What Is Golf Fitness (And What Isn't)

With the emergence of fitness and athleticism on the PGA Tour, it seems you can't go ten minutes without a commentator or reporter mentioning a young pro's strength, body, or conditioning. The Tour has embraced fitness and it is here to stay. It has had a profound effect on the game as evidenced by the recent contention in majors by guys that were supposed to be on the Champions Tour in golf carts. So what exactly are these guys doing anyway? Certainly they aren't lifting like Schwarzenegger in the 70's. Nor are they taking hot yoga classes in Palm Springs. In reality Tour Professionals, under the direction of organizations like the Titleist Performance Institute, are following very logical concepts in their workouts. But, as the quote goes, "common sense is not so common."

Being both a former golf professional and golf fitness coach, I get asked a lot about how to get in shape for the game. Living in South Florida, typically golfers are older and losing yardage in a hurry. Most are very successful well-educated people. However, through no fault of their own, they are often misinformed about fitness. Generally, the questions they have are along these lines:

Won't lifting heavy weights make me big and tight?

Trunk rotations and crunches are great for your "core" and help the golf swing, right?

If I practice swinging with a dumbbell or a weighted stick, won't I hit it farther?

Let's break these myths down one by one:

Golf, strange as it may seem to some, is an explosive movement, closer in relation to Olympic Weight Lifting than running or biking from a training perspective. Many coaches refer to it as a "one-second sport, " because the swing and the subsequent energy and movement systems needed to generate it all happen in about a second. The muscle fibers and energy systems ideally suited for power in the golf swing are all designed to move a lot of stuff very quickly. They have no endurance capability, nor do they need it (they recover adequately in the time it takes you to reach in your bag and grab a "breakfast ball"). They need to be stimulated in the proper manner.

Now before you go out and try a max power clean, I'm not suggesting you go heavy right away nor attempt an inappropriate exercise that you haven't mastered. What I'm saying is perhaps the 100 reps of pink dumbbell curls that your trainer told you was "golf-specific" may not be the best way to get 10 more yards. Muscle size, or "bulk" is largely a function of training volume and medium (8-12) reps. Lower reps will generally contribute a lot less undesirable size increase but higher levels of strength and power production.

Core training myths could be about thirty articles on their own, but I'll try to keep this pretty simple. In an efficient golf swing, the hips and upper back create the vast majority of rotation and "turn." Rotating the lumbar (lower back) on its own is a recipe for disaster. It's been said that as we get older, we lose mobility where we need it and gain it where we don't. This is a prime example. The sedentary lifestyle of the average weekend golfer is causing tightness in the hips and upper back(that's you, office guy). The body compensates for this by giving up some mobility in an area that should be stable (lower back), thus the cause of the massive consumption of Saturday morning Advil. So start doing a little more hip and upper back mobility work and work on stabilizing the lower back with exercises like planks.

The final myth is not specific to golf. Just because something looks like a golf swing (or any athletic movement, for that matter) does not make it a good idea in the gym. There have been many studies that have shown swinging overweight objects will actually lessen swing speed, as well as affect timing and motor control. Your mind-body connection is very intricate, especially the more you develop a skill. You probably can feel how a slight change in even your foot position feels suddenly awkward and unnatural. Your brain is like a computer. It has a golf swing program stored that's constantly updated and optimized. Now, by swinging that dumbbell, your brain becomes confused. Is that a golf swing? I thought this other program was a golf swing? Because you can't swing the dumbbell at nearly the same speed as a golf club, your body can actually slow down motor patterns and muscle firing speed to accommodate the new movement (A similar thing occurs when you have sprinters do a lot of jogging). So stop trying to replicate your swing in the gym. That's what the range is for. I've often reiterated that the most sport specific training you can do is playing the sport. Work on your physical limitations in the gym and develop some strength and power too. That will carry-over to your golf game far more and look a lot less ridiculous.

The best recommendation I can give to improve your golf fitness and performance is to find a TPI Certified Professional and get a physical screen done to assess your limitations. Address these limitations with the recommended exercise progressions and add some power work like using medicine balls and you'll see vast improvements.

Brendan Hayden is a South Florida strength coach, trainer and business owner. He co-owns Coastal Performance, a 3800 SF hybrid fitness facility in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The facility offers a wide-range of services from training groups of athletes and general fitness clients, to nutritional consultation and TPI golf fitness programs.