Strength and Conditioning's Impact on Golf Performance

[MiuraMan 58]

For those golfers interested in how Strength and Conditioning impacts golf performance you may want to follow @golf_physiologist on Instagram.

Alex Ehlert is the golf_physiologist

PhD candidate studying sport performance. Volunteer coach for UNCG Men’s Golf, and interested in all things sport science. 

He has many interesting post's. For example:

Just a series of figures to remind the golf world that 1) physical training tends to have positive effects on performance metrics (clubhead speed, ball speed, distance), 2) the results are consistent across studies, and 3) being strong and powerful generally correlates with swinging faster and hitting 💣’s.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGzy1fyF78l/

[iacas 10,309]

Does anyone doubt that being more fit improves your golf?

In my experience, serious golfers will work out for golf. The rest… will not.

[GuamAP2 5]

when I go to the gym and do weight training and gain some muscle on my arms, chest, etc. it somehow affects my golf game and I start using those muscles to swing  and basically I start using my arms only and my game sucks. It feels like I loose mobility.

Anybody have specific exercises to help my game? that to me is more important than gaining muscle... Thanks

[boogielicious 3,011]

5 hours ago, GuamAP2 said:

when I go to the gym and do weight training and gain some muscle on my arms, chest, etc. it somehow affects my golf game and I start using those muscles to swing  and basically I start using my arms only and my game sucks. It feels like I loose mobility.

Anybody have specific exercises to help my game? that to me is more important than gaining muscle... Thanks

Joey D trains golfers for fitness and flexibility. He has free eBooks. Fix Your Body, Fix Your Swing is pretty good and I still use a lot of his methods.

Joey D Golf | Fitness Programs And Training From A Tour Proven Expert

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Golf fitness training programs, exercise videos and blog for players at every level. Check out our free Joey D Golf eBook series.

I also wrote a review of this DVD below. I don’t think they sell it anymore, but others like this are around. Basically it combines strength, cardio and flexibility work for your core. You can add speed work too, but that may be better with SuperSpeed training or something similar. 

https://thesandtrap.com/b/training/sklz_golf_strong_video_program_review

Yoga is also a good way to maintain flexibility even if you are lifting.

[ChetlovesMer 806]

5 hours ago, GuamAP2 said:

when I go to the gym and do weight training and gain some muscle on my arms, chest, etc.

I might suggest for that for golf, doing explosive leg workouts and core workouts to build speed and power might be more effective than training chest and arms...

[pganapathy 105]

6 hours ago, GuamAP2 said:

when I go to the gym and do weight training and gain some muscle on my arms, chest, etc. it somehow affects my golf game and I start using those muscles to swing  and basically I start using my arms only and my game sucks. It feels like I loose mobility.

Anybody have specific exercises to help my game? that to me is more important than gaining muscle... Thanks

Basically golf requires you to be flexible and strong, not necessarily bulked up. Rory or DJ have the ideal build for golf

[saevel25 1,905]

59 minutes ago, pganapathy said:

Basically golf requires you to be flexible and strong, not necessarily bulked up. Rory or DJ have the ideal build for golf

Bulking up doesn't necessarily lead to lack of flexibility or inability to hit the golf ball. Even when people complained about Tiger bulking up, he was no where near as big as professional body builders and didn't inhibit his golf swing. 

I think people would have to go really far with bulking up before it becomes a detriment to their ability to swing a golf club. 

[pganapathy 105]

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Bulking up doesn't necessarily lead to lack of flexibility or inability to hit the golf ball. Even when people complained about Tiger bulking up, he was no where near as big as professional body builders and didn't inhibit his golf swing. 

I think people would have to go really far with bulking up before it becomes a detriment to their ability to swing a golf club. 

I agree with that, but here is the thing.  Professional athletes are working out the correct muscles, the correct way and aiming for strength they need for their specific sport. Reminds me of that Jordan series on Netflix where he changed his workout when he retired from basketball and moved to baseball and had to switch it back when he rejoined basketball. Unfortunately, most amateurs don't have the correct training, and many bulk up their show muscles, rather than for sport.

[billchao 2,773]

On 3/5/2021 at 7:51 AM, ChetlovesMer said:

I love how blatantly edited this picture is.

23 hours ago, pganapathy said:

Rory or DJ have the ideal build for golf

Patrick Reed would disagree. Bryson. Young Jack Nicklaus. Angel Cabrera. John Daly. There are a bunch of major winners with “non-ideal” builds.

19 hours ago, pganapathy said:

Unfortunately, most amateurs don't have the correct training, and many bulk up their show muscles, rather than for sport.

Those golfers don’t train specifically for golf because their livelihoods don’t depend on golf. There’s nothing wrong with that.

[SEMI_Duffer 11]

On 3/5/2021 at 1:58 AM, GuamAP2 said:

when I go to the gym and do weight training and gain some muscle on my arms, chest, etc. it somehow affects my golf game and I start using those muscles to swing  ...

Perhaps you're not training properly?  Are you working your core?  Your legs?  Are you doing full range of motion in your strength training?  (Being careful not to hyper-extend or lock joints, of course.)  Do you do some explosive reps at lower weights?  Are you doing stretches, too?

