What if I told you that with a simple, regular, personalised exercise program you would able to hit the ball further than you've ever hit it before? And that the same program could also improve your current injuries, prevent future injuries, improve your health and fitness, help you lose some weight and add years to your golf, and your life! How would it feel to out-drive your friends, lower your handicap, play golf without back, neck or shoulder pain and have improved health and wellbeing? What are we waiting for...let's get started.

Every golfer wants to play better golf, and every golfer wants to hit the ball further. Aside from technical swing help from your golf pro, to hit the ball further you need your body to generate more power, resulting in more club-head speed.

Research tells us that 54% of the power delivered to the shoulders and arms in the golf swing, is generated by the LEGS and the CORE! The CORE muscles connect the LEGS to the shoulders and arms. Therefore the CORE helps to transfer and deliver the power generated by the LEGS to the shoulders and arms and then through to the golf ball.

Conclusion: in order to hit the ball further we need to improve the stability and strength in your LEGS and your CORE to generate more power, more club-head speed and out-drive your friends!

(Side note: the reason for so many wrist and elbow injuries among recreational and professional golfers is often a lack of leg and core strength, resulting in an arm dominant swing and eventual over-use injury)

Lets focus on the CORE first and leave the LEGS for another day: core conditioning is critical for any golfer because all movements of the upper and lower body are tied together, supported, and coordinated by your core. From experience I can say that most people are very weak in the core, and as a result, have chronic posture issues and resulting pain. A golfer with a weak core is not just sacrificing distance but is also particularly vulnerable to injury.

So, how do we improve the function and strength of your core? Below are my top three exercises that you can do at home without any fancy equipment to get that CORE into gear and start to add more distance to your game.

Horse Stance Vertical

This is an excellent exercise for improving control and strength of many key stabiliser muscle groups at the same time:

Set-Up

1.     Adopt a hands and knees position on the floor, 90 degrees at the hips, hands directly under the shoulders.

2.     Maintain perfect neutral spinal alignment, with a dowel rod or similar tool positioned along your back parallel to the floor.

Execution

3.     Draw the belly inward toward your spine just enough to create a space between your belt and your stomach.

4.     Lift a hand and the opposite knee slightly off the floor just high enough to slide a sheet of paper underneath, maintaining perfect body alignment.

5.     Hold for 10 seconds. Switch sides and repeat. Work up to 3 minutes total time.

Lower Abdominal #1

The lower ‘abs’ play a major role in stabilising not only your spine but your entire body during the golf swing! Research also shows that the abdominal muscles tend to weaken with age making it even more important for golfers to work on this area.

Set-Up

1.     Lie on your back on the floor, knees bent, with feet on the floor.  

2.     Place your hand under your lower back directly beneath your belly button with your fingertips touching your spine.

Execution

3.     Inhale and then draw the belly inward toward your spine just enough to create a space between your belt and your stomach.

4.     While holding the belly button in, tuck your pelvis under so your lower back flattens and creates pressure on your fingers. Hold and continue to breathe.

5.     Hold for 10 seconds at a time. Work up to holding for 3 minutes consecutively.

Prone Cobra

The prone cobra is an excellent exercise for conditioning the postural muscles of the back and re-establishing ideal postural alignment. It can also help to deal with certain types of back pain.

Set-Up

1.     Lie face down on the floor, arms at your sides with palms down.

Execution

2.     Inhale and elevate your torso while simultaneously squeezing your shoulder blades together and rotating your arms so your palms face away from your body and your thumbs to the ceiling.

3.     Tuck your chin in and keep your feet on the ground. Hold and continue to breathe.

4.     Hold for 30 seconds at a time with 15 seconds rest in between. Work up to 3 minutes total hold time.

Perform these three exercises, or three minutes per exercise, three times weekly and I have no doubt that you'll see your hard work pay off with more distance on the course.

For a fully individualised approach to improving YOUR core stability and driving distance Click here to contact us today and book your FREE 1hr Golf Fitness Consultation at Golfer’s Edge Personal Training.