Strength Training for Golf Performance – Introduction
7 Golf Strength Training Exercises for Your Best Game + Workout
Strength training can improve your performance in almost any sport, and that includes golf.
Golf may appear like a genteel activity where skill matters more than physical fitness, but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve your game with some golf-specific strength training exercises.
If you think about golf from an athletic perspective, it’s actually a game of power.
Driving a golf ball 300 yards requires swing speed and precision.
You generate force with your hips and transfer it to your clubhead via your core, shoulders, and arms.
The implements (golf club and ball) are light, but the speed and power are immense.
Because of this, more and more recreational and professional golfers are turning to strength training to a) improve their performance and b) ward off injury.
This article reveals how strength training can help your golf game and shares some of the best strength training exercises for better golf.
The Benefits of Strength Training for Golfers
Not convinced that strength training will improve your golf game?
Consider these benefits!
Hit the ball further
Power is force generated quickly.
If you want to increase the length of your drive, getting stronger will help boost your maximum power.
For example, Tiger Woods famously gained 30 pounds of muscle at the start of his professional career, and his drive distance increased significantly.
Technique and your club are, of course, critical to how far you can drive the ball.
But, if you don’t have much muscle behind your golf stroke, the length of your drive will never be as good as it could be.
Fix muscle imbalances
Golf is one of the most one-sided sports around.
Every shot you take is done sideways-on.
This creates imbalances where one side of your body is strong, but the other is weak.
This kind of uneven development can lead to serious postural issues, injuries, and pain.
Pain and injuries can hamper your performance and even keep you off the golf course.
Training your non-dominant side can help alleviate these problems.
Less fatigue for a more consistent performance
Endurance is critical in golf.
After all, you don’t just hit the ball once, but many times and over 3-4 hours.
Depending on the course you are playing, you may also have to walk several miles while carrying your golf bag.
So, while you probably won’t end up huffing and puffing too much as you go from one hole to the next, a long game of golf can still be tiring.
Fatigue can cause your performance to go downhill fast, especially on those last few critical holes.
Strength training means that each swing will take less out of you, and you’ll be able to play hard to the last putt.
The 7 Best Golf Strength Training Exercises
All strength training exercises are good for golf.
That’s because golf is essentially a full-body activity.
You use your legs, core, shoulders, chest, back, and arms to hit a golf ball.
So, most golfers should follow a full-body training program to strengthen all their major muscle groups.
Good general strength training exercises include:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Lunges
- Push-ups
- Pull-downs
- Chin-ups/Pull-ups
- Shoulder presses
- Biceps curls
- Triceps extensions
- Wrist curls
However, there are also some golf-specific exercises that match the demands of golf more closely.
These are the most effective exercises that mirror the movement patterns of golf.
Include these exercises in your full-body strength training program, or do them separately as preferred.
In addition, there’s a golf-specific training program at the end of this article.
#1. Single-leg Romanian deadlift
Muscles worked: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, erector spinae, core.
This exercise will improve your balance, reinforce your hip hinge, and also mirrors the safest way to bend down and retrieve your golf ball from the hole.
Mastering the hip hinge is crucial for most golf shots, as you need to adopt this position when you address the ball.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides.
- Shift your weight over onto one foot and bend your knees slightly.
- Brace your abs and pull your shoulders down and back into good posture.
- Without rounding your lower back, hinge forward from the hips and reach down toward the floor.
- Extend your non-weight-bearing leg out behind you to act as a counterbalance.
- Descend as far as your flexibility allows.
- Stand back up and repeat.
- On completion, swap legs and do the same number of repetitions on the other side.
- Once you have mastered this movement, make the exercise more challenging by holding dumbbells in your hands.
Master the Single Leg RDL [Tutorial] – Squat University
#2. Lunge with rotation
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, erector spinae, core.
A powerful golf stroke starts with a solid base which means you need strong legs.
Lunges are one of the best lower body exercises around.
They not only build strength but also work one leg at a time to eliminate left-to-right imbalances and are good for your balance.
Adding a twist makes lunges even more golf-specific.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet together and a medicine ball or dumbbell in your hands.
- Take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your rear knee down to within an inch of the floor.
- Simultaneously rotate your upper body toward your front leg and reach outside your leading thigh.
- Push off your front leg to return to the starting position, and then repeat on the opposite side.
How to Do a Dumbbell Forward Lunge with Rotation
#3. Stork press
Muscles worked: Deltoids, triceps, core, gluteus maximus, hip abductors.
This unusual exercise will build strength diagonally across your body while improving your balance and posture.
Standing on one leg is not something many people do.
