Hey Guys it’s been a while for me. I have been super busy, but the other day a guy I know who is going to prep for Q-school over the next 4-5 months asked me for some training advice. I have been doing some reading, but am very limited in time. I do know flexability is very key for golfers, but what type of train protocols should I suggest to him?
I’m not sure what Q-school is, so I’m not sure what to tell in regards to that but Paul Chek has a book that’s dedicated to golf training and, according to TC, the section on flexibility is worth the price alone.
I’ll check out the book suggested. Thanks very much, I will be adding that to my reading list.
Is there anyone who can suggest or outline a basic focus of exercises, or better yet are there any that should be avoided for any unknow reason?
Thanks again guys
The posterior chain should be a priority for most athletes. If I’m not mistaken, thats where most of the power from the golf swing comes from.
I would reccommend using full range of motion on everything so as not to build up any muscle inflexibilities. Lots of stretching is in order.
As for “golf-specific” exercises, golf is such a skill game that the best way to get better at it is by playing it. And I’ll quote CT’s new article: Don’t worry too much about being “sport specific” in the gym-- the only thing that is truly sport specific is playing your sport. Gym work may add muscle mass/strength and allow you to play your sport better, but it has no direct carryover to improvements in your game.
RIT Jared
I train alot of golfers. The majorty of them are in sorry shape. Focus on increasing trunk strength and GPP, all my people make huge gains by getting stronger and more explosive. Stick to the basics.
Just remember no matter how big and strong you get, no matter if you can swing 150mph+, you still have to hit the grid. No only just that but it must be close to your best hit… in each round. So I say hitting “better” is much more valuable than hitting “harder”. Good Luck
Check out Coach Davies site http://renegadetraining.com/
He’s the real deal if you haven’t heard:) He has a golf training book available. I haven’t checked it out, but I am sure it is badass.
Joe
I work with a couple of golfers and I would agree that most of them are in really sorry shape. Because of that almost anything you do with them that taxes them at all will help them.
I would emphasize a lot of a GPP stuff just to build their foundation. Some of the guys I have worked with have trouble with 5-10 push-ups so you know their base is very weak. I usually have them start with jumping rope, dumbbell swings, push-ups, and pull-ups. That will be plenty.
Recently, I have been having my guys work on overhead squats with the idea of someday teaching them to snatch. I am not holding my breath, but it does seem to promote flexibility and upper back strength. It also seems to give them better total body control.
I also have my guys do the full contact twist. The feedback I get from them is very positive. When I started one guy on them, it threw off his iron game because he gained a whole club length in distance without perceiving any increase in how hard he was hitting the ball. He just started over hitting everything. Needless to say, this was one instance where he was quite happy with the weights messing with his game.
The hard part is finding a bar light enough for them to start with. As I said, these guys are weak so an Olympic Bar is really hard for them to turn properly.
Even when they advance, keep their programs very simple. You can have them do regular squats, but I prefer deadlifting because of the added grip work. If they are not total spazs, power cleans are great. If they are total spazs, I have found that even total spazs can learn the one-handed variety. My own rule of thumb is generally nothing more than 3 or four exercises. No reason for that. It just seems to work best that way.
Anyway, this post may seem a little discombobulated because I am writing off the top of my head. Sorry about that.
Derick