To lower your golf score, you’ve got to put some time in. This is the main reason golfers quit the game. Golf is a very challenging game that requires intense concentration, skill, and many physical attributes.
One approach to lower your golf score is one that is off the course and does not involve swinging a club, taking lessons or buying more gimmicky training aids.
The approach I’m talking about is working on your “machine” to produce a repeatable golf swing for 18 holes. Are you currently capable to maintain a mechanically sound swing for the entire round? If you are honest in answering that question, I’ll bet your answer is no.
The biggest frustration I hear from golfers all over the world is they hit balls, take lessons and have the latest/greatest equipment and still can’t lower their golf score. In regards to golf improvement, the above scenario has eliminated everything but the MOST important component.
Your BODY!
Golf is an athletic movement that requires strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, stability, timing and many other elements. If your body is physically limited…you’ll have a minimal chance at playing to your potential.
Just think if you put 20 minutes into a golf training routine in your home with minimal equipment. No grunting. No groaning. No pain. Just simple golf exercises that will make a dramatic, and almost immediate impact on your golf game and score.
I have seen so many “so-called” fitness books and videos that show golfers using machines in a gym. This is not what I’m talking about. And this is not golf fitness training. Anytime you sit on a machine that isolates one muscle group, you will not improve your game.
What I’m talking about is using hand weights, a stability ball and some exercise tubing with handles. All very inexpensive and perfect for improving your golf game. The only catch is you need the right exercises to go along with this affordable equipment.
I’ve heard horror stories of golfers who have lifted weights and said their game got worse. This is a problem! You’ve got to do exercises that will train your body to make a stable, mechanically sound golf swing for 18 holes.
Once you realize golf is an athletic sport that requires both golf-specific strength and flexibility, you’ll become a believer in training your body off the course to lower your golf score.
About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf performance swing trainers in the country. Golf Magazine's expert at GolfOnline.com, author and founder of several cutting-edge online golf performance sites. Take a look at his just released golf performance dvds and manual at his golf swing tips site - Perform Better Golf.
This article is free for republishing The golf swing is a physically demanding movement. Until golfers realize this, their pursuit of the perfect swing will never be achieved. Mike Pedersen is President/CEO Perform Better Golf which offers golf training dvds, manual and equipment. Get Mike's free Fit To A Tee ebook by subscribing at http://www.performbettergolf.com
Strengthening Your Golf Swing Muscles Will Greatly Improve Your Golf Game
by: Mike Pedersen
Golf swing muscles? Is there such a thing? You didn’t think they were important or existed did you? But I’m sure when you’ve gone home after a round of golf with a sore back you were reminded very quickly, you do in fact have golf swing muscles.
Having been a certified conditioning professional for over 20 years and the last 10 with golfers exclusively…I can tell you with one hundred percent confidence there is definitely a muscular component to the golf swing. And if the muscles have not been trained to work in a specific sequence, with minimal tension and maximum power, the expected results will not be achieved.
What are the important muscles involved in the golf swing? There isn’t one or two of them. The body moves sequentially throughout the golf swing. But through research and years of training, I can say without a doubt that the muscles of your core are the most important. Followed by the hamstrings and glutes.
The rest of the muscle groups are supportive to the golf swing, which doesn’t mean they are any less important, just not as critical to improving power and consistency.
Let’s briefly break down your main golf swing muscles and their role in the golf swing.
Shoulders: Support the golf at the top of the swing and also add clubhead speed as an extension of the core.
Upper Back: Maintenance of spine angle for ease of turning on backswing and follow through.
Lower Back: Critical in maintaining of golf posture during the swing and even putting.
Glutes: Helps maintain flex in hips and also athletic, “golf squat” position for a powerful swing base.
Quadriceps: Allows for ease of maintaining consistent knee flex and golf posture for a repeatable swing.
Hamstrings: The KEY muscle group in producing an effective, optimal and repeatable golf posture for eighteen holes.
Core: The engine to the golf swing. Produces maximum power from the pivot. Stored energy from the torque created on the backswing, to unleash into impact.
This is a very brief overview of your golf swing muscles. As you can see, if these muscles don’t have a higher level of both strength and flexibility, they will not allow you to achieve your true golf potential.
Hopefully you will be motivated to look into a golf conditioning program to strengthen these golf swing muscles.
About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf performance swing trainers in the country. Golf Magazine's expert at GolfOnline.com, author and founder of several cutting-edge online golf performance sites. Take a look at his just released golf performance dvds and manual at his golf swing trainer site - Perform Better Golf.
This article is free for republishing The golf swing is a physically demanding movement. Until golfers realize this, their pursuit of the perfect swing will never be achieved. Mike Pedersen is President/CEO Perform Better Golf which offers golf training dvds, manual and equipment. Get Mike's free Fit To A Tee ebook by subscribing at http://www.performbettergolf.com
