In the world of golfers, improving your golf game can be a constant pursuit. While playing on the course is essential, incorporating targeted at-home exercises for golfers into your routine can significantly enhance your game. In this blog, we’ll explore a range of best golf exercises and workouts – with minimal equipment needed – designed to improve mobility/flexibility, strength, and overall golf performance.
Golf Mobility/Flexibility
Equipment Needed: None
Maintaining optimal flexibility and mobility is essential for improving your golf swing and achieving full range of motion. Incorporating a mixture of dynamic and static stretching exercises into your routine can promote flexibility in key areas like the shoulders, hips, and spine.
Examples of exercises for golf mobility include spinal rotation, side bending, arm circles, leg swings, hip rotation in sitting or standing, and yoga – all while avoiding painful positions. Stretching involving active movement (dynamic stretching) is best performed before exercising as it will also help warm up your muscles and reduce injury risk.
Lower Body Exercises
Equipment Needed: Hip band, Dumbbells
Your lower body plays a crucial role in generating power during a golf swing. For example, squats, deadlifts, and lunges are excellent exercises to target the muscles in your legs and hips, specifically your glutes and quadriceps. Building strength in these areas can lead to a more stable and explosive swing. For beginner exercises, side steps or clamshells with a resistance band are great movements to strengthen the lower body.
Core Strengthening:
Equipment Needed: Light dumbbells or medicine balls
A strong core is crucial for a powerful golf swing. Engage in exercises like planks, side planks, Russian twists (or other resisted rotation), and crunches to strengthen your core muscles, including the obliques. A stable core not only improves your golf swing mechanics but also contributes to better balance and control.
Balance and Stability:
Equipment Needed: Bands, Dumbbells
Balance is needed for a consistent and accurate golf swing. Integrate exercises such as single-leg exercises, stability ball exercises, or various balance drills into your routine to enhance proprioception and stability, translating to more control on the golf course. Many lower body strength exercises can be turned into a balance-focused exercise by performing single-legged or on an unstable surface. It is important to perform balance and stability exercises with supervision to ensure safety.
Dedicating time to engage in specific workouts and exercises for golfers to improve your flexibility, strength, and overall fitness will undoubtedly pay dividends on the course. If you or someone you know could benefit from an individualized program, as discussed above, click here to schedule a free strategy call with a Doctor of Physical Therapy at RobertsPT, a Golf Performance Center in Kansas City, and start improving your golf game now.
