John Rahm doing a deadlift
After Jon Rahm’s win at Riviera yesterday, MyTPI posted a video of Rahm performing a variety of exercises. Most of these were focused on training for speed with exercises that engaged the core in one way or another.
I was happy to see that a few exercises involved traditional strength training, although I did point out to them a couple flaws in his deadlift form.
Nevertheless, I thought it would be a good idea to provide my two cents on the fitness priorities for a typical golfer.
According to the National Golf Foundation, there are 25 million golfers in the US and the average age of a golfer is 54.
Strength Training should be number 1 fitness priority for most golfers
With this in mind, the average golfer should focus most of the fitness attention on strength training.
This simple reason for this is that, sometime around age 40, the human body begins the process of losing muscle mass, unless you train.
I can tell you from experience this loss of muscle mass really becomes noticeable once you hit 50.
Let me tell you a quick story.
My wife and I bought this house in Rockville, Maryland in January 2020. If you know anything about this area, you know that real estate prices are through the roof.
Therefore, I was thrilled to find a small house with a detached garage.
We had moved to Rockville from near Harriburg, Pennsylvania in 2014 and I had been without strength training equipment ever since, except for my adjustable dumbbells and a pullup bar.
Shortly after we moved in, I ordered my power rack and olympic weight set.
Within a couple days I put together the power rack, threw two 45 pound plates on the barbell and dug in for a bench press.
I pushed a measly four reps.
I could not believe how weak I had become, as 135 pounds had been my warm up weight.
I had also been doing P90X off and on during the intervening years since I previously had my strength training equipment in PA.
This was a huge wake up call.
It took me quite a while, but I finally got back much of my previous strength.
If you have never trained, or it’s been quite a while since you’ve trained, then you need to get into the gym and lift weights.
It’s the only way you’ll be able to maintain much of the distance off the tee you had when you were younger.
Flexibility and mobility
Next up is flexibility and mobility.
Yes, we all lose a good bit of the flexibility and mobility as well as we age. However, it seems that most folks my age and above focus on this first, rather than strength training.
Proper strength training exercises will actually help with flexibility and mobility.
However, if you are lacking in flexibility like I am, then you definitely want to incorporate at least some of this type of training.
To also help with these issues, I recommend dynamic movement exercises similar to those I have on my Youtube channel, vinyasa yoga flow routines, some light static stretching, and some of the mobility exercises you can find at MyTPI.
I would say that you can accomplish quite a bit with just 10 to 15 minutes per day.
Speed Training
Much of what Rahm was doing in the video I linked to involved speed and explosiveness training.
This should be the lowest priority for the average golfer.
The golf swing already places a lot of wear and tear on the body. Training for speed will simply add to that wear and tear in my view.
Why?
As we age, we start to lose a lot of that soft tissue that is necessary for joint health.
Many of these movements, and particularly if you train for speed with full golf swings, will be a bit tougher on you at some point.
John Rahm can handle these exercises because he is a young athlete, having just turned 28 in November.
However, the golf swing can catch up to you fairly quickly in different ways.
Tiger Woods has dealt with numerous issues related to his golf swing over the years. Brooks Koepka is another.
Among the older players, Tom Watson has his left hip replaced in 2008 at age 58.
That is what repetition can do to the body.
Adding even more repetition in an effort to increase swing speed after 50? Probably not a great idea.
So, now you have my two cents on the priorities for golf fitness.
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Thanks for reading!
