Golf weight training is an important part of any golf conditioning program. In order to play your best, it is necessary to begin and stick with a training program involving weights, exercise tubing, and exercise balls.
Professional golfers understand the role that golf exercises play, and are committed to following appropriate golf training programs at all times. Professional golfers do not follow weight lifting routines designed to build muscles.
Instead, they participate in conditioning activities specifically designed to meet the targeted strength and conditioning needs of golfers. Golf is a unique sport, and large bulky muscles are not beneficial for golfers.
The primary motion in golf is the golf swing, and the key components of an effective golf swing include accuracy, power and distance. Strong muscles, flexibility and rotation are the keys to perfecting your golf swing.
Golf weight training programs are designed to maximize the conditioning needed for effectiveness in these areas.
Conditioning programs with weights don’t involve heavy weights, and they don’t require spending long hours every day in the gym. Lengthy and intense weight training workouts are better suited for people who participate in sports where muscle bulk is beneficial, such as gymnastics, swimming, baseball and football.
Muscle bulk is not a benefit for golfers. Therefore, golf fitness programs don’t involve strenuous workouts on weight machines, bench pressing or rigorous cardiovascular activity. The programs I'm talking about are designed for the specific purpose of improving a golfer’s swing.
Thus, golf improvement programs with weights emphasizes stretching and strengthening the muscle groups that are necessary for the flexibility, rotation and power required to execute and follow through a golf swing.
Golf weight training targets those components of a player's physical condition that are directly associated with the player’s ability to swing effectively.
Golf is played in a standing position, so posture is an important component of the golf game. A good swing starts with good posture and a good stance.
Thus, posture is one of the elements emphasized in conditioning programs involving weight training. In addition to posture, stability and balance play very important roles in golf success.
Many workout programs emphasize exercises that improve both balance and core conditioning to target this component of golf fitness. Stability balls are often incorporated into exercise programs as they can be excellent tools for improving balance and increasing lower back flexibility.
Additional fitness equipment frequently used in golf specific training programs include light hand weights or dumbbells, weighted medicine balls and exercise tubing.
By incorporating these inexpensive and portable pieces of exercise equipment into your golf weight training program, you are able to incorporate dynamic motions representative of those used in the action of swinging a golf club into your workouts.
Numerous exercises designed to increase strength and flexibility for golfers can be performed with these exercise aids.
There are many different types of training exercises that golfers can easily work into their daily routines. The key to long term success with and program is consistency and persistence!
Golfers who follow this approach experience significant improvements in their golf games, as well as in their overall general physical condition and well-being.
For more Golf Weight Training information , read the Perform Better Golf Blog, published daily by Mike Pedersen.
About the Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf trainers and conditioning experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Manual, and founder of several online golf fitness and exercise websites.
Check out his golf training dvds, fitness programs, and workout products, and his new and proven Golf Fitness System, specifically designed to improve golf specific strength, flexibility, coordination, and overall golf swing mechanics!
