For many of us, especially those of us who live from about Washington, DC and to the north, golf season is effectively over.
Sure, we may get another round or two in, but with the cold weather fast approaching, and shorter days, our opportunities will be fewer.
With that in mind, it’s a good idea to turn toward our golf fitness goals.
Improving our fitness can only help improve our golf games. And, the bottom line is this…if you aren’t improving, you’re getting worse!
As I write this, Thanksgiving is just two weeks away. That brings on the onslaught of feasts as we head toward Christmas and Hanukah in December.
Needless to say, it’s easy to let your guard down, put on extra weight, and then have a taller hill to climb after the New Year.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to set up your fitness goals now, and get to work on them.
The first step is to identify your most glaring fitness issues. Do you lack flexibility? Have poor balance? Lack core strength? Have old injuries?
Once you identify any particular issues that may be holding you back in your development as a golfer, it’s time to put together a golf fitness program.
Ideally, you’ll want to go to a golf fitness professional in this regard. Golf teaching pros who have certifications with My TPI are a good place to start.
A physical therapist or personal trainer who regularly works with golfers would also be a good place to look.
For many golfers, shedding a few extra pounds would be very helpful to their golf games. Shedding extra weight can provide you with more energy when you play golf, and reduce the stress on ankles, knees, hips and back.
If shedding weight is a goal, and you’ve never done any significant strength training before, then you’ll want to get on a program that involves strength training along with improved diet.
If you’ve already got a good bit of muscle, then you can focus more on cardio workouts such as swimming, jogging, cycling or interval training, to burn some calories. You’ll still need to maintain focus on your diet though!
For many people, a combination of the above is the best way to go. Adding some muscle will increase your metabolism, which means your body will burn a few more calories each day.
Performing cardio workouts will improve your conditioning and overall endurance.
Your golf fitness program should also include a stretching program to improve your overall flexibility.
As many golfers get older, they lose flexibility, and the ability to make a full golf swing. As a result, we lose distance off the tee and with our other clubs, and that is no fun!
The last part of your golf fitness program should include exercises that will help improve your ability to swing a golf club.
These are referred to as golf specific exercises. However, you can also find such exercises geared toward other activities, such as martial arts, that will help with your golf swing as well.
One of the best overall training programs with which I am familiar is P90X
The program comes with 12 DVDs, workout manual, diet program, recipes, etc. The workouts include strength training with and without weights, Yoga, core workouts, cardio workouts and stretching routine.
In future posts I’ll touch upon more specific exercises and programs that I believe can be very beneficial to all golfers.
Thanks for reading!
