Help your golf game with resistance exercises

Golf is a sport and you should approach it as an athlete approaches any sport, using physical conditioning to improve your game.

Other than good technique, hitting a golf ball consistently and effectively for 18 holes requires coordinated muscular control, strength and stamina. By the numbers, 32 major muscles are involved in the full swing. Therefore, it makes sense that physical training will lead to an increase in physical abilities.

Quickly breaking down the basic swing will help better understand the importance of each muscle group.

The leg muscles (quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks and calves) play a major role in balance and generating approximately 80 percent of swing power. The hips initiate movement down into the ball, while the mid-section (abdominals, obliques, and erector spinae – abdominal wall and low back) transfer force from the legs into the torso and are responsible for swing acceleration.

The upper torso (pectorals, latissimus dorsi, and deltoids – chest, back and shoulders) produce the actual swing action and play a significant role in generating club head speed. The arms (biceps, triceps and forearms) control the accuracy of the club head on impact with the ball.

The old adage used to be that regular exercise wouldn’t help your game but players today know better. Nowadays, golfers know that flexibility, strength and endurance are key factors in developing and maintaining a good golf swing.

Still not sold? Consider this: 50 percent of golf injuries could be prevented with proper conditioning programs. Of those golfers who suffered injury, healing time was reduced by 40-70 percent if the golfer had been in an active conditioning program prior to the injury. After age 30, a golfer is likely to get a golf-related injury every three years and after age 50, that likelihood increases to almost every year. However, being involved in a consistent physical conditioning program decreases that likelihood by 91 percent.

The physiological effects of aging, such as decreased strength, flexibility, endurance and coordination, negatively affect the golf swing and can be countered with a conditioning program. In fact, golfers who participate in an exercise program significantly lower their handicaps compared to their counterparts at similar skill levels who don’t exercise.

Common misconceptions about resistance training and golf include the notion that golf is a game of coordination and resistance training won’t help or that resistance training ruins flexibility. Some golfers were taught to believe that hitting balls on the range will make them strong and that if they did lift weights, they would lose their touch on the greens.

However, the facts behind the fiction are these - resistance training increases muscular endurance and improves swing consistency. It increases strength and reduces the likelihood of injuries. Resistance training also enhances power and in turn helps generate greater club-head speed while also developing greater lean tissue and decreasing overall body fat. What are you waiting for?

Angie Ferguson is an exercise physiologist from Fort Myers. She is a USA Triathlon Advanced Level 2 coach, USA Cycling coach and has a Specialty in Sports Nutrition certification. For more training tips, read her blog at www.triathlontrainingisfun.com or contact her at www.gearedup.biz.