Still, it’s an excellent way to develop your all-important hip and knee stabilizers.
How to do it:
- Stand on one leg and lift your knee up to around hip height.
- Brace your core and make sure your glutes are engaged by driving your foot into the floor.
- With a dumbbell or kettlebell in the opposite hand, raise the weight to shoulder height.
- Press the weight up overhead and lower it back to your shoulder while standing on one leg.
- On completion, swap arms and legs and repeat.
Stork Press
#4. Half-kneeling cable row
Muscles worked: Latissimus dorsi, biceps, deltoids, forearms.
The half-kneeling cable row is an excellent exercise for your upper back and core strength, as well as lower body mobility and general posture.
It’s a unilateral (one-sided) exercise, so it’s also helpful for fixing those common left-to-right strength imbalances.
How to do it:
- In front of a low cable machine, take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your rear knee to the floor.
- This is the half-kneeling position.
- Grip the handle in the opposite hand.
- Your torso should be upright, core braced, and hips and shoulders squared.
- Leading with your elbow, bend your arm and pull the handle into your lower ribs.
- Keep your wrist straight.
- Extend your arm and repeat.
- Do the prescribed number of reps and then swap sides.
- You can also do this exercise with a resistance band.
Half kneeling single arm low cable row
#5. Unbalanced squat
Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, erector spinae, core.
A good golf swing starts with a solid stance.
However, there is a pronounced weight shift from one leg to the other as you swing, which creates a wave of shifting tension across your core and hips.
This exercise replicates this effect.
How to do it:
- Rack and hold a single dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your shoulder.
- Stand with your feet around shoulder-width apart and brace your core.
- Bend your legs and squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Use your core muscles to stop you from leaning to the side.
- Stand back up and repeat.
- Hold the weight in the other hand for your next set.
DB Squat with One Dumbbell – Uneven Loading
#6. High to low cable woodchop
Muscles worked: Core, especially the obliques.
A golf swing is a rotational movement powered by your core, especially the oblique or waist muscles.
This exercise trains the obliques and gives you the opportunity to work your less dominant side and erase any left-to-right strength imbalances that may be developing.
How to do it:
- Attach a D-shaped handle to a high pulley machine.
- Stand sideways onto the handle and turn to grab it with both hands.
- Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent for balance.
- Rotate your upper body and arms through 180-degrees, chopping your arms down diagonally from shoulder height to your hips.
- Unwind and return to the starting position and then repeat.
- Switch sides and do the same number of repetitions in the other direction.
- You can also do this exercise with a resistance band.
#7. Renegade row and push-up
Muscles worked: Pectoralis major, triceps, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, deltoids, biceps, core.
If you only have time to do one upper body and core exercise for golf, this should be it.
The renegade row and push-up work all your major pushing and pulling exercises as well as your entire midsection.
It teaches you how to maintain a stable core while moving your arms, which means it’s very golf-specific.
How to do it:
- With a dumbbell in each hand, squat down and adopt the basic push-up position.
- Your arms, body, and legs should be straight.
- Brace your core and tense your legs.
- Bend one arm and row the dumbbell up into your lower ribs.
- Place the dumbbell back on the floor.
- Row the other dumbbell up and put it back on the floor.
- Next, bend your arms and lower your chest down between your hands.
- Push yourself back up, so your arms are straight.
- That’s one rep – keep going!
- Repeat this row/row/push-up sequence for the designated number of reps.
Dumbbell Pushup Renegade Row Exercise Demonstration
Golf Strength Training Workout
Whether you play a lot of golf or are a weekend hacker and slasher, strength training can improve your game.
General weight training workouts will help, but you can also do more targeted golf strength and conditioning.
Do this workout 2-3 times per week, preferably in conjunction with a general strength training program.
Focus more on movement quality than load, ensuring you perform each exercise with perfect form.
But, before you begin this (or any) workout, make sure you prepare your muscles and joints with a brief warm-up of cardio and dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises.
Fit Apprentice® Golf Strength Training Program
Golf Strength Training Exercises – Wrapping Up
It’s easy to underestimate the strength demands of golf.
After all, golf clubs and balls are very light.
However, the large range of motion involved in a golf swing and the speed of movement means that golf is really an explosive power sport.
Plus, anatomically, it’s very one-sided, which can lead to uneven muscular development.
It’s no wonder that so many golfers play injured.
So, use strength training to increase performance and reduce your risk of imbalances and injuries.
General resistance training will help, but you’ll get even better results from strength training exercises that mirror the demands of golf.
Rory McIlroy full gym workout | 2022 Slync.Io Dubai Desert Classic
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Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer), an