On 3/5/2021 at 7:51 AM, ChetlovesMer said:

I might suggest for that for golf, doing explosive leg workouts and core workouts to build speed and power might be more effective than training chest and arms...

Indeed.  More guys than not, at the last two gyms to which I've belonged, hardly do leg workouts--if at all, and only bother with core workouts to get those six packs.

And you're right about the "explosive" part, too.  There are both fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fiber types.  For something like the golf swing you need good fast twitch muscle response.  That requires doing explosive exercises, rather than seeing how much weight you can push at a snail's pace.

Golf also requires a degree of endurance.  So, I'd argue, reps are as important as weight.

On 3/5/2021 at 9:17 AM, pganapathy said:

Basically golf requires you to be flexible and strong, not necessarily bulked up. Rory or DJ have the ideal build for golf

I don't know as I'd go so far to claim that, but there's certainly a kernel of truth to part of it.  Witness Kyle Berkshire vs. Bryson DeChambeau.

23 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Bulking up doesn't necessarily lead to lack of flexibility or inability to hit the golf ball.

It can, depending upon how it's done.  Just as with my responses to @ChetlovesMer, many guys I see neither employ a full range of motion in their strength training, nor do they stretch.

1 hour ago, billchao said:

I love how blatantly edited this picture is.

Spend much time in gyms?  I have.  Been working out nearly continuously since 2005.  While that photo may be edited, or at the very extreme end of the examples, I have seen the like.  These are the guys that never do leg workouts.  They're jokingly referred-to as "walking light bulbs" 

About six years ago, at my last gym, I was doing a leg day, one day.  Working out on a leg press machine.  Young man that had to be half my age goes "I'm impressed."  I asked him why.  "Because you're actually doing legs.  So few guys do."

Everybody hates leg day, but you have to do it.

Same thing happened with another guy, again about half my age or less, when I was doing post-workout stretches one day.  All-of-a-sudden I hear "You're my idol."  "Huh?"  "I only wish I was that flexible," he explained.  "This didn't happen overnight," I replied.  "You gotta work at it.  I've been doing this stretching routine 3-5 days a week for over ten years."  (That was at the time.  It's now more than sixteen.

[billchao 2,773]

3 hours ago, SEMI_Duffer said:

Spend much time in gyms?  I have.  Been working out nearly continuously since 2005.  While that photo may be edited, or at the very extreme end of the examples, I have seen the like.  These are the guys that never do leg workouts.  They're jokingly referred-to as "walking light bulbs" 

Oh yea I know the type. I was simply commenting on the picture... the post underneath the bench is curved 😃

[SEMI_Duffer 11]

2 hours ago, billchao said:

Oh yea I know the type. I was simply commenting on the picture... the post underneath the bench is curved 😃

I'm not so sure that isn't the way that piece of equipment isn't made.  But I will admit I find it unlikely anybody with that guy's upper body could have legs that emaciated.

[iacas 10,309]

11 hours ago, billchao said:

Patrick Reed would disagree. Bryson. Young Jack Nicklaus. Angel Cabrera. John Daly. There are a bunch of major winners with “non-ideal” builds.

That doesn’t mean they’re right. There can be an ideal build type for golf.

5 hours ago, billchao said:

Oh yea I know the type. I was simply commenting on the picture... the post underneath the bench is curved 😃

Looks like how it is.

[Warren Zevon 24]

In our mens league we golfed a few times against a guy who looks like the above picture.  No follow through in his swing at all, but man could he muscle some shots far.

[GuamAP2 5]

Hi Thank you for your input. Exercise has helped me thru the numerous injuries from most likely a bad swing. But as time goes, I learned to exercise the muscles which I had injured just so that I could keep on playing against my doctors advise. I exercise my upper body so I feel less pain on my left shoulder and do Yoga and planks to strengthen my core so I do not re-injure my lower back. Bicycling has also helped to get my legs stronger.

When practice putting for an hour my back is shot so is my plantar fasciitis. I would love to know what sort of weight training and exercise regimen is specific for the golfing muscles per se.

BTW I am 58

[boogielicious 3,011]

13 hours ago, GuamAP2 said:

Hi Thank you for your input. Exercise has helped me thru the numerous injuries from most likely a bad swing. But as time goes, I learned to exercise the muscles which I had injured just so that I could keep on playing against my doctors advise. I exercise my upper body so I feel less pain on my left shoulder and do Yoga and planks to strengthen my core so I do not re-injure my lower back. Bicycling has also helped to get my legs stronger.

When practice putting for an hour my back is shot so is my plantar fasciitis. I would love to know what sort of weight training and exercise regimen is specific for the golfing muscles per se.

BTW I am 58

When practicing putting, I find it better not to hit a bunch of balls from the same spot. When I do this, I am stooped over a lot and it strains the back. I try to remember to stand up in between putts.

Simple exercises like lying face down and lifting your head and feet can help strengthen that area.

[SEMI_Duffer 11]

2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

When practicing putting, I find it better not to hit a bunch of balls from the same spot. When I do this, I am stooped over a lot and it strains the back. I try to remember to stand up in between putts.

Yup.  I don't putt more than 2-3 times w/o standing up and taking a few steps.