Strengthening for golf?

Question

I'm a senior at my high school and I'm really wanting to improve this season (big time!) and I feel that distance is a big factor in my not-too-pretty scores. Would working out and doing specific exercises help me hit further? If so what exercises should I do? I'm just curious because I'm currently working out lightly 5 times a week, but if there were certain muscles I should be aiming for, I'll want to pay more attention to those.

Answer 1

There are certain muscles you can work on to gain distance.

I highly recommend buying a dvd on golf specific yoga. It increases flexability, and increases strength. Its an inexpensive way to accomplish your goals without seeing a personal trainer.

You should also work on your forearms, legs (run), and abdominal muscles (crunches).

Answer 2

Search for "Roger Frederick's" and then "Katharine Roberts" on Google. Roger has stretches that are specific to golf, and they work wonders (long time fan). Katharine does Yoga for Golf, and some of her stuff is really impressive.

Good luck!

Answer 3

The better your overall body conditioning the easier it will be for you to make a powerful balanced swing.  So you want strong legs, strong core, and then strong forearms and wrists.  If you only have time to work on one area maybe it should be forearms, but if you are still in high school hopefully you can work on more.

Answer 4

everyone says concentrate on your "core", but i myself have been working out and trying to gain distance for about 2 years and i used to do about 30min of ab work a day, and saw nothing but my stamina increase.  I won about 3 sectional pga tournaments, 1 major high school tournament, and i made all county in that span of time, but i have not seen a dramatic increase in distance (maybe 10-15 yards).  Lately i have been trying something new and it has been working.  Around December i was doing a lot of power lifting (squat, dead lift, bench press,military press) using a lot of weight and little reps.  Needless to say i wasn't swinging a club so i was stiff as a board, but it does not matter because its in the dead of winter.  Now I'm moving into the season and I'm lifting heavy weights with my legs (4 sets of 3 reps) and lighter weights with my upper body (4 sets of 12 or 15), and i have also been throwing a 10lb medicine ball with a partner.  It has helped alot.  Distance in golf means more club head speed, so when you use lighter weights on your upper body you can more a little faster, and strong legs help support a fast swing so you can balance out.  if you want my specific regiment i can email it to you, but i gained about 20 more yards off of it.  But lifting is one thing, DON'T FORGET TO STRETCH AND SWING A CLUB WILE YOU LIFT IT WILL MESS UP YOUR SWING BIG TIME.  Tiger may be one of the strongest on tour but his body can bend in ways its not supposed to.  so email if you want more. As for your question about specific body parts, your whole body is used in the swing, from your toes and fingers to your butt and your chest.  So your should work out everything accordingly.  Heavier weight with your legs for balance and lighter weight in your upper body for club head speed, SWIMMING for increased stamina, strength, and flexibility, and stretching for more flexibility and prevention of injury.   I just figured i would put in my 2 cents.  Email me if you want  [e-mail]

Answer 5

You are still young and  flexible. Your strength is still growing and working out like you say is sufficient for now. Being generally fit is an advantage because you will have more endurance to perform the swing moves.

When your reach your early twenties you can focus on building more strength where you may need it the most.

What you need to do is have your equipment checked to see if it suites you. This can dramatically improve your distance, accuracy and scores. Have them checked with a club fitter.

Your practice time should be divided so that you only spent one third practicing full swing and the other two thirds on your short game. That will be the real way to lower your scores quickly.

Go for it.

Answer 6

Ok the best thing is get a golfers yoga DVD or/and pilates for golfers. You can do them at home it will take you just 20 or 30 minutes everytime. Why bother? the strength in golf comes form the strength in your core muscles and your flexibility yoga and pilates strentghen both. Ever wonderd how those skinny guys blast the ball 300 plus pure core muscles and elasticity. research around Tiger woods and most pros do alot Yoga pilates and alot of stretching. Give it a try

Answer 7

Stability ball training is a must. Some weight training, but keep the reps high, ideally 10-12 reps. Anything to strengthen your core, i.e stomach, legs. Running always helps.

Answer 8

I.m also still at school, and its a real pain seeing other players rip their drives away, and even though I make nice contact mine seem to lack in distance.  I also hate to say this, because I know you wont want to hear, but the only real way to improve your game and hitting distance is nailing down the technique and using one hundred percent of your body weight to your advantage.  So working out?  It may help to strengthen your structure and make you feel more grounded when swinging, and it is satisfying to do.  Concentrate on the shoulders and stomach.  Also do not forget that staying positive will help you a lot as well.  

I know how annoying it is for people to say it, I have been in your shoes, but the best thing is practice and some P.M.A

Answer 9

Definitely get your equipment fitted to you, height lie etc... Then for strengthening... remember, you want to build compact muscles, not get bulky, so do more reps when training and don't use really heavy weights. You want to train them for endurance not just strength. Also, running builds endurance and do a lot of excercises for your "Core". this is the abs, lats, back (upper and lower),  butt, and thighs. These are considered the "big" muscles and that's really where you get your power from. Isolating the forearms a little too will help you add a little more distance and allow you to really load that club, hold the angle and whip it around faster.  I never really worked out, just lifted my bag and walked courses, but when i did, i added 30+ yards to my drive, an average of 15 to each iron, and my swing is much more consistent because my balance muscles are all stronger and i can swing without using my body weight.     one last thing.... streeeeeetch stretch streeeeeeetch.   You have to be flexible,. the more flexible you are, the better your chances of not getting hurt and it'll also add a few yards and much more consistency.

Answer 10

try strengthing the wrists.  Tiger used to crumple to pages of the Sunday paper, one at a time, until they were little balls...alternating hands.