Google
 

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Golf Workouts Can Quickly Add Yards To Your Drives

Golf Workouts Can Quickly Add Yards To Your Drives



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!

About The Author: 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.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORE RESOURCES:
RELATED ARTICLES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Easy Steps To Replacing Your Golf Grips
Replacing your golf grips is like servicing your car; you must do it on a very routine basis to keep them in top working order. We suggest changing your grips at least once a season, maybe even twice depending on where you live and how much you play.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hogans Real Golf Secret
Ben Hogan's secret was his extraordinary ability to focus. This was not a gift from heaven.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf Training Equipment Can Give You A Competitive Edge
Whether you are just beginning to enjoy the game of golf or a seasoned professional, you will find that golf training aids can help you improve your game. Everyone has room to improve, and practice always helps.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focus Your Focus - How to Ward Off Distraction During Your Golf Swing
There is a great possibility to lose your mind when playing golf simply due to the constant shifting of focus. I think the brain doesn't like to change focus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why in the World Do You Want to Make Your Own Golf Clubs?
A better question might be, why would you not want to build your own golf clubs. If you have shopped for a new driver lately, you know that the cost of top "brand name" clubs has skyrocketed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golfing Products And What You Need To Know Before Purchasing
In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of golfing products available in the market. Most notably golfing products that are supposed to dramatically improve one's game, virtually overnight.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learning The Correct Golf Instruction Swing Sequence
There are three segments of the golf instruction swing sequence. They are namely the back swing, the down swing and thirdly the impact and follow through.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why Golf Swing Training Aids Have Not Worked For You
Golf swing training aids have a bad reputation with most amateur golfers. Many of them have been victims to aggressive companies selling golf swing training aids.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf Swing Trainer - What Is It?
Golf swing trainer is a term you might think of for a training aid that works on your golf swing. I've come up with a new definition for a golf swing trainer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shoulder Exercises To Improve Your Game
Your shoulder strength and flexibility are essential to producing an optimal swing off the tee. Adequate shoulder rotation is responsible for keeping the club in the desirable swing plane.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stronger Abs for Golf
Everyone wants a firm midsection. For the golfer, it delivers much more than just a coveted physique.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strength Training For Junior Golf
Much debate has occurred about kids and strength training. There's been concern about growth plate damage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staying Out of Trouble with Your Driver
So what is it that's really causing problems with your driver? Is it a slice, a hook, or just flat-out inconsistency? Well the good news is that, regardless of what problem you are fighting, there are a few things to incorporate into your game that really will help you. If you're the golfer that's saying right now, "I've battled a slice for 25 years", then this is not going to be the undisputed end of your problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf Injury Prevention
A golf injury is one of the most common issues with all amateur golfers. But having adequate strength and flexibility of muscles and joints and participating in effective training technique, can also prevent a golf injury.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One Out of Two Golfers Will Have a Golf Swing Related Injury - Can You Prevent Yours?
I have a friend who blew out his ACL in his left knee while playing old man basketball. Old man being relative.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Real Secrets Of Golf
Secrets of golf! Most golfers will do absolutely anything to improve their golf game and this is the reason why most are constantly in search of golf secrets to improve their game.However this search, more often that not ends up in total failure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Perfect Golf Swing Is Within Your Reach
The perfect golf swing IS achievable for any senior golfer!Actually we have noted in our ongoing programs, a dramatic change in the quality of the games of senior golfers many of whom are achieving the perfect golf swing at their ages and despite relative inexperience on the golf course. Not only that, they are hitting the ball as long as their PGA counterparts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Effective Golf Swing Exercise
There are many types of effective golf swing exercises. Golf swing exercise is very important because the golf swing is at the very heart of the golf game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf Training Principles That Produce Results
Time is a precious commodity when it comes to golf. We need to set aside time for practice, play and training in addition to managing our jobs, our families and other priorities and interests.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparing Your Body For Golf While You Travel
We all know the temptations of traveling? grabbing a slice of pizza while running to your gate at the airport, an elaborate steak dinner with a client, and being so tired at day's end that all you want to do is fall into bed. Traveling can often create havoc on regular exercise and golf conditioning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No comments: