.

[Darryl Shaw]

Buy the lightest sledgehammer you can find then beat the crap out of an old tire placed on the ground using your normal golf swing. If you want a more natural feel for the follow through (or whatever it's called after you've hit the ball) use a basketball or medicine ball instead of a tire.