Expert Golf Tips

By: Mike Pedersen

I’m sure by now you’ve heard most of the professional players; both men and women actively participate in golf workouts. It’s no secret. But why then do most amateur golfers ignore this? Is it because it seems like work? Or, does the thought of actually breaking a sweat get you tired already?

Either way…the proof is in the bag. The number one player in the world, Vijay Singh, does his golf workouts all the way through Sunday of each tournament. Does it look like it’s hurting his game? I don’t think so. Back in 1997, a young, very athletic golfer came on the professional scene and blew everyone away. I think you know who I’m talking about.

Tiger took golf to another level. A real eye-opener for the veteran players who were hitting the 19th hole after every round…and the last thought on their mind was “exercise”. What a wake-up call to be totally dominated by a player who was only 20 years old at the time.

How about the year Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 and totally dominated the LPGA? Do you know what she attributes it to? Golf workouts! She hired a trainer and got serious about her fitness. And look what happened? She hasn’t looked back since. She just recently came out with an instruction book and devoted a chapter to golf workouts.

To my recollection, that’s the first women’s instruction book to include golf workouts. Working out to playing better golf isn’t just for the guys; Annika has proved that. Now more LPGA players are working out to try and catch her, just like the guys did with Tiger.

How about the senior tour? Now players are realizing they can still make good money, even after they’ve turned 50 and can’t really compete with the young guys anymore. With the money at stake, they too are all working out. This group of players both amateur and pro is the biggest demographic that needs it the most.

With age comes a decline in both flexibility and strength. When the body declines, the swing goes right along with it. The result is a big loss in yardage, more mishits, and ballooning scores. The end result…frustration! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played with and received phone calls from older golfers who are just about ready to quit the game.

They are SO frustrated at this rapid decline, that golf’s not fun anymore. But there is hope. The answer? Get your body moving just a little better. How? By participating in golf workouts that focus on golf-specific strength AND flexibility. It’s amazing to see golfers in this age bracket dramatically improve their driving distance, accuracy and scores.

You don’t have to accept that with age, your body declines. No way! You’ve got to fight it all the way! I’m dead serious. The ones who do, are the ones who are enjoying the game again and taking all the money in their foursome.

What is a golf workout anyways? Is there such a thing? You bet there is. The golf swing is an awkward movement that puts a tremendous amount of stress on the body. To prevent injury and improve swing speed and distance requires your body to be both strong and flexible specific to the swing.

I could spend dozens of pages describing what this entails, but for the sake of this concise article, let’s keep it simple.

The golf swing is a rotational movement, with your body in golf posture. Slight flex of the knees and a bending forward at the hips. Since the golf swing is primarily rotational, wouldn’t it make sense to focus on rotational strength and flexibility? That is improving your turning ability related to range of motion and speed.

So anything involving twisting with resistance such as a medicine ball, a dumbbell, or even a weighted club would work. You need to have a resistance to take your body beyond where it normally goes.

For instance, if you took a club and placed it behind your neck, got in your golf posture and rotated back and forth; do you think that by itself would improve your range of motion or power?

No, you need to add resistance to accomplish this. Take a weighted club and make golf swings. Now you’ll be making a bigger turn AND improving your power. Same thing with a medicine ball. Make turns back and through holding a 4 to 6 pound ball and you’ll see a BIG improvement.

In fact, most of your abdominal work should be rotational. Doing straight crunches won’t improve your driving distance. Doing rotational movements with added weight will. This is where I could go on and on, but I won’t overload you.

I hope I’ve convinced you to take a real serious look at what all the other successful professional players are doing to stay at the top of their game. Doing golf workouts can and will dramatically change your game forever. Now get out there and get it started. No procrastinating. Do it right now!

Mike Pedersen is a respected golf fitness expert, and the author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, numerous golf fitness tips and founder of several online golf fitness sites. For more information on his new, cutting-edge golf fitness e-book, go to http://www.ultimategolffitnessguide.com.

 

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By: Rob Moore

The 80% swing

Believe it or not, you can get better distance from your drives if you don’t swing with full force! Try swinging at about 80% of your capacity, or another way to think about it is to swing with the force of a 7-iron.

Your body will tense up when you try to overswing. Also, because of the extra effort, your body is more likely to be pulled out of position. This makes it impossible to complete a consistent swing.

Reaching back for extra power

The key for every golfer is getting that extra power, without sacrificing accuracy. It is the “holy grail” of golf. We’ve got a few things to think about that just might give you a few more yards.

Widen your swing arc- when going for extra power, make your swing arc as wide as possible. Reach with your arms fully extended as you begin your backswing. This move, used by most of the heavy hitters in the pros, enables you to gain extra velocity and swing speed without having to manipulate your body movements any.

Return your elbow- concentrate on moving your trailside elbow down, back into a connected position with your trailside hip. This keeps your elbow from flying out, and produces that inside-out swing path that maximizes power.

Big shoulders- make a full shoulder turn for extra power. Your shoulders should rotate more than your hips, creating a “coiling up” of the torso. In addition, your shoulders should start releasing before your hips do, keeping that stored energy as long as possible.

Grip it and rip it

John Daly says it best. But there’s a lot of wisdom in that little phrase, as well.

During your pre-shot routine, visualize your shot, take notice of trouble areas, map out where you want to be on the golf course. Align your body to best complete the shot you want. Then, forget everything!

Too often, we can’t get that lake out of our head. It’s still present in our minds as we make the swing. And then-guess what?- we swing and “plop”, into the lake we go!

Trust your decision making process (however flawed it may be!), and swing with a blank mind. You’ll find more of your shots going where you intended.
Rob Moore operates http://www.HI-WAYgolf.com, home of golf tips and golf equipment reviews to help Break 100 Now!

 

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